Actress Ridhima Sud, who will be seen in Zoya Akhtar's next directorial "Dil Dhadkne Do", says the filmmaker is a taskmaster, but is kind and warm too.

Asked if Zoya is a taskmaster on the sets, Ridhima told IANS: "By taskmaster if you mean someone who has a task at hand and likes to get it done, then I guess she is. But there is nothing fascist about her way of getting things done."

"She is kind, warm and intuitive. Her team has a lot of women in every department and the presence of feminine energy on sets really makes a big difference."

The upcoming movie also features established actors like Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and the director's brother Farhan Akhtar.

"I would like to focus on the positives of being alongside such veterans and talented performers. For a newbie, sharing the space with them in any capacity can only offer a steep learning curve and boost self confidence," Ridhima said.

Writer Zeishan Quadri, who is debuting as a director with crime-based movie "Meeruthiya Gangsters", says he is planning to send the film to the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival.

Based on a real life incident, the film features actors Aakash Dahiya, Vansh Bhardwaj, Jaideep Ahlawat and Jatin Sarna.

The film is currently in its post-production and Quadri said that he has already shown it to various directors including Anurag Kashyap, with whom he worked on "Gangs of Wasseypur".

"Anurag has suggested me to send this film to Cannes film festival. So, I am planning to do it. If things don't work with Cannes, then we will release our film by mid-2015," Quadri told IANS.

Quadri is also thankful to Kashyap for giving him "my first huge break".

"It matters a lot. The kind of reviews that I got from Anurag for my debut film is overwhelming and I am hoping the film does well at the box office," he said.

Rana Daggubati, who will be seen in Neeraj Pandey's "Baby", says he is a huge fan of the filmmaker's work.

"I have been a fan of Neeraj's films, especially 'A Wednesday!'. In this corrupt film world, he is one filmmaker who is stuck to honesty and integrity. He makes films in his genre. He doesn't get into commercial zone just for the heck of it. He is an honest filmmaker," Rana told IANS.

"We tend to corrupt things for different reasons. It's not necessary to have an item song at times... but a few things we do for the sake of commercialism. But there are a few who make true genre films and Neeraj is one of them," he added.

"Baby" also features Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu.

Talking about the film, Rana said: "It's an action thriller. Neeraj was looking for an actor hero who could do all the stunts. That's when he approached me."

The movie will release Jan 23.

After dilly-dallying, actress Tisca Chopra's "Rahasya" will release Jan 30.

The "Taare Zameen Par" actress took to micro-blogging site Twitter to share the information.

"Here's 'Rahasya' releasing 30th Jan...Block your date now!" she tweeted.

Directed by Manish Gupta, the film was shrouded in controversy it is said to be based on the murder case of Aarushi Talwar and the mystery surrounding it.

Tisca, who is known for her portrayal of a mother on TV series "24", also answered queries of fans asking the premiere date of next season of the show.

"Soon. Mid year.. "@Jay_Khandelwal: @tiscatime can you please tell me when is the next season of #24 coming!!" she wrote.

Meanwhile, "Rahasya" also stars Kay Kay Menon.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan gave a special tribute on behalf of the Renault Star Guild Awards 2015 to late filmmaker Ravi Chopra. The accolade left him wondering what was more apt for a posthumous tribute -- silence or applause.

“Sunday and the well wishers ... a tribute to my friend and director Ravi ‘Kuki’ Chopra, son of the stalwart and an institution BR Chopra, nephew to the equally illustrious Yash Chopra ... His wife and son there to receive a memento in remembrance by the Guild of the Film Industry.

“Do such moments of stage need an applause by the audience in the theatre ... would that be correct protocol ... would it not be more refined to just be silent and in memory of the one that has departed,” the 72-year-old posted on his official blog srbachchan.tumblr.com.

Chopra, who was suffering from severe lung ailment, passed away Nov 12 last year.

Big B teamed up with the director for films like “Baghban”, “Baabul”, “Bhoothnath” and “Bhoothnath Returns”.

Amitabh said he would prefer silence over applause during such events.

“I would want silence ... I would want the less spoken the better ... But tonight they applauded after I entered, even though they had been told that it was time now to pay tribute to the departed soul.

“They applauded after the audio-visual prepared on his life in cinema, and applauded when his wife and son came up to accept the plaque given to them in a gesture from the Industry Guild,” he further wrote.

The “Paa” actor also shared some photographs of the award ceremony, which took place here Sunday night.

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar Monday paid tribute to Swami Vivekananda on his 152nd birth anniversary, saying he has inspired her throughout her life.

“Greetings. Swami Vivekananda's thoughts have influenced me throughout my life. On his 152nd birth anniversary, I pay him respect. (Namaskar. Mere samagra jeevan par jinke Vicharo'n ka prabhav raha hai aise Shraddheya Vidwaan Swami Vivekanand ji ki 152vi Jayanti par mere unko koti koti Pranam)” she tweeted.

The 85-year-old Bharat Ratna also posted a photograph of Vivekananda, who was born Jan 12, 1863.

The "Nightingale of India" has given hit numbers like "Aye mere watan ke logon", "Lag ja gale", "Inhi logon ne" and "Aye-dil-e-nadan".

Vishesh Films’ production “Khamoshiyan” is yet to hit the screens, but its actors Gurmeet Choudhary, Ali Fazal and Sapna Pabbi have already been signed up by the banner for future projects.

The movie has been produced by Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt under their Vishesh Films banner and they are happy with the cast of “Khamoshiyan”.

“Yes, it is true that they have been signed by us. They are really bright talent and they are being nurtured by us,” Mukesh said in a statement.

The banner will soon announce their slate featuring the three in their line-up of future projects.

Supernatural erotica “Khamoshiyan” will release Jan 30.

Danish badminton player Mathias Boe, who is coming to India for a badminton tournament, will not be able to spend time with his girlfriend, actress Taapsee Pannu due to her busy schedule.

Boe will be visiting Lucknow for the tournament which will start Jan 17.

Tapsee is busy travelling to different cities to promote her forthcoming film "Baby" and because of her hectic schedule she won't attend Boe' tournament.

"Yes he will be in India. But I will be promoting 'Baby' on those same dates," Taapsee said in a statement.

The two met during the inaugural Indian Badminton League last year where Boe was part of the Lucknow-based team Awadhe Warriors while Taapsee was the brand ambassador of champions Hyderabad Hotshots.

The film, which also features Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, will release Jan 23.

Actor John Abraham has replaced Akshay Kumar in "Welcome Back" and "Hera Pheri 3". But he says this has not had any effect on their camaraderie.

Asked about it, John said: "When I signed 'Welcome Back', I called up Akshay and I gave him the news first. He was very happy and said, 'It's a great film to do'."

"During 'Hera Pheri 3', I told him about it and he is a friend...we have worked together before. We are good friends. There is no animosity between us."

"Hera Pheri 3", to be directed by Neeraj Vora, also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty.

John was last seen in "Madras Cafe", which was also his home production.

Asked why he took such a long break to come up with his next acting project, John said: "I act in films and I also produce films. My production house makes different kind of films, and as an actor, I enjoy certain films."

"I loved 'Hera Pheri' and 'Welcome', so I'm working in the new films. It was a long break, and I am okay with long breaks."

Protests against films like "PK", "Haider", "Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela" and "OMG-Oh My God!" were because of the "pull of tradition" as there are "many" Indias in "one" India, veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt says, adding the onus is on the government to ensure unrestricted exhibition of movies.

"There is no denying that there is a pull of tradition. So in a nation, where you have this type of tug of war between tradition and thought for change and the censor board has given us a certificate, the onus is on the government of the day to see that our exhibition is unperturbed by any group," Bhatt told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

"There are many Indias in one India," he added when asked why Bollywood films dealing with religion face criticism from some sections in the country.

Several Bollywood films have attracted the ire of religious groups for hurting their sentiments and the most recent example is Aamir Khan-starrer "PK", which released Dec 19. The film was opposed by Hindu rightwing groups for hurting their religious sentiments.

Bhatt, who has been in the forefront in breaking societal stereotypes with movies like "Zakhm" and "Arth", also felt that boldness is not about shedding clothes or being 'eye-candy' but encompassing the free spirit.

In this vein, Bhatt is ready with his latest offering "Khamoshiyan", which is being termed a supernatural erotica thriller with "brave audio visual content". Bhatt says the movie's content has been tweaked to suit the sensibilities of the new generation.

"In the last 10 years, India has changed more drastically than it has changed in the last 3,000 years. So, we obviously need to offer content that caters to this segment," he said.

Talking about the movie, he said: "The character of the woman is very radical in her appetite for emotional, sexual and psychological fulfillment. She is a contemporary woman who refuses to be defined by male standards set to control and chase her. We have a very interesting woman with a triangular drama told in an erotic supernatural space".

The film stars Sapna Pabbi and Ali Fazal and also marks the debut of TV heartthrob Gurmeet Choudhary.

Bhatt asserted that Gurmeet is not the one to fade away with time but a "star of tomorrow".

"I'm certain that Gurmeet is here to stay and is a star of tomorrow. He has got the looks, determination and tremendous commitment," he said.

Directed by Karan Darra and produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt in association with Vishesh Films, the film has got 'A' certificate without any cuts. Bhatt is happy as it's a sign the censor board is changing with time.

"I am happy that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has not mutilated the film. It has given the film an 'A' certificate, without tearing, cutting or tweaking it. It shows that the censor board has come up of age and has changed with changing times," Bhatt said.

The movie will hit the screens Jan 30.

Actor Vikram, who lost about nearly 50 percent of his original body weight to play one of the roles in forthcoming Tamil magnum opus "I", found it tough to control his urge to eat.

"It was extremely difficult to control hunger. It drove me crazy," Vikram told IANS.

In "I", which is directed by Shankar, the 48-year-old actor plays dual role of a body builder and a hunchbacked disfigured man.

"For the role of the bodybuilder, I had to beef up and work out extensively in the gym to have a muscular body. I could've easily achieved that with the help of steroids, but I avoided it despite being wooed into using it by professionals," he said.

"It was for the role of the disfigured man that I lost nearly half of my original body weight. Shankar never wanted me to lose weight for this role but I did it anyways. I had to control my hunger to achieve the desired look. I literally survived on fluids," he added.

Vikram admits there were instances he couldn't control his hunger.

"I completely stopped going out during the course of the shoot as we wanted to keep the look a secret. Since I spent most of my time at home, I was tempted to scarf down homemade food, especially biryani," he said.

"Some days I ended up eating in the middle of the night. I would eat anything that I found in the fridge. I just couldn't control my hunger," he added.

Also starring Amy Jackson, Upen Patel and Suresh Gopi, "I" releases in cinemas worldwide Wednesday. It is touted to be the most expensive Tamil film.

Peace, prosperity and happiness are what Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Sidharth Malhotra have wished for their friends, family and fans this time on Lohri, the harvest festival celebrated Jan 13 every year with much fanfare in north India.

A string of celebrities from the Hindi film fraternity took to Twitter to share their wishes. Here's what they had to say:

Amitabh Bachchan: HAPPY LOHRI to all...love prosperity and happiness!!!

Lata Mangeshkar: Namaskar. Aap sab ko LOHRI ki bohot shubh kaamanaayein.

Madhuri Dixit-Nene: Happy Lohri to all who celebrate!!

Sunidhi Chauhan: HAPPY HAPPY LOHRI JI!

Madhur Bhandarkar: Wishing all Happy Lohri. May the fire burn all the evil around your lives and bring happiness and peace #Lohri.

Sonakshi Sinha: Lohri di lakh lakh wadhaiyaan!

Farhan Akhtar: Lohri di lakh lakh vadaiyan.

Riteish Deshmukh: Happy Lohri - happiness, prosperity, love and peace forever.

Sophie Choudry: Tussi saariyan nu #Lohri di lakh lakh vadiyan! Happiness and Prosperity always!

Aditi Rao Hydari: Lohri diyaan lakh lakh vadaaiyaan!

Preity Zinta: Happy Lohri to all of you who celebrate today. Lotza love always. Lo aa gayi Lohri veh.

Sidharth Malhotra: Happy LOHRI people may the Lohri Fire burn away all your sorrows, enjoy family time.

Hema Malini: Wishing all of u a very Happy Lohri! May all good things happen in all ur lives!

Neha Dhupia: Happy lohri friends.

Bipasha Basu: Happy Lohri to all:)

Sridevi: Wish you all a very Happy Lohri. May this day bring luck, prosperity, peace and happiness in your lives.

Neil Nitin Mukesh: "Lohri di lakh lakh vadaiyan...” God bless you all, bring luck, prosperity, peace and happiness in your lives.

Manish Paul: Wish u all a very happy lohri!!! Loads of love to u all.

Rannvijay Singha: Happy Lohri!!!

Tusshar Kapoor: Wishing ALL A Very Happy Lohri....sabnu lakh lakh vadhaiyan!

Divya Dutta: Happy lohri!!! Burn all negativity n stay in the warmth of love, peace, happiness!

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will visit Ahmedabad Wednesday for the promotion of his upcoming movie "Shamitabh".

After enthralling his fans of Ahmedabad, the "Paa" star will leave on a multi-city tour. However, Amitabh has cautioned his fans of any unexpected changes.

"Ahmedabad first on 14th...then a host of other cities - Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Dubai, London and perhaps Pune," Amitabh, who is also the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism, posted on his blog srbachchan.tumblr.com.

"These are informed promotion acts by authorities that make them...they may all come out true or may just fade away with some drastic last minute changes...beware...but I do sincerely hope they do not," he added.

The 72-year-old is excited to experience different cultures by the jaunts.

"The next few days till the end of the month and the release of the film shall see many moods and places and promotions for 'Shamitabh’,” he added.

R. Balki's movie has southern superstar Dhanush in a key role and marks debut of Kamal Haasan's daughter Akshara Haasan. The film is set to release Feb 6.

The highly intriguing trailer of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan-starrer "Uttama Villain" was unveiled online Tuesday by the film's producer Linguswamy.

Kamal plays an ageing superstar as well as an eighth century theatre artist in the film which is directed by his friend and actor Ramesh Aravind.

Late legendary filmmaker K. Balachander has essayed an important role in the film, which also features ace Telugu director K. Vishwanath.

Also starring Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Parvathy Nair, Urvashi and Jayaram, "Uttama Villain" is produced by Thirupathi Brothers.

The film is gearing up for release soon.

Haasan, 60, is also looking forward to the release of "Papanasam" and "Vishwaroopam 2".

Twitter activity and data regarding TV programmes can help networks and ad agencies make superior, data-driven advertising and programme marketing decisions, a study has found.

The study has been carried out by Nielsen, a leading global information and measurement company.

According to the study for network executives and ad agencies, tweets about TV programmes are an "additional signal" that can help determine how new shows might fare on premiere night, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The data gives TV executives more ideas to find out which shows might be liked the most and which need to be improved further.

For ad agencies, the analytics could help them decide where to put their money, the report added.

For the study, Nielsen analysed 42 broadcast and cable-series premieres for four-week periods.

It looked at how many times viewers in the 18-34 age group saw TV marketing -- not tweets for a specific show and the size of the audience on premiere night.

The researchers found that the more a show was advertised, the bigger its audience.

The micro-blogging site Twitter has become an integral part of the TV industry's promotional efforts in recent years.

Actress Raveena Tandon is beating the winter chill in the capital to shoot Onir’s intense love story “Shab”.

“Shooting in Delhi for Onir's SHAB,” she tweeted Monday along with her photograph, in which she is looking glamorous in a black ensemble.

The actress also shared a selfie.

"Shab", about people and fashion industry and multiple relations, is widely shot in Delhi.

The movie also features Ashish Bisht, who is being styled by fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, a Padma Shri awardee.

"Shab" will also introduce Bengali superstar Prosenjit's wife Arpita Pal, who is considered one of the finest contemporary actresses in Bengal.

Actress Huma Qureshi says she's excited about an offer to share screen space with her actor brother Saqib Saleem in the Hindi remake of Hollywood movie "Oculus".

“Yes, it's true. We have been offered that film. It's a very exciting film. Let's see how it goes. It's too early to comment on it, but to act in a film with Saqib would be very exciting,” Huma said at an event here Monday.

“We both are different actors, we both have different energy levels and we both are very different human beings. So, to work with Saqib will be very enjoyable,” she added.

On the film front, while Huma is busy promoting her upcoming flick "Badlapur", Saqib was last seen in Amol Gupte's "Hawaa Hawaai".

National Award winning star Dhanush who made his big Bollywood debut in the 100 crore grossing Raanjhanaa, will next be seen in R.Balki's SHAMITABH alongside superstar Amitabh Bachchan - Ironically , Dhanush who is a huge fan of Mr.Bachchan was ecstatic to work with the Bollywood heavyweight ever since he made his inroad into the Hindi film industry .

Very few know that Dhanush's first shot for Raanjhanaa was with the iconic image of Mr.Bachchan in Coolie (one of his personal favourites) and director Aanand L Rai who shares a warm equation with the actor always felt that Dhanush was meant to work with Amitabh Bachchan at some point in his career and Shamitabh was a spectacular coincidence of something he had foreseen for the young star.

Says Aanand L Rai, "As Raanjhanaa was Dhanush's first film in Bollywood so I wanted to give him a complete feel of this industry.And so we decided to do his first photoshoot against a portrait of the Icon of Bollywood Mr.Bachchan. While he never imagined that he would work with this legend in his second Hindi film ,it was something I wished and hoped for him and it has come true."

Award-winning Michelin-starred Indian chef Vikas Khanna has been approached by a Hollywood studio to make a biopic on his inspiring journey from Amritsar to the US.

Officials of the studio are said to have already paid a visit to Amritsar to do a recce of where Khanna grew up.

"Yes, it's true. A Hollywood studio has approached me for this project. The plan is that I will first release a book, like a biography, and then follow it up with a movie," Khanna said in a statement.

"In fact, the preparations have already started. I recently took them to Amritsar to show them that side of my life," he added.

Khanna, who will soon be seen as the host of the fourth season of Star Plus's cooking based reality show “MasterChef India”, has asked the studio to cast a Bollywood actor for portraying his life. His favourites are Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar or Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

“My only condition for this was that they cast an Indian actor. I want someone who's art I believe in to portray me. I want either Aamir Khan or Farhan Akhtar to play me. In fact, even Nawazuddin Siddique would be good.

“The story will be my life, how I made it work in the west and then came to home ground to promote the MasterChef franchise,” he added.

The film is said to have been put on hold for some time as Khanna currently wants to focus on "MasterChef India 4".

Khanna's life makes for an interesting story. Born with misaligned legs and feet, his tryst with cooking began with his mother's kitty parties. Today, he owns a New York restaurant Junoon, which is widely popular.

In fact, he has also earned titles like "New York's Hottest Chef" and "Sexiest Man Alive", as well as hosted a dinner at the White House.

On the occasion of National Youth Day 2015, SAARC HIV AIDS Campaign Goodwill Ambassador Ajay Devgn took a Special Pledge for youth with over 800 Youth of Mumbai and senior dignitaries and representatives from the Government of India.

Ajay Devgn, SAARC Goodwill Ambassador said that HIV/AIDS is one of the important diseases that India is fighting against. And, it is good to note that India could keep HIV to a very low level. HIV is an infection, from which we can protect ourselves, by having correct knowledge about the modes of HIV transmission and methods of prevention. India has also focused on empowering youth with correct and complete information and services to enable them protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. Today, we are celebrating the birthday of Swami Vivekananda as the National Youth Day.

The other dignitaries who were also present at the function were Dr. Deepak Sawant, hon. Minister Health & family Welfare, Smt. Snehal Ambekar, Hon. Mayor Mumbai and Shri. Ashish Shelar, President B.J.P Mumbai and M.L.A.

The theme that has been specially decided by NACO for this year's National Youth Day programme is 'Youngmanch' with the slogan 'Hum Se Hai Nayi Shuruaat'.