I was confused when Imtiaz offered 'Highway': Alia Bhatt

Bollywood newbie Alia Bhatt says she was confused when director Imtiaz Ali first approached her for his upcoming film 'Highway'.

The romantic drama, helmed by Ali, is Alia's second film after 'Student of The Year', which hit the theatres in 2012. "I was a bit confused when Imtiaz came with the offer.

At the same time I was overwhelmed that he came up with a challenging film and role," Alia told reporters at the launch of the film's theatrical trailer here tonight.

The 20-year-old actress said she is nervous about how the audience will receive the film, which releases on February 21. "I am nervous and will remain so till the film releases. It keeps me on my toes.


Working on the film was an amazing experience and I enjoyed this journey a lot." The film has been shot in six states of North India and it captures the landscape of different regions. The movie also features Randeep Hooda in the lead role. "I learnt a lot while working with Randeep.

He spoke about motivation and following your thoughts," Alia said.courtsey santa banta news network..

Too early to celebrate my success: Yo Yo Honey Singh

You can love him, you can hate him but you cannot ignore him. Rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh is the flavour of the season with chartbusters like Angreji Beat Re and Lungi Dance to his credit

CS caught up with him for a short chat.

A fruitful wait
There is a buzz that I will be singing in Marathi during my tour of Maharashtra. But let me clarify that I am a perfect cook, I don't like to serve my dish half cooked. I am still learning Marathiand will sing a song only when I am fully ready with my product..

Celebrating success
It's too early to celebrate my success. I think I have achieved only a small percentage of what I plan to attain. I believe in doing hard work and simply concentrating on that. But I won't deny that the response I have got for my songs is overwhelming. It's a celebration when my songs are a hit especially Blue Eyes, which has crossed 15 million hits.

A solo act Vs collaboration
I am an artist and I love to explore opportunities and learn new and different things. Whether I have to perform solo or not, I only concentrate on delivering the best. If I am ready and want to explore more things, I am also ready to be explored by others.

An acting debut
I am doing a Hindi film for my dear friend Himesh (Reshammiya). I cannot divulge much at this stage. Its an interesting role and will be a whole new experience for me. I am going to start shooting for the film in January.Besides that, I am gearing up for my Tamil debut with 'Kolaveri Di' producer Anirudh Ravichander, I am also doing some international and Arabic collaborations.


Honey Singh's top chartbusters

Blue Eyes -- 2013
The credits are written by the rapper himself. The song's video has been directed by Gifty. Within fivedays of its release, the song registered over 3.5 million views online.

Party All night -- Boss (2013)
There was a controversy when the censor board reportedly felt that a line in the song could create problems and voiced its concern. Akshay Kumar finally solved the issue.


Lungi Dance -- Chennai Express (2013)
Titled Thalaivar Tribute', the song is dedicated to Tamil cinema icon Rajnikanth. When SRK heard the song, he simply could not say no to it. It was a huge hit.

Angreji Beat-- Cocktail(2012)
The song had to get clearance from three international recording companies before it coule be used in the film. It was Kareena Kapoor who insisted on this song in the film.
By arrangement with Mid-Day.com and santa banta news network..

Whoa: Sunny Leone is India's most Googled person of 2013

Thursday, December 19, 2013 10:22 IST

According to Google's 2013 Zeitgeist, the porn star turned Bollywood actress is the most searched name on search engine.

More people searched online for Bollywood newcomer Sunny Leone than actors like Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif and cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar, making the adult star the most searched personality this year, according to Google India's annual Zeitgeist.

The Google India Zeitgiest tracks the year's major events and trends based on Google searches conducted in the country.


Shah Rukh Khan was fifth in the list, followed by singer Yo Yo Honey Singh, actresses Kajal Agarwal and Kareena Kapoor, ex-cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actress Poonam Pandey.

Bollywood hits and the Indian Premier League topped the trending charts, with Shah Tukh Khan starrer-'Chennai Express' topping the Zeitgeist chart this year.

Following in the list was Indian Premier League 2013, Bollywood film 'Aashiqui 2', while UIDAI, John Walker and Jiah Khan also made it in the top 10 list.


BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi emerged the leader in the most searched news category, followed by Blackberry phones, Rahul Dravid, Saina Nehwal and Vijay Mallya.

According to the Zeitgeist, there was an uptick in searches for e-commerce sites with Flipkart and Olx.com topping the chart for most searched online shopping sites.

"From a search trends perspective, 2013 was clearly the year of entertainment. Online shopping, banking and e-commerce also continued their upward trend a clear testimony to Indians embracing online transactions," Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director (Sales and Operations) at Google India, said.


Searches on mobile phones were driven by people looking for restaurants, bars and movies, followed by coffee and cricket score.

Exotic travel destinations like Macau, Maldives and Mauritius also saw more searches than places like Boston, Dubai, Amsterdam and Singapore.
By arrangement with Mid-Day.com and santa banta news network..

Not right to blame anyone: Sussanne defends Arjun Rampal

Sussanne Roshan Wednesday spoke out against reports that actor Arjun Rampal was a reason behind her split with her husband of 13 years, Hrithik Roshan. She says nobody is to be blamed.

Sussanne couldn't avoid queries related to the recent announcement of her split with Hrithik, at the launch of Bandra 190, a luxury concept retail boutique co-owned by Sussanne, Seema Khan and Maheep Kapoor here Wednesday.


Asked to react to reports on Arjun's involvement, she said: "You can't blame anyone for this. It is sad to blame anyone. We are close-knit friends. It's not right to blame anyone."

She said she cannot pinpoint a reason for parting ways with Hrithik, whom she dated for four years before finally tying the knot Dec 20, 2000.


"There is no reason. Sometimes you have to do this because of a situation," said the mother of two sons - Hrehaan and Hridhaan.

Hrithik announced Sussanne's decision to end their marriage via an official statement Dec 13.
By arrangement with Mid-Day.com and santa banta news network..

Kareena is not out of 'Shuddhi'

Thursday, December 19, 2013 14:07 IST

Director Karan Malhotra has quashed rumours of actress Deepika Padukone replacing Kareena Kapoor Khan in his mega project 'Shuddhi'.

"Kareena is very much part of the film. It (rumours of Deepika Padukone doing the film) is not true. We have not approached anyone. It is one hero-heroine project...


So it's only Kareena in the film," the 'Agneepath' director told PTI. Starring Hrithik Roshan in the lead, the film is being produced by Karan Johar. The shooting will commence from next year and the film will hit cinema houses in 2015.
By arrangement with Mid-Day.com

Salman, SRK to clash on Eid 2015

Actors Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in 2013 Eid had hugged each other but now on the Eid 2015 the two will be face to face with the release of their respective movies.

Salman Khan's untitled film that will be directed by Kabir Khan and produced under his Being Human banner is going to have a 2015 Eid release. While Salman had booked this date a month ago, Shah Rukh's upcoming film with Farhan Akhtar 'Raees' may be released on the same day.

Produced by Farhan's Excel Production, with 'Raees' Shah Rukh will enter the war zone once again and take over Salman, whose Eid releases have been unchallenged so far. Salman's huge fan following has so far never disappointed the star whenever his films have released on Eid.

This time Salman didn't release his film on Eid and Shah Rukh bagged the opportunity with 'Chennai Express' which has gone down Box-Office history by making Rs 200 crore.

With the two Khans getting ready with their big releases on the same day, we wonder who will win the Eid battle? Or will one of them back out?byy santa banta news networkk..

Aamir has high hopes from Tamil dubbed version of 'Dhoom 3

Wednesday, December 18, 2013 12:27 IST

By Santa Banta News Network

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who has joined the "Dhoom" franchise for the first time, hopes that the third installment - slated for release worldwide Friday - turns out to be successful in Tamil as well.

"Dhoom 3" also featuring Katrina Kaif along with Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra will release in Tamil under the same title.

"Our film 'Dhoom 3' has also been dubbed in Tamil. I think this is one of my few films of mine to be dubbed in this language. I'm really looking forward to the response from the local audience who may not be aware of my work because of the language barrier. I'm hoping that it will be received well," Aamir told reporters here Tuesday.

Accompanied by his co-stars Katrina, Uday and Abhishek, he was speaking at a promotional event of the film.

"We are just testing with this dubbing idea and I'm keen to see how audiences will receive our film in their mother tongue Tamil," he added.

Katrina, who plays Aaliya, a circus artist in the film, said Chennai was like home to her.

"My mother used to stay in Chennai for quite some time before moving to Madurai. I used to come with her a lot. (It's a) lovely place and when I landed (this evening) I had a feeling of missing this place. I'm glad to have a got a chance to come back," she said.

Kat, as she is fondly called in the industry, has worked in southern industries such as Telugu and Malayalam. She said she's unfortunate to have not worked in Tamil so far.

"Aamir asked if I know and can speak in Tamil, but sadly, I can't speak Tamil. I have done two Telugu films and one in Malayalam too but unfortunately didn't a chance to work in Tamil yet," she said.

"Dhoom 3" is directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, who had penned the story for the first two parts in the franchise.

"It's been a special journey for me. I have been associated with the franchise from the first part and now I have directed the third one. Therefore, it's very special and I'm also looking forward to the response from the audience for the Tamil version," said Acharya.


Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra, who have been associated with the franchise since its inception, will be reprising the roles of Jai Dixit and Ali Akbar respectively.

Junior Bachchan said that he hopes the Tamil version of "Dhoom 3" impresses one and all.

"It's always a pleasure to come back to Chennai, which is one of my favorite cities. I have done a lot of work here. We are very happy to bring our film to Chennai in Tamil version so that a lot of Tamil audience also gets to enjoy the film. I really do hope you all like it," he said.

Produced by Yash Raj Films, "Dhoom 3" is the first Indian film to be released in IMAX.byy santa banta news networkk..