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Packing a Punch, real hard!

Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone's ROCKY was not just a movie about Boxing but a story, a mesmerizing and convincing saga about realizing your dreams and striving to make them a reality. The movie won the Best Picture Oscar and also cemented Stallone's Action hero status in Hollywood and made him an instant star worldwide. The film was basically an Action flick in the league of numerous others of its kind. And stating the obvious, Bollywood got hooked on to the Rocky syndrome and its Desi version was crafted in the form of BOXER that starred the talented Mithun Chakraborty in the title role. The film did good business and cemented Mithun's star status and the audience well connected with the story. Then there was Amitabh Bachchan in NASEEB essaying not exactly a boxer but a cage fighter more or less on the same lines; only in cage fights the rule is, 'there are no rules'! But about cage fights we'll talk later, now let's talk about boxing.

Sohail Khan starrer ARYAN is up for its theatrical release soon. The movie shows Sohail playing a boxer. Sohail Khan portrays the central character 'Aryan', who is a born fighter. Boxing serves as the life-blood for Aryan's existence. The movie is about how Aryan battles off all the obstacles in his way and ultimately emerges the winner. Well, not a fresh plot but still a film tackling with the brutal art is on the plates after a long time. If the movie clicks it may well revive the genre in Bollywood and pave the way for its future clones. One thing that is more interesting is that the movie highlights the lead hero as an intuitive fighter much like last year's over-hyped Action dud JAMES. Ram Gopal Varma claimed JAMES (he's now remaking it) would be the rising of a real Action star in Bollywood but the movie failed miserably at the box-office and all of Varma's claims withered away in thin air. Hope he gets it right this time with his much determined remake of JAMES but it could well be in a tight spot if ARYAN hits the chord with the audience.

Secondly, it could be revitalizing the action trend in Bollywood all over again. Such strong roles with a lot of substance to it can catapult an actor to stardom if it is written ingeniously and the film made inventively. Just recall Sunny Deol in GHAYAL in which he essayed a boxer, though it had nothing to do with the film's ground but still he was portrayed as a guy who is acquainted with Boxing. This blockbuster by Raj Kumar Santoshi with its taut screenplay and superb performance by Sunny Deol was an overnight sensation. Sunny established himself as a first rate actor and was a favorite with many of the Producers and Directors thereafter. Sohail might be hoping ARYAN to do some similar kind of a miracle and uplift his acting career, but as they say it remains to be seen. Sohail has got the gesticulation to be an Action star and fits the bill perfectly when it comes to rendering the bucolic form on-screen. Incidentally, he's also playing an Action hero in the upcoming FIGHT CLUB though not as a boxer; the film still has him engaged in a lot of bashing and thrashing around. FIGHT CLUB though an Action flick has been tinged with slice of comedy and also involves a romantic circumference to it.

So a lot of Fists of Fury' flying across in the coming times that are ready to take a shot at your guts. Though the subject is not all that new to the audience, it is coming along after quite a gap with those family dramas and candyfloss romantic frolics knocking a dent in recent times. But now the adrenaline rush and high voltage stunts could well be felt again. Action genre is a different fashion in itself and will not go out of fashion, be it Hollywood or Bollywood. People love to see the Action fare, to see the clash of the gladiators on-screen, it's 'paisa vasool' for the public! Only that the films must be able to pack a punch at the box-office and not just pack it, pack it real hard!

DJ Akbar Sami to remix HANUMAN title track

Belying the myth that there is no market for animation films in India, Proving that you can have a good-looking product survive for long by smart and aggressive marketing and distribution strategy, Releasing in more than three languages and hitting the charts in all, HANUMAN, the baby of Percept Picture Company is now getting its Title Track Remixed by DJ Akbar Sami, which will be hitting the tube very soon. The success of HANUMAN has inspired Percept to make some more efforts and keep the first ever Indian Animation movie as the talk of the town.

Where on one side HANUMAN is a true picture of Indian Epic and introduces the new generation to our heritage in its own way, on the other side the remixing of the title track will integrate with the theme of the movie, an element of modernity and will help HANUMAN keep pace with the Generation 'Y'. As Customization and keeping with trends is the company's mantra.

Mrs. Chitra Subramanium, Business Head Production, PPC, says " Hanuman has been very successful and we wanted to keep the film and the music alive amongst the target audiences which ranges from 6 to 60 and that is why we decided to do a remix version with Akbar Sami. Even the music for the remix has been very careful selected keeping in mind the diversified target audiences."

HANUMAN had successfully completed more than 50 days of its smooth running in theatres. It has seen skyrocketing merchandise sales where children were taking home Hanuman toys after the movie and also, the DVDs were made available in the theatres at promotional prices.

Kareena-Shahid, Chup Chup Ke...

Once again the Kareena-Shahid duo are in news for UTV MOTION PICTURES and Priyadarshan's next comic flick CHUP CHUP KE. The film is entirely about love and confusions, which further intertwines the comical riot for the viewers. Similar to his previous comical hits, his latest venture will be a package of many comic elements.

Besides Kareena Kapoor & Shahid Kapur, the film has Kings of comedy like Paresh Rawal, Shakti Kapoor, Anupam Kher and the latest trump card for comedy - Rajpal Yadav. Actors like Om Puri, Suniel Shetty and Neha Dhupia, who recently evolved flair for comedy are also in the movie and ensures that CCK to be a complete comedy package. It has been learned that the movie will be released in the coming summer of 2006.

It seems that Kareena-Shahid are busy bagging movies from all top-notch banners of the industry. Other than Chup Chup Ke, viewers will also notice their favourite star couple in the movies like Boney Kapoor's MILENGE MILENGE and Subhash Ghai's 36 CHINA TOWN.

They've also worked together in Ken Ghosh's disguised romance FIDA, which was not appreciated by viewers. Let us see how their off-screen romance creates magic in their upcoming movies.

Prasoon Joshi, a young global leader in 2006

Prasoon Joshi joins 175 leading executives, public figures and intellectuals under the age of 40 from 50 countries who have been selected to collectively shape the future.

The Forum of Young Global Leaders, an affiliate of the World Economic Forum, proudly announces that Prasoon Joshi, the Creative Director of McCann Erickson India Ltd., has been named a Young Global Leader 2006. He is one of 40 Asians chosen to become Young Global Leaders in 2006 and will join a global community now including 410 leaders from all regions and stakeholder groups.

Established in 2004 by Professor Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, the Forum of Young Global Leaders is a unique, multi-stakeholder community of the world's most extraordinary leaders who are 40 years old or younger and who are ready to dedicate a part of their time and energy to jointly work towards a better future. They engage together in the 2020 Initiative, a comprehensive endeavour, to understand current and future trends, risks and opportunities both at global and regional levels, formulate a positive vision for the world in 2020 and put forward concrete strategies to translate their vision into action.

Each year a new class of around 200 YGLs is selected for a five-year membership, ultimately forming a community of 1,111 by 2009. The 2006 class was chosen from among 3,500 candidates by the Forum of Young Global Leaders' Nomination Committee, featuring 28 international media leaders, including Carl-Johan Bonnier of Bonnier AB in Sweden, Arthur Sulzberger, the publisher of the New York Times, Tom Glocer, chief executive of Reuters and Rui Chenggang, Director and Anchor of China Central Television in the People's Republic of China. The Committee is chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The 2006 class of Young Global Leaders includes over 60 business leaders, more than 30 government leaders, and dozens of scholars, media and nongovernmental organization leaders. They come from 50 countries ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Prasoon Joshi joins a community representing 90 countries that includes Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google; Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia; Kumi Naidoo, Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, Civicus: World Alliance for Citizen Participation; Daniela Mercury, Singer, Brazil and Michelle Guthrie, Chief Executive Officer, Star Group.

During their first meeting in Zermatt, Switzerland and throughout 2005 Young Global Leaders formed task forces addressing priority global challenges for 2020 in the areas of development and poverty, global governance and security, environment, education, and health. In addition, a delegation of Young Global Leaders visited the earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan in December 2005 as a first effort in supporting disaster relief and long-term reconstruction.

The Young Global Leaders will meet as a community at their Annual Summit in Vancouver, Canada, 9-12 June 2006, when they will engage together in the 2020 Initiative, a comprehensive endeavour, to understand current and future trends, risks and opportunities at both the global and regional levels, formulate a positive vision for the world in 2020 and put forward concrete strategies to translate their vision into action.

Sandeep Chowta going SINGLES

Sandeep Chowta who is tagged as item composer of the Bollywood. His compositions like 'Kallu mama', 'Khallas' or 'Babuji' are said to be trendsetters and benchmark for the music industry. His last composition was for the southern film 'CHANDRAMUKHI', which had very popular track 'Mela Mela' featured by Ayesha Takia and Nagarjuna. After this music-lovers didn't hear any note composed by him. Glamsham.com had tte--tte and endeavors to reveal his forthcoming musical mission.

On quizzing him about where he had been all these three years, he replied, "I took a break from my professional life. To be frank, I was bored doing typical Bollywood item-songs. I was in search of my autonomous state of music, which doesn't impose me to be accountable to the filmmakers or music companies."

Asking him about his latest venture FLAT and what does this album is all about, he said, "FLAT is the movie for which I'll be composing one track, this track will be released as SINGLES. I'll be introducing the concept of 'SINGLES' for the first time in the Indian music industry."

Enlightening us more on the concept of SINGLES, he further adds, "Basically its an international concept of selling music and movie in the most effective marketing skills. This concept is popular in US and UK. For instance take MI2, which released the album with all SINGLES including the title track done by Limp Bizkit and also Metallica. Later, the viewers who had already heard the album can easily associate it with the movie and strikes on the familiarity factor."

He adds, "On staging single track first it will definitely create curiosity among the viewers, which further compels them to watch that particular movie and also buy that Album (which will have only 4 to 5 song at the max)."

Justifying the genre for his latest venture, he conceitedly said, "It doesn't belong to any particular genre of music. But undoubtedly it will be a foot-tapping number, meant for music lovers. And the concept of SINGLES will definitely strike the right chord with the Indian listeners."

Adding more to the novelty and USP of his music in FLAT, he candidly says, "At present its in the experimental genre. If it clicks with listeners then you may say it a 'Trendsetter in the Indian Music Industry."

Speaking about private albums, he said, "It's not only about absolute freedom but also about trying your luck as no company in the music industry will launch aspiring music director or singer. To be more candid, the present situation of the music industry is 'quite dumb' or you can say in a 'funny state', where artists keep searching for break and later for freedom."

Amitabh may star in Deepa Mehta's film

If all goes well, Amitabh Bachchan will appear in his first international project to be directed by Deepa Mehta.

Deepa, revelling in the astonishing success of "Water" in Canada - the film continues to be record-breaking grosser in its seventh week, is waiting for Bachchan's green signal.

"The lead in my film 'Kamagata Maru' can be played by no other actor except Bachchan," Mehta told IANS.

"The hero of my most ambitious and expensive film has to be a man of substance, stature and wisdom. I can't think of anyone else but Bachchan," says Mehta.

Meanwhile Deepa has finalised the rest of the cast. Seema Biswas, who has received the maximum raves in the international press for "Water", and John Abraham will play key roles in "Kamagata Maru".

Deepa has also penned in Terence Stamp, the charismatic British actor from "Billy Budd" and "Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Deserts", to play the crucial role of a lawyer.

"I can see Bachchan and Terence together on screen. They'll be dynamite," predicts Deepa.

Minissha Lamba's rocking career

Minissha Lamba - a model turned actress who has endorsed dozens of products, whose innocent looks got noticed in her debut YAHAAN. Making feel her presence in the industry, she has lots of movie lined-up in her career graph. Besides Madhur Bhandar's CORPORATE and Shyam-Narendra Bajaj's ROCKY, she will be also featuring in the Farhan Akhtar's HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD and Raj Verma's FLAT.

Glamsham.com tries to find more about her roles in her forthcoming movies. Being excited on bagging a role in the CORPORATE, she said, "I am playing a role of a simple middle-class girl who aspires to work in the MNC. And her ultimate goal in life is to be an executive head in the corporate world. She is very ambitious and career oriented girl."

Minissha will be also featuring in the upcoming movie of 'Rocky – The Rebel' starring with Zayed Khan. This movie will be also a come back for director Suresh Krishna in Bollywood. On asking her about her role in the movie she said, "I play a girl who is deeply in love with Zayed's character. And she tries hard to make him fall in love with herself. Later she discovers that his love has sad past and helps him to overcome the demons of his past." It's also learnt that Himesh Reshammiya will compose the music.

Being featured in the Farhan Akhtar's HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD, on an elating tone, she said, "Yes, I am thrilled working with him. The film is basically a romantic comedy." Keeping the ethical norms she doesn't reveal much.

It seems that the list of her upcoming movies are endless, she has also Raj Verma's FLAT in her kitty. FLAT is entirely a supernatural thriller, which further includes suspense, action and also horror. On asking about her role in the movie, she said, "well, I'm enacting the character of a village girl who falls in love with an outsider. And how they face all obstacles and how circumstances changes their relationship." She further adds, "I am starring with Kay Kay Menon. It will also feature one more leading pair, which is not yet finalized. Mr. Verma is looking for casting new pair in this movie." Its also learned that after along hiatus Sandeep Chowta (of Babauji fame) will be composing music for the movie 'Flat'.

Now 'Hanuman' remix

Belying the myth that there is no market for animation films in India, proving that you can have a good-looking product survive for long by smart and aggressive marketing and distribution strategy and releasing in more than three languages and proving a box-office success, HANUMAN is now getting its title track remixed by DJ Akbar Sami, which will be hitting the tube shortly. The success of HANUMAN has inspired Percept Picture Company to make some more efforts and keep the animation movie as the talk of the town.

On one side HANUMAN is a true picture of Indian epic and introduces the new generation to our heritage in its own way, on the other side the remixing of the title track will integrate with the theme of the movie an element of modernity and will help the film keep pace with the present-day generation.

Alice Patten creates a buzz

UTV which is producing the Aamir Khan starrer Rang De Basanti has been busy promoting English actress Alice Patten who stars opposite Aamir in the film. She has been promoted so well that she seems to have become the favorite of the British media. A host of the top notch publications including The Evening Standard, The Times and The Sunday Times have featured her. That's not all. The actress has also been invited by BBC 1 to their popular Breakfast show, to talk about Rang De Basanti. Her line up of other shows includes Film Caf, Nikki Bedi's Drive show and Five Live. Quite an interesting mix! Let's hope that the film, which releases on January 20th, manages to live up to the great expectations!