SHABNAM SAYED TURNS SURABHI FOR REAL LIFE ROLE AS BAHU

What’s in a name? Ask actor Shabnam Sayed, whose new name not only has her all excited, but has also brought fragrance into her life, literally. The actor, known for her powerful, negative roles in several popular television serials and films like Murder and Raaz II, got married to Saurabh Vanzara two months ago. And the new Vanzara *bahu* has begun her new life with a brand new name. In perfect sync with her husband’s name, Shabnam has now turned  Surabhi – which literally means fragrance. 

“Much before we met each other, my husband’s parents used to joke that they would find a girl called Surabhi for Saurabh.  I liked the name. It has a sweet ring to it,” Shabnam says. “And keeping with the tradition of changing the bahu’s name in my sasural, I decided to be Surabhi Vanzara,” she adds. As for the effect the change could have on her profession, Shabnam is unperturbed. “I’ve already started informing people about the change. And I will continue to use both name till everyone gets used to the new one,” she says coolly.

 Asked if, like many actors, she is bothered about the numerological effect of the name change on her career, Shabnam avers: “I don’t believe in numerology or any such thing. I believe that if one has the talent and works hard, one is bound to succeed.” Here is one actor who is combination of both tradition and modernism at the same time.  

Shabnam  can be currently seen on Zee TV’s latest serial, Hitler Didi, as a young, possessive second wife of a man old enough to be her father –another meaty, negative role.

Viewers, of course, are already familiar with her histrionics, which Shabnam has been displaying with telling effect since the past eight years on the small screen. They can still recall the perm-haired, chirpy office colleague character of Maria in Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and the scheming Babita in the serial, Miilee, among several others. The actor had taken a break from television for a short period to focus on films like Murder and Raaz II, both fetching her accolades from Bollywood biggies.

MITHUN DA'S A CONTENT MAN

Mithun Chakraborty is one contented man. It is this contentment that reflects on screen and his attitude towards life. Playing a CBI officer who plays chess with the main protagonists changing the way they look at life in Enemmy, directed Aashu Trikha, Mithun da is content once again to take the back seat. "Project the main protagonists, There is Sunil Shetty, KK Menon, Johny Lever, Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahakshay," says dada. "I prefer to stay out of the limelight."

When asked how it feels workign with Mahakshay,inthun da clarifies, "we are not playing father-son in the film. It is a very intersting film with a format where in the protagonists need to play a cat and mouse game. I feel the film will do justice to the talent in director Aashu Trikha as well.:"

Here is looking forward to Enemmy from Mithunda.

POOJA MISRA’S THE BIG SCREEN BOSS!

Pooja Misra may have had enough of the Big boss, but now, the
model-actor-designer is All Out to prove herself. We are talking of the Anup Jalota film where Pooja Misra plays the main lead with three young men opposite her! “They are casting at the moment,” enthuses Pooja, who is busy with her power yoga classes and rejuvenation therapy to bring back the glow into her face. “It wasn’t easy being in Big Boss. But more than that, it wasn’t easy being out of it either. People are shown the side of you that brings in TRPs. The good, benevolent and friendly side of me was hidden
from public view,” says Pooja, who is looking forward to her films today. “Beside,s all Out, I have two other films,” and the third offer I have just been made is on the flashbacks of a reality show winner,” grins Pooja. “What an irony!”

WITHOUT NAME ARJAN BAJWA CHARACTER IN “LANKA”

First time in Bollywood, we have noticed that LANKA a film, which is going to release coming Friday on 9th December, Arjan Bajwa is playing a nameless character.

Arjan Bajwa told to us in a brief chat, "My character is inspired by Vibhishan who is regarded as half devil and half human. But he is the man behind Ram's victory. He has not betrayed his ealder brother Raavan, playing by Manoj Bajpai, but steeped on the side of truth. It's a very strong and aggressive character."

"In real life, I do not talk much. I do not show emotions. I never go wrong, no matter what comes my way. And, I always prefer to take the right path," he adds.

His last movie TELL ME O KKHUDA didn't do as well as expected. And now Lanka, his nameless film, will give him name-fame!!! Every one is waiting.

Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra commences India tour at NCPA, Mumbai

(India tour to cover Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai)
In wake of a gamut of events, initiatives and programmes to commemorate the 60th year of diplomatic ties between India and Germany, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra today commenced its India tour in Mumbai at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The tour is part of the ongoing programme series "Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities" which commenced in September this year. Many more such events and programmes are planned during the course of this series. Founded in 1945, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has been at the top of the international orchestral scene for more than 65 years. As the world’s oldest professional chamber orchestra, it undoubtedly serves as a model for others and has therefore been selected as part of the cultural exchange under the ongoing India – Germany diplomatic ties commemoration. Having made its debut in India in the year 1956, the present tour is the orchestra’s fourth one, the third being in the year 2010. The Orchestra’s repeated performances are the result of continuous collaborations with event hosts in India who time and again welcome and support their concerts in the subcontinent. During its present chapter the orchestra will tour three cities in India – Mumbai on December 1 and 2, 2011, Bangalore on December 3, 2011 and Chennai on December 4, 2011. Sponsored by the Bosch and "Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities", the Orchestra’s tour has a new feature. This feature is the ensemble’s association with an India Orchestra namely the Symphony Orchestra of India. One of the two-day performances at Mumbai will have the Symphony Orchestra of India performing along with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. The Symphony Orchestra of India musicians will continue to perform with the ensemble at Bangalore and Chennai as well Founded in August 2006 by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Symphony Orchestra of India is the country‘s first fully professional symphony.orchestra. Despite recruiting musicians from the international field, the orchestra places great emphasis on developing musical potential within India itself. With 16 Indian players in the ensemble, it is based in Mumbai but tours nationally. The first concert in Mumbai will commence with an immortal, epoch-defining concerto grosso by two Baroque masters – Corelli and Handel, touch upon yet another Baroque genius – Vivaldi, progress into the Classical (Mozart), the Classical-Romantic (Hummel), the Romantic (Mendelssohn) periods and end with the works of archetypal, yet completely diverse modern composers – Shoshtakovitch and Britten. Bach, ever-beloved, omnipresent, indispensable, is celebrated, en route, with a Reger transcription of the chorale, “Oh Man, bewail your great sins” (on December 1) and by the rarely heard Concerto for three violins (on December 2). Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Sanjay Chakravarty, Head, Corporate Communications, Bosch Group India said “It is indeed an honour for Bosch to facilitate and be part of such cultural exchange, we hope to support and see many more of such initiatives.” The Chairman of the NCPA, Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook, says, “The NCPA, welcome back the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. We are certain that this great ensemble will enthrall our audiences with fine musicianship.” As per Mr. Max Wagner, Managing Director of Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra,” We are the only western orchestra that tours India regularly. We hope that this tradition will go on for a long time. We are also thankful to NCPA, Bosch and the programme series "Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities" for supporting us for this tour. This tour would have not been possible without their assistance.”

M. S. Dhoni releases Music of Film "KYA YAHI SACH HAI"

Y.P. SINGH, M.S. DHONI & ABHA SINGH

It was the first event, where cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni came to release music of a film ‘Kya Yehi Sach Hai’ on 28th November at Juhu Millennium Club, Mumbai. Y. P. Singh’s hard-hitting film ‘Kya Yehi Sach Hai’ is based on police and bureaucratic corruption. The film is ready for release on 30th Decenber.

for more details visit : 

www. filmytown.com, 

www. inmovieznews.com

BEST WORKAR SHORT FILM MAKER

Suresh Shelakar , a SSC passed seemed to have made the right choice of education for the longest time in keeping with his ambition of becoming a BEST service person. This till he decided to venture into short filmmaking - a field completely different from the academic background he had pursued . " I was a top performer in School. No one , including my parents, expected me to take up short films, shares Suresh , whose very short film Birthday went on to outdo everybody's expectations with a nomination at different film festivals.
Suresh is not an expectation. His is, in fact' a case amongst a growing number of students from completely unrelated and unallied  academic qualifications entering the world of short films- as writers, directors, editors and a lot more- first as a hobby that translates into passion and in some cases, a full -time profession.
For many, their first encounter with short films is triggered by the need to explore new media of visual expression. Says Suresh , a BEST worker , " As BEST worker , we are always exploring new media of visual representation. It was then I realised that filmmaking is not very different from my work and decided to try hand at it. I've never stopped making short films after that!.
Not belonging to a film or devoid of a course in filmmaking does not seem to be a deterrent to those who wish to share a story on celluloid." Filmmaking is for anybody who understands it. The only advantage of attending a film school is that it shortens the time frame for learning and lets you network with like-minded people. Apart from that , nobody really cares what institute you come from as long as you can tell and sell your story. From an Indian perspective , self-learning and practical filmmaking is even more important as film school fees are very high.
Cinema has always excited the average Joe on the street. All of us have a story to tell. Earlier, not too many people could be a part of it due to lack of resources. Slowly, people are realising the power of short films, which by virtue of their dynamics allow many people to participate in the process. making a short film neither requires excessively developed technical skills nor sophisticated equipment. This work very well for students, even those pursuing different courses."
In a bollywood-obessed nation like ours, it is not surprising to know that many are also looking at short films as a sort of launchpad for feature films. Agrees Suresh , " Short filmmaking is seen as a stepping stone towards feature filmmaking by many people. As a director you may have to manage only one particular task but as a film maker you are expected to understand every aspent of filmmaking from handling the camera to writing, editing, mixing sound, etc , which is essentially what making short films teach you."
What ever the reasons, the popularity of short filmmaking among people seems to be a trend that is here to stay. If you find yourself being constantly distracted by the lure of telling a story, you know short films is calling too.

Juhi Chawla Hitting Social Work

Actress Juhi Chawla and  Santoor player Rahul Sharma have made a special photo-shoot along with the kids suffering from the disease at residence of Juhi Chawla Malabar Hills, Mumbai on 23^rd November to support the cause of Thalassaemia disease patient. The Mumbai Thalassaemic Society is organizing a musical program on 14^th December in Mumbai, where Rahul will perform musical program and Juhi Chawla will do comparing. 

Kishore Kumar’s First wife Ruma Devi’s 75th Birthday

Ruma Devi, first wife of legendry Kishore Kumar turned 75. Thier son Amit Kumar has organized a lavish bash at his Bungalow Gauri Kunj, Kishore Kumar Ganguli Marg, Juhu on 21st November. In this birthday party ace lyricist Javed Akhtar has launched Amit Kumar’s website www.amit-kumar.in. Amit Kumar told that he he is making a album, for which songs are written by Javed Akhtar and Sudhakar Sharma. In this occasion Javed Akhtar, Sudhakar Sharma, yesteryear acteress and fourth wife of Kishore Kumar, Leena Chandravarkar and guest were present.

Mahurat of ENEMMY

Mithun Chakraborty, Sunil Shetty, Johny Lever director Ashu Trikha and Mahaakshay got together at Versova Village and Madh Island on the Mahurat of their film ENEMMY. Braving the sweltering heat, armed with nariyal pani and fruits, the team shot effortlessly in a small restaurant, at the waterfront and in the garden of Madh bungalow.

While 

Sunil Shetty admitted, “the script appealed to me,

“ Mahaakshay was happy that he was with such senior actors and it would give him a lot of learning, Johny Lever was excited about playing a cop “with a sense of humour and a heart.” Mithun da was present at the Madh bungalow watching the happenings with pride, this being his production venture. Said he, “Enemmy is not called so due to  numerology. It is named so after its six principal characters, Eklavya Karmarkar aka Bhau ( Suniel Shetty ), Naeem Shaikh {KK Menon}, Eric Collaco ( Johnny Lever ) and Madhav Sinha  aka Maddy ( Mahaakshay Chakraborty ), four daredevil CID officers, who can be relied upon whenever the city faces problems from the underworld,  a don responsible for mayhem -- Mukhtar Menon (Mahesh Manjrekar)  and  one CBI officer Yugantar Sharma (Mithun Chakraborty). Mithun da’s thought appealed to director Ashuu Trikha who went in for the title.

A hard day’s work was followed by the bonding of the actors, as the sun set on Madh Island. The coolness of the air went down quietly with large dahi kachoris, sandwiches and steaming cups of coffee. All in all a memorable Mahurat indeed.