Actor-politician Chiranjeevi believes the reason behind the nationwide popularity of Gollapudi Srinivas National Award is because of the love and passion its organisers breathe into the event year after year. The award was institutionalised in 1998 in the loving memory of debutant filmmaker Gollapudi Srinivas, who passed away while directing his first Telugu film "Prema Pustakam". His family has since been honouring best first-time director among Indian languages. "There's love and passion behind Gollapudi Awards, hence its nationwide popularity. Some film awards can bore you because they're organised like some school events, but this one is special because it has a family touch," Chiranjeevi, who presided over the award ceremony here on Wednesday, told IANS. Bollywood choreographer-director Farah Khan was also one of the chief guests, besides southern film actor Siddharth and Tamil filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj. Debut director Sanjay Gupta received the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award and cash prize worth Rs.150,000 for 2014 for his Hindi drama "Q". The film "Q" was selected out of 27 nominations from across the country across languages that included Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Kannada. The jurors included Tamil director Vasanth, award-winning southern filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao and actress Rohini.

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, who visited the set of "Comedy Nights With Kapil" to promote the film "All Is Well", has thanked Kapil Sharma for having him and has complimented the comedian for being a "natural".

The 62-year-old actor posted on micro-blogging website Twitter: "Thank you all at comedy with Kapil. Was wonderful though it was tiring for me. Result of promotions of 'All Is Well'. That boy is a natural."

Kapil, who is making his Bollywood debut with "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon", took the opportunity to thank the veteran for visiting the set of his show.

"@chintskap thanks rishi sir.. Coming from you means a lot for all of us.. You are a true entertainer.. we all enjoyed your presence," Kapil wrote.

Directed by Umesh Shukla, "All Is Well" is slated to release on August 21 and also stars Supriya Pathak, Abhishek Bachchan and Asin in the lead roles. It is produced by Bhushan Kumar's T-Series among others.

Veteran actress and social activist Shabana Azmi and her husband poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar have urged people to sign up for organ donation.

Shabana took to micro-blogging website Twitter on World Organ Donation Day on August 13 to share that she and her husband have already signed up for the same.

"Sign up today as an organ donor on http://www.organdonationday.in both @Javedakhtarjadu and I have donated ours," Shabana tweeted on Thursday.

Stand-up comedian and actor Vir Das will be seen endorsing an international calling application, the advertisement of which has been conceptualised, written and produced by his company Weirdass Comedy.

Vir will also have his company act as the international calling application Rebtel's ad agency.

"It's always great when along with performing the content, you get to conceptualise it and produce it. My company Weirdass functioned as their ad agency and production house along with me being their brand ambassador. It was this insulated comedy experience, no middle men, no multiple cooks in the broth,” said Vir in a statement.

On the big screen, Vir has been seen in films like "Delhi Belly" and "Revolver Rani".

Actor Arjun Rampal will be at the Federation of Indian Association to celebrate India's Independence Day on Sunday.

The "D-Day" actor posted on micro-blogging website Twitter, where he shared details about the event.

"Off to NYC tonight to celebrate our Independence Day at the FIA India Parade. Stay tuned it's gonna be one beautiful weekend," he tweeted.

The "Roy" actor will be at Madison Avenue in New York City on August 16.

Commemorating the 69th year of India's Independence, wildlife TV channel Animal Planet will launch a "Yeh Mera India" anthem, composed by popular Bollywood composers, the Meet Brothers.

Aiming to capture youth and sensitise viewers about the dazzling array of fauna found in the country, the three-minute multilingual anthem has passionate lyrics, vibrant choreography and mesmerising performances.

“'Yeh Mera India' anthem is a vibrant song which is reminiscent of the rich wildlife and unparalleled natural beauty of this country. It's a musical tribute to the independence of animals," Manmeet Singh, one half of the Meet Brothers, said in a statement.

“Dedicated to the splendid animal kingdom, 'Yeh Mera India''s party in the jungle theme for this anthem is both sensational and celebratory. The soundtrack is designed to match the progressive state of mind of today's youth," added Harmeet Singh.

Choreographed by Feroz Khan, directed by Vishal Punjabi and sung by Meet Brothers, Shibani Kashyap and Neha Bhasin, the composition is in three widely spoken languages in India: Hindi, Tamil and Bengali.

Rahul Johri, executive vice president and general manager - South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, said: “'Yeh Mera India' is an initiative to build viewers' interest and pride in the wildlife of India. The programming will reveal the magnificent natural heritage and will inspire audience to preserve it for future generations.”

"Yeh Mera India", which premieres on August 15, will be aired at 8 p.m. on Animal Planet.

Singer Sonu Nigam launched his father Agam Kumar Nigam's latest album "Phir Se Bewafaai" at an event here.

The music and the lyrics of the album have been composed by Saawan Kumar Saawan.

"This is my sixth album... it is completely different from my previous five albums and this contains a distinct flavour. It is very close to our hearts. The situation this time was different as Sonuji's mother and my wife had passed away. And post that for the next one and half years, we were in despair. Saawan approached me for a project, when he played the songs it felt really close to my heart due to the situation we were in and we readied the album according to this," said Agam Kumar Nigam.

Sonu stressed the importance of launching an album when actually the industry is struggling and digital medium has taken over. "In today's generation, music albums are not made regularly. But despite this, it's his sixth album that is coming out, which definitely indicates that his albums have a fixed and outstanding market. T-Series is again releasing this album and we just hope that this will be appreciated by people."

"People have started letting go, but he still aggressively sings. When he sings on the stage, the whole arena starts vibrating. That's the amount of power, emotions and passion in his songs. So he is an inspiration which makes us feel that if our father can do it, why not us? So we also have to tighten our belts and become like him," said Sonu, lauding his father's continuing determination.

Sonu who had composed the music for Sunny Deol's "Singh Saab The Great" is working on his single and will come out with his album soon.

Bollywood actor Neil Nitin Mukesh, who was last seen in Tamil actioner "Kaththi", may soon be making his Telugu debut opposite "Baahubali" star Prabhas in his next yet-untitled project in the language. The film will be helmed by 25-year old Sujeeth, who made a smashing debut last year with his Telugu hit "Run Raja Run". "Neil has been approached to play the antagonist. He was also narrated the story a few months ago as the project was originally supposed to go on floors in July. However, the shoot has been delayed because Prabhas is busy with 'Baahubali 2'," a source close to the director told IANS. The source added that the project may take some more time to materialize. "During the recent SIIMA awards, the director had met Neil and assured him that the project is being delayed but will soon happen," the source said. The film will be produced by Prabhas' home production UV Creations, the banner which had also produced "Run Raja Run". Initially, model-turned-actor Kabir Duhan Singh was considered to play the baddie, but the makers have had a change of mind.

Actress Bipasha Basu on Friday wished her parents a “happy anniversary” and complimented them for being "gorgeous" always.

“Happy Anniversary to my gorgeous parents! Love you Ma & Papa,” Bipasha tweeted along with an image of her parents.

The actress will next be seen in "Singh Is Bliing", which is a sequel to the 2008 hit film "Singh Is Kinng". The film also features Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta and Amy Jackson. The film is releasing on October 2.

The Indian film business -- pegged at Rs.126.4 billion in 2014 as per a Ficci-KPMG report -- is an important market to participate in, says Andy Bird, chairman of Walt Disney International, adding that there is "strategy and plan" to establish the global entertainment conglomerate as a "brand" in the country.

“India is about three things -- movies, TV and cricket. So, if we want to create an Indian Walt Disney company, we need to participate in the Indian movie business. In India, about 94 to 96 percent of box office comprises of local movies or Bollywood. It is very important for us as a company to participate in Indian movie business,” Bird said at the Walt Disney Studio Lot in Burbank on Thursday.

The path to enter the Indian entertainment industry first began when Disney acquired production company UTV in 2012.

Elaborating on the future plans to expand the business in the nation, he added: “Few years ago we acquired a company, UTV (production house), and have also started developing projects under the brand name. We have about 10 to 12 films on the slate that will be branded by Disney.

"The idea is to get an Indian mother to say to her children - 'Let's go and watch a Disney film'. Just as Disney has established in Hollywood, we want Disney as a brand to establish itself in Indian film industry.”

The company has already found prominence by backing films like Sonam Kapoor and Fawad Khan starrer “Khoobsurat” and "ABCD 2", which is the second film in the dance-based film franchise “ABCD”. The future slate is also promising -- Aamir Khan starrer “Dangal”, Ranbir Kapoor's “Jagga Jasoos” and Hrithik Roshan's “Mohenjo Daro”.

With different genres and actors as talented as these, hopes are high from the banner.

Setting foot in the Indian market is a long-term process, and Bird acknowledges the fact by saying “it is going to take some time"

"We are patient, have strategy and a plan to get to where we want to," he said.

Bird, who joined The Walt Disney Company -- known for creating a mystical world full of fairies and cartoon characters -- in 2004 was also gripped by the “Bollywood fever”. He shared his admiration for Bollywood's young heartthrob Ranbir.

“Ranbir is my favourite. I loved him in 'Barfi!',” Bird candidly admitted to a group of Indian reporters, including this IANS correspondent, here.

To enhance the Disney experience in India, the entertainment giant is also bringing the Broadway experience with the “Beauty and the Beast” musical, and they hope to add to the retail sector with it. The show will be staged in Mumbai and Delhi in October.

“It is a Broadway show done with Indian cast. We believe that the immersive entertainment live on stage will help Indian consumers get a deeper understanding about what is Disney and will develop retail environment,” Bird said.

That's not the only centre of attention, Bird notes that they are also looking at the Indian small screen.

“Other than Disney channels, we have Indian children's channels like Hungama and bindass. So, the focus is on TV, film, and consumer products are also happening,” he said.

Bird adds that the brand works towards transforming the “Walt Disney office in places like India, China and Brazil to not be just offices representing the brand”.

“What we strive to do is that ask how to make Walt Disney India as Indian Walt Disney company. And as you ask this question, you come up with individual set of answers.”

India's most loved TV show anchor Kapil Sharma is all set to debut on the big screen, but the stand-up comic says he had never thought he would get a chance to do movies.

"I had never thought of doing a movie. My aim was only to do stand-up comedy and I was doing it well," said Kapil.

Anukalp, the writer of his show, has also written Kapil's debut movie "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karu".

"He (Anukalp) had shown the script to Abbas-Mustan some time back and the belief Abbas-Mustan showed on casting me inspired me to do the movie," Kapil said.

Kapil was too busy shooting for "Comedy Nights" when he signed the movie.

"I gave the mahurat shot for the movie after a night-long shoot of 'Comedy Nights'. I didn't slep all night, but I don't know how I got the energy," he said.

Kapil, who made his entry in the entertainment industry through a comedy show, has been here for over eight years.

"TV has given me everything. There was news that I had said that I hate how TV works. But the fact is that I had a slipped disc in February, and in TV, you have no option but to work.

"I had to produce the episode for the next telecast. This is the thing about TV that I don't like. I pulled off till June, spoke to my doctors and then decided to quit as I could not pull it further," he said.

There were rumours that his popular TV show stopped as he had to go to US.

"People feel I stopped the show for shows in the US but that's not true. The commitments were quite prior to all this. People had invested there as well, arenas were booked, tickets sold, so I had to do it."

"But I will continue TV as it has given me a lot," he added.

"Kis Kisko Pyaar Karu" also stars Arbaaz Khan, Manjari Phadnis, Amrita Puri, Simran Kaur Mundi, Elli Avram, Varun Sharma, Supriya Pathak and Johnny Lever's daughter Jamie Lever. Directed by Abbas Mustan, the movie is set to release on September 25.

"Gulaab Gang" director Soumik Sen has lent his creativity to a TV commercial, which highlights the everyday essence of a modern Indian woman, who is rooted in her culture.

Sen has collaborated with an online marketplace for Indian fashion Indianroots by NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd, to launch its maiden TV ad titled “Inherently Indian” on Independence Day.

Sen said the idea was to create a commercial that talked about modern women embracing ethnicity.

“The modern Indian woman is someone who embraces her traditional roots with elan, and wears it everyday. Capturing this on film implied making tradition chic and urbane, and bringing out her inner beauty. This was challenging, but it was a fun, monsoon shoot,” Sen added.

The idea of the ad was also to reach out to consumers in tier-II and tier-III cities.

“IndianRoots is a firm believer in 'Make In India' and our TVC (TV commercial) conveys the uniqueness and immense potential in this message. With this commercial, we aim to capture the attention and increase the recall value of IndianRoots within the tier-II and tier-III customer base of our country,” Rahul Narverkar, CEO, NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd, said in a statement.

Eros International, a leading Indian film production house, has announced its association with Pawan Kalyan Creative Works and Northstar Entertainment for the upcoming Telugu film "Sardaar Gabbar Singh".

"We are very excited to partner with one of the biggest stars of Telugu cinema, Pawan Kalyan along with Sharath Marar. 'Sardaar Gabbar Singh' promises to be bigger and better with more action and entertainment, an absolute treat for Pawan Kalyan fans," Sunil Lulla, managing director, Eros International said in a statement.

"The Telugu film industry is going through a remarkable phase with some of the biggest recent hits in Indian cinema like 'Baahubali' and 'Srimanthudu' to its credit. We are very happy to be a part of this exciting phase. We hope to continue setting new trends with 'Sardaar Gabbar Singh' along with our partners," he said.

Being directed by Bobby, the film also stars Kajal Aggarwal and Sharad Kelkar in important roles.

At the stroke of midnight, when the entire country was ringing in the 69th Independence Day, fans of southern cinema were awakened by the first look and theatrical trailers of upcoming releases such as "Puli", "Kick 2" and "Sardaar Gabbar Singh".

The first look poster of actor-politician Pawan Kalyan's highly anticipated Telugu actioner "Sardaar Gabbar Singh" was unveiled post midnight on Friday.

In the poster, Pawan is seen with guns, and sports a khaki uniform. The film is the sequel to the 2012 blockbuster "Gabbar Singh", the Telugu remake of "Dabangg".

The makers of Tamil superstar Vijay's "Puli" unveiled a special poster announcing that the film's theatrical trailer will be released on August 20.

The theatrical trailer of Ravi Teja-starrer Telugu action-comedy "Kick 2", which releases in cinemas on August 21, was also unveiled on the eve of Independence Day.

What really caught the attention of fans and quickly emerged as the topic of discussion was the first look poster Anushka Shetty-starrer Telugu-Tamil drama "Size Zero". It features Anushka as an obese woman.

For her role, Anushka gained nearly 20 kg and has since come back to her normal weight. Also starring Arya as a fitness expert, the film's makers announced that the film will hit the screens on October 2.

Fans also got a glimpse of stylish Junior NTR from his upcoming Telugu drama "Maa Nanna Ku Prema Tho". The makers revealed the first look of the actor from the film, which is currently on floors in London.

The first look poster of Sunil-starrer Telugu entertainer "Krishnashtami" was also released on the occasion of Independence Day.

It didn't stop with first look poster and trailer as the makers of upcoming Tamil thriller "Ko 2" released a special tribute song titled "Unnai Maatrinaal" to late Indian president A.P.J Abdul Kalam.

The makers of Krish Jagarlamudi-directed Telugu drama "Kanche" will be unveiling the teaser on Saturday.

The first motion poster of Malayalam fantasy drama "Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi", which is directed by Anil Radhakrishnan Menon, will also be released on Saturday.

Superstar Rajinikanth's next Tamil film is reportedly titled "Kabali", and loosely based on the real life of a Chennai mafia don.

"In the film, Rajini sir plays a character called Kabaleeshwaran, and the title 'Kabali' is derived from it. The story is based on a don from Mylapore in Chennai," a source from the film unit told IANS.

To be directed by Pa. Ranjith, the film is slated go on floors on September 17.

"The initial few minutes of the film will be set in Mylapore, and then the story will shift to Malaysia," the source said.

Also starring Radhika Apte, Dhansikaa and Kalaiarasan, the film will have music by Santhosh Narayanan. It will be Rajinikanth's 159th film.

Director Krish Jagarlamudi's upcoming Telugu film "Kanche", starring Varun Tej in the lead, is about a love story set against the backdrop of World War II.

"It's a love story that unfolds during World War II. One of the highlights of the film will be battle sequences that were in Georgia, Russia, with real weapons," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

In the film's first teaser released on Saturday, Varun is seen playing a soldier, fighting enemies with a Tommy gun.

The film also features Pragya Jaiswal.

Chirantan Bhatt has been as the composer of the film, which is produced by Saibabu Jagarlamudi and Y. Rajeev Reddy.

Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, who performed at London's O2 arena on August 15, the Indian Independence Day, has thanked his fans for the sold-out concert.

"O2 London management just told me that it was a sold out concert... Thank you for your extraordinary love last night... My team and I were thrilled performing for you. See you again soon," Rahman tweeted on Sunday.

The official website of O2 arena read: "The double-Grammy and double-Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner, returns to The O2 after five years, with a one-off greatest hits show on Saturday 15 August 2015. He will be joined by very special guests, including Neeti Mohan, Javed Ali, Karthik, Haricharan, Jonita Gandhi and Hriday Gattani."

Actress Raveena Tandon, who was here to celebrate India's Independence Day, enjoyed "two glorious days" but the ending turned out to be "bad".

"In LA after two glorious days, of spending the Independence Day celebrations - sadly a bad ending. All was going well till a drunk got on stage," Raveena tweeted on Sunday.

She shared that a man called "Neeraj Agnihotri started misbehaving, and padding comments, sadly all security was down and couldn't get to him first".

"Was one of the organisers and was upset that his kids didn't get to travel in my car with me to the event, which security and protocol didn't allow."

"Started making nasty remarks till I had to yell out to the others to get some other guys up. And that's when they took him away! But yes I did give him a piece of my mind too. That's no way to talk to anyone - when I didn't even know what he was upset about," she added.

The actress, who featured in a digital film “Jai Hind” that pays homage to the freedom fighters, also shared that she had met "such nice people. But this guy spoilt the whole evening. And the event went off amazing too".

Superstar Mahesh Babu has been getting laurels for his performance in the recently released Telugu action-drama "Srimanthudu" from all quarters. But appreciation from his actor-father G. Krishna made him emotional. "The last one week has been very special. Everybody has been saying 'Srimanthudu' is the best film of my career. After watching the film, dad told me that he's never seen me perform like this. I just couldn't stop myself from crying," Mahesh told IANS. Directed by Koratala Siva, the film opened to good numbers, raking in over Rs.100 crore in its first week worldwide. Mahesh is tasting success after two back-to-back failures. How does he feel about it? "It hasn't sunk in yet. I think it will take time for me to even cherish this success. More than the monetary success, I was satisfied as an actor. It's funny there's a dialogue in the film that goes, 'Let me also earn my respect'. It feels nice to have earned that," he said. On the film's success, he commented: "Telugu audience love cinema. They won't let a good film down and they've proved this with the way they accepted 'Srimanthudu'." Mahesh also said he is indebted to director Siva for this success. "Srimanthudu" is the first film Mahesh has showed his children. "My son Gautham usually doesn't watch my films. But he watched 'Srimanthudu' in the theatre. My daughter Sitara, who is too young to watch films, managed to watch it. She can sing all the songs from the film," he added.

Gauri Shinde of "English Vinglish" fame is looking forward to once again donning the director's hat for a project, the script of which she is "almost" ready with. "Yes I am making my next film :)script done... well almost... going on the floors soon. Looking forward to be back in action," Shinde, the wife of acclaimed filmmaker R. Balakrishnan aka R. Balki, posted on Twitter on Monday. Her directorial debut, the 2012 entertainer "English Vinglish", which marked the comeback of Sridevi onto the big screen, found critical acclaim as well as the audience's love for telling a poignant tale of a woman who learns English in the quest of 'fitting in' the life of her husband and children. Given the success of the movie and the simplicity yet force with which the movie was told, earned Shinde plaudits for being a woman director with substance.