Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal, known for playing Shahid Kapoor's best friend in "Kaminey", will be seen in Abbas Tyrewala's "Mango" and says it is an absurd love story.

Talking about the concept of the upcoming movie, Chandan told IANS: "'Mango' is a very absurd love story. It's a romantic comedy, which has three boys and two girls. I am very excited about the project as it's a very funny love story."

Chandan, who is working with Tyrewala, for the first time, finds him "an excellent filmmaker". "He is one of the most intelligent directors I have ever come across. He is a wonderful writer as well. I feel grateful to work with him."

Tyrewala, known for films "Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na" and "Jhootha Hi Sahi".

Mostly shot in Goa, the last portion of "Mango" is left to shoot.

Chandan said: "We shot almost the entire film in Goa and now the last portion is left, which will be shot in Goa by August."

"Mango" also features Rannvijay and his brother Harman along with Monali Thakur and Swara Bhaskar.

The West Bengal government will honour 50 Bengali film personalities on the occasion of the 33rd death anniversary of matinee idol Uttam Kumar Wednesday.

Actors Madhabi Mukhopadhyay, Ranjit Mullick, Dipankar Dey and Sandhya Roy, and filmmaker Gautam Ghosh would be presented the lifetime achievement award for their contribution to Bengali cinema.

Actors Chinmoy Roy and Partha Mukherjee, and directors Sandip Roy, Kaushik Ganguly, Sujit Guha, Srijit Mukherjee and Raj Chakraborty would be presented special awards.

The Mahanayak Samman, 2013, will be awarded to leading actors Tapas Pal and Prosenjit Chatterjee.

Other actors who have been selected for special awards include Saswata Chatterjee and Parambrata Chatterjee.

Film producing companies R.D. Bansal and Company, Shree Venkatesh Films, New Theatres and Arora Films will also be feted at the function.

Reports claiming that Prakash Jha's upcoming film "Satyagraha" is inspired by Anna Hazare's movement seems to have made the members of the social activist's team curious who are said to have placed a request to watch the political drama.

"We have our eyes on 'Satyagraha' no matter what the director says. We know that the film is inspired by the Anna' movement and that Amitabh Bachchan is playing Anna. We just want to ensure that Anna or the movement is not being criticised," said a source.

The trailer of the film urges people to stand up for their rights.

When contacted Jha, he said: "I am not being judgemental about Anna or the movement. 'Satyagraha' is inspired by facts, but it's a fictional take. The film is not about Anna Hazare or his movement. If a direct request from Anna comes to us, we will look into it."

"Satyagraha", which features a host of good actors - from Amitabh, Ajay Devgn and Manoj Bajpayee to Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Amrita Rao - is slated for an Aug 30 release.

Tamil actor Suriya Sivakumar, who turned 38 Tuesday, will spend the day with his family, said a source close to the actor.

"He is currently on a short break between films and enjoying the success of 'Singam 2', which has turned out to be a blockbuster. He will spend the day with his family as he has a busy schedule lined up from August when he will simultaneously shoot for two films," a source told IANS

Suriya's Tamil action-drama "Singam 2" reportedly minted Rs.51 crore at the box office in the first two weeks since its release on July 5.

In August, he is expected to start shooting for filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon's Tamil thriller "Dhruva Natchathiram" and director Lingusamy's untitled Tamil action film from August.

Ghoomar, a folk dance of Rajasthan, has found its way into the list of world's most amazing local dances after an international travel website ranked it fourth on the list.

According to website www.cheapflights.com, the folk dance is not only a display of rhythmic talent, but "its graceful performance in conjunction with twirling of colourful and long-flowing skirts also elevates its aesthetic appeal".

The website has ranked Hawaii's Hula dance at number one, while Japan's Bon Odori dance at number two. Ireland's Irish Stepdance has secured the third place and India's Ghoomar has been ranked fourth as the most amazing local dance.

In recent times, Ghoomar was popularised by music company Veena, based in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

"We are really happy that Ghoomar has been ranked as one of the top dances. We at Veena came up with the first Ghoomar album in 1999. The popularity of the folk music soon spread," said K.C. Malu, chairman of the music company.

"We brought out a series of Ghoomar albums and it sold like hot cakes. It became popular even among non-resident Indians (NRIs) living in several other countries also."

Ghoomar is believed to have derived its name from the word Ghoomna (spinning around or pirouetting).

Describing the dance form, the website said the dancers are veiled women spinning around the room, occasionally snapping or clapping and both men and women are expected to sing together.

"Like so many folk dances, Ghoomar is usually performed during special occasions to worship religious deities," the website said.

Mumbai's famous dabbawallas Tuesday celebrated the birth of a son to Prince William and his wife Catherine in Britain and blessed the baby, a representative said here.

"We are equally thrilled to learn about the new arrival in the British royal family. Around a hundred of us celebrated the event, distributed sweets and offered blessings to the future king," Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association, told IANS.

The next - and more difficult - step is to send a box of 'pedhas' to Prince Charles who has now become a grandfather, said Talekar.

"We plan to contact the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai and seek their advice on how to go about it. We are keen that the royal family gets a chance to taste our traditional Indian sweet on this historic occasion," he said.

The 5,000 dabbawallas in Mumbai who ferry lunch boxes to and from homes and offices in Mumbai, have been the topic of several international management studies and research.

Serving Mumbaikars since 125 years, their precise work and discipline has earned the lunch-box carriers laurels from all over the world.

Talekar said it was Prince Charles who first visited and spent time with Mumbai dabbawallas during a visit to Mumbai in November 2003.

Prince Charles is the father-in-law of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge - better known by her maiden name Kate Middleton - who Monday morning gave birth in London to her and Prince William's first child, a baby boy, who will be third in line to the British throne.

Talekar said: "Though we were known within India, Prince Charles' visit brought us international acclaim and recognition, which we fondly cherish."

A delegation of dabbawallas was also invited to attend Prince Charles' wedding with Camilla Parker-Bowles in April 2005 in London.

Bangladesh and West Bengal must work jointly to promote Bengali films, acclaimed film director Gautam Ghosh said Tuesday.

"A single window Bengali film production centre between Bangladesh and West Bengal must be evolved. Bangladesh, West Bengal and Bengali dominated southern Assam and Tripura must work jointly to boost Bengali films," he told reporters here.

He said this after releasing a book on 100 years of Indian cinema, edited by journalist Manas Chakraborty.

Ghosh said: "Efforts are on to set up a single window Bengali film production centre between Bangladesh, West Bengal and Bengali dominated areas (in other states)."

He said Hindi films alone were not national films.

"Films made in any Indian language must be treated as national film. Hindi films are getting too much importance than the films made in other languages. This is unjust."

Accompanied by Tripura's Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Bhanu Lal Saha, the award winning film maker asked the government to support film makers and producers to ensure that good movies were made.

The minister supported Ghosh.

"When good films had not been produced for a certain period in time, West Bengal's then Left Front government came out with financial support and many high quality films got produced.

"Without sponsorship of the government, making good films is a very tough job."

Those who fast during Ramadan often end up overeating leading to weight gain, acidity and digestion problems. Experts say one must follow a proper diet plan, avoid fried food and red meat and exercise regularly.

A. Arun Kumar, fitness head at Snap Fitness India, shares a few workout and nutrition tips for happy and healthy fasting and feasting during the holy month.

Recommendations:

- Do cardio exercises like walking or cycling. It helps burn calories and improves stamina.

- One can go for low intense resistance training before Ramadan. It helps maintain muscle strength.

- Do warm up and stretching exercises. Full body stretching helps improve flexibility and also in detoxification.

- You can do mat exercises also like free squats, abs and push ups.

- Yoga and meditation helps in detoxification.

- Low intense group exercises helps burn calories. Also it's fun as you exercise with others.

- Workout for at least 20 to 40 minutes.

- Don't exercise when you are fasting. One should exercise either before Sehri (meal before dawn) or after Iftaar (meal after sunset).

- Don't do high intense exercises like high speed running, stepper and heavy weight lifting as it can lead to joint or muscle injuries and complications like low blood pressure, hypoglycemia and dizziness.

Diet recommendations:

- Eat food items like grains, barley, wheat, oats, millet, semolina, beans, lentils, bran, green peas, apricots, prunes and almonds.

- Avoid big meals and eat slowly.

- Drink prune juice to avoid digestive problems.

- Drink at least 35ml of water.

- Avoid deep fried food and red meat as it causes acidity and digestion problems.

- Have proper protein intake after exercise.

- Diabetic patients should be more careful and avoid hypoglycemia (low sugar level in blood).

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan who danced and hosted Hollywood icon Hugh Jackman last year in India has come out in effusive praise and response for 'The Wolverine' star!!

In a recent interview Hugh Jackman praised SRK's coveted dancing skills by saying, "I’m probably not as good as Shah Rukh at the Bollywood dancing, so I’d need lessons"

Shah Rukh Khan however feels that the Wolverine actor can sing and dance better than anyone else in the world!!

In response SRK spoke out by saying, "Hugh Jackman my friend u can dance...sing...act...fight better than anyone else in the world. U r Wolverine..the one and only!!!"

Sweet!

Ranbir Kapoor’s much-awaited project, Besharam, which is directed by Abhinav Singh Kashyap, has generated curiosity by bringing together the three Kapoors — Rishi, Neetu and Ranbir — in one film. And now we’ve been told that Ranbir, who plays an orphan in the film, will head to an orphanage to launch the film’s first theatrical trailer, which will be out next week.

A source close to the project reveals, “The first trailer of the film will be launched at a special location this time. The team has decided to have an orphanage as the venue. They are keen to show the trailer to kids in an orphanage, either in Delhi (where they've shot some portions of the film) or in Mumbai. They’re still debating over that.”

Ask why the makers thought of doing this and the source says, “The team feels that setting up the event at an orphanage is in keeping with the story of the film. It is also the first time that something like this is happening in Bollywood. This way, Ranbir will get time to connect with the kids and they will be the first ones to watch the trailer of the film."

Actress Kirron Kher has revealed that during her teens she was aggressive, never took harassment lightly and even slapped a boy once for troubling her.

During a chat with comedian Kapil Sharma on his show "Comedy Nights with Kapil", Kirron threw light on her teen days. The 58-year-old mentioned that if any man harrased her, she would give him a taste of his own medicine, said a statement.

Kirron narrated an incident that happened in a theatre back then. A boy nudged her and she immediately turned around and slapped him.

Kirron has acted in movies like "Sardari Begum", "Bariwali", "Devdas", "Dostana" and "Main Hoon Na".

Known for playing strong characters on screen, she said that if anyone tried to eve-tease her, she would not leave him without replying back.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt's last hope of leaving the jail were dashed Tuesday as the Supreme Court refused to revisit its March 21 verdict upholding his conviction under the Arms Act and the five-year jail sentence.

The actor who surrendered May 16 to serve a three and a half years' jail term, remaining out of his five-year sentence, will now step out of prison around November 2016.

"We have gone through the curative petition and the relevant documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the (earlier) decision of this court...Hence, the curative petition is dismissed," said Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice B.S. Chauhan.

Sanjay Dutt had pleaded to the court to revisit its March 21 order which upheld his conviction.

The court then offered him partial relief by reducing his sentence from six years, as awarded by the trial court, to five years.

The actor's another plea seeking the review of the March 21 order was dismissed by the court May 10.

The court March 21 gave the actor additional time to surrender to serve the remaining period of his five-year sentence.

A Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court which heard the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts cases acquitted Sanjay Dutt of charges under the stringent anti-terror law but convicted him under the Arms Act for unauthorisedly possessing banned arms and ammunitions.

The TADA court had convicted Dutt Nov 28, 2006, and he was sentenced June 31, 2007.

Veteran actor-director Manoj Kumar, who was admitted to the Kokilaben Hospital two days back, will undergo gall bladder surgery Wednesday - his 75th birthday.

"He has an inflamed gall bladder with gall stones and he will undergo gall bladder surgery tomorrow (Wednesday) 8.00 a.m., " the hospital's executive director Ram Narain told IANS.

The actor was hospitalized after pain in his gall bladder.

Effusively complimenting actor Sushant Singh Rajput, critically acclaimed filmamker Dibakar Banerjee Tuesday backed his decision to cast him in the role of detective Byomkesh Bakshi.

"Among the new generation of actors, Sushant is promising. He never shows off his acting. It is very subtle and inherent. He is a very good actor," said the National Award-winning director during an interaction with media persons here.

The director is busy scouting for locations in the city for his forthcoming film "Detective Byomkesh Bakshi" that is slated to go on the floors in December.

The film is based on one of the 33 crime thrillers penned by famed Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandopadhyay with ByomkeshBakshi as the protagonist between 1932 and 1970.

Featuring Sushant as the popular detective, the movie will be set in then Calcutta during the World War years in 1942.

Sushant, who made a stellar debut with"Kai Po Che!",will be seen as "an adventurous, young, fresh out of college and thriller-loving youth who wants to be a detective".

The actor had a successful stint with TV serials as the male lead Manav in "Pavitra Rishta".

"He is very natural, subtle and credit goes to him for efficiently portraying Manav.The second reason is he is modern andI wanted a young, vulnerable actor," said Banerjee.

"Sushant is the earlier Byomkesh (of 1930s). The Byomkesh that Bandyopadhayay wrote when he was young and adventurous. That is the new aspect that you will get," he added.

A mob sought to vandalise the sets of Bollywood film producer Pooja Bhatt's under-production movie during its shooting near a prison in Rajasthan's Udaipur town Tuesday, police said.

A police officer in Udaipur said that the film's shooting was taking place near the premises of the Udaipur Central Jail where the people tried to vandalise the movie sets.

"Prison guards and policemen later forced the mob to leave the venue. First information reports (FIRs) will be registered against the protestors," said the officer.

Bhatt alleged that these men vendalised the shooting venue and tried to damage property while supporting an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer whom she had accused of misbehaving with her and manhandling her film crew three days earlier.

The shooting of her movie "Bad" is taking place in Udaipur, some 400 km from Jaipur.

"Some 50-75 people barged into Central Jail Udaipur shouting slogans against me and threatening to shut down my shoot," she tweeted after the incident.

On Saturday, Bhatt accused IPS officer Hari Prasad Sharma, deputed as superintendent of police (SP) in Udaipur, of manhandling her film crew after he was asked for an identification card when entering his office in the district collectorate where the shooting was taking place.

After the incident, Bhatt Sunday wrote to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, demanding action against Sharma.

The protestors who barged into the movie sets on Tuesday were supporting the police officer and said the film producer and her crew misbehaved with Sharma when he was entering his office for some important government work.

"Pooja Bhatt blew the matter out of proportion. She has Twitter and many other platforms to express herself. The police officer didn't have a chance to tell his side of story. We would not allow this thing to happen," said a protestor.

Pooja Bhatt tweeted after the incident Tuesday, "(I) have resumed work but unfortunately one of the constables was injured while trying to disperse the mob. How can this behaviour be condoned?"

Kicking of an hepatitis awareness drive, veteran Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff Tuesday called for greater awareness of the killer disease and urged people to take it seriously.

"It is a serious issue and I request everyone to participate in the cause as there is very limited, limited awareness about Hepatitis. People should know, only then they will be careful about it," he said, launching an email and SMS campaign as part of the build-up to the World Hepatitis Day next Sunday (July 28).

He kicked off the campaign by sending an email to state Health Minister Suresh Shetty with a message that calls for "Knowing, Confronting & Eradicating Hepatitis".

The email and SMS campaign precedes a virtual chain four days prior to a human chain at Chowpatty next Saturday and is an initiative of National Liver Foundation (NLF), a non-government organisation dedicate to creating awareness about hepatitis.

NLF founder-trustee Samir R. Shah said that together, hepatitis B & Hepatitis C represent a major global health threat, particularly in India.

"Contracted through blood-to-blood contact, both are 'silent' viruses and many people feel no symptoms for years even if they are infected. If ignored, it can lead to cirrhosis with life-threatening implications," explained Shah.

When diagnosis is made too late, the only options is a liver transplant and Shah urged those people within the risk categories to undergo medical tests on priority.

After Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh it is Delhi's turn to celebrate the spirit of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag".

On Tuesday evening, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit watched the film and immediately granted it exemption from entertainment tax.

"Dikshit was visibly moved by the film. She took a call on the tax exemption without hesitation," said a source.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra could barely contain his emotions. "What can I say? First Maharashtra, then Madhya Pradesh and now Delhi has granted 'Milkha...' a tax exemption. I am humbled by the unanimous acceptance of the spirit of Milkha."

A Mumbai sessions court ruled Wednesday that Bollywood actor Salman Khan would be tried under the stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the 2002 hit-and-run accident.

The court said the actor will now be tried under Section 304 (III) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). If found guilty, Salman could face 10 years in prison.

The matter has been posted for further hearing Aug 16.

Earlier, Salman had been tried by a metropolitan magistrate under the less severe Section 304A of the IPC relating to rash and negligent driving, which stipulates a maximum of two years in prison.

However, the metropolitan magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses in the case, had invoked the more serious charge under Section 304 (III) of the IPC against the actor. Salman had challeged this order in the sessions court.

One person was killed and four others were injured when a Land Cruiser allegedly driven by Salman in an inebriated state ran over a group of footpath dwellers in Mumbai's Bandra suburb in the early hours of Sep 28, 2002.

Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna's younger daughter Nandamuri Tejaswini will soon be married to the grandson of M.V.V.S. Murthy, head honcho of GITAM group of institutions, says a source close to the actor.

"The engagement is to take place in the first week of August. The groom-to-be is the grandson of M.V.V.S. Murthy, head of GITAM group of educational institutions, Vishakhapatnam," a source told IANS.

Balakrishna's elder daughter Brahmani is married to Lokesh, son of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu.

A popular actor in Telugu cinema, Balakrishna is known for films such as "Narasimha Naidu", "Simha" and "Sri Rama Rajyam". He is son of actor and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR).

Popular director Kasthuri Raja has cast kids from slums here in his upcoming Tamil-Malayalam bilingual "Kaasu Panam Dhuttu", which is based on the life of shanty dwellers.

"It's a film about the life of slum dwellers and therefore I have cast few kids from the slums in Chennai to make it as realistic as possible. Who else can play slum dwellers better than those who have been living in slums," Kasthuri Raja asked while speaking to IANS.

"These kids don't have to be taught how to act. They have lived in the slums and they can literally live in the characters as well. After extensive research on the lives of slum-dwellers, I picked most of these kids," he added.

The film features Mithran, Suyesha Sawant and Sania in the lead roles.

"The story highlights how circumstances push several teenagers from the slums to turn into criminals to earn a livelihood. The lead cast has very important part to play in the film," said the director, known for films such as "En Rasavin Manasile" and "Thulluvadho Ilammai".

"Kaasu Panam Dhuttu", which went on floors recently, has music by Sajid, who is an associate of Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman.