Writer-lyricist and ad guru Prasoon Joshi has recently returned from Cannes where he was serving as the head of the Titanium and Integrated - Cannes Lions 2014 jury. He says it's been a learning experience for him.

"In the fraternity, recognition always matters and it signals where the industry is headed. I feel honoured, but there is an accompanying sense of responsibility. It's a very coveted and talented set of people you work with and it also equals to a huge amount of learning," Joshi said in a statement.

The Cannes Lions celebrates creativity in communications from the world over annually.

Joshi, the executive chairman and CEO - India and president - South Asia, McCann Worldgroup, is known to juggle between the two worlds of advertising and Bollywood.

While he has been known for his heart-warming lyrics in songs like "Maa" from "Taare Zameen Par" and "Bolo na" from "Chittagong", his maiden scriptwriting venture "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" was appreciated too.

Prasoon and his company McCann have also played a significant role in the BJP election campaign this year.

"Ishaqzaade" actor Arjun Kapoor has joined the Bollywood bandwagon on Twitter finally. He received a warm welcome from tinsel town stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra.

Arjun's Twitter handle is @arjunk26, and he made his debut on the micro-blogging platform Tuesday.

His first tweet read: "I am being tutored by @anshulakapoor as we speak on how to handle my handle."

While Abhishek welcomed Arjun to the "chaos", in her welcome to her "Gunday" co-star, Priyanka posted: "Ladies n gentlemen... presenting...Arjun kapoooooor! Haha Welcome @arjunk26 baba!! give some love twitter verse."

Alia Bhatt posted: "And @arjunk26 is finally on twitter !!! C'mon c'mon give him all the love you've built up since forever."

Director Kunal Kohli warned him: "@arjunk26 another one bites the dust! Before you know it you're gonna be hooked on to twitter madness!"

Earlier Wednesday, Arjun posted: "Morning guys thank u fr all the love so far didn't expect it...unprecedented...still grappling with the workings of this place & #instagram."

The actor, son of film producer Boney Kapoor, already has over 41,000 followers and he himself is following 51 people, including names like Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Priyanka, Karan Johar, Abhishek and Alia.

Actress Aditi Rao Hydari has flaunted a bikini and kissed on screen too. While she is "proud" of her bikini scene in "Boss", she says actresses, if seen "smooching repeatedly", could end up acquiring a "reputation" in the minds of the "conservative" Indian audiences.

Would she have desisted from doing multiple smooches with Arunodoy Singh in "Yeh Saali Zindagi" and the bikini sequence in "Boss" if she had a choice?

"I am very proud of my bikini sequence in 'Boss'. I think I have the physique to carry off the swimwear. No one can force me to wear what I don't want to. I wore a bikini in 'Boss' because I was comfortable in that scene. If I am not convinced, then no power on earth can convince me," she said.

As for "Yeh Saali Zindagi", Aditi feels things went out of hand.

"About the kisses, I'll have to admit we went overboard. I realised only later that the image is very important for the Hindi film actress. It doesn't matter how many times a male actor kisses on screen. If a female actor is seen smooching repeatedly, she acquires a reputation. Ours is a very conservative audience and film industry," she noted.

"Here, smoking, drinking and wearing short dresses are equivalents of being liberated. For me, these external trappings of emancipation are secondary. To me, freedom means the freedom to say yes or no as I want."

Sonakshi Sinha recently gave the Life Time Achievement award to her father Shatrugan Sinha held in the beautiful locales of Tampa Bay.

Not many are aware that the heart wrenching speech which Sonakshi gave about her father was actually written by her at the last minute. Sonakshi finished her performance and immediately went back stage and took out a piece of paper and starting writing her thoughts, informs a source close to the pretty actress.

The words came directly from her heart, and shows the immense love and respect which she has for the first man in her life!! Many people became teary eyed while listening to her as she handed over the award to her father and we are sure Shotgun Senior must be mighty proud of his young daughter.

Here are some of the lines from the speech and as they say a daughter is always the princess for her dad.

Shatrughan Sinha... to the world he is a legendary actor, powerful orator, the Shotgun thats ready to unleash a 'khamosh' whenever he feels like, but to me, he is my Father and my hero. Hes the man who raised me like he raised his sons, who disciplined me with love, showered me with affection inspite of his work keeping him away most of the time. He is a strong, patient, caring, intelligent, understanding, genuine and honest person who has instilled values in me that i will stand by for life. He is the man that taught me never to back down and always give it my best and no matter what - to always hold my head up high. He is the man that has made me the person i am today and he's given me enough to be a better person tomorrow. He is my father... My hero.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan underwent a minor eye surgery here, and he has joked that he can now "read even between the lines".

"A big thank you to Dr. Burjor Banaji & his lovely wife for doing my surgery. It's so good, that now I can read even between the lines," SRK tweeted Tuesday.

The 48-year-old underwent the surgery for vision correction and all is well now, a source close to him told IANS.

On a lighter note, SRK tweeted: “This is a joke...so some of u don't react to as an anti alcohol group. ‘Now that I don't need glasses I will drink straight from the bottle’.”

His next Bollywood project is Farah Khan's“"Happy New Year".

It was 22 years ago on this date that Shah Rukh Khan's debut movie "Deewana" hit the silver screen. The actor says he has not seen the movie yet - and he has his special reason.

SRK tweeted Wednesday: "All notions, creations and experiences of decades will end on the day of truth. I tirelessly work to ignore the inevitable. Thx for 22 yrs of O2.

"I have till date not seen 'Deewana'. I have a notion that I don't want to see my first or last creation. They are bookends, the story is between."

Shah Rukh's own story has been as memorable as some of the films he has starred in over the years.

He had already made his presence felt in the world of TV with shows like "Fauji" and "Circus" when SRK ventured into the world of cinema with "Deewana", directed by Raj Kanwar and co-produced by Guddu Dhanoa and Lalit Kapoor. It starred Rishi Kapoor and late actress Divya Bharti.

That set the ball rolling for the Delhi boy, who initially made it big with grey roles in "Baazigar" and "Darr", but gradually went on to be labelled Bollywood’s king of romance following the success of “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”, “Dil To Pagal Hai” and “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”.

SRK enjoys global popularity, and it has been spurred by his versatility, his charm, wit and stage presence.

If he entertained audiences with actioners like “Don 2” and “RA.One”, he also did issue-based films like “My Name Is Khan”, “Chak De! India” and “Swades”,. He did titles like “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” and “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”. Now he’s all geared up for “Happy New Year”.

The superstar is married to Gauri Chibber, with whom he has two children - son Aryan and Suhana. Together, the couple also raises son AbRam, whom they had via surrogacy.

A day after a witness turned hostile in the Salman Khan accident case retrial, police statements of two witnesses were Wednesday reported to be "untraceable" which led to the case being adjourned for a month to July 25.

The prosecution informed Sessions Judge D.W. Deshpande that the original police statements of two witnesses could not be traced, though both witnesses were ready for examination.

Public prosecutor Jagannath V. Kenjralkar sought more time, which was granted, and the court adjourned the matter to July 25 after directing police to trace the papers and present them before the court.

Retired investigating officer K. Shenghal informed the court that the statements of both witnesses may be lying at the Bandra magistrate court where the earlier trial was conducted.

After Shenghal's retirement, Rajendra Kane was appointed to probe the matter and was present in court Wednesday.

In view of the development, the testimony of the two witnesses could not be recorded Wednesday, the third day after hearing resumed in the retrial of the September 2002 hit-and-run case against Salman Khan.

Salman Khan is now facing an additional charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder which attracts a 10-year jail term.

So far, 11 witnesses have been examined, of which one turned hostile Tuesday.

Salman Khan is accused of driving his SUV onto a pavement in Bandra Sep 28, 2002, leading to the death of one person and injuries to four others.

On Dec 5, 2013, a Mumbai court ordered a retrial in the case which is now underway in the sessions court.

Actress Kareena Kapoor says her priorities have changed after marriage and that she will do only those films that can give her enough time to spend with family.

The actress, who is married to Bollywood actor-producer Saif Ali Khan, recently turned down Zoya Akhtar's film "Dil Dhadakne Do" as she couldn't go on cruise for three months since she is married.

"I am at a stage in my life where my priorities are different...I am married and I would like to give time to my family," Kareena told reporters in a group interview.

"I would not go out for three to four months. That is the reason why I refused Zoya's film. I couldn't go on a cruise for three months. I want to do a film which will work according to my time. I am very clear about that," she added.

"Dil Dhadakne Do" was first offered to Kareena and now Anushka Sharma has replaced her. The film also features Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Rahul Bose, Shefali Shah and Anil Kapoor.

A driver who works with superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Rajendrakumar Gautam has been arrested for allegedly raping a girl who works at former beauty queen and actress Sangeeta Bijlani’s house, said an official from Bandra police station and added that the investigation is going on.

"The case was registered here Wednesday evening and the investigation is going on. At the moment, we are not allowed to talk about the case as the investigation department is looking after it," the official told IANS.

The driver Rajendrakumar alias Pintu Mishra, 34, who is reportedly not SRK’s personal driver, called the 17-year-old at a hotel in Nallasopara here, on the pretext of offering her a job, where he raped her.

Although the girl is said to be a minor, the police are checking her date of birth to get the right age.

"We are also checking the victim's date of birth certificate to check if she is still a minor or not," another official from Bandra police station told IANS.

The girl, who came to the city from Latur (Maharashtra) in search of a job, got the opportunity to work at Sangeeta's house.

Imagine sitting beneath a star-studded sky, at an open air movie screening in the lap of nature and at an altitude of 11,00 feet in Jammu and Kashmir's Leh region. Blissful, isn't it?

The organisers of the Ladakh International Film Fest (LIFF), starting here Friday, are geared to give movie buffs a chance to experience this and more with the third edition of the event.

With 136 domestic and international films to be screened over three days, LIFF will "hopefully be bigger and better this time", Melwyn Williams, founder and festival director, Maruti Suzuki LIFF, said in a statement.

An opener like Kamal Swaroop's National Award winning non-feature film "Rangbhoomi", a green carpet Asian premiere of Anurag Kashyap's "Ugly", a showcase of Hollywood's latest actioner "Transformers: Age Of
Extinction", book launches, a retrospective on Guru Dutt, tributes to the late Farooque Sheikh and Nanda, an acting workshop for children by Amole Gupte
and a special focus on Korea - such are the activities planned for the movie gala in the picturesque and pristine surroundings
of Little Tibet.

But the journey to make the event a notch higher than past editions hasn't come without its share of struggle for the organisers.

"It has been our biggest disappointment that the government has shown no support for infrastructure. We are putting the best of our efforts to make the venues and theatres doable. We have been running from pillar to post to get a projector for a planned open air screening of 'Tranformers...' at Druk White Lotus School, made famous by Aamir Khan's '3 Idiots', and
meeting ends to put generator sets in place so that everything goes smoothly.

"No complaints, but surely, some support is always welcome," Williams said.

The infrastructure to screen movies is still very basic in Leh, with just one 500-seater auditorium. Still, LIFF attracts local audiences and tourists to catch up on international cinema. Williams says the "biggest
impact" that LIFF has had is to have brought in winds of "change in the cinematic grammar" in the region.

Agrees acclaimed filmmaker Govind Nihalani, who heads the LIFF jury this year.

"It has been a pioneering effort to conceive and execute a film festival in a terrain such as Ladakh, and to expose Ladakhi filmmakers to some of the best movies and filmmakers from across the world. Ladakh had a fledgling film industry, which has galvanised itself post LIFF and enthused the local filmmakers to dream big," Nihalani has said.

He too believes that "with the administration pitching in with better facilities, it will be a big boost to local business with more filmmakers choosing Ladakh as a viable option (for shooting)."

Nihalani will be joined on the jury by film critic Klaus Eder, general secretary of International Federation of Film Critics, and Maxine Williamson,

Head, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, among others.

There will be movies galore - from places like Iran, Syria, Cuba, Assam, Manipur and Kolkata, as well as entertainers like "The Lunchbox" and "English Vinglish" - all catering to viewers of different kinds.

Apart from the film screenings and other movie-related events, LIFF has also taken on responsibility towards the environment. Like every year, the organisers will go for releasing fish into the Indus River.

The expected guest list for the gala includes names like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Madhur Bhandarkar, Deepti Naval, Amole Gupte and Anurag Kashyap.

Celebrities like Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt and Parineeti Chopra have praised Sidharth Malhotra's forthcoming film "Ek Villain" and have predicted it will be one of the year's biggest hits.

At a special screening hosted by Sidharth Wednesday, filmmaker Karan Johar praised director Mohit Suri for making an outstanding film.

"I was lucky to see Mohit Suri's face first after the film ended and he is the biggest star of the film. I hugged and told him that you have made an outstanding film," the 42-year-old said here.

The film, which also features Riteish Deshmukh and Shraddha Kapoor, has been produced by Ekta Kapoor under the banner of her production house Balaji Motion Pictures and Karan feels that it is going to be its biggest hit ever.

"There are very few films that have romance, action, thrill and the most important of all there is a solid emotion in the film which makes you cry. At times your heart even cries for the negative character. It is so brilliant. I think this is going to be Balaji films' biggest hit," added Karan.

Mohit's cousin Alia Bhatt also feels that the former will surpass his earlier success "Aashiqui 2" with "Ek Villain."

"It is an outsanding film and I just told Mohit that I think it is going to be a bigger hit than 'Aashiqui 2'. Riteish, Sidharth, Shraddha are amazing," said Alia.

Sidharth's "Hasee Toh Phasee" co-star Parineeti Chopra sees a big hit in "Ek Villain."

"I loved it. I was here for Sidharth and Shraddha. But Riteish and all of them were so good. I know this film is going to be a big hit," said Parineeti.

"Ek Villain", that is set to release Friday, also stars Aamna Sharif and features an item song by Prachi Desai.

Actress Kareena Kapoor says she couldn’t catch her husband and actor-producer Saif Ali Khan’s latest release “Humshakals” as she is tied up with shooting Rohit Shetty’s next “Singham Returns”.

Kareena is said to have laughed a lot when she saw Saif don the look of a "sexy woman" for a scene in Sajid Khan's "Humshakals", but her work kept her away from watching the full film.

When asked did she watch her husband’s film "Humshakals", she told reporters in a group interview: "I was busy shooting for my film and I don't watch much Hindi films.”

“This year, I will watch only two films 'Singham Returns' and 'P.K.’ as both are made by my two favourite directors,” she added with a laugh.

“P.K.” has been made by Vinod Chopra Films and Rajkumar Hirani Films, in association with Disney India.

Actor Sidharth Malhotra says apart from Twitter, he is not on any other social networking site and has asked fans not to follow fake accounts.

“Iam not on Facebook or Instagram guys, please dnt follow n read fake accounts,” he tweeted.

Sidharth is currently promoting his forthcoming film “Ek Villain”.

Actor Akshay Kumar, who was busy promoting his last released film “Holiday - A Soldier Is Never Off Duty”, has now taken a break and is enjoying time out with his family.

Akshay, who is married to Twinkle Khanna and has two children, is in New York City.

“Well my real 'Holiday' has now truly begun, I'm walking the streets of NYC with my wife & kids in absolute bliss but I'l never be off duty as it's all about my family's happiness now."

“So enough of my solo selfies, 4 the next month it's all about a 'Man's Best Friend' #ItsEntertainment all the way. Hope u enjoy my puppy pics, can't tell you how much I miss this Dog!!!” he tweeted.

Akshay will be soon seen in a comedy film titled “It’s Entertainment”.

Actor Salman Khan, also known for his charity work, is now set to help his fans and others find jobs through his site beinghumanworkshop.com.

He took to Twitter Wednesday and posted: “Appna Face book is not jst for time pass, use it to find work. beinghumanworkshop.com #Beinghumanjobs. Kaam ki cheez."

“Everyone on my fb page who dn't hve a job, Ive spoken to my frnds to hire n employ them, obviously u need to fulfill the requirement,” the “Dabangg” star further tweeted.

Salman said he took the step as many fans shared their unemployment stories with him.

“Lots of fans hv been saying that they don't hv any job, so thought of this, superb if it works n u get jobs. Vil b v happy for u all,” he wrote.

"Being Human" is Salman's charitable organisation which works for the underprivileged.

Actress Kriti Sanon, who debuted in Bollywood with Tiger Shroff-starrer "Heropanti", says she wants to strike a balance between South and Bollywood industry.

"I am open to do films down South and I want to strike a balance between South and Bollywood industry. I have done films in Telugu and (I feel that) Southern industry has evolved over the years. So, I am okay doing films in South," she told IANS.

The actress, who is also blessed with hour-glass figure, says that Southern Industry is not only about "healthy actresses".

"Southern industry is not really about healthy actresses and I was never asked to gain weight to be part of any South film," she added.

Kriti is currently enjoying the success of "Heropanti" and says she is planning to gift herself a house in Mumbai.

"I am from Delhi and all this while I was living in a rented apartment. Now I am hunting for a house and want to gift a house to myself in Mumbai," she said.

The fifth edition of Jagran Film Festival will open July 5 here and will travel to 14 Indian cities including Mumbai, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Meerut and Varanasi.

The fest presents a wide range of cinemas of the world. It will showcase its movie collection here till July 9. In Mumbai, the fest will be held between Sep 23 and Sep 28.

The dates for other cities are yet to be confirmed.

“The 5th edition of the Jagran film Festival this year presents a special section ‘Cinema of the Uprising’ with a clutch of seven very special films.

"Freedom of human spirit has been a subject close to ‘The Jagran Philosophy’ always and when we were deciding on the Festival content, we chose this subject and the films made around this theme,” Basant Rathore, vice president, Jagran Group, said in a statement.

The movie list includes “Outside The Law” (Algeria/Tunisia,France), “Battleship Potemkin” (Russia), "The Trial of Joan of Arc" (France), "Birsa Munda" (India) and “Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose” (India).

The Indian Showcase and the International Competition sections will have 20 feature films each. The short film section called Jagran Shorts will present a collection of 20 international short films here and in Mumbai.

Actress Madhuri Dixit and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here Thursday launched a child rights campaign titled Mamta Abhiyan.

Madhuri is the Unicef India’s advocate to support child rights issues and she is "proud".

The actress launched the communication campaign called Mamta Abhiyan which is aimed at saving the lives of newborns and their mothers in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

“Proud to be the UNICEF's celebrity advocate for child rights! In Bhopal for the UNICEF campaign,” the “Gulaab Gang” star tweeted Thursday.

The mother of two sons - Arin and Raayan, is currently seen on the celebrity dance reality show “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa” as one of the judges.

Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat is not pleased with her link-up with Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas. After being held responsible for his split from wife Melanie Griffith, she says don't pry into her personal life.

Mallika, who entered the Indian film industry in 2003 with "Khwahish" , was recorded on video dancing with the "Desperado" star during a party in Cannes two years ago.

“I remember when they danced and they had a lot of PDA (Public Disply of Affection), he had a lot of public affection with Mallika,” Los Angeles stylist Ivan Bitton was quoted by radaronline.com as saying.

“He was saying ‘God you’re so beautiful,’ like a horndog would do talking to a prey,” he added.

After the report, the “Murder” actress tweeted, Thursday: “LEAVE ME ALONE!”

When contacted by another international site eonline.com on her relationship with Banderas, who along with Griffith recently announced that they were ending their marriage after 18 years, Mallika said: "Antonio Banderas is a wonderful man, a great dancer and an acquaintance of mine.”

"I did not go on any vacation with him, and I'm sorry he's going through a divorce,” she was further quoted by eonline.com.

She went on to say that Bitton was hired only for the international film festival.

"Ivan Bitton is not my best friend. I hired him as a stylist at Cannes and then fired him. I'm sure he released the video.

"I don't know what he's even talking about now. I haven't been in touch with Ivan since I fired him. Whatever he's saying about me is ridiculous,” she said.

Hailing from Rohtak in Haryana, Mallika went international with Jackie Chan-starrer 2005 film "The Myth", and then did Jennifer Lynch's "Hisss" and William Dear's "Politics of Love".

Her first visit to the Cannes fest was with Jackie Chan for the promotion of "The Myth

A day for acclimatisation turned out to be a day of shopping and eating sweet delights for actors Deepti Naval and Rajit Kapur, who are here for the third Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF).

The acclaimed actors found each other's company to stroll around a local market here Wednesday, and Deepti, a traveller at heart, seemed to be intrigued by the trinkets and junk jewellery stalls lining the sides of the market. She wore a causal grey Kurta, teamed with palazzos as well as a jacket and stole to combat the chill in the air.

Rajit also was casually dressed in a pair of jeans and covered himself up with a jacket. They were also on the lookout for an old German Bakery to fill up their tummies!

Surprisingly, the locals didn't hound them for autographs and photographs. Reason?

A local lady shopkeeper, who loves watching Ekta Kapoor's shows, told the visiting IANS correspondent: "Hum toh Bahut bade fan hain Deepti Naval ke. Par autographs Nahin lete hum. Khoob stars aate hain yahaan - Kajol, Karisma Kapoor...Bahut bade bade log. (We are fans of Deepti Naval, but we don't take autographs. A lot of stars come here. Like Kajol and Karisma Kapoor and other big names)."

LIFF begins here Friday. It is likely to attract more celebrities like Gulzar, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Anurag Kashyap, Mani Ratnam and Shilpa Shukla.

Said to be the highest altitude film festival in the world, the event will screen 136 films from across the world.