Diwali gift for Lata Mangeshkar fans

It will be a rare Diwali gift for Lata Mangeshkar fans. An unreleased song of the nightingale - Chanda ki Chandni - that she had sung for the 1997 hit Dil To Pagal Hai, is being repackaged by Yashraj Films for release during the festive season.

For Lata, the news of the song’s release has come as cheerful news, what with arthritis of the knees continuously troubling her.

She happily recalls the song. “It was supposed to be part of Yashji’s Dil To Pagal Hai. But the song didn’t fit into the story. So they took it out. I never thought they’d use it later,” said Lata, who turned 80 recently.

It was Yash Chopra’s idea to release the song.

“When Yash-ji came to know about the unreleased song in their archives, he immediately wanted it released as a Diwali gift for Lata-ji’s fans. So you could say this song Chanda ki Chandni is Yash-ji’s gift to Lata-ji for Diwali,” a source said.

“Yash Chopra calls Lata as his Saraswati Mata and shares an extremely emotional bond with her. The two share the same star sign and their birthday is separated by only a day. They get along like a house on fire. Yash-ji keeps Lata-ji entertained with his jokes. Lata-ji reciprocates with her songs.

“Yashji in fact insists that as long as she is around no one else will sing in his films. That of course has changed now, what with the new guard led by Aditya Chopra opting for other voices,” the source said.

Lata hardly sings film songs nowadays, her last film song was A.R. Rahman’s lullaby Luppa Chuppi for Rang De Basanti (2006).

For Lata, it’s a quiet Diwali at home with the family. No special plans were set after the celebrations earlier this week when her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar turned 72 Sunday.

“Every year there’s a kind gentleman in Pune who organises a musical event for my brother’s birthday. This year was no different. We’ve all been involved with that until Sunday. So Diwali would be slightly low-key. Of course the children would have their fun with the usual Diwali celebrations,” says Lata.

After Diwali she intends to get her knees operated for arthritis. The operation would be undertaken at the Mangeshkars’ hospital in Pune.

Although her knees give her more trouble these days than she had ever bargained for, the nightingale’s throat continues to be in tremendous shape.

Lata has recorded Sai Baba bhajans with sister Usha Mangeshkar.

Lata didi

A couple of hundred patients and employees of the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital here chose a novel way to join millions of music lovers in showering best wishes on living legend Lata Mangeshkar to mark her 80th birthday - they wrote their hearts out in fond one-liners on a big-size board and sent its photograph to the nightingale.

The patients, including participants of a healthy heart-walkathon comprising discharged hospital inmates and employees wrote beautiful birthday wishes for Lata-didi in their own language with some of them drawing up tiny pictures of flowers or caricature of the world’s most loved singer,” said a hospital source.

The most touching among the wishes was perhaps a line plucked from a famous Lata Mangeshkar song from a Hindi film Dil Apna aur Preet Parayee that goes …Tumhe aur kya doon mein dil ke sivay, tumko hamari umar lag jaye (What else can we give you other than our heart may our remaining years be added to your life). The poetic wish was signed by a few seriously ill patients, the source said.

The hospital was constructed five years ago with funds donated by the singer in the memory of her father music maestro Deenanath Mangeshkar.

Harry-puttar

Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors, which Hollywood studio Warner Bros alleged was a copyright violation of their Harry Potter franchise, bears no similarity to the English film series and is actually the story of a lonely kid played by Zain Khan.

The film, which releases Friday, is directed by Lucky Kohli and Rajesh Bajaj. Produced by Mirchi Movies, it also stars talented Sarika along with Jackie Shroff.

“It is a fun film and a family entertainer. The film has nothing in common with the Harry Potter franchise as the story suggests. The Hari Puttar name has been in the news and has appeared at places for the last 18 months,” Munish Purii, COO of Mirchi Movies, said.

The story seems to be loosely based on hit Hollywood series Home Alone. It revolves around 10-year-old Hari Prasad Dhoonda (Zain Khan) or Hari Puttar, as he is fondly called.

Hari’s father (Zakir Khan) is a professor and is assigned to work on a secret project at a remote location in Britain. So Hari moves there from India with his father and mother (Sarika).

Hari’s father has access to confidential information that is stored on a chip and safely kept at his house.

Within days of their arrival in London, Hari’s aunt (Lilette Dubey) and uncle DK (Jackie Shroff) visit them with their children. The kids of DK’s boss also accompany them.

Now, accommodating so many children in the house becomes a problem. At one point everything goes for a spin for Hari - not only he is thrown out of his room, he is also ragged and ridiculed by all the other kids.

Hari suddenly feels unwanted. But then when people try and steal his dad’s secret chip, he displays valour and wit that shock everyone.

“It talks about the freedom of a child when he is left alone in the house with his cousin and the funny situations that follow when two burglars try getting into the house to get hold of a chip that his father has been secretly working on,” said Purii.

So far very few children’s films have made it big at the box office. But the legal controversy surrounding the movie may help draw some curious moviegoers.

Pop star Pink has reportedly turned to Scientology

Pop star Pink has reportedly turned to Scientology to help her move on after her split from husband Carey Hart.

The pair’s two-year marriage ended earlier this year and friends reveal the singer has sought comfort from pal Juliette Lewis, who is introducing her to the controversial religion, reports said.

“Pink is in the beginning stages of checking out the religion, but she has taken to it and she wants to get more involved, a source said.

The religion is also popular with superstars Lisa Marie Presley, Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

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Van Halen’s ‘The Reunion Tour’ Rescheduled

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5 asian film to start up

My earliest childhood memory (seriously) is watching Star Wars, and that started a lifelong love affair I’ve had with the movies. However, if you’re like me at all, most of the film you grew up watching was in English and the only real Asian film you were exposed to usually involved a big guy named Godzilla. But the truth is there is some great and innovative film coming out of Asia that unfortunately gets next to no attention from North American audiences. As a matter of fact, most people I talk to are still surprised when I tell them “The Ring” was originally an Asian film.

Now, the reality is that I am FAR from being an expert on Asian film. I’m just a film fan who has started to develop an appreciation for some Asian cinema. So I thought it would be a good idea, as a casual Asian film fan who is also just in the process of developing my understanding for the genre, to introduce some of you who are interested in expanding your horizons, to 15 movies to get your feet wet in Asian film. Some of you have seen lots of these films already, but I know a bunch of you haven’t.

So without any more delay, here are 15 benchmark Asian films to get you started. In no particular order:

1) Ju-On (The Grudge)

Yes, the original version that the inferior North American Grudge (with Michelle Gellar) was based on. To this day maybe the scariest film I’ve ever seen apart from American Werewolf in London. The main difference between most North American horror and Asian horror, is that American horror tries to scare you with gross visuals and “startle scare” (when something jumps out at you), whereas a lot of Asian horror freaks the hell out of you with your own imagination… with concepts and atmosphere… with tension and mood. Ju-On makes you want to check yourself into a mental ward your nerves take such a beating. FROM THE IMDB: “An evil curse and vengeful spirits seem to linger upon a house where the horrific murder of a woman and child took place and anyone who sets foot inside the house is marked for a terrifying haunting which will not rest. One by one, those who have been tainted by the house begin to die, and nowhere is safe”

2) Fist of Legend

Not the deepest, or the most artful, or the best… but hands down my favorite Jet Li film of all time. Set during the Japanese occupation in China, the political and cultural tensions are really just a backdrop to total non-stop ass kicking deliciousness. Everything you expect to find in a great old style kung-fu film and more. Revenging a slain master, settling even the most trivial dispute with to-the-death combat to be followed by more ass kicking. The action is amazing, funny at times, always pretty lighhearted. FROM THE ROTTENTOMATOES: “A martial arts protege (Li) leads his classmates in revolt after their teacher is poisoned by the invading Japanese. The final fight scene is arguably one of the best of all time. Fights choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, action director of THE MATRIX”

3) Sympathy for Mr Vengeance

Have you ever had a day where nothing seems to be going right… so you try something to improve the situation by doing something a little drastic, but that only leads to the situation getting even worse, then you try to fix what you did wrong and it gets even worse still… and then a giant elephant shits on your face? Yeah well… that’s Sympathy for Mr Vengence. A heart breaking, brutal and viciously violent story that leaves you wondering if you should be cheering for the “hero” or not all the way through. FROM MSN MOVIES: “Korean director Park Chan-wook followed up his highly acclaimed Joint Security Area with this tale of a deaf mute named Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) trying to help his sister (Lim Ji-Eun) get a kidney transplant. Because his blood type is incompatible and no donors are available, he turns to a group of black-market organ dealers who offer to find one in return for one of his and ten million won. The dealers rip him off, so Ryu conspires with his girlfriend, a political activist, to kidnap his former boss’ young daughter and ransom her for the ten million won. But a horrible complication ruins their plans and things begin to spiral out of control as the girl’s father (Song Kang-ho) decides to take matters into his own hands with the help of a sympathetic cop.”

4) Hero

One of the rare films that actually got a North American wide release so I probably shouldn’t even put it on this list… but I know ludicrous numbers of people who haven’t seen it, so here it is. Forget just Asian film… Hero is one of the most beautifully shot films in the history of cinema. Every single solitary frame of this movie is a pure work of art. The use of color is like nothing I have ever seen before. You could watch this film on mute and you’d still have a rich experience watching it. FROM TRIBUTE: “At the height of China’s Warring States period, the country was divided into seven kingdoms: Qin, Zhao, Han Wei, Yan, Chu and Qi. For years, the separate kingdoms fought ruthlessly for supremacy. The Qin King was obsessed with conquering all of China and becoming her first Emperor. He had long been the target of three legendary assassins. To anyone who defeated the assassins, the King promised great power, gold and a private audience with the King himself. For ten years no one came to claim the prize. So when the enigmatic county sheriff, Nameless (Jet Li), came to the palace bearing the legendary weapons of the slain assassins, the King was impatient to hear his story. Sitting in the palace, only ten paces from the King, Nameless told his extraordinary tale. But then something unexpected happened - the King had a different story to tell of how Nameless really came to sit there. In the center of the intrigue sits Nameless and the ruler of the Kingdom, with only ten steps between them. Within those ten steps holds an earth-shattering tale of love, honor and duty, a story that moves beyond the reaches of history.”

5) Battle Royale

This list is in no particular order… but if it was in order, and someone asked me “what is the one Asian film I should go out and grab” the words “Battle Royale” would come out of my lips before they even finished the question. An interesting mixture of social commentary, violence and dilemma tension (where you as an audience member think “what the hell would I do?”). We all always knew those asshole teachers wanted to see us dead! This movie just fucking RULES! There have long been rumors of a North American remake of this gem… I’m open to that… but it stands very little chance at being as good as the original. FROM SPOUT: “In a future where society is on the verge of collapse, the government takes drastic action against the problem of rebellious teenagers in this violent sci-fi opus from Japan. In the year 2002, Japan’s economy has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and massive unemployment and inflation have thrown most adults into a state of chaos; the nation’s youth culture responds with unprecedented violence, delinquency, and truancy. Desperate to restore order, the Japanese parliament responds by creating the Millennial Reform School Act, in which groups of junior high students are selected at random, sent to an isolated island, and forced to play a rigorous war game, in which all but one of their number are killed. Kitano (Beat Takeshi) is an embittered school instructor who guides the 44 students of the Zentsuji Middle School’s Class B through the deadly game known as “Battle Royale,” as they struggle to survive against the elements and each other.”