James Boplin's "Muppets Most Wanted" will hit the screens in India March 21.

The family comedy, co-produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, features Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo, Animal, Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey in pivotal roles.

Disney’s “Muppets Most Wanted” takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London, said a statement.

Bobin co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Stoller, who is also the film's executive producer with John G. Scotti.

Designer Manish Malhotra will open the summer-resort 2014 edition of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW), starting here March 11.

Bollywood's fashion has come to enjoy a couture status because of Malhotra's magic over the past years. His trendsetting creations have always been cherished by the fashion community.

There will be a robust line-up of 98 designers who will participate at the LFW summer-resort 2014, said a statement.

Some of the established designers who will be a part of the fashion extravaganza are Neeta Lulla, Tarun Tahiliani, Anju Modi, Shehlaa Khan, Rahul Mishra, Anita Dongre and accessory designer Mawi, who will put together a show titled "Indian Odyssey" with designer Gaurav Gupta.

Mawi, a Britain-based accessory designer, will return to her homeland after 12 years of establishing the MAWI brand in London. Born in Manipur, Mawi returns to her Indian roots with a spectacular debut show at LFW sharing the ramp with Gupta.

Ministry of Textiles will present designer Krishna Mehta's show for Indian Textile Day.

Actor Jimmy Shergill, who will be seen in the soon-to-release horror film "Darr @ The Mall", says there is a dearth of filmmakers who can do justice to the horror genre, which he feels has not caught up really well.

"There are one or two people only in our film industry who do justice to this (horror) genre. Otherwise, it's not a genre that has caught up really well in our industry," the actor said here Monday during the film's promotion on the set of TV show "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah".

He believes that the genre has a good scope in the country.

"There is a lot of scope for this genre and it is evident from the Hollywood horror films that release in India and the huge business they do. So why can't our horror films do that much business," he asked.

In "Darr @ The Mall", Jimmy plays a security agent. The film's premise is a mall haunted with spirits who have killed many people.

Jimmy said that before coming on board for "Darr @ The Mall", he was sceptical about trying his hand at horror, but the film's set-up and the script caught his interest.

"Personally, I love watching horror films but initially I was sceptical of doing horror films. But this time the script was good, character was good, producers were also very nice. Infact, the entire set-up was very nice," said the "Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster" fame actor.

Directed by Pawan Kirpalani, the film also features Nushrat Bharucha and will hit the theatres Friday.

Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar says the poem for his campaign MARD - Men Against Rape and Discrimination - will soon be out in other languages.

"For those asking, we will be recording the MARD poem in more languages. This is just the beginning," Farhan posted on microblogging website Twitter Tuesday.

MARD, a social campaign launched by Farhan, aims to raise social awareness against rape and discrimination of women.

The poem is written by Javed Akhtar and has been narrated by the "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" actor.

The 40-year-old promoted the campaign while sporting a moustache.

Actress Priyanka Chopra, whose father passed away last year, was left confused about what to do on her parents' 33rd wedding anniversary Tuesday.

"Don't know what to make of today...Would have been my parents 33rd anniversary...Off to work...Answers all my problems," Priyanka tweeted Tuesday.

Her father Ashok Chopra died June 2013. The "Gunday" star was very close to her father, but the professional that she is, Priyanka returned to shooting just a few days after the tragedy hit the family.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt says the "desire for power" and "ability to thwart" led to the creations of heroes like "Superman" and now "Mr X".

"The desire for power and the ability to thwart evil and to right all wrongs led to such icons as 'Superman' also 'Mr X'," Mahesh tweeted.

Written by Shagufta Rafique, "Mr X" is being directed by Vikram Bhatt and features Emraan Hashmi in the lead role.

Actress-anchor Mandira Bedi will make her ramp debut as a designer at the forthcoming Lakme Fashion Week summer-resort 2014. She says her sari collection will be high on "efffects" and low on embellishments.

"LFW is the best platform to showcase my collection," Mandira said at a press conference here for the extravaganza.

Mandira ventured into fashion designing last year and she even opened a signature store here.

Talking about her new line, she said: "My collection wil see bright and summery saris and it will have lots of fun colours. The line will have more efffects and less emblishmets," she said.

There will also be a celebrity showstopper, but Mandira was guarded about this.

"I can't reveal her name right now," said the entertainer, who has proved her acting acumen on the small and big screen over the years.

Recently seen in the Indian version of "24", Mandira says she wants to explore different facets of herself and that is why she has tried acting, anchoring and now designing.

"We have just one life. I want to explore everything. But I have not left entertainment...it's just that I am trying something new," she said of her choice of dabbling in the world of fashion.

LFW will begin here March 11.

Since making his debut in 2009 with "Kal Kissne Dekha", Jackky Bhagnani has done just a handful of films. He says it's not because he is choosy, but because he wants to be taken seriously as an actor by the audience.

He will next be seen in "Youngistaan".

"I have not become choosy, this is all I get! I am doing this ('Youngistaan') because I want to do all kinds of films. In my career of four years, I am struggling to make people take me seriously as an actor and give me credit for it and not just take me as being a producer's son or a dancer or cute looking," the 29-year-old said here at a press meet.

Jackky, who is filmmaker Vashu Bhagnani's son, spoke on the sidelines of an event to announce the association of "Youngistaan" with Viva Carnival Goa 2014. He was accompanied by the film's actress Neha Sharma.

In "Youngistaan", Jackyy plays a young prime minister.

Jackky hopes his film inspires real life and young people are brought to the forefront in politics.

"Apart from just being a film, this is also what people want. For a change, I hope real life gets inspired by reel life and politicians go and watch it," Jackky said.

Directed by Syed Ahmad Afzal, "Youngistaan" also stars Boman Irani and late Farooque Sheikh. The film releases March 28.

Bollywood glamour girl Kareena Kapoor will be the showstopper for designer Rajesh Pratap Singh's grand finale show at the Lakme Fashion Week Summer- Resort (LFW) 2014.

"Kareena will be walking the ramp for the grand finale," Purniima Lamba, head of innovation at fashion brand Lakme, title sponsor of the fashion extravaganza, told IANS.

"Our theme for this season is illusion. Illusion is the new fashion statement inspired by the digital age. There will be a lot of metallic shadows which will be the new trend.

"Kareena has always been involved a lot with her collections and she is someone who loves kajal (kohl), so she will be contributing a lot to the shades," Lamba added.

The LFW will see established designers like Manish Malhotra and Neeta Lulla exhibiting their lines on the ramp.

Lulla is excited to showcase her line which is inspired from streetwear.

"My collection will be an Indo-western blend which is inspired from the street wear. It's a very trendy collection," she said.

This season, designer Anita Dogre will be the mentor for Gen Next show, which promotes new talent.

LFW will be held here March 12-16, with Malhotra as the opening designer.

Filmmaker Soumik Sen, whose debut film "Gulaab Gang" is yet to release, has already developed a few scripts for his upcoming projects, but one genre he doesn't wish to experiment with is a sex comedy.

Post "Gulaab Gang", Sen is likely to make a biopic, a comedy and a thriller, but a sex comedy is a no-no.

"I will not direct an adult comedy. That doesn't work for me. I don't have anything against such films, but I don't have anything as such in mind," Sen told IANS.

"There is an audience for everything, but I would never want to see my name as a director of 'Grand Masti'. I have serious issues about people making rape jokes," he added.

He believes filmmakers must be more responsible.

"Yes, I look down upon 'Grand Masti', but not on 'Delhi Belly'. I loved 'Delhi Belly'. As filmmakers, there is a line which we can draw and that's the line I will not cross," he said.

Sen's second film will be a biopic on late magician P.C. Sorcar.

"Besides, this I am trying to develop a comedy film with a supernatural element and a thriller love story," he said.

At a time when onscreen smoking finds place in films under the guise of creative freedom, a Malayalam movie is promoting public health.

Recently released "Om Shanti Oshaana", a romantic movie directed by Jude Antony Joseph, it subtly drives home tobacco harms and makes a public commitment against onscreen smoking.

It is scripted by Midhun Manuel and produced by Alvin Antony's Ananya Films.

The opening sequence of the film has the lead actor, Nivin Pauly, attempting to light a cigarette.

As mandated by Section 5 of India's tobacco control law COTPA, 2003, a statutory warning is displayed on screen.

The actor tries to brush the warning message aside, proceeds to light the cigarette again only to see the warning once more. He is not able to ignore the health warning and ends up crumbling and discarding the cigarette.

Following an exchange between the actor and his co-artist, the film announces that there will be no instance of onscreen smoking in it.

Antony said onscreen smoking has a definite impact in developing smoking habits and it was his conscious decision to make a film without any smoking scenes.

"The response received for my film so far shows that films can succeed without depiction of smoking and drinking," said Antony.

Welcoming the trend, ace director Sathyan Anthikad said: "It cannot be denied that cinema influences society."

"Control messages as in 'Om Shanti Oshaana' wherein popular lead actors publicly denounce smoking, will strike a better chord than routine statutory warnings," said Anthikad.

Under COTPA Section 5, all new Indian or foreign films/television programmes displaying tobacco products or their use should have a strong editorial justification and should air anti-tobacco health spots, of minimum 30 seconds at the beginning and middle of the film/programme.

A nationally representative cross-sectional study covering 123,768 women and 74,068 men in urban and rural areas of all Indian states concluded that exposure to visual mass media leads to higher likelihood of tobacco consumption - both smoking and chewing - amongst both genders.

Actor Kunal Kapoor Tuesday clarified there was nothing official about his wedding to long-time girlfriend Naina Bachchan rumoured to be solemnised later this year.

Kapoor said the two were "dating and together". Naina is superstar Amitabh Bachchan's niece.

"It is not official. When we are ready, we will definitely talk about it," he told the media here.

The 36-year-old actor shot to fame with his 2005 debut "Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities" and subsequently went on to star in blockbusters like "Rang De Basanti".

Kapoor has finished shooting for filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda's venture "Kaun Hai Kitne Paani Mein".

"It is a mainstream Hindi film shot extensively in Odisha and deals with access to water," he said.

Bollywood celebrities Tuesday said they were all set to perform and entertain their fans at the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards to be held in Tampa Bay, Florida.

"IIFA is my family and I have been associated with IIFA for the last 15 years. I am grateful to IIFA and I feel this is going to be the best IIFA ever," actor Anil Kapoor said at a press conference.

Madhuri Dixit Nene said she has lived in Florida for two years and that it was a "gorgeous place".

"I can assure you Tampa Bay is a gorgeous place. It has got a lot to offer. People there will welcome you with a lot of warmth. I am honoured to be associated with them," Madhuri said.

Saif Ali Khan and wife Kareena Kapoor Khan said they will put their best foot forward and entertain their fans.

"We live in divided times but what brings us together is love for cinema. I am very excited about it," Saif said.

Kareena added: "IIFA is the only Indian award which celebrates Indian cinema on a global platform. We are going to put our best foot forward and entertain our fans there."

The IIFA awards will be hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar.

The first set of star performers at the IIFA weekend - to be held April 23-26 - includes Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Sonakshi Sinha among others.

Bipasha Basu and Pritam were also present at Tuesday's press conference along with US Ambassador Peter Haas.

ctress Bipasha Basu, who is in the news for her relationship with Harman Baweja, says she is looking for an eligible bachelor.

Bipasha is all set to perform at the IIFA awards in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Asked if she going to the IIFA awards with Harman, Bipasha said: "I am going to IIFA alone. So I am looking for an eligible bachelor there."

Actor Kunal Kapoor's online crowd-fund raising portal "Ketto" will focus on gathering contributions for animal welfare and environmental organisations this year, its CEO said Tuesday.

"Ketto", formed by Kapoor, and its CEO Varun Sheth, partnered Kolkata's new boutique hotel and restaurant "The Corner Courtyard", to raise funds through a charity dinner to support SOS Children's Village, Kolkata.

The portal will link potential donors across the globe to Indian non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

"Last year, we gathered funds primarily for NGOs working for women's empowerment. This year, we will focus on groups working for animal welfare and environment. We have been getting a lot of requests from environmental NGOs," Sheth said here on the sidelines of the launch of the Kolkata venture, in Kapoor's presence.

According to Kapoor, the online philanthropy portal banks on the support of youngsters who are well connected through social networks.

"We also do fund-raisers in various colleges to get the youth involved," he said.

It also bridges the gaps between non-resident Indians (NRIs) and the NGOs.

"Over 30 percent of our contributions are from NRIs. About 10 percent is from non-Indians across the world," said Sheth, adding the initiative aids only India-based NGOs.

According to Sheth, Ketto which was established in 2012, has on its rosters as many as 40 NGOs and it plans to scale it up to 200 NGOs by the end of 2014.

During the making of a film, actors generally tend to bond with each other owing to the long hectic schedules which they have outdoor! Ditto happened on the sets of Balaji Motion Pictures upcoming masala entertainer ‘Main Tera Hero’.

The film which is directed by Comedy King David Dhawan will see his son VarunDhawan teaming up with him for the very first time along with the beautiful ladies Nargis Fakhri & Ileana D’Cruz!

Main Tera Hero has a large portion of the film which have been shot in Bangalore & Bangkok and the shooting schedules of this film had been so erratic & long that Davidji ensured he had a cook on the sets all the time to give the artists and crew ‘ghar ka khanna’ informs a source close to the production team.

David Dhawan flew his personal cook all the way from Mumbai to Bangalore & Bangkok so that the crew does not miss their home & become home-sick. When you are shooting in outdoor locations food is a basic necessity, everything else can be managed when you have yummy food in your tummy!

We tried contacting David Dhawan but he was unavailable to comment, but a spokesperson from Balaji confirmed and said, “Davidji is like a father figure, and treats all his actors like his children only, he was quite concerned about Nargis & Ileana’s health along with Varun’s and therefore he ensured his cook prepares delicious delicacies for one and all”

Now isn’t that sweet well! We are sure all the other actors in B Town too would be wanting to have a director like Davidji!!

Directed by David Dhawan and produced by Balaji Motion Pictures, Main Tera Hero is all set to hit the screens on 4th April 2014, starring Varun Dhawan, Ileana D’cruz and Nargis Fakhri in the lead roles.

Emerging director Neeraj Ghaywan, whose award-winning screenplay "Fly Away Solo" will soon be turned into a motion picture, says in India screenwriters are not given the kind of importance that they deserve.

"I always give a lot of value to screenwriters. In india, we don't value screenwriters much. Even at award functions, the category is not considered as a part of popular or main awards. It comes under technical awards, but it should be the biggest award. It is the main one," Ghaywan told IANS.

He was recently handed over the 2014 Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award for his screenplay "Fly Away Solo". Phantom films, co-owned by filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, has taken on the production work of the "Fly Away Solo" movie, to be directed by Ghaywan.

"The title will be in Hindi. I am yet to finalise it. It will hopefully go on floors this year," said the 33-year-old, who was part of the corporate world before stepping into the filmdom.

Ghaywan, who has worked with Kashyap quite a few times in the past as an assistant director on "Gangs Of Wasseypur" and second unit director on the latter's forthcoming film "Ugly", says that both share a "strange relationship".

"I quit my corporate life and started assisting him on ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur'. Anurag is a nice person and there is no hierarchy in his office. Anyone can walk up to him and give suggestions. He is very encouraging too. He helped me to make a short film titled ‘Shor' in 2012," said Ghaywan.

"Fly Away Solo" is based on four lives - a lower caste boy hopelessly in love, a daughter torn with guilt, a father sinking in greed, and a spirited kid craving for a family.

The movie focuses on how their lives intersect along the Ganga river and all of them yearn to escape the constrictions of a small town.

Actors Rajkummar Rao and Richa Chadda have been approached for lead roles.

Despite a legal notice from Hollywood studio Warner Bros. claiming copyright infringement, director Prabhudheva and his producer Gordhan Tanwani are in no mood to budge from the title "Action Jackson".

Warner Bros' 1988 Hollywood film featuring Carl Weathers and Sharon Stone released with the same name and the production house has given the makers of the Bollywood film a notice to change the title as "Action Jackson" is registered by them for the sub-continent as well.

A letter has been sent to Baba Arts Limited Production and Eros International, who are jointly producing the film.

On the other hand, Prabhudheva says there is a very special reason why his film is called "Action Jackson".

"We named the film 'Action Jackson' because our hero Ajay Devgan is known as 'AJ' and we thought it would be a good idea to use the initials and extend it into the title 'Action Jackson' as Ajay is doing both action and dancing in the film," said the director.

Prabhudheva, who also changed the title of his previous film "Rambo Rajkumar" to "R...Rajkumar", says that he cant "keep giving in like this for every title".

"It isn't like 'Rambo Rajkumar' where Rambo was a patented name by the Hollywood studio. How can anyone claim copyright over the words 'action' and 'Jackson'? And since the word 'Jackson' is in my title for the dancing, we might have (late pop legend) Michael Jackson's family claiming copyright violation. We can't just keep giving in like this for every title," he said.

As for the title belonging to a Hollywood film, Prabhu defends his title.

"I had never heard of a Hollywood film titled 'Action Jackson'. Didn't it come 25 years ago? So many films are titled 'Romeo & Juliet'. Should Shakespeare's family sue?"

Actor Ali Fazal will walk the ramp for designer Kunal Anil Tanna at the forthcoming summer-resort 2014 edition of Lakme Fashion Week.

The five-day fashion extravaganza will start here March 12.

The actor is excited about it and all praise for the designer's menswear collection which is inspired by blue pottery.

"This is the first time I will walk the ramp so I am very excited," Ali said here during the press conference of the fashion week.

"I think I have never worn such beautiful clothes and for this the credit goes to designer Kunal Anil Tanna. He has used blue pottery in his collection, especially in menswear. Blue pottery is very famous in Jaipur. That's genius work of art," he added.

A total of 98 designers will participate at the LFW summer-resort 2014. Actress Mandira Bedi will also make her ramp debut as a designer and will showcase her new sari line.

Meanwhile, on being asked what he finds easier - acting or walking the ramp, Ali said: "Acting is more easy than walking the ramp. I am really amazed to see the people who walked the ramp here".

LFW will be opened by celebrity fashion designer Manish Malhotra.

Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu has opened up about her relationship status with actor Harman Baweja, and says they "are a couple".

The duo have been spotted together on a number of occasions but they always remained tight-lipped about their relationship status.

The "Raaz" star revealed their relationship status on microblogging website Twitter.

"Stating the obvious. Yes, Harman and me are a couple. Finally I have met a person who is a far better human being than I am. Blessed," Bipasha tweeted Wednesday.

The 35-year-old also said she is in happy place in her personal life.

"(I) am in a very happy space in my personal life and it would be fair if people just respect that and not speculate," she tweeted.

Bipasha was previously in a relationship with her "Jism" co-star John Abraham for over eight years. But they parted ways in 2011. John got married to Priya Runchal, an investment banker, in January this year.