On the occassion of the ‘World Theatre Day’ , the Academy of Theatre Arts, University of Mumbai , brings for Mumbaikars a bouquet of India’s finest plays, in an 11-day ‘National Vasant Natya Mahotsav’.

The Mahotsav, to be staged between March 22 and April 1, 2007 at the Kalina Campus of the University of Mumbai , will present plays by renowned directors like Ratan Thiyam, Ramesh Verma and Ranjit Kapoor.

Famous Indian theatre groups like the Chorus Repertoire Company from Manipur, The National School of Drama Repertoire Company and the Mysore Rangayan will be performing in Mumbai after a long time. “This is the speciality of the festival. There will be plays in various Indian languages by some of the prominent directors this country has produced,” says Mr Waman Kendre, Director of the Academy. Along with this, several theatre luminaries like Anupam Kher and Naserrudin Shah too might grace the festival. Professor Waman Kendre himself is a very famous Marathi Theatre artist.

Some of the outstanding plays that Mumbaikars will have the pleasure of watching are:
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Massive round bindis, a whole bunch of kajra (garland) that she wears in her head, and colorful Kancheepuram sarees.. Am sure these are just enough to bring Usha Uthup’s name at tip of our tounge. As a child I remember mom and me shaking a leg to her “Zupi Zupi” to liven up those sleepy afternoons. Usha Uthup is attractive in her own, inimitable way. Draped in her signature Kancheevaram, sporting jasmine flowers and a chestnut-sized bindi she, almost always, calls for a second look. As I grew up I always admired her for the way she carried herself in sarees despite the fact she sang ultra modern pop songs and sometimes sang desi songs with pop twist. She can sing in different languages and famous for her unique voice quality.

Now she has taken on a new Avtar in the new movie Hattrick. The bindis are gone, instead she sports a stylish pair of glasses , the long hair full of kajra is replaced by a chic short colored hair style and she has taken on to colorful Kaftan isntean of her signature Kancheevaram.

Am not sure if the movie is that good enough to watch it in a theater, but yeah Usha Uthup has managed once again has made people take a second look at her. She kinda looks like a modern granny – sort of a cute and loving but with mordern thinking types. But I also love her old traditional with a tinge of flamboyance look much more.

Finally the most talked about couple of Bollywood, have dished out their love story after a long denial to the media and have got engaged. The news channels and the new papers all were running to get a piece of them. Stories were spun and are being talked about the couple and lots of things are being spculated in respect to their horscope and age difference and blah blha…

Interestingly enough,both Abhi and Ash have had a painful past as far as love is concerned.Aishwarya had Salman which begun from a perfect love scene and ended in a pretty brutal way and Salman lost quite a lot of reputation after those incidents.She was then linked to Viveik Oberoi which she had denied all the way long.Funnily,they say that whoever Ash enters into a relationship with,gets doomed but we hope Abhishek wouldn’t. Abhishek had first been engaged to Karisma Kapoor but somehow that didn’t turn out well and Karisma married somoene else soon after.

Fans have had mixed opinions about this.While the Ash fans are happy,Abhi’s fans feel that he deserved someone better like Rani Mukerjee or Priyanka Chopra

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Yes the Shetty gal has gone as the sixth of eleven stars to enter the Big Brother house.

For your information the Indian version of ‘Big Brother’ is currently running on Sony TV as ‘Bigg Boss’ which is produced by Endemol, the company that produces ‘Big Brother’ internationally

“Being a celebrity is really tough,” she said in a pre-recorded clip. Yeah why wont it be with all the celebrity tantrums.. Just look at her here throwing a trantrum over which place she wi l sleep..

This is what Shipa had to say :

“I honestly, truly feel that I am special.”

“I’m very synonymous with glamour.”

“I have never travelled without an entourage.”

“I thought it would be incredible for a Bollywood actor to go there and showcase not just Bollywood but also Indian culture.”

“I don’t put 100% into everything I do. I put 200%.”

“I just want every Indian to be extremely proud that I’m in here.”

Apparently Ms Shetty is being offered a whooping 30 million rupees for the show.Shilpa joins “Big Brother” from Jan 1 and spends the next 25 days on the show.. Lets wait and watch how our Sheetty gal manages to survive in the House of Big Brother..

Have you seen the cute advertisement of KBC? The launch communication showcases a cute kid ( supposedly little Shahrukh) from Delhi, who always keeps asking questions. He keeps asking questions till he reaches a point where he realizes that he is not getting answers for the questions which really matter to him.

He then packs his bags and leaves town with a bag full of unanswered questions and lands up in Mumbai. To his surprise it is the city of Mumbai, which is now asking him the questions.

The promo picks pace from here and goes on to show – how having answered some of these questions, the young lad’s life now comes a full circle, where he is again in a place where he is doing all the asking.

The rest of the film shows that the young boy has grown up as Shah Rukh Khan and is on the hot seat asking questions.

Am sure that It would be totally unfair to even compare Sharukh with Big B… People say that Sharukh always tries to get into BIG B’s shoes… Maybe yeah but Sharukh does go about things in his own style and rather than copy Big B… Although he may be a fan of Big B’s success story. One of the best example I can point here is the song of DON “Kaike Paan”… Big B had made this song a super hit back in the days and today Sharukh has made it even more popular with his own unique dance and style… Even with KBC the promotions are a bit more lighter, and the focus has been shifted from the money to a different angle.. (Atleast the initial ones which are on air now)

Am eagerly looking forward to the new KBC which will be hosted by King Khan. The show goes on air from January 22 from Monday to Thursday at 2100 hrs.

“We have no hesitation in holding that Manu Sharma is guilty of an offence under Section 302 (murder) of IPC for having committed the murder of Jessica Lall … as also under Section 27 of the Arms Act,” said a division bench comprising Justice RS Sodhi and Justice PK Bhashin.

Today I feel proud. I am proud of being an Indian woman.

It’s been nearly 8 years of constant struggle against the judicial system, emotional tussle with one’s self and a strong determination for a loved one by Sabrina Lall to accomplish her objective. She has finally brought justice to her dead sister and poignant peace to her departed parents.

In today’s society where blood relations are treated as nothing more than some genetic bonding, it is heartwarming to see someone like Sabrina Lall; who practically gave up so many years of her youth, all in an effort to bring her sister’s murderer punished and put behind bars.

Though the media and the court hailed the star witness Bina Ramani for her testimony against the accused, not taking any credit from here – for me the only one who deserves praises and accolades is Sabrina Lall.

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Sanjay Dutt back in Prison

Sanjay Dutt has been found guilty of possessing an AK-56 rifle and a 9mm pistol under India’s Arms Act. Whole morning I have been keeping a tab via on-line news regarding Dutt Jr. court appearance today. To tell you the truth with the success of his recent films, regular television interviews and numerous rounds of holy places – I actually believed that he would be let-off by the Indian courts.

Just like me, I am sure there are many others who would have surely been shocked on hearing this court verdict. Though he was acquitted of more serious conspiracy charges, Sanjay could still face upto maximum 5 years in prison for the charges he has been found guilty off.

Obviously the judge’s ruling did not go down with the accused and his family.

BBC reports:

Dutt was in court to hear Tuesday’s verdict and looked agitated as the judge delivered his verdict.

Dressed in a grey and red-checked shirt and jeans with a vermillion mark on his forehead, the actor told the judge: “I am the only earning member of the family.”

He was ordered to stop speaking and to remain in court. All accused pronounced guilty are immediately taken into police custody.

Judge PD Kode said the actor was guilty of illegally possessing weapons that had been given to him by some of the men accused of carrying out the bomb attacks, but he added: “I’ve not found him to be a terrorist or destructor.”

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Legendary Prithviraj Kapoor

When one mentions Stage Plays and Coffee in a single sentence then the only place that instantly comes to mind is Prithvi Theatre in Juhu, Mumbai. Other than Bollywood, Theatre is the only form of entertainment and art that I feel passionately about. Blame it on my schooling days when I performed for the first time at this very theatre or my college days which were mostly spent at the Prithvi canteen rather than the classroom.

A theatre company called ‘Prithvi Theatres’ was started by the famed actor Prithviraj Kapoor around the 1940s with the aim of giving something to the society in return of the celebrity status and honor they had bestowed upon him. He commissioned original plays on circumstantial topics of the day, which his group then performed across India. In 1978, Prithvi Theatre was built several years later in memory of his extraordinary commitment and enthusiasm for theatre.

Prithvi Theatre has come a long way since then – with annually 400 shows, 100 plays, nearly 50 groups participation and an outreach of around 70,000 thousand audience.

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Exactly what is the buzz in bollywood currently ??? Is it the high profile visit of Brad & Angelina Jolie or the scenes with the castings of Ram Gopal Varma’s Sholay .That reminds me did any of u guys check out the new look of Amitabh playing Gabbar ??? Ramu has done a lot of detailing on Big B’s look and must admit that it is a pretty neat work done there… Kudoos to Ramu !! Check out this aricle for more fun info on the movie Sholay then and Sholay to be Read here

• Gabbar Singh
Say Gabbar and the only name that comes to mind is Amjad Khan. Casting against type Ramu may have signed on Amitabh Bachchan for one of the most memorable characters in Indian film history , but the Big B has very large shoes to fill.

DID YOU KNOW: Shatrughan Sinha was initially slated to play the role. Amitabh Bachchan was almost killed at the end of the movie when a stray bullet from Dharmendra (Veeru) missed him by inches.
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Guy Kawasaki, a famous entrepreneur and blogger notes a few points of observation during his trip to Mumbai.

Computer connectivity is very good. Furthermore, I was amazed that my Verizon phone worked without a hitch. EVDO did not work, but it was only because of the lack of a roaming agreement.

The food was fabulous. For example, I’ve had many a set-up day, pre-show, backstage meal, but nothing as good as what was at IBM’s conference the day before it opened. There was even a curry chef who would make curry to spec.

I loved Indian pricing strategy: for example, 10 rupees for residents and 300 rupees for tourists at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum.

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