Versatile actor Sanjay Mishra, who is remembered for his role as Shukla, a corrupt employee in the famous television serial "Office Office", rues that nowadays "television has become a very foolish medium" in the country.

"I feel in India, television has become a very foolish, idiotic medium... I pray to god that I don't have to do television to earn my bread and butter. We have made a very positive media to a very negative one... be it fiction or non-fiction TV," Sanjay told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.

The 52-year-old actor also said that there is nothing on Indian television "that we can watch", while adding, "'haan yaar, kaash main yaha hota (wish I was there)'".

Sanjay, who has also worked in films like "Golmaal Returns", "Welcome" and "Guru", and will next be seen in filmmaker Rohit Shetty's forthcoming film "Dilwale" starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, slated to hit the theatres on December 18, criticised TV serials like the "saas-bahu" sagas and "Bigg Boss".

"For television one has to either be a part of 'saas-bahu' sagas or be a part of 'Bigg Boss'... No, I don't want to (be a part of TV)... I would rather go to Varanasi and sit in front of Ganga ji," he quipped.

Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi and Malayalam superstar Mammootty, who have been roped in for director Uday Ananthan's "White", have started shooting for the film in London.

The Malayalam film will show Mammootty as an ageing billionaire falling in love with a young girl.

"This film is Mammootty's comeback after his recent blockbuster 'Pathemari' and the first-time pair of Mammootty and Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi will create magic on screen," Ananthan said in a statement.

“This is our second film with super star Mammootty and we are very happy to associate with the best in the Malayalam film industry,” Sunil Lulla, managing director, Eros International Media Ltd. added.

The film has been co-written by Ananthan, Praveen Balakrishnan and Nandini Valsan.

Former Bollywood actress and now entrepreneur and columnist Twinkle Khanna will hand out tips to make the regular setup in a house livelier.

Consumer internet company Askme on Thursday announced a tie-up with Twinkle under which Askme will roll out a series of videos on tips and tricks for its customers looking out to add some style to their place of abode.

Customers at Askmeonfurniture will get the latest trends and tips directly from Twinkle to bring a new look and feel to their home.

The host of videos in the series include Balcony Decor Tips, Decor setup for High Tea Party, Boho Chic Home Decor, Revamp Your Coffee Setting and Bedroom Decor Tips.

“In today’s time, Twinkle Khanna is the most trusted and followed source for the latest trends and tips in the interior designing and home decor space. We are delighted to partner with her for the series of videos for Askmeonfurniture. This partnership will bring an edge in home decor segment and enable a richer user-experience," Manav Sethi, group chief marketing officer, Askme, said in a statement.

Twinkle said people want to style their homes seasonally and even just for festive occasions. "They are aware of the latest trends in the home decor segment and are looking for easy ways to incorporate that into their own homes," she added.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan here on Wednesday evening said he does not follow any particular routine as far as food habits are concerned and calls himself a "bad eater".

"I'm a bad eater and I'm sure that when you call home the answer will be the same. I don't follow any routine. My eating habits are very dissimilar to what any of you are following. I just eat whatever comes to me, I don't know that it is," said Amitabh Bachchan.

Bachchan who was present at the launch of Shilpa Shetty's book, "The Great Indian Diet", said he considers himself the wrong person to be launching a book on diet due to his eating habits.

"I never used to do any kind of exercises. Most of the times when I was working in my earlier films, I never really thought about it though or I wasn't advised about it or I perhaps didn't have the time.

"But having seen some of my visuals in some of my films about 5-6 years ago, I realised that I needed to be in shape and started going to the gym on some kind of a regular basis," he added.

Bachchan turned vegetarian a few years back and is known to be extremely fond of Indian cuisine.

Akshay Kumar will reprise superstar Vijay's role in the Hindi remake of Tamil blockbuster "Kaththi".

"Lyca Productions and A.R. Murugadoss will jointly produce the remake, which will be directed by debutant Jagan," a source close to Murugadoss told IANS.

"Kaththi", which featured Vijay in dual role, was directed by Murugadoss and produced by Lyca.

The film's shooting will start from April 2016.

This will be the second time Akshay will star in the remake of Vijay's film. He previously worked in the "Thuppaki" remake, which was named "Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty".

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Friday expressed support to those raising issues of intolerance in the country. She said "the growing intolerance is worrying" and that the fringe elements need to be "put down".

"The growing intolerance in the country is extremely worrying. The debate currently is not just about putting the fringe elements down, but also about respecting dissent," Azmi said while addressing a session at the Women in the World India Summit.

Shabana, a former member of parliament, stood her ground and said that in a pluralist country like India, "there is bound to be disagreements and dissent must be respected".

"Intolerance will continue, but the question remains how the state will deal with this," the actor said.

Many artistes and writers in the country have been raising the issue of growing intolerance in the country. This surfaced after a Muslim man in Dadri was killed over rumours of having consumed beef. Many of these writers and artistes have returned their state awards as a show of dissent.

This mass returning of awards has also grabbed international interest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was blamed for being "silent" on the issue, had during his visit to Britain recently responded with "India is not intolerant" when a question was put to him by a foreign journalist.

Filmmaker R. Balki, who has worked with actresses like Tabu and Vidya Balan, says there are fewer writers in the industry who keep women aged over 35 or 40 in their mind.

He has worked with actresses of different age groups and is open to teaming up with those who are not in their 20s, but says there is a limitation when it comes to writers.

"It's not about limited roles (for women aged over 35 in the film industry). There are limited writers," Balki said at The Beauty Debate powered by Dove on 'Evolving ideals of beauty in India' at the Women in the World India Summit here on Friday.

"Take Sridevi as an example. She got the best role at the age of 50," he added giving reference to the actress' role in his wife and filmmaker Gauri Shinde's 2012 hit film "English Vinglish".

He said so after popular model Lakshmi Menon, who was also one of the panelists along with Balki, costume designer-stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania and actress Soha Ali Khan, pointed out that while Bollywood actresses in their mid-30s or 40s are being offered roles of a mother, male superstars like 50-year-old Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are still playing the lead in movies.

Soha also believes that the standard of beauty for women is "higher" than for men.

Menon feels that in India beauty is being "controlled by a bunch of people" and that it shouldn't be dictated by anybody.

"We must explore diversity in beauty. I keep saying that, but I don't see it happening. Be it TV commercials or magazine advertisements, you get to see the same people. For instance, (actress) Deepika Padukone can be seen in five different things at the same time. Is she the only beautiful woman in India?," she said.

Talking about having Bollywood stars on the covers of leading magazines, Adajania said: "India is a unique country. We don't have the supermodel culture here. We had that in the early 1990s. So, now we have Bollywood celebrities are looked up to as style icons. But we do feature models as well as women in their 40s."

On filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani's 53rd birthday on Friday, actor Boman Irani said he has a great sense of entertainment and knows how to make it “profound” without making anyone realise it.

“Happy birthday Raju, you take entertainment and make it profound, without us even realising it. Love always @RajkumarHirani,” Boman posted on micro-blogging site Twitter on Friday.

Boman has played a pivotal role in Hirani's every directorial venture including “3 Idiots”, “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” and “PK”.

Interestingly, Boman also celebrates November 20 as his son and actor Kayoze Irani's birthday whom he calls his “youngest friend”.

In another tweet, Boman wrote: “Happy birthday son. You also happen to be my youngest friend. Love you.”

Kayoze made his Bollywood debut with 2012 film “Student of the Year”.

"Many times, I wanted to exert some sort of revenge for what some people have done to me. But then I leave it on their destiny. I am a strong believer of karma," she said.

"For every action, there will always be a reaction. Actually, people who do wrong to me or hurt me, something unpleasant surely happens to them. So, I don't have faith in taking revenge," added the actress, who will be next seen on the big screen in "Hate Story 3", which is based on love, lust and revenge.

She says the audience will see her in a different avatar in the film. "I am happy that nobody has seen me in an ultra-glam avatar before. So, I think audiences' view is going to change about me."

Without disclosing much about her role in the film, Zareen shared that her character Sia loves her husband, played by Sharman Joshi, more than anything and she can go to any extent to save her husband.

The Vishal Pandya directorial also stars Daisy Shah and Karan Singh Grover.

The film is scheduled for a December 4 release.

An unseasonal shower failed to dampen the inauguration of the 46th edition of the International Film Festival of India, which opened in Goa Friday, even as a couple of FTII students staged a minor protest during the ceremony, before being escorted out of the venue.

The ceremony marked the start of the 11-day festival, which began with the opening film 'The Man Who Knew Infinity' directed by Mathew Brown the self-taught Indian mathematical genius Ramanajun and his friendship with G.H. Hardy who helped reveal the mathematics genius to the world.

The chief guest of the inauguration ceremony, veteran actor Anil Kapoor, was accompanied by fellow artistes who were also in attendance like the chairman of the festival's jury Shekhar Kapur, legendary music director Ilayaraja, Hollywood actor Dev Patel and the rest of the cast of the opening film, along with union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, union minister of state Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore.

More than 7,000 delegates from 38 countries, most from India, have registered for the festival which will also be accompanied simultaneously by the ninth edition of the Film Bazaar, a networking event aimed at facilitating collaboration in the realm of production and distribution.

Speaking on the occasion, Jaitley said great film festivals all over the world are conventionally identified with the location where they are held and Goa was the perfect location for the event.

"It is essential to make these locations centres where creativity assembles. There can't be a better synergy than good cinema and Goa," Jaitley said.

Shekhar Kapur, who has directed Bollywood blockbusters like 'Mr. India' as well as globally acclaimed films like 'Elizabeth', said it was the first time that he was chairing a film festival jury in India and credited Parrikar, a former Goa chief minister, for bringing IFFI to Goa.

"I have never been a chairman of jury at home. ... I love Goa. I along with Mr Parrikar, fought to bring this festival to Goa," Kapur said, recounting how in 2004 the festival moved from being a travelling festival to one with a permanent location in Goa.

The inaugural ceremony also saw a minor disruption after two attendees raised banners and slogans demanding removal of Film and Television Institute of India director Gajendra Chauhan. The protestors were escorted out of the venue by police personnel.

The festival will come to a close on November 30, at a ceremony where Music maestro A.R. Rahman will be the chief guest of the closing ceremony of the event and where the best competing films will be awarded the coveted awards, the Golden and Silver peacocks.

Argentina's Oscar entry and this year's biggest Argentinean box office hit, The Clan (El Clan) will be the Closing Film of the festival, while Academy Award winner director, Tom Hooper's film 'The Danish Girl' will be the festival's mid fest film.

Films from Spain will feature in the Focus Country segment.

This year, out of 15 films in International Competition, five are official Oscar entries. The list includes Colombia's El abrazo de la serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent)' directed by Ciro Guerra, France's Mustang directed by Deniz Gamze ErgAven, Germany's Oscar entry Im Labyrinth des Schweigens (Labyrinth of Lies) directed by Giulio Ricciarelli, Iceland's Oscar entry Rams directed by GrAmur HAikonarson and Serbia's Enclave directed by Goran Radovanovic.

The list of other Oscar entries that will be screened in the festival includes Chaitanya Tamhane's Court from India, Anna Muylaert's Que Horas Ela Volta? (The Second Mother)' from Brazil, Nikita Mikhalkov's Solnechnyy Udar from Russia and Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Nie Yin Niang from Taiwan.

Actress Madhuri Dixit says the filmmaking world in India has come a long way in terms of giving opportunities for women behind the scenes.

The popular actress, known for her graceful dance skills, says that in her initial days in Bollywood, she would only see a woman in the make-up or choreography department.

"Everybody else was a man. Now when I go to a set, there are women in every department -- be it make-up, camera, script writing, assistant direction... I look around and see women everywhere and that's what gives me hope (for the country's womenfolk)," Madhuri said here at the Women in the World summit here on Friday.

Flashing her million dollar smile, she said she also sees hope for women due to summits such as this where people share inspiring stories about their and others' lives.

Madhuri said it's important that "dialogues continue".

"We need to keep talking about issues, because change doesn't happen overnight... I am hopeful that tomorrow there will be a change," added the actress, who has regaled film viewers for three decades.

If there was ever a 'paisa vasool' chief guest, the organiser of International Film Festival of India may have found just the one in veteran actor Anil Kapoor.

Overcoming the sombreness of the occasion and the fact that it was an official function organised by the union ministry for information and broadcasting, Kapoor danced to popular film songs picturised on him.

He also gave a shoutout to Dev Patel, who he acted with in Oscar award-winning film 'Slumdog Millionnaire', while also returning the quips about his age from union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Kapoor, who initially said he was humbled and overcome by emotion, quickly put it all aside by flinging his suit into the audience and dancing extempore to his trademark 'tapori' songs like 'One two ka four' from 'Ram Lakhan' and the racy number 'Dhak Dhak' from 'Beta' along with the ceremony's co-host Aditi Rao Hydari.

From stage, he also gave a 'long time no see' shoutout to Dev Patel, who was seated in the audience.

"I am meeting Dev Patel from 'Slumdog Millionnaire' now since the Oscar night," Kapoor said.

Patel plays Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar in 'The Man Who Knew Infinity' which is the opening film at IFFI.

Weaving in a story with a “real-life context” and with superstars in mainstream cinema is quite a challenge, says filmmaker Kabir Khan, known for films like "Kabul Express", "New York" and the blockbuster "Bajrangi Bhaijaan".

“Commercial success is important, because in the end I’m making cinema. The struggle and challenge is to get slightly real cinema into mainstream cinema -- to be able to make real context films with the superstars,” Kabir, who worked with superstar Salman Khan in "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", told IANS on the sidelines of Film Bazaar here.

Kabir has successfully accomplished the challenge with his craft. He says a film's box office performance is important as it instils risk-taking ability among filmmakers.

“Box office numbers help in creating more avenues. As a filmmaker who has commercial success, it is easier for me to push through ideas which are different. If I didn't have the success of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ or ‘New York’, I would not have had the courage or others would not have confidence in me to do something like ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. They would suggest me to play safe,” he added.

But according to Kabir, while commercial success is important, it shouldn't be the sole parameter to judge a film's fate.

“There are so many other things and hard work that go into a film, which is not always necessarily translated into box office success."

Kabir, who set foot in Bollywood in 2006 with “Kabul Express”, spun magic with his heart-warming story of a mute Pakistani girl and a Hindu man with his last directorial “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”.

He took Bollywood’s “Dabangg” star Salman on an emotional journey of discovering love, fondness and respect for other religions, with his vision. The result? The audience joined in the trip and helped etch a new chapter of success in the history of cinema as the film minted over Rs.600 crore worldwide.

After its screening at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival in South Korea last month, “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” entertained the attendees of the 46th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here on Sunday. Kabir also shared his experience of shooting with superstars, at a session of Film Bazaar here.

He said that no superstar is bigger than a story.

Kabir, who has also worked with Salman in “Ek Tha Tiger”, asserted that different layers of politics or real context gives an interesting angle to the story, thus appealing to the audience.

“With my documentary background, I always try to have a real context with my films. As an audience, when I used to watch mainstream cinema I used to feel alienated to the fact that there is no context to the story.

“So when I got an opportunity to make mainstream cinema I thought let me try and bring the context to what the story is - political context, historical context. I feel fortunate that most of my films have found larger audience. The super success of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, which has layers of social and political context, shows that audience want to enjoy that,” said Kabir, who is married to popular television host Mini Mathur.

With a third project with Salman in mind, as well as finding an apt script for Hrithik Roshan, Kabir is in prep mode and scouting for stories.

He signed off by saying that at present he is travelling, holidaying, going to various film festivals with “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” and is “open to all ideas".

"I think I will be ready in a month or two”.

The failure of "Bombay Velvet", Anurag Kashyap's most ambitious project starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, still gives him nightmares. Weighed down by the financial burden post the film, he says he has learnt his lesson about making films in a controlled budget.

"Money is the biggest nightmare. The more you minimize the cost of the film, it works. I just made an expensive film which is probably the biggest loss-making film in the history of cinema. You cannot understand the nightmare I go through every day knowing about all the money lost," Kashyap said when asked about "Bombay Velvet", on the sidelines of Film Bazaar here.

"I will never do that again but it teaches you a lesson and weighs down on you," he added.

"Bombay Velvet" was undoubtedly his biggest budget film.

The movie is set in the 1960s and is a large screen adaptation of Gyan Prakash's "Mumbai Fables". The story is about a man with big dreams and the extent he is willing to go to be successful. It marked Karan Johar's big acting debut with a villainous role.

Kashyap, know for films like "Gangs of Wasseypur" and "Ugly", said that the pressure increases when others express belief in one's dream project.

"You take pressure on yourself. It's not that someone comes and puts pressure on you. When people are funding my dream, which is unreasonable to begin with, and just because I have dreamt something to do in ten years, then it is not like others are obliged to do it.

"When they buy into your idea and buy into your dream and you go out there, you take on pressure. It is a responsibility and it weighs down heavily on you. The burden of the money lost is going to be there for the longest time," he said.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's production banner Red Chillies Entertainments Pvt Ltd has for the second time tied up with WD, a Western Digital data storage company. This time, their collaboration is for "Dilwale".

As part of the association, WD supported the making of the Rohit Shetty directorial by providing storage technology solutions on which the entire movie was stored and edited.

The makers of the film deployed WD’s storage solutions on location to secure intensive shoot footage and in the studio during post-production for heavy duty applications like editing and saving world class special effects.

“It’s great to partner with Red Chillies once again. This demonstrates its trust in using our storage solutions to create and secure its high-investment movies. Indian cinema has made great progress and now relies upon the latest production techniques and splendid VFX technology,” Khalid Wani, director, Content Solutions Business, India, Middle East and Africa, WD, said in a statement.

“These advancements need to be complemented with purpose-built storage solutions that ensure capacity, reliability and efficiency,” Wani added.

The two companies had previously joined hands for Shah Rukh's 2014 film “Happy New Year”.

Shekhar Kapur has embarked on a quest to sneak into Lord Buddha's mind when he attained enlightenment, with his camera.

The filmmaker says he is making a short film on what went in the mind of Buddha at the time of awakening in a more virtual and immersive space.

"I want to make a film on what actually happened to Buddha at the time of enlightenment. So, I'm trying to make a 13-14 minute film on it. I'm trying to give the audience a feeling of what could have happened in his mind, how he saw the world, how the world changed when he was going through enlightenment," Kapur said on the sidelines of Film Bazaar here on Monday.

The period of enlightenment in Buddha's life was when he distanced himself from all the materialistic things and luxuries of life as a king and tried to find true meaning of life.

The director, best known for his award-winning films like "Masoom", "Mr. India", "Bandit Queen" and "Elizabeth", delved into detail about the project while addressing a session "VR Technology & New Film Narratives" at the film market.

Beaming with joy while explaining the project, Kapur said that the new virtual reality technology will enable audience to "enter Buddha's mind, look around it, look through his eyes and come back. It will give audience an immersive experience and they can decide how they want to see it".

He added that the project was in his mind for long.

"I wanted to make a three-hour long film on him and suddenly I have found a way to use virtual reality to go into Buddha's mind. I may not be right but that is my interpretation of what might happen if you experience enlightenment," Kapur said.

What's the status of the project? Kapur shared that he is already in talks with a couple of writers.

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, best known for his award-winning films like "Masoom", "Bandit Queen" and "Elizabeth", says to make "Paani" a reality, he has to take it somewhere else.

"I tried to make it in India but turns out that it is not possible. So, I have decided to take it somewhere else," Kapur said on the sidelines of Film Bazaar.

The science fiction film, which will deal with water scarcity with Sushant Singh Rajput and Ayesha Kapoor in lead roles, has been shelved many times due to several reasons.

But it seems Kapur has made up his mind and will be turning to international producers to make the film.

The music of "Paani" is being given by Oscar winner A.R. Rahman.

Kapur shared the update about his film project after a session named "VR technology and new film narrative" at the annual film gala, which is held alongside International Film Festival of India.

Vivacious Parineeti Chopra will soon be seen in a new commercial endorsing a moisturising lotion that promises to take care of winter woes and ensure proper skincare in the harsh months ahead.

The National Award winner will endorse Emami Ltd's new variant of skincare products - ABoroPlus Cocoa Soft Moisturising Lotion.

"Parineeti is the latest entrant to the Emami endorsers' club and becomes the face for brand BoroPlus which boasts an ensemble star power like Amitabh Bachchan and Kangana Ranaut.

"The new variant of the BoroPlus range of skincare products is developed by Ayurvedic and international skin experts and packs in the goodness of natural ingredients," a statement said on Monday.

The new ad film will run in cinema halls with blockbuster movies and will also be promoted digitally.

"The film is going to be rolled out primarily in UP, Maharashtra, NCR, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka," the statement said.

After helming pertinent Hindi films like "Parinda", "1942: A Love Story" and a Hollywood film "Broken Horses", filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra says he is planning to go back to the director's chair, but not with some "overdramatic" script.

"Hindi cinema is very different from international cinema as it is loud and dramatic. As a director I had a crossroad and now I won't be directing overdramatic Indian cinema. It's not like I don't like it. I love it but I have done it all. I think 'Eklavya - The Royal Guard' was my final tribute to such kind of cinema," Chopra said on the sidelines of Film Bazaar here.

He added: "There is something I want to do. Let's us see otherwise I will continue writing, producing and editing."

Chopra, who after narrating stories like "Khamosh" and "Mission Kashmir", turned into a producer only to churn out blockbuster hits like "3 Idiots" and "PK".

The 62-year-old said he stumbled upon this conclusion after working in Hollywood.

"He (Abhijat Joshi) has instigated me to direct. Frankly the trouble is that I have directed in India and then Broken Horses."

"I had an amazing distinction of being the most successful producer and writer, but then I release 'Broken Horses' and no one goes to watch it even my friends didn't watch it," Chopra said.

Chopra entered the western world as a director with the mystery thriller "Broken Horses" this year, but failed to impress. Meanwhile, he is now awaiting the release of his production venture "Wazir".

The film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar will release on January 8 next year.

Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman on Tuesday said the intolerance debate in India is becoming "chaotic", adding "we should set an example by resorting to non-violent ways to protest".

"Any type of revolt should be classical. It is becoming very chaotic. People are hitting each other. We should set an example because we come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi. We have shown the world how all revolution can be done without violence," Rahman said on the sidelines of Film Bazaar here.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan's intolerance comments created a stir in the society with sections of political parties criticising him, and some supporting him.

Aamir had shared that his wife Kiran Rao suggested leaving India in the face of intolerance. The comments came after Shah Rukh Khan also faced public wrath over his "extreme intolerance" comment. He was termed a "Pakistani agent".

Rahman, known as the 'Mozart of Madras', had also faced religious resistance over his "decision" to compose the music of "Muhammad: The Messenger of God".

The artist with international recognition said: "I have gone through something similar sometime ago. And I then also mentioned that nothing should be violent."

"We all are ultra civilised people. It is a chaotic protest . We should show to the world that we are one of the most civilised culture," he said while addressing a session at the annual film market.