It might have been a glum year for Indian cinema at Oscars 2015 with no movie representation from the country, but that didn’t stop Bollywood celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Shekhar Kapur from rooting for their favourite films and lauding the winners.

The 87th Academy Awards ceremony was held in Los Angeles Sunday night and Bollywood stars soon took to Twitter to share their excitement.

Here's what they tweeted:

Amitabh Bachchan: OSCARS...happy for 'Whiplash' and 'Birdman' truly deserving...especially the three for 'Birdman' director, Alejandro!!

Shekhar Kapur: Congratulations #EddieRedmayne #Oscars2015 So proud to have been part of your incredible journey #TheTheoryofEverything.

Priyanka Chopra: How talented people are! Even if I knew that about her I'm just blown away!! @ladygaga killed it! Phew!! What a voice.

Kalki Koechlin: “@singh_jp: #FelicityJones looks so much like @kalkikanmani !! #Oscars2015” I love this sentence, like I'm the known one.

Parineeti Chopra: Shuttling between airports!! Relying on twitter for #Oscars2015 updates!!!!!

Prosenjit Chatterjee: Superb...Birdman wins best picture too in #Oscars2015.

Dia Mirza: #Boyhood all the way. #Linklaterismyhero #Oscar2015 I am so disappointed.

Alia Bhatt : Beautiful oscar mornings ;) #Oscar2015.

Nimrat Kaur: BIRRRRRRRDDDDDMAAAAAANNNN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Milap Zaveri : #Birdman was a brilliant film. #Boyhood was a masterpiece. Enough said. Time to go make films that win rewards rather than awards!

Sanjay Gupta: Pak Pak Pakaaod. Oscars this year.

Soha Ali Khan: What an incredible year at the #Oscars2015 - three awards so far for my favourite film of the year #Whiplash.

Kunal Kemmu: But have to say that this year has been the toughest in terms of best film and best performances All the films in the category are brilliant.

Rahul Khanna: "Stay weird, stay different!" What a great speech by #TheImitationGame writer Graham Moore. #Oscars #Oscars2015.

Ken Ghosh: Lady Gaga killing it with The Sound of Music #Oscars2015.

Kunal Kohli: #Oscars2015 missing #BillyCrystal #EllenDeGeneres they’ve been the best so far. Sorry #NPH.

Goldie Behl: Shorten morning run done time for the #ocsars.

Sophie Choudry: Rosamund Pike, Dakota Johnson, Margot & @JLo are my #BestDressed at #Oscars2015 #RedCarpet And I just adore #JulieAndrews & #MerylStreep.

Varun Dhawan is still basking in the appreciation that has come his way after the release of “Badlapur” -- but now the actor says it's time to move on and all his focus henceforth will be on his dance film “ABCD 2”.

“I will never forget #badlapur and Raghu but as an actor you have to be able to get over things,” Varun tweeted Monday.

The 27-year-old did the role of an aggressive man on a mission of revenge in “Badlapur” to break away from his guy-next door image. Varun says that though he has proved his point, the mission is not over.

“Questions answered. people proved but the fight isn't over. A new challenge awaits people. #ABCD2 coming soon @ShraddhaKapoor,” he shared.

Directed by Remo D'Souza, "ABCD 2" is a sequel to his directorial debut "ABCD: Anybody Can Dance". The film also features Shraddha Kapoor.

Varun also thanked people for making “Badlapur” a success with a special mention of the media industry for showing their support towards Sriram Raghavan's directorial.

“The audience has spoken and it's their power that has made #badlapur a success. Thank u to the media for supporting this film,” he added.

“Badlapur”, which also features Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi and Yami Gautam, released Friday.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he feels privileged to be the face of an initiative by The Film Heritage Foundation and working towards saving cinematic marvels from getting lost with time.

"A FUNCTION TO ATTEND THE Film Heritage Foundation...a most sincere effort to archive all the films made through the years... most of our films have got destroyed or lost, due to no archival interest or work

"Congratulations FILM HERITAGE FOUNDATION... and thank you for making me the Brand Ambassador of this work...honoured and privileged," read a post on Big B's official page on social networking site Facebook.

The event was held here Sunday.

The 72-year-old also shared photographs of the event on his official blog srbachchan.tumblr.com, saying that visuals tell a better story than words.

"Just the visuals tell a deep story…of a day well spent...of being made Ambassador for the Film Heritage Foundation and the Preservation of films," the "Paa" star posted on his blog.

Meanwhile, the screen icon is gearing up for the release of his films "Piku" and "Wazir".

Motion picture company Eros International has set up an in-house production company named Trinity Pictures that will focus strongly on franchise movies.

Ajit Thakur has been appointed as the chief executive officer to spearhead Trinity’s motion pictures production division.

“We are excited about taking a big creative initiative with Trinity. While our acquisition and co-production model is all about scale, portfolio and market share, the Trinity label will be all about quality, success rate and building franchises with lasting value which perfectly complements our overall content strategy,” Jyoti Deshpande, Group CEO, Eros International, said in a statement.

Before joining Eros, Thakur has held a number of key positions for companies including Coca Cola and Unilever, UTV, Sony Entertainment Television and Star TV.

Actress Evelyn Sharma, known for her glamorous roles in films like “Yaariyan” and “Main Tera Hero”, says she will stun the audiences with her completely different avatar in her first solo film “Ishqedarriyaan”

Evelyn was present at the poster launch of film “Ishqedarriyaan” here Saturday. When asked to reveal something about her character, she said: “It's a completely different character from what I've played so far, but actually I have found myself in this role. Loveline, the character is much closer to the real Evelyn than most of the other roles which I've played so far.”

“Because I actually grew up in a small town and I am not really the bikini girl when it comes to my private life, so playing the role of Loveline was really beautiful and completely different experience,” she added.

“Ishqedarriyaan”, directed by VK Prakash, stars Mahakshay Chakraborty in the lead role.

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan Monday said he has lost a great friend, following the sudden death of Tamil director R.C. Sakthi.

Haasan said everybody should have a great friend like the Tamil veteran.

Sakthi breathed his last here Monday at a private hospital following old age-related ailments. He was 75.

"He was part of my family. I've lost a great friend. It started as a friendship and went on to become a familial relationship. I wouldn't say one can't find such a friend. I wish everybody should have such a friend," Haasan told reporters here.

Haasan, who was launched by Sakthi as a hero in 1972 Tamil film "Unarchigal", said he was his "biggest fan and his brother".

Sakthi is known for some critically-acclaimed films such as "Manidharil Ithanai Nirangala", "Dharma Yuddhama and "Amma Pillai".

His last directorial was 1993 Tamil film "Pathini Penn", which fetched his two state awards for best film and best dialogue writer.

In his over a decade long career, he had directed 17 films.

Dibakar Banerjee says that decisions regarding a movie's content should be left to the filmmakers and the audience, and that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) should only be entrusted with certifying movies appropriately.

"The issue will resolve only when the people who watch films and who make films will come together and say, 'Let us decide what we want to see and what we'll make'. You (Censor Board) just decide that the film should be watched by this age group or under this age group," said the "Shanghai" filmmaker.

Banerjee spoke on the sidelines of an event, where three books based on screenplays of the late Guru Dutt's productions, were launched.

Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra too was present at the event.

He slammed CBFC for recently issuing a list of words, which filmmakers cannot use in their movies. He says it's ridiculous and senseless.

"If there is any film which have such words, then make it adult (certified). How it is possible that a filmmaker will not use these words? According to me, it's ridiculous and senseless thing to say people you can't say this (in films)," he said.

The "PK" producer also said the Censor Board authorities should not misuse their power.

"The more power you'll (government) give them, the more they will (Censor Board members) misuse. Their power should be simple...they should certify films -- like under 12, under 16, under 18, adult," he said.

After getting recognised for her hit peppy numbers like “Baby doll”, “Lovely” and “Chittiyaan kalaiyaan”, singer Kanika Kapoor says she will now sing more of classical Indian numbers this year to popularise the genre in the Hindi film industry.

"I will bring the classical music back very soon...This year people will listen more of it from me. I have my Youtube channel coming up which will demonstrate some classical tracks which I'm creating,” Kanika told IANS.

The 33-year-old, who was here to shoot the music video of localised version of internationally known DJ Alesso's single "Heroes (We Could Be)", also said that the music trends are driven by the listeners.

Stressing on the fact that Indian classical is her "personal favourite", she said: "It doesn't mean that people should like it too. They have their own personal choice -- some like classical, others like Sufi - it all depends on listeners' choice.

"People who like classical don't like the commercial tracks. Much of the Indian listeners are not aware of the classical songs and they feel happy being restricted to peppy ones. Music makes one happy, it destresses the mind. So, a typical genre doesn't matter...it should be dependent on the listener and what he wants to listen."

Kapoor also said the Indian music market has widened the scope for young singers to showcase their talent.

"Indian music industry has opened up to new singers. It has widened a lot. Earlier, there were only Lataji (Lata Mangeshkar), Ashaji (Asha Bhosle) and Alka Yagnikji, but now listeners look forward to listen to new singers,” she added.

However, she feels that the dominance of film music has made it tough for singers to come out with their own singles.

Recently, Kapoor received a positive response for her singles “Chhil Gaye Naina” and “Desi Look”, and soon she will be seen cheering up for the Indian cricket team, who are currently vying the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia, with her Hindi version of the song “Heroes (We Could Be)”, to be released by Universal Music India.

Talking about the track, she added: “It's a fun version of the song that we have made for our cricket team. It will give moral support and strength to them. I hope that India retains the World Cup.”

From being a former Miss World contestant, Sarah Jane Dias tiptoed into Bollywood with "Game" and she has now launched her debut music track. She equates music to a "piggy bank", where she kept adding "pennies" in the form of inspirations year after year.

"Music has been my inspiration for a very long time. It's kind of like a growing inspiration through my whole life. My friends have been my inspiration, my family has been my inspiration, my work and my experiences (have inspired my music).

"It's like a piggy bank, you keep putting pennies into it year after year, that's what my music is like," the 32-year-old actress told IANS in an interview.

Her single "Forget to be me", was launched Feb 13. Its video features Arunadoy Singh, VJ Bani and Sapna Bhavnani in the video, who are also among Sarah's close friends. The song was co-written by Sarah and is about heartbreak.

Sarah admits she was "quite shy" about singing initially, but training hard and joining a music school gave her the "final push".

"I felt like I needed to train a lot more which I now have and I went to music school as well for three months. Now I feel more confident. I was shy because it's such a personal experience. You need that extra push and that confidence which I think now, after working in the industry for so many years, I've gained. But initially, I was quite shy about it," she said.

Although she is looking forward to two of her films that are releasing this year -- "Zubaan" and "Angry Indian Goddesses" -- Sarah also plans to release more of her music soon.

Apart from her singing, Sarah also has a 'never say no' attitude in life, which has helped her in keeping busy and exploring new things -- like being a yoga instructor.

"I generally make my decision based upon where I am at that point of my life, so I never really say 'no' to anything," she said.

Giving a hint about her upcoming musical work, she added: "I have more songs to work on, more videos to work on and another film to start. I can't complain, I'm going to do a teacher's training course in yoga soon."

Bhumi Pednekar, who is making her debut under the Yash Raj Films’ banner with their forthcoming film “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, will hold a special screening of the film for her family and friends Friday, when it hits the screens.

Bhumi's near and dear ones from across the globe will join her to celebrate her debut film, which also stars Ayushmann Khurrana.

The spokesperson of the film confirmed the news, and said: "Bhumi has got calls from all her family members and friends asking her to show them the film first. They are very excited for her debut and would be travelling from across the globe to be part of her special moment."

The entire Pednekar family has planned to get together to watch the film on the first day, first show.

Bhumi has booked a hall in Mumbai, where she'll watch the film along with her close ones.

Actress Neetu Chandraa, who was last seen in 2013 Tamil thriller "Aadhi Bhagavan", has started shooting for new project "Vaigai Express" in the same language. She's excited about playing a dual role in the film.

"I'm super excited about playing a double role. Contrary to my earlier roles, audiences will get to see me in a new dimension here. It's a musical thriller," Neetu told IANS.

For the first time in her career, Neetu will be playing a double role.

Featuring ensemble women cast of Komal Sharma and Suja Varunee, the film is being helmed by Shaji Kailas.

Singer Usha Uthup, known for her powerful and unique voice, has sung the theme song of the upcoming film "Hotel Beautifool".

"It's such an exquisite number. It's so much fun and the song has a deep meaning as well," Usha told IANS.

"As a singer, I always feel that a message is sent to people (well) when you don't say that it's a message...when they get it anyway, it feels good. This song will make you get it. It's really beautiful. I have never heard such a song in my life," said the 67-year-old, popular for singing tracks like "Ek Do Cha Cha Cha", "Hari Om Hari", "Koi Yahaan Naache Naache".

The lyrics of the "Hotel Beautifool" song have been penned by Sanjeev Tiwari and Sameer Iqbal Patel. While Usha has already recorded for the song, its video will be shot soon.

Directed by Patel, "Hotel Beautifool" is jointly produced by Madhire Ravinder Reddy and Mohammed Aslam Shaikh under the banner of Madhire Film Corporation and Umbrella Film Corporation. The movie is tentatively set to release in April 2015.

A court here Wednesday deferred its verdict in a case relating to illegal possession and use of arms by Bollywood actor Salman Khan and posted the matter for March 3.

The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Anupama Bijlani in Jodhpur deferred its verdict and started the hearing of four old applications which were moved by the prosecution in 2006.

Salman was not present in the court. In fact he is not even in Jodhpur presently.

The court was scheduled to deliver its final verdict in the case Feb 25, but in a subsequent development after the last hearing, these applications came to the notice of the court.

The court heard all the four applications for summoning the witnesses and taking some documents on record at length and deferred its decision on these applications till March 3.

"We were ordered to present our arguments and the court would deliver its judgment thereafter," public prosecutor N.K. Sankhla and Salman's advocate Hastimal Sarswat jointly said.

Salman and a few other Bollywood stars were accused of poaching blackbucks on the midnight of Oct 1-2, 1998 during the shooting of Hindi movie 'Hum Saath Saath Hain'.

Two blackbucks, a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, were killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur.

Salman is also alleged to have been carrying arms with expired license. A police complaint was filed against him for being involved in hunting protected blackbucks.

Music maestro A. R. Rahman’s band NAFS gave its maiden performance here at the fifth edition of Gionee Star Global Indian Music Awards (GiMA).

The awards ceremony took place Tuesday in the presence of the crème de la crème of the music and film fraternity.

The ceremony, hosted by singer Mika Singh and TV host-actor Manish Paul, featured stellar performances by celebrated musicians and Bollywood stars including Atif Aslam, Arijit Singh, Pritam, Shraddha Kapoor, Benny Dayal, Sonu Nigam, Ankit Tewari and Shankar Mahadevan among others.

Band NAFS, which means 'free will to make your own choice' in Urdu and Arabic, regaled the audience with its tunes.

"It has been my privilege to showcase NAFS at GiMA for the first time ever," Rahman, who also won awards for Best Film Album for "Highway" and Best Fusion Album in the non-film category for Coke Studio at MTV Season 3, said in a statement.

“For me, to give a platform to the next generation is my mission and this is one of the first initiatives to represent India internationally. The inspiration behind was Stevie Wonder," he added.

Another highlight of the night was a performance by ‘The S7- Super 7’, an act comprising some of the most talented singers who have had hits in the past year including Armaan Malik, Shadab Faridi, Md Irfan and Hriday Gattani.

“It has been an absolute honour to bring together some of the world’s finest musicians on a platform like GiMA. We’ve had the privilege of seeing greats like Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Usaat Zakir Hussain and A.R. Rahman on the same stage today,” said Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

The Lifetime Achievement Award -- Classical went to Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, presented to him by classical legend Pandit Jasraj.

The Global Musician Award was bestowed upon music legend Ustad Zakir Hussain. Daler Mehndi took home the Wizcraft Honour for Best Live Performer and a Special Award for Best Music Initiative was awarded to the Red Bull Tour Bus.

“Queen” and “Ek Villain” tied with three awards each leading the film category.

Armaan Malik won awards for Best Music Debut in both the Film as well as Non-Film category. Shankar Mahadevan won his first award ever for Devotional music.

The 5th Gionee Star Global Indian Music Awards, powered by Hungama.com and Kelloggs Chocos, will be telecast on Star Plus on March 15.

Indian cinematographer and director Aloysius Vincent died here Wednesday at a private hospital. He was 86.

"He passed away following prolonged illness," a family source told IANS.

Vincent started his career as a guest cinematographer in 1953 Telugu film "Chandi Rani".

In the same year, legendary Telugu actress Bhanumathi recognised his work while he was associated with Gemini Studios. She introduced him to her filmmaker husband P. Ramakrishna, who launched Vincent as cinematographer in his Telugu film "Bratuku Teruvu".

Besides working predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries, he also worked on a few Hindi films.

As a lensman, his work is remembered in films such as "Nadhi", "Bhakta Prahlada", "Enga Veetu Pillai", "Adavi Ramudu", "Adimai Penn", "Vasantha Maligai" and "Prem Nagar".

In Hindi filmdom, he worked on movies such as "Meherban", "Madhavi", "Bandish", "Dil Ek Mandir" and "Mahaan".

In his Malayalam debut movie "Neela Kuyil", Vincent, for the first time, introduced natural colours for the sets, though he was shooting with black-and-white film.

Vincent was credited with having introduced the zoom shot in Indian cinema in the 1958 Tamil film "Uthama Puthiran", starring Sivaji Ganeshan.

He worked as cinematographer in over 150 films, his last being 1997 Telugu film "Annamayya".

He also directed about 30 films, mostly Malayalam. Some of the films were "Bhargavi Nilayam", "Murrapennu", "Nagarame Nanni" and "Asuravithua".

In 2003, Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC) awarded him an honorary membership.

He is survived by two sons - Jayanan Vincent and Ajayan Vincent - who are popular cinematographers too.

Actor-singer Ayushmann Khurrana, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming romantic comedy "Dum Laga Ke Haisha", says the movie offers a unique flavour.

"'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' is a quirky and different film. I'm playing a simpleton from Uttar Pradesh, lives in Haridwar, Rishikesh...is an uneducated person and a failure in life. He runs an audio cassettes shop and the film is set in 1994," Ayushmann said at a promotional event here Tuesday.

Talking further about his character, Ayushmann said: "He is a fan of singer Kumar Sanu. The film's music is fantastic. It is a fun film."

Directed by Sharat Katariya, "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" is set to hit theatres Feb 27. It stars debutante Bhumi Pednekar as a female lead.

The film tells the story of Prem Prakash Tiwari, played by Ayushmann, who unwillingly marries a fat girl.

"Coke Studio@ MTV", an experiment in fusion music, is returning with its fourth season in an “always on” format, wherein one musical composition, as a video and audio, will be released every week; and more live concerts will be organised for music aficianados across the country.

"Coke Studio@MTV Season 4" promises to be a year-long show of soulful music, curated and composed by artistes like Vishal-Shekhar, Amit Trivedi, Pritam, Clinton Cerejo, Sachin-Jingar, Ram Sampath, Sneha Khanwalkar, Papon, Badshah and Raftaar.

Singers in the season include Rekha Bhardwaj, Jyoti Nooran and Harshdeep Kaur.

Starting March 1, every first Sunday of the months till the season continues, "Coke Studio@MTV" will release a musical composition, both as a stylised video and audio, along with multiple elements that will capture the journey of making the music, including studio sessions, producer profiles and more.

Each of these videos and audio will be simultaneously released on all MTV platforms and deployed across all audio and video platforms like YouTube, Saavn, Gaana and iTunes by Zee Music.

MTV will also be re-releasing two audience favourites "Madari" and "Kattey" with new videos to kick off "Coke Studio@MTV Season 4". Additionally, live experiences through more than 50 concerts and outreach programs, reaching 100 colleges across 10 cities, will be a star attraction.

Debabrata Mukherjee, vice president (Marketing and Commercial), Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said: “'Coke Studio' is a platform, owned by a community of millions of music lovers. That makes it easy for us, because this community tells us what to do. But that also puts a huge responsibility on us because we have to ensure that we meet their expectations.

"What they have asked of us, is to change the format and make it ‘always on’, ‘yearlong’ and as ‘singles’ rather than an album. We have made an honest attempt to deliver on these."

After producing 140 songs with over 400 artistes, the hunger to delight music fans has driven MTV to give the "Coke Studio" format a whole new beat, says the channel's executive vice president and business head Aditya Swamy.

"While music will always be at the very heart of this production, we have introduced new elements that build a deeper content experience. As classic meets contemporary, we are excited about starting a new chapter in the music bible of India," he said.

Actor Darshan Kumar, who was incredibly convincing as Priyanka Chopra’s too-good-to-be-true husband in "Mary Kom", is now going for the kill. In his second film "NH10", he is cast in a completely antithetical role of a despicable criminal who torments and brutalises the heroine Anushka Sharma.

“No two roles can be more dissimilar. If women loved me in 'Mary Kom' and thought of me as the ideal husband, in 'NH10', I play the kind of man who is every woman’s nightmare," Darshan said.

Apparently, there are scenes where Darshan, who was the epitome of chivalry in "Mary Kom", brutalises Anushka's character to the extent that the actor cringed while performing the scenes.

Remembering the ordeal of entering the other world of diabolic machismo, he said: “It wasn’t easy. I had to completely change my attitude to women. I had to convert my mindset from that of a considerate compassionate man to a man-monster.”

Of late, disappointment was the mood that clouded Darshan's mind as he didn’t get a single Best Debutant award at the popular awards this year.

“I was nominated at all the awards. But most of them went to Tiger Shroff. I can’t deny I was disappointed. But my ultimate praise came to me from my guru Naseeruddin Shah who said he loved me in 'Mary Kom'. Naseer Saab is not one to shower empty praise on anyone. So to me Naseer Saab’s praise was the biggest award," he said.

On his 34th wedding anniversary Thursday, superstar Rajinikanth briefly spent some time with his fans here at his residence.

Several of his fans came to convey their wishes to the 'Thalaiva'.

"Rajini sir spent a few minutes with his fans assembled outside his residence. They met and greeted him on his anniversary. People had come with garlands, gifts, photos and life-size cutouts. He thanked them for showering their love on him," a source close to the actor told IANS.

The superstar will celebrate the day with his family and friends.

Rajinikanth married Latha Feb 26, 1981. They have two daughters -- Aishwarya and Soundarya.

The 64-year-old, who has over 100 films to his credit, was last seen in Tamil film "Lingaa".

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who made a successful Bollywood debut with "Kai Po Che", says he has delivered his career's best performance in his forthcoming film "Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!".

Talking about the crime thriller, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, Sushant said: "I don't know if it's the toughest film till date or not, but one thing I can assure you of is that in my area of acting in TV and films, I have never given so much to a film."

"I've never approached a character like the way I've done in this film...Thanks to the script and thanks to the filmmaker I had in the film, Dibakar Banerjee...he is a genius," added Sushant while promoting the movie here Wednesday.

Sushant also hopes that the audience will like the film and his work in "Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!".

"One thing I assure you of this is my best performance till date. So, please come and watch the film. I'm so sure that all of you will like it," he added.

"Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!" is based on the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi created by the Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The movie is slated to release April 3.