Actress Sridevi, who starred in the popular 1987 song "Hawa Hawai", Friday unveiled the trailer of Amole Gupte's much-awaited film "Hawaa Hawaai" here.

The cast of the forthcoming movie was present at the event.

Sridevi, who had danced to the number of the same name in the movie "Mr.India', said: "I have always been associated with 'Hawaa Hawaai' with 'Mr. India', but today it has a new meaning."

"I have loved Amole Gupte's films. They touch the emotionnal chords. I have loved the trailer of this film," she told reporters during the trailer launch of the movie.

Amole's son Partho, who plays a prominent role in the film, was excited to have Sridevi to unveil the film's trailer.

Sridevi recalled her experience as a child artist, and said: "I was four years old when I started working as a child artist. I don't remember much but I always wanted to be an actress."

"Hawaa Hawaai" features Saqib Saleem in the lead role.

After launching his son Partho as an actor with "Stanley Ka Dabba", filmmaker Amole Gupte has roped him in once again for "Hawaa Hawaai". He says lots of offers came the young actor's way, but as father, he wants Partho to live his childhood to the hilt.

"He has got more than 100 opportunities. He has also won National aAward and got many other awards, but these awards are not important. His childhood is more important than any awards," Amole told reporters during the trailer launch of "Hawaa Hawaai".

"Many people have approached him, but his childhood is much more important, so I saved him," added the concerned father.

Amole Gupte was associated with "Taare Zameen Par" before making "Stanley Ka Dabba".

Asked why he only directs children-oriented films, he said: "I wanted to make cause-related things which can make a difference. After 'Taare Zameen Par', parents started looking at children differently."

Young Partho says he had lot of fun working with his father.

"We had a blast shooting for this film. We just worked for four to five hours a day. It's fun working with dad. I had a great experience," he said.

Actress Sridevi was present for the launch of the trailer of the film, which features Saqib Saleem in the lead role.

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan Friday shot off a letter to the Election Commission, declaring that he is not endorsing any political party in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

He has also sought the poll panel take action to rectify rumours hinting that he has been associated in any manner with the Aam Aadmi Party headed by former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"Aamir Khan, from day one has made it clear that he will not be endorsing a particular political party. He is not supporting or campaigning for any political party," said a statement issued on behalf of the actor.

The provocation for Aamir's statement is said to be a picture of the actor circulating on various social media indicating that he would vote for the AAP.

The image also shows former president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, south Indian actor Mohanlal and former cricket captain Kapil Dev - though it is not clear whether the picture is a fake.

Khan's complaint to the poll panel came even as the latter was repotedly toying with the idea of making him a brand ambassador for the 2014 elections and promoting the 'Right to Vote.'

Actress Soha Ali Khan felicitated India's aspiring fashion designer at an awards ceremony held at the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week autumn-winter 2014 (WIFW) here Friday.

Wills Lifestyle presented the grand finale of the 8th edition of The Debut, which recognises the country's talented young designers in the field of fashion. Soha was present at the occasion.

"The Debut by Wills Lifestyle is an extremely wonderful initiative. It gives the young aspiring student designers from all over India an opportunity to showcase their capabilities in front of the celebrated fashion specialists," Soha said.

Gourav Goel, Pearl Academy, New Delhi was declared the winner of The Debut this time.

He received a sponsored trip to Britain for a course at the London School of Fashion.

The Debut finale was judged by popular names like Namrata Joshipura and Pankaj & Nidhi from the Indian fashion industry.

Actress Alia Bhatt, who has shot for some intimate scenes with Arjun Kapoor for her new movie "2 States", says she is an actor on screen and not anybody's daughter.

Asked how did her parents react to her intimate scenes, Alia said: "Have you seen my father's film? I am an actor on screen and not anybody's daughter."

"Anyway, I don't think my dad has any problem with it," Alia told reporters during a press conference.

Alia, who plays a Tamil girl in the film, says her character is very mature.

"Ananya is much more mature. She is very intelligent... after all, she is an MBA. I relate to the character. She can do anything for the people she loves."

Arjun, who agreed to be part of "2 States", says one reason why he agreed to be part of the film was because he feels love does not have any boundaries.

"I choose to do this film because I feel there are no boundaries when it comes to love. Nobody can stop you when it comes to love. I connected to this film emotionally," he said.

Directed by Abhishek Verman, "2 States" is slated for release April 18.

Film: "Dishkiyaoon", Cast: Sunny Deol, Harman Baweja, Ayesha Khanna, Prashant Narayanan, Aditya Chopra, Director: Sanamjit Talwar, Rating: **

Cheek mate! Papa says to his little boy, "Be Gandhian". Boy turns the other cheek to a bully in school. Bully slaps our young hero again. Boy visits neighbourhood gangster Tony Mota (so called because, we are informed, he is discernibly fat in some part of his body, giggle giggle) and asks for a solution.

"Hit him back," says Mota Tony, and instantly endears himself to the child-hero who grows up to be Harman Baweja.

Quite a stroke of luck for the burdened script. Harman brings to the narrative a residue of angst that serves the plot well. He plays a gangster who suffers constantly.

So, for that matter, do we, though for different reasons.

Debutant director Sanamjit Talwar unnecessarily complicates the gangster flick with layer after layer of characterisation. Sinister characters, desperately in need to bathe, keep popping up and popping off for no other reason except to remind us that the world of Mumbai's gangsterism has not changed much from the time when Ram Gopal Varma made "Satya".

But while in "Satya" we genuinely cared for the sanguinary characters, here in "Dishkiyaoon", we are too tired of the trigger-happy marauders to give a flying f**k about whether they live or die.

The dark menacing characters all look like carryovers from Varma's "Satya" and "Company" trying hard to shield their jadedness in a revved up revivified swagger which only helps to accentuate their frozen renewability.

The characters' hands remain soaked in the same blood as "Satya", no matter how hard the script tries to cover their bloodied track with streaks of cosmetic conceit. Try as it might the narration's worn-out edges stick out of the sleekly-designed format.

The film is very stylishly packaged with some ear-catching background music (Amar Mohile) and cinematography (Axel Fischer) that fuses colour and black-and-white in a hide 'n' seek with time.

Sad to say the impressive colour scheme lacks clarity consistence and logic. Much like the film which rambles on about the relationship between crime and comeuppance but doesn't offer us one reason to believe that these characters deserve our attention.

What redeems the film's inherently fagged-out storytelling are the actors.

Prashant Narayanan as Harman's mentor, Sumeet Nijhawan as a crime lord who doesn't use a gun and specially Anand Tiwari as a hot-headed goon, turn in implosive performances that ignite the frames when the director is taken up with intensifying the layering process.

Sunny Deol's Haryanvi accent is as distracting as Harman's moustache.

But the young actor has returned to the screen with the language of languidity lending an aura of urgent doom to the goings-on. Newcomer Ayesha Khanna has a brief but effective part as the guitar-playing musician who wonders if she and the world around her would ever be compatible.

Watching "Dishkiyaaoon" we are faced by the same dilemma. While we warm up to the film's performances and its intelligent take on gangsterism, the constant barrage of slaying and screaming leave us cold.

The background score of forthcoming Telugu action-drama "Rowdy" will be dedicated to maestro Illayaraja, says its director Ram Gopal Varma, who has been a fan of the composer's tunes for several years.

Illayaraja worked with RGV on his cinematic debut "Shiva".

"As a huge fan of this legendary musician, my main interest is to bring back this composition to express the great idea of the genius Illayaraja's 1989 soundtrack (of 'Shiva') to 2014," RGV said in a statement.

"I asked Sai Kartik (composer of 'Rowdy') to do an integration of the brilliant cycle chase theme from 'Shiva' into the main theme of 'Rowdy' and it turned out to be brilliant," he added.

The background theme of "Rowdy" is titled "Cycle Rowdy" and will be released soon.

Expressing his admiration for the maestro, Varma said: "I have been a huge fan of background scores ever since I became a film buff and one of my all time favourite music piece is the cycle chase background score by Illayaraja in my debut film 'Shiva'.

"I still can't forget the goose bumps I got back in 1989 when Illayaraja was scoring music for that sequence."

He feels all those who loved the cycle chase theme in "Shiva" will also like the background theme of "Rowdy".

Varma said this tribute is his "salute to Illayaraja".

Following a request from a few Tamil fringe groups, four scenes and one dialogue have been removed from cinematographer-filmmaker Santosh Sivan's Tamil war-drama "Inam", which revolves around a group of teenagers during Sri Lankan civil war.

"Inam" released worldwide Friday.

"We distributed the film because we wanted to showcase the plight of Sri Lankan Tamil during the civil war a few years ago. We screened the film for a few Tamil groups who wanted to ensure we didn't make a propaganda film. They have requested us to remove five scenes (one dialogue) and we have graciously obliged," N. Linguswamy, who distributed the film, said in a statement.

"Scenes such as rebels in a class room, a Buddhist monk sharing a pomegranate with Sri Lankan Tamils, mention of LTTE leader and Kargil reference have been removed," added the statement.

Featuring Sugandha Ram, Saritha and Karunas in important roles, the film also features a bunch of young actors between the age group of five and 20.

Actor Vishnu Manchu's Hyderabad-based production house 24 Frames Factory has launched its US distribution arm, which will focus on independent films and distribution of its own films in cinema halls.

Ram Gopal Varma's Telugu action-drama "Rowdy", releasing April 4, will be the firm's first film to get distributed in the US.

"Given the hunger for Indian films that are made by independent filmmakers and production companies like us, and the fact we are now financing a large proportion of productions, we no longer see the value working with other distributors," Vishnu said a statement.

"Setting up a distribution arm is a natural progression for 24 Frames Factory's business expansion and growth as a media and entertainment powerhouse globally," he added.

The company targets to distribute two or three major-scale films with a big star cast every year. That will be the main business surrounded by other middle-size titles with a clear distinction of genre and concept such as action, comedy and popcorn entertainers.

"Since the spotlight is thrown on Indian films, especially from the south of India like Telugu films, we felt it is natural for us to expand this to new markets where we have large number of Indian population," said Vishnu.

In the past, 24 Frames Factory has produced Telugu films such as "Doosukeltha", "Denikaina Ready" and "Pandavalu Pandavalu Tummeda".

It's not always easy to be true to a role, specially if it requires a drastic physical change. And yet actors in India and Hollywood have undertaken bold physical transformations to be true to a character.

While Shilpa Shetty managed with prosthetics when she had to shave her head off for a Buddhist monk's role in the Indo-Chinese film "The Desire", Antara Mali went all the way and shaved off her head for her monk's role in Amol Palekar's "And Once Again".

It's another matter that Antara'a dedication has not been witnessed by anyone as yet as the film lies in the cans.

So is it worth an actor's efforts to go all-out for a role? Here are ten actors who have gone clean shaven, bald or nearly bald for a part:

Aamir Khan ("Ghajini"): The striped head-shave which made Aamir look like an Irish punk was so cool, but it was scary. Aamir went around without most of his hair for a good seven to eight months to look the part of the memory-challenged beefed-up avenger who has nothing to lose in life expect his life. The tonsured head was Aamir's idea. When he was signed for the role, no one expected him to go so closely by the script, even if he was Aamir Khan.

Jake Gyllenhaal ("End Of Watch"): Not completely bald...but close enough, Jake Gyllenhaal wanted that scruffy-head look for his role of a gritty cop in Los Angeles on a tough beat. Off went the long tresses. He apparently liked his near-hairless look so much that he kept it going even after the shooting was over.

Salman Khan ("Tere Naam"): This guy never acts. He just stands in front of the camera and is his natural self. Audiences love him for that. Physical transformations, beards and wigs are a complete no-no for Salman. The one exception was Satish Kaushik's "Tere Naam" where Salman agreed to tonsure his head to look convincing as a tortured inmate in a mental asylum.

Matt Damon ("Elysium"): For his futuristic part in Neil Blokamp's film, Matt shaved off his head completely. Apparently, he was advised by his marketing team not to do so as it would affect his equity. But Matt was adamant. He spent four hours every day in the gym perfecting his body langage and his personality for the role.

Arjun Rampal ("Ra.One"): To play the villain, you've got to sacrifice your vanity. Considered quite a prominent pin-up boy in Bollywood, Arjun shaved off and hid his hairless head under caps for as long as he shot for the superhero film.

Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas ("Water"): Deepa Mehta's film has an interesting history. It was meant to be Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi playing widows on the ghats of Varanasi. But when Hindu radicals protested and shut down the film, the cast was changed to Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas in the two key roles. However, all four actresses shaved off their hair to play their roles. Dedication of this sort is exemplary in Bollywood.

Demi Moore ("G.I. Jane"): As a cadet trying to compete with her male colleagues in the army, Demi Moore went all-out to look like one of the boys. She knocked off her feminine curves, shaved off her sexy tresses and just blended into the fatigues without any sign of fatigue.

Natalie Portman ("V For Vendetta"): James McTeigue's futuristic thriller had the nubile Portman as a terrorist's accomplice. For one sequence where her character was tortured, her hair had to be shaved off, the stunner readily agreed to shave off her head.

Cate Blanchett ("Heaven"): Playing a woman out to get revenge for her husband's death, this year's Oscar winner Cate Blanchett sacrificed her hair to look like a no-nonsense woman on a mission where she had be more macho than the guys she had taken on. Cate rose to the occasion in this Tom Tykwer-thriller, refused prosthetics to look bald, and delivered a hair-raising performance.

Shahid Kapoor ("Haider"): Finally he didn't completely shave off his head, as planned. But director Vishal Bhardwaj has got chocolate-boy hero Shahid Kapoor to actually sport a close-cropped look for his Kashmiri character's role in the movie.

Sanjay Dutt ("Agneepath"): When Sanjay Dutt agreed to play the villain Kancha in Karan Malhotra's remake of the Amitabh Bachchan classic "Agneepath", the makers were very sure they wanted Sanjay's Kancha to be very different, and much more intimidating than Danny Denzongpa in the original. The new Kancha was written as a grotesque comicbook figure. The actor gladly agreed to shave off his head for a very Frankenstein kind of diabolic look. The end result was scary!

Bollywood star Salman Khan, who unveiled the music of an upcoming sports-based film "Khwaabb" here, is himself tempted to produce a movie inspired by a sport.

"I would like to produce a film based on sports," Salman told reporters here at the music launch event Friday.

"I have played almost all kinds of sports...I have done swimming, have played football...I even used to play cricket," he said, adding that "sports should be encouraged" in the nation.

"Khwaabb", directed by Zaid Ali Khan, showcases the life of two atheletes, their struggles, ambitions and aspirations.

Salman, 48, lamented how due to lack of encouragement and facilities, sportspersons in the country are sometimes unable to deliver their best, and then face the wrath of the countrymen.

"When you will watch such films (like 'Khwaabb'), you will realise that there are no facilities as such, no facilities for training (for the sportspersons) and if there won't be any facility, how will our sportspersons will perform better?"

"And when they (sportspersons) do not perform in Olympics and such other sports or do not win a medal, then we criticise them and say 'You didn't win even a single medal'. There is food problem, people are not getting jobs...there is no encouragement," he said.

"Khwaabb", slated to release May 9, features actors Navdip Singh, Simer Motiani, Rishi Miglani and Nafisa Ali.

Salman Khan, whose movies often mint over Rs.100 crore at the Bollywood box office, says small-budget films deserve fair visibility in theatres as big budget entertainers, as they too involve money and passion.

"People make small films with a lot of passion, they put their own money in it and if these films are not supported, then they would never see the day of light and hence, lot of money is lost," Salman said here Friday at the music launch of the small fry "Khwaabb".

"For big films, this is a very small amount but when somebody is putting in his own hard earned money there, then it makes a lot of difference. There is passion, hardwork and money."

"I think the small films should be given a fair chance to release and come in the theatres," he added.

The 48-year-old has earlier supported Vikas Bahl's "Chillar Party" and released it under his banner Salman Khan Being Human Productions.

Besides this, he also lent his support to Nitin Kakkar's National Award winning film "Filmistaan".

Boxing champion Vijender Singh has featured in a new ad urging people to boycott animal circuses.

The ad, for animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, was unveiled here at the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week autumn-winter 2014 Friday.

In the ad, shot by ace photographer Anil Chawla, Vijender is seen showing off his knuckles and posing next to the tagline - "Knock out cruelty: Boycott animal circuses".

"Animals cherish their freedom every bit as much as we do, but circuses deny them their freedom and every other form of natural expression. I'm asking people across India to help knock out cruelty by never attending a circus that uses animals", Vijender said in a statement.

On the work front, the boxer is warming up for his Bollywood - Akshay Kumar and Ashwini Yardi's Grazing Goat Pictures'"Fugly", set for June release.

The release of the long-awaited Rajinikanth starrer "Kochadaiiyaan" has been postponed yet again. The new release date, according sources very close to the project, is May 1.

After many delays, the film had been "finally" announced for release April 11 alongside the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Hindi entertainer "Bhootnaath Returns". But now it seems the Big B would have to go it alone on that Friday.

"Despite our very best efforts, we're just not ready. We need two more weeks and we are not willing to speed up the post-production just because we have been missing other deadlines in the past," said a source.

The film's co-producer Murali Manohar said: "We are looking at a new date. Yes, we're looking at the one mentioned by you. The censoring of 'Kochadaiiyaan' in all the various languages is not yet done."

Film: "Inam"; Cast: Sugandha Ram, Karan, Saritha and Karunas; Director: Santosh Sivan; Rating: ****

War stories are extremely challenging to narrate without being controversial. But cinematographer-filmmaker Santosh Sivan has crushed that notion to pulp with his film "Inam", a war-drama which explores the lives of a group of orphans during the Sri Lankan civil war.

Without taking sides and not provoking political sentiments, Sivan tells an emotionally arresting tale of human barbarism, hope and survival. Even with a documentary style narrative, mostly slow, "Inam" tugs at your heartstrings and presents the story from two different perspectives to see, pause and ponder.

Rajni (Sugandha Ram), a lone survivor of the Sri Lankan civil war, shares her harrowing story of survival to an interrogating officer (voice by Arvind Swamy). We are taken back in time and introduced to a group of orphans between age groups five and 20, homeless, living under the care of 'Tsunami akka', played by Saritha. From then on, the story takes us through the lives of these characters, their struggle for survival, moments of joy and a lot more. What happens to these characters during the course of the war? This becomes the crux of the story.

From celebrating human spirit to capturing the worst bomb explosions, "Inam" tests human endurance on battleground. The willingness to survive is stronger than the fear of death. This philosophy is reinstated throughout the film, which is built around an array of anecdotes that take place in the orphanage.

Sivan is a very creative filmmaker and you will only agree with me when you realize that he tells the story of "Inam" from two extremely different perspectives. While the story is told to us through the past of Rajni, but Sivan wants us to see his work through the eyes of Karan, a special child, who plays the role of Nandan to perfection.

Through Rajni's story, he shows us exactly how innocent lives are lost in a war, children are orphaned, and young girls are molested. Through Nandan's story, we see that even in warfare, there's room for optimism, care and affection. For instance, in a scene where bombs are being air-dropped and everybody is running for cover, Nandan takes the effort to save a turtle. He befriends a human skull and calls it 'Mr. Friend', builds a strange relationship with it and even saves Rajni from her molester towards the end of the film.

"Inam" is backed by wonderful performances by an almost unfamiliar cast. From Sugandha to Karan to Saritha, Sivan has extracted raw performances from everybody. And the reason the actors are believable in their respective roles is because they are unfamiliar.

Although Sugandha plays the lead and it is through her flashback that we see the film, the real star of the film is Karan, who entertains at regular intervals with his innocent mischief. Karan carries the film on his shoulders and you root for him more than you root for others.

Sivan's striking cinematography makes even remorse moments in the middle of a war-zone, a visual splendour to gaze at. One particular shot that stands out in the entire film is when we see a group of foreigners leaving Sri Lanka in a hurry with a polythene bag full of fish with a dead one floating inside.

You understand this particular shot little later when in another scene, hundreds of unattended bodies which people pass through in search of cover during the war because nobody has the time to even bury these bodies.

Vishal Chandrasekhar's music helps you connect with the film on an emotional level. Even though there are three songs included merely to give the film a commercial touch, it's his background score that draws your attention.

"Inam" comes straight from the heart of Santosh Sivan. It deserves to be accepted, embraced and celebrated.

Filmmaker Feroz Abbas Khan, who earlier directed the critically acclaimed film "Gandhi, My Father", is currently busy promoting his new film "Dekh Tamasha Dekh", which has a socio-political flavour to it. But he assures that he will make a mass-appealing movie sometime soon.

"I can assure you that my next film would be a massy entertainer. I do believe I want to do a film where I can connect with a large number of audience. I want to connect with the audience in a huge way, so I am excited about it," Khan told IANS.

"I am scripting my film and I would say it would not be a political film. It will be a pure joy film," he added.

The rough draft of the project, he says, is ready.

"Once we release 'Dekh Tamasha Dekh', we will start shooting for the next. We have not decided the star cast yet," he said.

"Dekh Tamasha Dekh" is set to release April 11.

Over his film career, Sunny Deol has been recognised as the 'action hero' with the 'dhai kilo ka haath', but the actor says these are merely tags, which he can do nothing about.

"My persona has become such because of the films, but I am not like that in real life," the soft-spoken Sunny said here.

"I don't like tags like action hero and 'dhai kilo ka haath', but we (actors) can't do anything. The characters that I had portrayed were strong, so maybe because of that (I have been given these tags)," added the 50-plus actor, who featured in films like "Ghayal" and "Gadar - Ek Pram Katha".

His latest film "Dishkiyaoon" released Friday.

Sunny, son of veteran actor Dharmendra, usually shies from extensive film promotions. He believes that a film's business is not dependent on publicity.

"A film doesn't run because of publicity. You must only spread awareness (about the film), and at the end of the day, your trailer should be interesting. You never know the taste of audience. If they (audience) like it, then the film will run," he said.

Telugu film actor-turned-politician P. Babu Mohan, who recently quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), plans to contest for the Lok Sabha as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate.

The comedian Saturday met TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao. He later told reporters that he would be joining the TRS in the first week of the next month. He said he wanted to contest the Lok Sabha election but did not say from which constituency.

He is reportedly keen on contesting from Medak, where popular actress Vijayashanti is contesting as the Congress candidate. Vijayashanti, who was elected to Lok Sabha from Medak as TRS candidate in 2009 elections, recently joined the Congress.

Babu Mohan last Sunday resigned from the TDP, with which he was associated for 16 years.

The veteran actor was upset with the TDP leadership for not giving him B forms for distribution among candidates for local body elections.

Babu Mohan was twice elected to Andhra Pradesh assembly from Andole in Medak district. He was first elected in a by-election in 1998. After he retained the seat in 1999 elections, then chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu made him a minister. He held labour portfolio.

He, however, lost the elections from the same constituency in 2004 and 2009.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was in a nostalgic mood Saturday as he missed his parents, who he feels "went too early"

"Talking to boys on the sets…we talked of our parents. Miss my parents now on the drive back from the shoot. They went too early," the 48-year-old posted on his Twitter page early Saturday morning.

The actor's father Taj Mohammed Khan, who came from Peshawar, had died of cancer when SRK was all of 15, while his mother passed away in 1990 after prolonged illness.

Shah Rukh, a proud father of three - Aryan, Suhana and AbRam, often shares his thoughts about his parents via the online micro-blogging website.

Currently, he is busy shooting for Farah Khan's "Happy New Year" with actors Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah and Deepika Padukone.

Katrina Kaif says she has had no discussion about joining in Rahul Dholakia's "Raees", starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

"I don't know where this news has come from. There is no discussion as such," Katrina said here.

Last seen on the big screen in "Dhoom 3", Katrina's forthcoming movie projects include the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer "Jagga Jasoos".