Bollywood director Kunal Deshmukh, who was stuck in Kathmandu after the devastating earthquake hit the Himalayan nation, was back in Mumbai safe and sound on Tuesday morning.

The 33-year-old director's friend and former Balaji Telefilms CEO Tanuj Garg told IANS In a text message: "He (Deshmukh) has returned to Mumbai this morning and exhausted. Resting."

On Tuesday, filmmker Mahesh Bhatt took to micro-blogging website to share one of the message of the "Jannat" director.

"Reverence for life that is what I feel having survived the earthquake.Phantom tremors now paralyse me. Kunal Deshmukh," he wrote.

A 7.9-magnitude earthquake shook Nepal on Saturday and has left at least 4,347 people dead.

Evelyn Sharma, who will be seen with Mahaakshay Chakraborty in "Ishqedariyan", says she wants to explore herself as an actress.

"I am being offered foreigner's role but each role is different from other," said Evelyn.

"I am happy doing them but at the same time I would also like to explore myself as an actress. I would love to do something different as well," she added.

Directed by V.K. Prakash,"Ishqedariyan" is slated for May 15 release.

Asked how was it working with Mahaakshay, son of veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty in the film, she said: "I had a great time shooting with him. He is very professional and despite being a star kid, he is so grounded and down to earth."

The Supreme Court on Tuesday put on hold the privilege notice issued by the Maharashtra assembly to author Shobhaa De for criticising the state government's decision to screen Marathi films at multiplexes during prime time.

A bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant also issued notice to the chairman, the Maharashtra legislature secretariat, its principal secretary and its Special Rights committee and Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik.

"As an interim measure, it is directed that there shall be stay of further proceedings in pursuance of the Notice issued on April 10, 2015, by the deputy secretary (law), Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat, Mumbai," said the court's order.

The Maharashtra state assembly issued a privilege notice to De on April 10 and she was required to reply to it by this Tuesday.

While criticising the Maharashtra government for its decision on screening Marathi films without consulting the stakeholders, De had tweeted that during the show at multiplexes, now one could expect vada-pao and misal-pao instead of popcorn.

De in four tweets had said: "Bollywood divided over compulsory prime time screening of of Marathi films in multiplexes", "No more pop corns in multiplexes in Mumbai? Dahi missal and vada pav only. To go better with the Marathi movies at prime time", "I love Marathi moves. Let me decide when and where to watch them, Devendra Fadnavis. This is nothing but Dadagiri", and "Devendra 'Diktatwala' Fadnavis is at it again !!! From beef to movies. This is notva Maharashtra we all love. Nako! Nako! Yeh sab rook!".

Describing the privilege notice as being "wholly unreasonable, arbitrary, irrational" and violative of the article 14 (equality before law), De in her petition has said that it infringed her rights under article 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty).

Referring to earlier apex court verdicts, she contended that privilege could only arise if there was any interference or attempt to interfere with the proceedings of the assembly.

Describing the privilege notice as "illegal, non est, bad in law", she said her comments in no way resulted in hindrance or obstruction in the functioning of the assembly.

Telugu actor Ram Charan has extended a helping hand to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Nepal, offering relief material with the help of Apollo Hospital.

"Ram Charan with the help of Apollo Hospital will be shipping large quantity of ORS sachets, glucose bags and cough syrup to the quake-hit people in Nepal," the actor's publicist told IANS.

Members of Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust are expected to join hands with the actor in this endeavour to help people of the catastrophic calamity.

The actor is currently busy getting ready for the shoot of his yet-untitled Telugu film with Srinu Vaitla.

Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli says as many as 600 artists and 17 visual effects studios are working in tandem to complete the much-anticipated Telugu period drama "Baahubali" on time.

Rajamouli also announced the film's trailer will be unveiled on May 31.

"We had earlier said that we'd be releasing the first part of 'Baahubali' on May 15, but due to some technical reasons, its release has been pushed to July," Rajamouli said in a video.

"17 VFX studios with 600 artists have been working on 'Baahubali' on double shifts, but we still couldn't make it on time. The trailer, however, will definitely be released on May 31," he said.

Starting from May 1, the team will release posters of the lead characters throughout the month leading up to the trailer launch.

"Baahubali", which features Rana Daggubati, Prabhas Varma, and Anushka Shetty in the lead roles, is said to be the most expensive Telugu film yet in the making.

The second part of the movie is said to release during 2016 summer.

If all goes as planned, Telugu star Akkineni Naga Chaitanya may collaborate again with filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon, who gave the actor the biggest hit of his career.

"Gautham and I have been discussing for a while now, but nothing is concrete yet. I've been waiting for an opportunity to work with him again. I'm not sure when it will happen though, because he's extremely busy in Tamil films," Chaitanya told IANS.

Chaitanya's biggest hit "Ye Maaya Chesave" was directed by Gautham.

Basking in the mixed response to his latest Telugu release "Dohchay", Chaitanya will next team up with director Chandoo Mondeti.

According to sources, Tamannah Bhatia is expected to pair up with Chaitanya for his project with Mondeti.

Actor Mukesh Khanna, who is known for his iconic role as Shaktimaan on the small screen, has been appointed the new chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI).

Mukesh filled in the position after actor-director Amole Gupte, who took the position in 2012, resigned in June 2014.

Confirming the news, CFSI CEO Shravan Kumar told IANS: "Amole Gupte had resigned as the chairperson a while back, and now, Mukesh Khanna has been appointed as the new chairperson of CFSI."

Mukesh played Shaktimaan in the 1990s superhero series by the same name, and he is also remembered for his portrayal as Bhishma in "Mahabharat"

President Pranab Mukherjee will present the 62nd National Film Awards at Vigyan Bhawan here on May 3.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore will attend the award ceremony, the information and broadcasting ministry said on Wednesday.

Since 2012, the prestigious National Film Awards ceremony is held every May 3 to commemorate the release date of the first Indian movie “Raja Harishchandra”, a silent project by Dadasaheb Phalke.

The winners list this year is balanced vis-a-vis the Hindi and regional movie worlds, with "Haider", "Queen" and "Mary Kom" sweeping awards from Bollywood.

Other films to get awards in Best Film category are "Othello" (Assamese), "Nirbashito" (Bengali), "Harivu" (Kannada), "Nachom - IA Kumpasar" (Konkani), "Ain" (Malayalam), "Killa" (Marathi), "Aadim Vichar" (Odiya), "Punjab 1984" (Punjabi), "Kuttram Kadithal" (Tamil) and "Chandamama Kathalu" (Telugu).

The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), which has decided to go on an indefinite strike from May 6, is likely to have an unofficial meeting with film producers later Wednesday to discuss a hike in the daily wages of workers and technicians, an official said.

FWICE president Kamlesh Pandey told IANS: “Initially, the producers didn't even acknowledge our letters, but when they got a notice that we are going on strike from May 6, they have now called for an unofficial meeting to discuss the issues.”

Pandey stressed that it is an "unofficial meeting" and so one has to wait and see if the producers "discuss issues and about the new MoU" on wages.

"If they don't agree to our terms, the federation members will not extend any co-operation to them," he added.

Names like T.P. Aggarwal and Mahesh Bhatt are likely to be part of the meeting, to be held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

New York-based Nepalese designer Prabal Gurung has launched a fundraiser to assist disaster relief efforts in Nepal. So far, he has managed to collect over $385,000, and he has secured support from Hollywood celebrity Kim Kardashian.

Gurung has launched a campaign specifically aimed at collecting funds to support victims of the April 25 quake, under his organisation Shikshya Foundation Nepal.

The Foundation is working with CrowdRise, one of the world's largest community raising money for various causes.

A post on the CrowdRise website reads: "Your donations will go through my organisation, Shikshya Foundation Nepal (www.shikshyafoundationnepal.org), and we will distribute 100 percent of the funds accordingly, based on the latest needs on the ground.

"Please donate generously and spread the word. We will continue to provide updates and information regarding the allocation of funds. Thank you all for your support.

Gurung's efforts have found a fan in celebrity TV star Kardashian, who tweeted: "Praying for victims of the earthquake in Nepal. Pls. help @prabalgurung raise relief money by donating here ."

The designer, whose sculpted, modern designs have won the hearts of the fashion elite, including Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Demi Moore, praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his quick action in providing support to the earthquake victims.

"Thank you to people of India and esp PM @narendramodi for swift & unconditional support to Nepal in time of need! A mark of a good neighbour," read one of the tweets of the designer posted on April 26.

Writing for Time magazine, Gurung expressed how Nepal being his home has been a “constant source of inspiration” for his work as a fashion designer in New York City and how “Saturday, April 25, will be a date forever ingrained into my being".

“I woke up heart-stricken to learn that a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake had killed countless people in my home country, and destroyed so many aspects of Nepal... my country has suffered enormous loss, pain and devastation."

The massive earthquake in the Himalayan nation on Saturday has claimed more than 4,680 lives and Nepali Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has warned the casualty figure could go as high as 10,000.

Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani is excited about the China release of his hit film "PK" and hopes the film finds acceptance there.

"Yes, the film is releasing in China. We all are going to promote the film there. It is a big release... I have heard that the film is releasing in 3500-4000 theatres," Hirani said here on Tuesday at a book launch event.

So far, "PK" has released in Pakistan, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. It is likely to hit theatres in China in July.

"Our film '3 Idiots' got a huge response there (in China), so we hope that 'PK' will also receive the same response," he added.

Featuring Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput, "PK" questions people's blind faith in godmen. It turned out to be a hit.

Filmmaker Aishwarya Dhanush, daughter of superstar Rajinikanth, says she had to step out of her comfort zone to make her second Tamil directorial "Vai Raja Vai", which is releasing on Friday.

Three years after her Tamil directorial debut "3", her second film is ready for release.

"It's very different from my first film, which was intense, serious and mostly revolved around the emotions between two people. 'Vai Raja Vai' is a racy, out-and-out commercial entertainer. I had to step out of my comfort zone to make it. Audiences shouldn't keep in mind '3' when they come to watch this movie," Aishwarya told IANS.

She added that "Vai Raja Vai", which she describes as the perfect summer getaway for family and friends, was a challenging project.

"My first film was easier because I was predominantly handling only two characters. The whole movie was shot in a town. Moreover, I had Dhanush around. His experience was a big morale booster," she said, and pointed out how "Vai Raja Vai" is a multi-starrer, and "when you have a lot of people playing different characters, you need to do justice to every character and bring meaning to their presence in the script".

"I feel making a commercial movie is much more challenging because there's so much you have to achieve within a certain period of time and budget. This was the first time I'm making something all by myself," said Aishwarya, who has taken the plunge into the world of commercial cinema with her second film.

"Vai Raja Vai" features veteran actor Karthik's son Gautham Karthik in the lead alongside Priya Anand.

"You'll see lot of casinos and money, but the film is not entirely about gambling. There's a strong element of mystery, romance and comedy as well. The film's genre will be very new for Tamil audiences. I thought it would be different if I could take it to them in the most commercial way possible," she said.

Aishwarya chose Gautham after being impressed with his work in Mani Ratnam's "Kadal".

She heaps praise on actress Taapsee, who essays a character with grey shades in the movie.

"You can find the shades of a Bond girl in Taapsee's role. I really like the way Bond girls are portrayed on screen. I really need to commend Taapsee because despite being a popular heroine, she didn't hesitate to try something new and bold," she said.

Aishwarya is also happy that Indian cinema is warming up to female filmmakers.

"In Bollywood, most superstars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are ready to work with female directors and their films have proved to be successful at the box office, which means they're commercial. It's just a matter of time before southern stars will also be willing to collaborate with women directors," she said.

She also feels it's not challenging anymore for a woman to make films.

"Maybe a decade ago, it wouldn't have been possible for women directors to work in the industry. Today, audiences have opened up to all kinds of cinema and what really matters is whether a movie is good or bad and doesn't matter who has made it. At times, it's slightly difficult for women because it's not easy to balance both home and work at the same time," she said.

Telugu film producer C. Kalyan has spoken out about news that he intimidated a woman living in his apartment building over parking space. He says he never threatened her.

"I had only requested if I could use her parking space for a few days. I wanted to use the space to hold a meeting. I never threatened her or made any derogatory comments," Kalyan told IANS.

On Tuesday, the woman alleged that she was intimated by Kalyan. The Jubilee Hills police station registered a criminal case against him.

“Ya Ali” fame Assamese singer Zubeen Garg will start shooting for his Bollywood directorial titled “Chakra” from January 2016.

“Album is not happening for me right now. From January 2016, I will make a Hindi film called ‘Chakra’. It’s a political thriller. It’s a dark kind of film...about humanity and politics. Now, I’ve my own production house, so I will make three to four films in a row,” Zubeen, who has been in the entertainment industry for over two decades, told IANS.

The singer, who has also recorded a song for John Abraham’s upcoming movie “Banana”, will be playing multiple roles in “Chakra”.

“I will act, direct and write the screenplay,” said Zubeen.

He will share screen space with “Life of Pi” actor Adil Hussain and Victor Banerjee.

The artist, who has acquired cult status in the northeastern state, has his own production house, but he is also looking to associate with another company in Mumbai.

“In Mumbai, I’ll have to tie up with another production house, otherwise I won’t be able to distribute the film all over India and abroad,” said the multi-talented artist, who will also be working on two more Hindi scripts.

Without sharing the names of the other projects, he said the subjects will be “very different”.

Zubeen is currently tied up with Assamese film "Mission China".

Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen and Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen, who is foraying into Bengali cinema with Srijit Mukherji's "Nirbaak", on Wednesday said she "regrets" missing the opportunity to work with national award winning filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh.

Ghosh, the maker of many acclaimed and award-winning films, died on May 30, 2013, following a heart attack.

Quizzed about her late entry into Bengali films, the Bengali beauty told the media: "This will remain a regret. Ritu da, before he passed away, was discussing a film. He was coming to Bombay quite often. That was the film I would have done. But he left us before that happened and I will regret that."

She said Ghosh was an honest person and filmmaker.

"Not only as a human being and director, both, he was honest and he was my kind of person," Sushmita said.

"Nirbaak" (which means speechless) also stars Jisshu Sengupta, actor-director Anjan Dutt and Ritwick Chakraborty.

The film is slated to release on May 1 and its trailer has garnered more than 100,000 views since its release earlier this month.

Taking a serious step forward for establishing himself as an actor, Siddharth Mallya, son of businessman Vijay Mallya, is headed to London to get a Masters degree in acting.

"As acting is the career path that I have chosen, it is essential that I am as well trained as possible in order to compete in this industry. Therefore, am happy to share that I have been offered a place to do a Masters in Screen Acting at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama," Siddharth tweeted on Wednesday.

The Kingfisher scion, who has appeared on screen for brief spells like presenting the show "The Hunt for The Kingfisher Calendar Girl 2013", as well as acting in two short films, is excited to start the course which will commence in October.

"Can't wait to start training at one of the world's finest Drama Schools for my Masters degree in October," he added.

Filmmaker Aishwarya Dhanush, who awaits the release of her second Tamil directorial "Vai Raja Vai" on Friday, says she has no plan as of now to direct her husband Dhanush and father Rajinikanth.

"People have been asking me when I'll make films with Dhanush and my father. Honestly, I don't know when. There are no such plans as of now. Besides the release of 'Vai Raja Vai', nothing else is running in my head right now," Aishwarya told IANS.

Although she has directed Dhanush in her directorial debut "3", fans of the actor wish to see them work again.

Dhanush features in a cameo in "Vai Raj Vai". He plays the iconic character Kokki Kumar from one of his films.

"It's just a brief role. I really loved the character from his film 'Pudhupettai'. I wanted to bring it back someway and that's when I came up with his idea to have him on board," said Aishwarya.

"Vai Raja Vai" features Gautham Karthik and Priya Anand in lead roles.

Tamil superstar Vijay's hit film "Jilla" has been dubbed in Telugu and is slated for release soon. The makers have included additional scenes featuring comedian Brahmanandam in the Telugu version.

"The Telugu dubbed version is ready for release. The makers plan to release it next month. A few scenes featuring Brahmanandam will be included in the Telugu version," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

The film's director Neason had shot the scenes featuring Brahmanadam long back.

"Since the makers had plans to release the Telugu version from the beginning, director Neason had shot a few comedy scenes with Brahmanandam during the original shoot of 'Jilla'," the source said.

The film also features Malayalam superstar Mohan Lal and Kajal Aggarwal in important roles.

Sagar Mahati, son of popular southern composer Mani Sharma, says he has a long way to go before he can even think of matching his father's work. But he doesn't deny the fact that his father has had a big influence on him.

Sagar is making his musical debut with forthcoming Telugu film "Jadoogadu".

"There's no doubt that my father has influenced me to follow in his footsteps. But it's going to be a long journey before I can even think of matching his work. It'll be an achievement if I can even come near to his work," Sagar told IANS.

"I've been accompanying dad to his music studio from a very young age. There was never any pressure to become a composer, but having spent most of time watching him compose music, I was automatically attracted to it," he said.

Sagar was never confident of turning composer.

"What really convinced me was that Yogesh, director of 'Jadoogadu', had immense faith in me. His trust gave me lot of confidence and in a way it motivated me to take up this opportunity," he said.

Actor-filmmaker Ramesh Aravind will cherish the experience of directing Kamal Haasan-starrer Tamil drama "Uttama Villain" forever as he feels it has made him a better human being.

"You learn a lot when you work on a big project like 'Uttama Villain'. You learn about others, you learn about human relations and its importance in the process of filmmaking. At the end of this journey, I think I've not only become a better technician, but I've become a better human being too," Aravind told IANS.

The film, which is about the life of a superstar with and without a mask, releases worldwide on Friday.

"The film is about the feelings of a superstar; his journey and emotions. It shows that there could be an Uttaman (respectable man) in a villain and vice versa too," he said.

Ramesh and Kamal were supposed to team up soon after the former's 2005 Kannada directorial "Rama Shama Bhama".

"Kamal and I were to collaborate for a Hindi project which never got materialised. We also planned to do a Tamil film, but things just didn't fall in place. Meanwhile, I got busy with my commitments in Kannada industry. In March 2013, Kamal asked me to direct this script," he said.

"And at that point, I was looking for a big leap in my career. So the moment I got this offer, I left everything I was doing and shifted my focus. The film has lot of emotional content and it's packed with a profound message which drew me to it," he added.

For fans of Haasan, it has been a long wait for the film. But Aravind is confident about the output.

"It took time because of the many layers involved in the narration. When I saw the first copy, I felt all the layers overlapped nicely. And the output that audiences are going to experience on the big screen, I must say, is going to be great," he said.

He added that the long wait may have raised the stakes for the film as well.

"It could also be the controversies or even Kamal Haasan's return to big screen after two years. All these have certainly had some effect on the stakes. But we're out to give a good film right from the beginning and that much I can assure you," said Ramesh.

Aravind says Kamal has raised the bar much higher in "Uttama Villain".

"I think with every film, he (Kamal) tries to raise the bar higher. Personally, it's a quantum leap for me. The reason I didn't have any distractions and spent the last two years on 'Uttama Villain' was because this was an orbital jump for me," he said.

"In science, when an electron gets excited at one particular energy level, it jumps to the next orbit. I felt like an excited electron and I had to take a quantum jump to reach the higher bar set by Kamal," he added.

As an actor, Aravind has worked in about 150 films, but he admits the creative high one gets as a director can't be matched.

"I've done a lot of work over the years as an actor and it's always exciting to face the arc lights. But direction is something I've been planning to do for quite some time because of the novelty factor. This is the greatest high of my career. I'm looking forward to more such opportunities," and added that direction is a creative process.

"It gives wings to your creativity. It allows you to create a world you might not envision as an actor," he concluded.