'I wish I would still get eidi...'

Eid ul Fitr are Arabic words. While Eid means "festivity," Fitr means "breaking the fast". Eid is the conclusion of the thirty days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan.

I miss the time when my naani (maternal grandmother) was alive and our entire family use to gather at her house for Eid lunch. We ate together after we shook hands and asked each other for forgiveness. After that we would go to our neighbors and relatives for asking forgiveness too. As a child I loved dressing up and enjoyed all the festivities. Even now Eid is the time I love shopping for Indian wear and dressing up. I read the Quran which gives me a very good feeling and gives me peace.

My mom makes the world's best biryani and sheer korma that we love feasting on. As a kid I used to get lots of eidi but now that I've grown up I have to give eidi. I wish that I would still get eidi because I love the feeling of receiving it. Apart from delicious non-vegetarian items one can also enjoy various kinds of mithai (sweets) especially kheer, malpua, phirni, jalebi and even paneer ka samosa during Eid. 

Found: Aditya Chopra's filmi hideout

Aditya Chopra probably spends each one of his waking second at the Yash Raj Studios office in Andheri. But come Friday, and the man has to watch the week's biggest release - first day, first show. 

That has been the ritual in Bollyland until recently. A few months back, Adi Chopra disappeared from the face of every city multiplex. This left the industry wondering where the man was watching the week's releases. 

Mumbai Mirror has however, found out his secret Friday hideout. Tired of the paparazzi, Adi, it seems has shifted his Friday rituals to a single screen theatre in Juhu from a multiplex. 

A source informed us, "As long as we can remember, Aditya Chopra has been watching films first day, first show. He loves to watch audience's reaction to the film at various stages. 

This inspires him to write his own scripts. Some time back, a photographer had caught him exiting a city multiplex. This has made Adi really cautious about going out. He doesn't like being clicked by shutterbugs." 

"Consequently, it has become really difficult for Adi to go to a multiplex to watch a film. His face has now become recognisable. And invariably at every multiplex, the photographers swarm in. That is exactly why Adi has devised this new plan. he has been watching all the films in a single screen theatre next to his place - Chandan Talkies in Juhu," added the source. 

"In fact Adi will be watching  Bodyguard at Chandan on the very first day," revealed the source. 

"Yes Adi is going to watch Bodyguard at Chandan with his close friend Anurag Singh, who had directed Dil Bole Hadippa," revealed a source close to Chopra.

Check out Dirty Picture's poster

Vidya Balan has never exposed as much - but in the first look of "The Dirty Picture", inspired by late southern sex icon Silk Smitha's life, she has painted a perfect picture in an itsy-bitsy red blouse matched with luscious red lipstick. 

The actress stands undaunted even as three men - Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar Kapoor and Emraan Hashmi - get too close for comfort in the poster, which was released on social networking sites Friday. 

"The poster and the logo of the film has a very 1980s feel to it because the movie is set in that period. We will be launching the first trailer of 'The Dirty Picture' in Mumbai August 30," Girish Johar, head of acquisition and distribution, Balaji Motion Pictures, told IANS over the phone from Mumbai. 

The film is set to release Dec 2, the birth anniversary ofSilk Smitha, who became a symbol of sensuality after featuring in bold and semi-nude roles. Later, financial crises and personal problems took a toll on her life. 

It is this moving story that has been captured in this latest offering by Ekta Kapoor. 

In tune with the period that the movie is set in, the Balaji unit has chosen to launch the first trailer at Galaxy, a single screen theatre in Mumbai. 

"It is because the movie has the 1980s charm of Indian cinema, we chose not to go to any five star hotel or a multiplex to launch the first teaser. The theatre will be set up in a way that reminds people of good old times," said Johar.

Kangna Ranaut's a bikini babe now!

Kangna Ranaut has donned a bikini in Rascals for the first time. The actress speaks about joining the league of Bipasha Basu and Kareena Kapoor in the hotness stakes. 

Was it daunting wearing a bikini for a film? 
I'm a city girl now, so it wasn't a shocking concept for me. I might wear a bikini if I go for a swim, but it does feel odd wearing close to nothing on a shoot - that too with the whole unit around, fully clothed! It makes you conscious.

What convinced you? 
David (Dhawan) sir said he'd like me to wear one for the scene. He didn't say it was compulsory, but with almost every actress donning one, it becomes almost essential in a film like Rascals. I'm not known for my item numbers or bikini scenes, so I took it up as a challenge. I didn't want to be known as someone who can't do it.

Did you work out for it? 
David sir was very clear that he did not want me to get super lean and lose all my curves. He specifically told me he wanted me to look like a woman and not like a little boy! Kalpesh, who's been my trainer for a few years now, stopped cardio for me totally. I was doing some weights but mostly freehand exercises to enhance my curves and look feminine and sexy. For a week before the shoot, I avoided eating fried or sweet stuff. 

Filmi tribute to Anna Hazare

Suddenly the nation has woken up to the rampant corruption ailing the country. And Bollywood films don’t want to be left behind when it comes to sharing the publicity pie. The first such movie is Mum Bhai, which is being shot at Jogeshwari’s Kamalistan Studio. The cast and crew the film recently spent an entire day wearing the trademark Nehru cap, now made famous by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.

There were close to 150 people on the sets.

“We are not doing this for publicity. This is our way of paying homage to Anna’s efforts,” says Wilfred Lobo, who is directing Sanjay Kapoor and Mahima Chaudhary in the film, based on the Mumbai underworld.

Says Mahima, “If Anna Hazare’s campaign is successful and manages to change our country even 10 per cent, I will be the happiest person in the world.”

The crew also stopped shooting between 1 pm and 2 pm and organised a candle-light vigil for Anna.

“For an hour the entire machinery was shut. We know we can’t go and participate in the marches, so this is the best we could do,” says Wilfred.

Mum Bhai also stars Raj Babbar’s son Arya Babbar and “deals with how someone from the underworld goes on to help the police”.

mausam

Supreme Court lifts Uttar Pradesh ban on 'Aarakshan'

The Supreme Court Friday "quashed and set aside" the two-month ban imposed by the Uttar Pradesh government on the screening of filmmaker Prakash Jha's " Aarakshan". 

An apex court bench of Justice M. Sharma and Justice Anil R. Dave said the state government cannot seek deletion of certain potions of the film as this amounted to censorship.

The court said once the Central Board of Film Certification cleared the public screening of a film, no state government can raise objections on its content.

Referring to the Uttar Pradesh government's contention that reservation was a very delicate issue and certain scenes in "Aarakshan" had the potential of affecting the law and order situation, the court said it could not agree with this as the film is being shown all over the country, including in the states which are sensitive to reservation.

"Aarakshan", starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, deals with caste-based reservations in the Indian education system.

Katrina Kaif woos the jawaans

She rode the bike. She played the guitar. And now, she has learnt how to fire a gun like the Indian Army. Katrina Kaif, on Tuesday morning, reached the border district of Rajouri LoC sector to spend three days with the men in uniform. 

The programme undertaken by the actress for a television show, saw her doing some major army tricks along with the jawaans in the Forward Post along the Line of Control in the Jhangar area of Nowshere sector in the Rajouri district.

On her first visit to the district of Rajouri, Katrina arrived by road from Jammu to the army mess in Rajouri where she had been put up for the duration of her stay at the camp.

Kick-starting the event, Katrina planted saplings in the compound. And though civilians were not allowed to enter the area, top army officials from the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur, attended the event.

She followed it up with a firing session, rope climbing and river crossing exercise with the army officials in the range. The girl who has undergone an image makeover with her recent films, went a step further and learnt shooting with the jawaans. And she did not stop there. Katrina also learnt the nuances of climbing roofs and crossing a river the way it's done at the border along with the men. And while she was learning the ways of the men in uniform, civilians flocked around the area trying to catch a glimpse of the pretty actress sporting army greens.

In fact, the jawaans were overjoyed when their Sheila joined them for lunch at the camp and interacted with them.

Parvin Dabas turns director

 Ask him about his experience of direction and he says, "I had this story in my mind so I started working on it. It took me some two years as other projects were going on simultaneously. Some of its parts are in fact written while I was shooting for the film My Name Is Khan. And before I finished the script, I knew that I would have to direct this film", says Parvin who was in Ahmedabad for the promotion of his film Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande. 

"I had started visualizing each scene and camera angles and everything, so we decided that it's better if I only direct it instead of giving my vision into someone else's hands". And to save themselves from the troubles and restrictions of outside producers and keep all the creative liberty in hands, Parvin and his wife (actress Preeti Jhangiyani) decided to start their own production house and produce this film on their own.

So how the director in him turned out to be? "Pretty organized" as he explains, "I had made a story board of the entire film. We also had a workshop for two weeks that included almost everyone in the cast. We had rehearsals before hand and we wanted to make sure that there aren't many discussions, debates and planning while the shooting is going on, which I always have felt from my experience to be waste of time, money and energy."

Did he always think of becoming a director? "I don't know about me but many around me had observed", Dabas replies earnestly, "You know, one day we were shooting for Khosla Ka Ghosla and I instinctively started arranging few things on set in a particular manner. Now Kiran Juneja (who plays his mother in the film) was noticing me and as I finished, she came to me and said 'Parvin, do you know you have a director in you'. When I made this movie, I went to her with a role and said, 'you were one of those people who had seen a director in me' and she happily agreed to play the part.

Parvin is a wonderful photographer and has won several national and international awards for his photography. He was around 11 years old when he had laid his hands on his father's regular camera for fun. "It has always been a passion. I am always finding chance to flee on my photography vacations and a hobby like this helps in surviving the crazy schedules and tight shifts of work," says Parvin.
Apart from photography, Parvin is craving for a vacation, also to spend some time with his newly born baby boy. The post production and publicity of his film is keeping him all busy but he is trying to catch his bit. "I try and spend whatever time I get with my child. Parenthood is amazing as everyone says, each second with your child is special. And you also rediscover the level of the respect that you have had for your own parents."
As Friendship's Day is coming closer, we ask, does he find a close friend in his life-partner. He nods with a smile, "Obviously, mine wasn't an arrange marriage after all! We share a good friendship. It's the reason why the making of our movie went on very smoothly. She took care of all the financial part and she understands me in the best way. We could discuss over things without getting into a debate and as we are friends, we hardly have an ego-issue."
And with that note he signs off.