Filmmaker Ajay Bahl, who garnered plaudits for his directorial debut "B.A. Pass", is busy with his next project. He says the film, which is an adaptation of a novel "The Price You Pay", will go on floors by September this year.

"I have locked the script. My film is a thriller and is an adaptation of a novel 'The Price You Pay'. Currently, negotiations for the lead actors are on. I don't want to reveal my wish list, but will make an official announcement once the actors are on-board. We will start rolling by end of September this year," Bahl told IANS.

The film has got a tentative title "Story" as Bahl feels it stands true to the plot of the film.

"The film is about a journey of a crime reporter. So I feel 'Story' is an apt title for my film," he said.

Bahl will produce the film as well.

"I have decided to produce the film myself. This film is very close to my heart," the filmmaker said.

Ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam's much awaited Tamil romantic-drama "O Kadhal Kanmani" will release worldwide on April 17.

The makers shared the release date on Friday.

Starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nitya Menon in the lead, the film marks Ratnam's return to the romance genre after a decade.

An urban romantic tale, the film is mostly set in Mumbai.

The film also marks the reunion of lensman P.C. Sreeram and Ratnam after several years.

Double Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman has composed tunes for the movie.

She started taking music lessons from the age of eight and has been teaching others since her teen days. Popular singer Suresh Wadkar's wife Padma Wadkar, vice principal and a musician committed to teaching at the Ajivasan academy, says it's not mandatory for playback singing aspirants to join a music school.

"A lot of top-rank singers claim that they they have not learnt music. So, if we tell others that learning music is essential...that's not fair. You will end up confusing the person. The need to learn for playback singing today...I won't say it's necessary," Padma, a trained classical vocalist, told IANS.

Apart from teaching music, she wants to do more for budding artists.

"In our country, playback singing is considered to be the ultimate dream. I would love to create another platform. It will take time. But I believe that film singing should not be considered the only platform.

"Like in the West, public singing should also be considered as one of the top positions. In our country, that's yet to happen. If a person sings for a film here...even if it's negligible like just four lines...that also becomes a feather in your cap. That should change," she said.

Padma, whose "whole life is related to music" and who will soon be turning 43, has no qualms about admitting to admiring playback singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan.

"Don't portray me as a wannabe playback singer. I do look up to Shreya and Sunidhi though they are much younger to me," she said.

Unlike her husband, she is yet to croon for a Bollywood project. She believes she lacks what it takes to be a playback singer.

"I felt like for some reason that I don't have what it takes. You need an attitude that I lack. But if you ask me 'Is it a good place to be in?' Of course it is. Our country endorses that. So, yes playback singing is a great place to be in in our country," said the mother of two daughters.

While Bollywood can wait, she came out with her first album "Morey Piya" last month. Featuring songs with her husband and "Abhi mujh main kahin" hitmaker Sonu Nigam, the music is composed by Shreyas Puranik.

"Album... was never on my mind. It happened over a period of time. I had recorded songs with Shreyas, who is a student of Ajivasan. They were piling up and we were not doing anything about them. I was told by others to do an album, but I thought album would get lost in the crowd. But later, I agreed," said Padma.

And she is happy with the response.

"They are all love songs. They are not generation bound... not like in the face like 'I love you'. Be it a 50-year-old or youngsters, they can relate to it. Shreyas is only 22. People of his age group have also liked at least four to five songs and I think that's good," she said

Hollywood action-thriller "Fast & Furious 7" has raced to the top of the box office, picking up a massive Rs.100 crore in its first week in India.

"'Fast & Furious 7' fastest Rs.100 crore box office collection was due to the fact that it was the widest release in over 2800 screens in India. There's a vast potential for Hollywood movies in the regions beyond the metros and mini-metros in India," Sarabjit Singh, general manager, Universal Pictures India, said in a statement.

Apart from English, the film released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on April 2 in the country.

The seventh instalment of the franchise and Paul Walker's last silver screen appearance, also stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Jason Statham and Indian actor Ali Fazal.

Indo-Canadian adult film star Sunny Leone has left behind the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, with her musical thriller “Ek Paheli Leela” topping the list of YouTube's most viewed Bollywood movie trailers in the first quarter of 2015.

The trailer of “Ek Paheli Leela”, which released two months ago, received more than a crore views on the video-sharing site between January and March 2015, read a statement.

Gulshan Devaiah and Radhika Apte-starrer adult comedy “Hunterrr” stood second, followed by Ranbir Kapoor's upcoming crime drama “Bombay Velvet”.

Big B and Dhanush's “Shamitabh” and Ayushmann Khurrana's “Dum Laga Ke Haisha” rounded up the top five at fourth and fifth places, respectively.

The sixth spot went to Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer crime thriller “Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!”, leaving behind Emraan Hashmi's “Mr. X” and Akshay's “Gabbar is Back” at the seventh and eighth places, respectively.

Multi-starrer comedy drama film “Piku” and “Dilliwaali Zaalim Girlfriend” rounded off the list at the ninth and tenth spots, respectively.

Choreographer-filmmaker Ahmed Khan is all set to direct Tiger Shroff in his next and says the film will have lots of contemporary action and dance sequences.

"Yes, talks are on and I will be directing Tiger in my next film. I can't think of anyone else for this film because he is the only actor who can justify the character in my film. My film will have lots of contemproary action and huge number of dance moves in it and Tiger can pull it off," Khan told IANS.

"It's a youth-oriented film. And Tiger has a huge fan following which will help the film. The youth will connect with this film," he added.

The leading lady in the film is yet to be decided.

"It's too early to reveal any names right now. We have liked the script and once things fall into place, we will look for the leading lady. As far as Tiger is concerned I know him well. He is a close friend and we wanted to work together ever since 'Heropanti'," said Khan, who choreographed the actor in the 2014 film.

Deodorant and personal care products brand Denver has launched its new ad campaign with actor Saif Ali Khan for Denver Hamilton spray-on deodorant.

Conceptualised by Shop Advertising, the advertisement opens in the Oval Office of the White House, where Saif is shown practicing his golf strokes. Saif reflects how men of power are always pushing boundaries for everything irrespective of the importance of matter in the video, read a statement.

Directed by Vivek Das Chaudhary, the campaign was conceptualised bearing this insight, to showcase and celebrate the spirit of a victorious man who chose to challenge the ordinary and the success is reflected in his well-groomed look and fresh scent.

Bollywood filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who made his Hollywood debut with "Broken Horses", opened with negative responses from critics in the West.

Set in the shadows of the US-Mexico border gang wars, “Broken Horses” is an epic thriller about the bonds of brotherhood, the laws of loyalty and the futility of violence.

According to Ben Kenigsberg from variety.com, "the movie failed to convince on several crucial levels, including plotting and dialogue".

"Some of Chopra’s formal choices likewise court bad laughs," he added.

Variety concluded the review by saying: "The finale’s explosion special effects, however, look glaringly fake."

Nytimes.com also used words like "a deeply silly drama" to describe the film, which is co-written, directed and produced by Chopra.

The site hollywoodreporter.com tagged the film as "far too absurd to be taken seriously".

"The film seems to be aiming for a surreal quality that it never manages to pull off successfully," the website added.

But the movie managed to impress acclaimed Hollywood directors James Cameron and Alfonso Cuaron.

"'Broken Horses’ is an artistic triumph. Beautifully written, acted and imaged, this film wraps slowly around you like a king snake and squeezes," Cameron had said earlier.

"Broken Horses" features Vincent D'Onofrio, Anton Yelchin, Chris Marquette, María Valverde and Thomas Jane in key roles.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar left for Colombo, Sri Lanka on Friday.

Bhandarkar took to micro-blogging website Twitter on Friday and wrote: "Weekend begins early as I find myself enroute to #Colombo! Going to be my first time in Sri Lanka! Always exciting to explore a new place! (sic)"

The director, who has worked with actresses like Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Tabu, has won the National Award for films like "Chandni Bar", "Page 3" and "Traffic Signal".

Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh is shooting for his forthcoming film "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo", which also stars Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor, in Udaipur.

"Early morning wake up call. Shooting in the beautiful city of Udaipur. #PremRatanDhanPayo (sic)," Neil tweeted on Friday.

The film also stars Swara Bhaskar, Deepak Dobriyal, Armaan Kohli and Anupam Kher in key roles.

Produced by Rajshri Productions and distributed by Fox Star Studios, the film will hit Indian screens on November 11.

Actor Rajkummar Rao has finished shooting for filmmaker Hansal Mehta's forthcoming film "Aligarh".

Rajkummar took to micro-blogging website Twitter to share the news.

He wrote: "Finished shooting #Aligarh with one of my closest friend, family, director @mehtahansal. This journey was special. Thank you team #Aligarh (sic)"

Actor Aftab Shivdasani finished shooting for "Aaj house party hai" song from his forthcoming film "Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3".

The actor tweeted: "Just wrapped the craziest maddest whackiest song ever!! Going to look wicked #aajhousepartyhai #KyaKoolHaiHum3 @TusshKapoor (sic)"

"Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3", which is produced by Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Motion Pictures, also stars Tusshar Kapoor and Krushna Abhishek.

The digitally restored and re-mastered version of Ram Gopal Varma's cult Telugu film "Siva" will be re-released in cinemas on May 15. The makers spent over a year on the restoration process.

"The film was supposed to be released last year, but due to some delay in the restoration process it was postponed. It's finally releasing on May 15. The film will release in good number of theatres in Andhra and Telangana," Ram Gopal Varma told IANS.

In 2014, Akkineni Nagarjuna-starrer "Siva" celebrated its silver jubilee year.

The film, which originally released in 1989, was about the involvement of local mafia in college politics. It catapulted the careers of Ram Gopal Varma and Nagarjuna to great heights.

The movie also stars Amala Akkineni, J.D Chakravarthy, Raghuvaran, Kota Srinivasa Rao and Tanikella Bharani in important roles.

The "sweet 16" edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and Awards - an annual celebration of Bollywood in a foreign land - is being pitched as an amalgam of the glamour, glitz and stardom of Hindi cinema, and a flavour of the culture and hospitality of Malaysia, where the show is returning after 13 years.

When it was last held in Malaysia - in Genting Highlands in 2002 - Wizcraft International Entertainment, the IIFA organisers, were looking at an audience of 6,000. For the forthcoming edition here June 5-7, the estimated audience is 13,000 to 14,000 at the Stadium Putra.

"When we came here in 2002, Malaysia was different, we were different. And now in 2015, Malaysia has changed, we have changed... both of us are better, bigger and larger than life, more organised, more modernised and glamorous...so, it will be a bigger, wonderful and probably more glamorous celebration that you'll see of IIFA this year," Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment, the organisers of the mega event, told this visiting IANS correspondent here.

IIFA, an annual event, is a three-day extravaganza, which made its debut at the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, Britain, in 2000. Back then, it was organised with a meagre budget of Rs.2 million. In 2011, Jospeh had claimed that the budget of the star-studded extravaganza is at least up by "1,000 percent", and that scale of the event is now a "little less than 5,000 times". Naturally, it has grown even more in 2015.

But Joseph says the budget is still being "calibrated".

"It's a large production," he said, adding that it is an "not a fair comparison" to the 2002 edition of IIFA.

"At that point, we were looking at a 6,000 audience and we got it within three hours of opening bookings. That was Genting Highlands, and now it's in Kuala Lumpur.

They these are two very different cities," said Joseph, who heads Wizcraft International Entertainment with Viraf Sarkari and Andre Timmins.

Joseph and Timmins were here with Bollywood stars Anil Kapoor and Bipasha Basu to announce Kuala Lumpur as the host city of the IIFA Weekend and Awards. The local
cultural flavour to the event was a fascinating performance by Malaysian Istana Budaya Dancers. The main event, Jospeh said, will have more local flavour.

"You'll see a lot! The dragons, Istana Budaya dancers... you will see different facets of Malaysia come true -- from the sights and sounds, the performances, the treatment and the hospitality."

"It's always a new IIFA. IIFA incorporates the local flavour of every place that it visits. The fact that we embrace a country and the fact that our host country embraces us, it immediately generates a nouvaeu experience," added Joseph of the event, which has travelled to the shores of the US, Britain, Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Canada.

To be held here at the Putra Stadium, an indoor multi-purpose stadium, where the organisers are hoping to go full house for a "larger than life celebration", IIFA will have a fashion and musical night called IIFA Rocks; a gala screening of a much-awaited Bollywood film; and it will culminate with the awards night, where a string of actors will light up the stage with dance performances.

This year, IIFA will host a screening of Zoya Akhtar's directorial "Dil Dhadakne Do", bringing its cast -- Anil, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar -- to the red carpet just a day after its worldwide release. These apart, some of the confirmed names at the event are Bipasha, Ayushmann Khurrana, Dia Mirza, Boney Kapoor, Sridevi, Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor, Fawad Khan, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Jacqueline Fernandez and Sonakshi Sinha.

There will also be the business aspect that IIFA promotes annually. It aims to establish mutual benefits for both India as well as the host destinations by boosting tourism, economic development, trade, culture, cross-border investments and film co-productions.

What's the plan on that front this time?

"We are looking at some of those aspects, but it's too early to comment on it. We are looking at launching an international white paper on 'Filming in International Locations', and Malaysia is one of the countries featured in it. It tells what to do right when you plan to shoot in any foreign land... It will be launched at the IIFA Weekend," said Joseph, who sees "struggles, exhilaration, applause, tears of joy, and celebration" when he looks back at the past years of the event.

"It's sweet 16 because we feel we are still very young," he said.

Amanda, a trained ballet dancer from Australia, is making her Tamil debut in upcoming actioner "Saahasam", starring actor Prashanth. She has already shot for over a month for the film.

"She's already shot for 40 days for the film. We've kept her identity a secret all these days as we wanted to reveal it at the right time, which is now. We didn't just import a foreign actress. We chose Amanda because her looks suit the character," film's producer Thiagarajan told IANS.

Amanda was born in London to an English father and Indian mother.

Directed by Arun Raj Varma, "Saahasam" is remake of Telugu hit "Julayi".

Bollywood actress Nargis Fakhri has grooved to an item number in the film.

Actor Junior NTR is likely to play the lead in the Telugu remake of A.R Murugadoss-directed Tamil blockbuster "Kaththi" that was released last year.

"The talks are in final stage with NTR. He has liked the film and is soon expected to sign on the dotted line," a source told IANS.

The source added that Gopichand Malineni will direct the remake, which will be produced by Tagore Madhu.

Earlier, it was reported that Pawan Kalyan will play the lead in the remake, but since he's busy with his Telugu project "Gabbar Singh 2" the idea was dropped.

One of the biggest Tamil hits of 2014, "Kaththi" starred Tamil superstar Vijay in the lead.

Filmmaker Mohit Suri turned 34 on Saturday and has been wished a year full of happiness and good luck by his friends from the Bollywood film fraternity.

Suri started his career as an assistant director, and made his debut as a director with the 2005 film "Zeher". He followed it up with "Kalyug", which was both a critical and commercial success. In 2013, he directed "Aashiqui 2" which was a blockbuster and In 2014, he directed "Ek Villain" which ran successfully.

Here's what his friends have tweeted on his birthday:

Alia Bhatt: "Happy birthday to my very talented and lovely brother/director @mohit11481 !! Big big big HUGGG ;)"

Abhishek Bachchan""Happy birthday @mohit11481 have a super year. Big lo"e".

Karan Johar: "Happy birthday @mohit11481 have the best year ever!!! Lots of love and a big hug"!!!"

Emraan Hashmi: "Happy budday @mohit11481 have a fantastic year !!!.. party mat karo kaam karo HAK ke background musi" pe :)"

Mahesh"Bhatt : "@mohit11481 Happy Birthday to my talented nephew/director who gave 'birth' to himself. This is the year of Humari Adhuri Kahani !"Thank U!"

"Margarita With A Straw" director Shonali Bose says veteran actress Sarika was the first choice to play the role of Kalki Koechlin's mother in the film which later went to Revathi.

"For the mother's role, we thought we must go by physical resemblance and acting talent so Sarika was our first choice.

"She loved the script but when we had to wait for three months for Kalki then Sarika had given dates to other projects then we approached Revathi. I told Revathi to read the script then she said she wants to do it. She has done a fabulous job in the film," Bose told IANS.

In the film, Kalki plays a cerebral palsy-affected girl. The film has been appreciated on the international platform as well as well as members of Hindi film industry.

It is slated for April 17 release.

Actor Allu Arjun-starrer Telugu family drama "S/O Satyamurthy" has raked in a whopping Rs.33.35 crore worldwide on first two days of its release.

The movie hit the screens on Thursday.

"The film has registered the biggest opening of the year so far. It has collected a gross of Rs.33.35 crore in two days since its release worldwide. It's headed for a great weekend at the ticket window," trade analyst Trinath told IANS.

Directed by Trivikram, "S/O Satyamurthy" is about how far a son will go to save his father's honour. It also features Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nitya Menon, Adah Sharma and Rajendra Prasad in important roles.

According to Trinath, the film is on its way to be adjudged a hit.

"The pre-release business of the movie has been exceptional. Another successful week of theatrical run and it should be a hit," he said.

The Indian National League (INL), a Muslim organisation, has joined the fight along side the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) against the release of Kamal Haasan-starrer "Uttama Villain", claiming the film will hurt religious sentiments.

In its petition, INL said that Haasan's film "Vishwaroopam" hurt the sentiments of the Muslims. Now, his new film "Uttama Villain" is playing with the sentiments of Hindus.

"It's not nice on Kamal Haasan's part to offend the sentiments of different communities with his films. If he's creating controversies for publicity, it's really cheap on his part. We demand strict action against him," M. Nazeer Ahammad, secretary of INL, told the police.

On April 8, the VHP had sought a ban on the film claiming it would offend the religious sensibilities of Hindus. They were upset with the lyrics of a song "Iraniyan Nadagam" in the film, saying it will upset the followers of Lord Vishnu.

According to the VHP, the song belittles the conversation between mythological figures Prahalad and Hiranyakashipu.

Directed by Ramesh Aravind, the film, which is slated for release on May 1, is said to be the story of an 8th century theatre artist and a modern day superstar.