Dalal Street has a new address and it’s called Bollywood. In a new online game, one can now buy and sell Bollywood stars and movies. Titled The Game of Fame (GOF), it has been brought to the virtual space by Bollywood Hungama, a Bollywood and music site, and Pond’s. The values of the stars and movies depend on how they perform in the real world — a certain star’s value may rise if his or her recent movie was a hit. Each movie that premieres will feature as an IPO. To play the game one needs to log-in using their personal Facebook account. The aim is to buy and sell movies and stars smartly. The players with the most gains stand to feature on the Wall Of Fame. The game is played with ‘Star Dollars’ which is a virtual currency and every player starts with 50,000 star dollars in their wallet. One can win exclusive movie memorabilia every week. To kick-start the game, the first give away is a costume from Hrithik Roshan starrer

Agneepath. The game will soon be available as an application on Facebook and on the mobile phone. Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, says, “Bollywood is the pulse of this nation and with GOF we are not only giving users a chance to own and trade Bollywood celebrities and movies, but are also gratifying them with exciting prizes.” The Game of

Fame can be played on www.bollywoodhungama.com/gameoffame.

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Tags: Game of Fame, Bollywood Hungama, Hrithik Roshan

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Article source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bullish-on-bollywood/909308/

NEW DELHI — A former Miss World and one of Bollywood’s leading actresses, Priyanka Chopra has been signed to CAA. Chopra, 29, is the first mainstream Bollywood star to be signed by the agency, whose Indian talent roster also includes Golden Globe-nominated director Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth).

What is CAA’s Role in AXS?AGENCY SIGNINGS: New Clients at CAA, ICM, APA, Paradigm

The actress, who starred in the 2012 hit Agneepath, is an aspiring singer as well. She was recently signed to Universal Music Group and Desi Hits! Inc. (an entertainment entity connecting international and Indian artists), where her manager is Troy Carter (also Lady Gaga‘s manager), CEO of Atom Music. Co-founded by L.A.-based Anjula Acharia-Bath, Desi Hits! played an instrumental role in Chopra’s CAA signing.

“I have had a long-standing relationship with David Taghioff at CAA because he has been working on India-USA cross-border deals for many years and we have been connected through this for some time,” Acharia-Bath tells The Hollywood Reporter. ”I approached David and CAA with Priyanka’s manager, Troy Carter, and my partner on this, signing [Interscope Records chairman] Jimmy Iovine to assemble an ‘A team’ that would both understand the enormity of the industry she is coming from and how best to navigate her through the immense opportunities that lie ahead.” 

“This is a great follow-up [after the Universal Music Group/Desi Hits! signing], and there should be some fun stuff coming up. Basically, I am an actor so it did make sense to have representation in terms of movies or entertainment in any way,” Chopra tells THR. “Everybody on my team thought that it made sense to be covered on the movie front as well. CAA was excited to come on board so we went with them.”

After an early modeling career and winning the 2000 Miss World title, Chopra debuted in Bollywood with 2003′s The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. The actress followed that in 2004 with her breakout role in suspense drama Aitraaz for which she received the Filmfare best villain award. In 2008, Chopra’s turn as a troubled model in Fashion won her the Indian government’s National Award for best actress. Last year, she found success with a critically acclaimed performance in 7 Khoon Maaf (Susanna’s Seven Husbands), playing a femme fatale, from youth to old age. The project was co-written by Hollywood screenwriter Matthew Robbins (The Sugarland Express).

Alhough there are wider international opportunities for Chopra to explore, obvious challenges also remain, as Acharia-Bath explains. “It is no secret that business is handled differently in India and there is often a disconnect given talent in India handles much of their own business and rely less on agents and management to navigate opportunities for them,” she says. “This is in stark contrast to how things are handled in the USA. Also, stylistically, Bollywood is a very different form of cinema so finding talent that can cross over is challenging as there are cultural sensibilities that are very different.”

But Chopra’s background could give her a different positioning since “she began her career on an international platform [as Miss World] and moved into Bollywood almost as an outsider but managed to rise to the top,” adds Acharia-Bath. “She is unique because as much as she is Indian, she has an incredibly international focus and understands the protocols and approach to the entertainment business globally.”

The profile of Indian actors gradually is increasing internationally, with talent agencies such as ICM repping Anil Kapoor (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol) and Brillstein Entertainment Partners repping Irrfan Khan (this summer’s The Amazing Spider-Man).

Article source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bollywood-actress-priyanka-chopra-signed-caa-287524

With the wedding season in full bloom, actors debate on whether it is okay to dance at weddings for money.
Two Bollywood actors made news last week when they declared that they would not perform at weddings for money. While Kareena Kapoor said that she is only “comfortable on stage in

front of her fraternity”, John Abraham said that he does not “want to make so much money”.

However, actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia and Malaika Arora Khan are known to shake a leg at weddings for an amount ranging between Rs 3-4 lakh to 3 crores (depending on the star’s market value). And now, with the wedding season on, a host of stars are already expected to dance at the functions. These actors insist that they see nothing wrong in it since they do it on their own terms.

In an earlier interview, Shah Rukh had said, “I do perform at weddings. But it is very difficult to afford what I demand.” Actor Vivek Oberoi, who performed at a wedding in the Capital, last year, says, “If an actor wants to dance and someone wants him to dance, then it is between them.”

Shah Rukh Khan
Yes, we do.With the money I earn at weddings, I get the choice of not doing a film I don’t want to do. Many actors have done 70 films out of which 30 are just for money.
Rs 3-4 crore

Yaana Gupta
I don’t see a difference between performing at a wedding or at a corporate event or an award show. I perform for ‘people’. the reason for the gathering doesn’t concern me. 
Rs 3.5-5 lakh

Malaika Arora Khan
I have performed at many high profile weddings. I don’t see anything wrong. to each his own.
Rs 12-15 lakh

Kareena Kapoor
No, we won’t. It’s always fun being on stage in front of the film fraternity. But, I would never dance at weddings.

Sonam Kapoor
When I came into the industry, I made a list of things I would do and not do. Not Dancing at weddings was one of them.

Shahid does not dance at weddings and birthday parties as a policy, Actor’s spokesperson

John Abraham
I don’t dance at marriage functions because I don’t like it. I don’t want to make so much money.   

Article source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Bollywood-celebrities-to-dance-in-weddings/Article1-808047.aspx

There were lights, cameras and definitely a lot of action. Riteish’s and Genelia’s big fat Bollywood fairy tale wedding was no different from a glamorous Bollywood film. First there was a friendship then a love story followed by some twists in the tale, a lavish series of wedding functions and ofcourse a happy ending! Read on to find out all the details.

 

The Love Story

Riteish and Genelia met first in 2003 for their debut film Tujhe Meri Kasam (DVD of which is yet to see the light of the day so you can stop Googling now!). Rumour has it that Genelia wasn’t quite keen on the project and signed up for it only after much convincing. They had quite the filmi encounter in which Genelia put in all her energy to give her new co-star all the attitude she could put together simply because she assumed the CM’s son would be a spoiled brat so she must get ahead in the game. Boy was she wrong!

But like a good Bollywood romance they soon discovered there was much to the other person than they’d assumed. At the time Genelia was in college in Ritiesh was in his 20s (there’s a 4 year gap between the couple) so no serious relationship talk was done but a sweet friendship was struck. She’d talk about college and exams and he’d gush about architecture.

It was only after they finished a schedule of their film together in Hyderabad that the couple realised that kuch toh baat hai as they soon started missing each other when they returned home. As the days progressed their friendship became stronger. The media hounded them for a confirmation of their relationship which we never got until the announcement of the wedding in early 2012, 9 years after they met.

Till date the couple maintain that they’re friends before anything else. Hence why the formalities in their relationship have been nil including no official proposal by Riteish nor an official engagement ring! (Ladies you can stop gasping now!)

And there you have it, the filmi tale of Riteish – Genelia’s love story in a nutshell! Now for all the details of their big day, or shall we say, big week!

 

Invitation

Buzz is that the wedding was being planned in a hush hush way for a long time hence the amazing turn out at all the functions. Apparently Riteish and Genelia had asked all their close friends and in particular their filmi friends to keep their work schedules clear for the weekend, as they didn’t want anyone to be absent for what was to be the most important days of their lives. We hear that many of their friends took time out from their busy schedules, flew in from far and wide to be at the events.

The invitation that was sent out to guests was a threefold card inviting everyone to the Sangeet (31^st Jan), Shaadi (4^th February) Reception (5^th February). A Bandra based design company crafted the invites for the couple, who incidentally also were involved in other celeb weddings such as that of Lara Dutta and Hrithik Roshan. The cards came inside a wooden box with the couple’s initials R and G engraved on it. Complimenting the card were handmade chocolates that also carried their intials on it. (Can we get a awwww…)

 

Pre Wedding Bash

Sajid Nadiawala, Fardeen Khan and their respective other halves planned the couple’s pre-wedding bash. The venue was Royality Bandra and the event saw an array of stars attending.

 

Sangeet

At any B-Town wedding the sangeet is the event everyone wants ALL the details of! Well here it is.

This was the filmiest of all the shaadi festivities as it was organised and directed by none other than KJO! (Karan Johar for the non-Tweeples). It all took place at the Taj Land’s End and the couple themselves had a very special performance planned for their guests.

Karan also gifted Riteish the outfit he wore for the evening whilst Genelia’s outfit was done by Manish Malhotra. Whilst the sangeet was a closed event paparazzi’s outside the venue made sure all the guests were snapped as they entered and there was much snapping to be done as B-Town arrived in all its glory! Word is that KJo even got some of the industry biggies to shake a leg on the night. There’s also a much talked about leaked video from the sangeet making the rounds on the Internet. (But do finish reading before you rush off to Youtube it!)

 

Marathi Wedding

Our dulhe raja (groom) set off with his band baaja baraat at 11am from his Juhi premises. As it turns out the Deshmukhs danced the whole way and didn’t mind being in the public eye for such a private event.  The bridal party waited for their arrival at the venue, a suburban five star hotel and the wedding began at the auspicious time of 12.48pm.

Neeta Lulla was the designer of Genelia’s wedding saree whilst Neeta’s daughter Nishka Lulla styled Genelia for the big day. (They both are quite the close friends.) Luckily for fans the couple were all too glad to share their big day with the world and tweeted quite regularly throughout the whole day including tweeting a pic promptly after the ceremony concluded! (Don’t you just love tech savvy celebs!)

Compared to the political presence at the function the B-Town presence fell a little behind however some very notable personalities took time out from their schedule for the event such as Ajay Kajol Devgn, Karan Johar, Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Jaya Bachchan, to name a few.

 

Christian Wedding

Ofcourse it is all too well known that Genelia is a Mangalorean Catholic who is deeply religious. Therefore it was no surprise that the couple followed up the Marathi ceremony with a Christian ceremony at St Anne’s Church in Bandra the following day.

The ceremony was rather private however the good’ol paparazzi managed to snap quite a few shots of the couple both in and outside the church, including some of the guests who attended. Amongst the few who attended the very private affair that had mostly family and friends were Karan Johar, Hussain Tina Kujerwala and Siddharth. It is believed that whilst the Marathi wedding had a number of Riteish’s guests, the church wedding had more of Genelia’s crowd. Riteish’s parents were not present at the event however his brothers were. (One now wonders that perhaps the rumours of Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh initially being resistant to the relationship due to the cultural clash wasn’t completely ill founded.)

Genelia’s wedding gown was designed by none other than Shantanu Nikhil who are all too well known for their fabulous gowns. The couple set off in a decorated car by which time word has spread that Genelia and Riteish were in the vicinity.

 

Reception

The reception at the Grand Hyatt Hotel was the celebration that saw the most number of B-town stars in attendance. Genelia opted for a Falguni Shane Peacock lehenga for the star-studded event.

Guests present for the reception that we’d not seen earlier at any of the celebrations were Saif Kareena, Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Arjun Rampal and Kangana Ranuat, to name a few.

 

Happily Every After!

And with that we wrap this all too familiar filmi journey of Riteish and Genelia’s, from pyaar to shaadi! It would definitely make for a lovely rom-com don’t you think?!

 

We hear the couple are now going to whisk off to an unknown location for a lovely honeymoon!  Bollyspice wishes the happy couple all the very best for this beautiful new chapter of their lives they’re about to begin.

Article source: http://bollyspice.com/37238/report-riteish-genelia-big-fat-bollywood-wedding

By Beth Watkins

Years ago, a project circulated on some of my favorite film blogs asking writers to discuss what fictional characters might write good blogs. It’s a question I’ve come back to often, probably because there are so many Bollywood characters I’d like to know more about. Being drawn into the world of the characters is the mark of a rich, complex script.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Imagine if fictional characters from Bollywood movies were on Twitter.

The hero-centric nature of the general Bollywood template means that almost everyone else in the film is given little character development, no matter how interesting they seem to be or how well they are portrayed.

But they surely have observations and opinions that would add to our understanding of the story and its context. Even major characters could use more time to express themselves, particularly in the big swings of emotions and dramatic action that Bollywood favors. And what about the multi-starrers? They cannot possibly afford even the major characters as much screen time as we’d like to see.

In 2012, of course, it’s Twitter rather than blogs that people are likely to use to express themselves. Given the discourse proffered by some of the film industry celebrities on Twitter, I’d be the first to follow what the fictional players have to say. And remember, they don’t have a new release to promote or fan drool to re-tweet.

This idea is certainly not new; scholars, fans and flacks have authored tweets for characters from works like “Romeo and Juliet,” “Pride and Prejudice,” “Mad Men,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Simpsons.”

Here’s a list of some characters whose tweets I’d read and how their writing might change my experience of the films in which they live:

Mothers top the list of fictional characters I’d love to hear more from. Surely they must think about something other than how to make further sacrifices for their sons, especially the mothers who are mentioned as having careers or dramatic life events before the timeframe of the plots. I like to imagine them having pseudonyms — maybe all based on Nirupa Roy, yielding handles like Nirupa_Mard, Nirupa_AAA, Nirupa_Deewaar — and lamenting what they’ve given up, or arranging lunches where they discuss the psychological turmoil of having two sons on opposite sides of the law.

The complexity of classic masala plots means that many characters have different experiences of related situations before they are eventually united. Think of the tweets that the three “Amar Akbar Anthony” (1977) brothers and their heroines could share, and how knowing their individual reflections on one another would heighten the dramatic irony of the inevitable recognition. Inspector Amar probably couldn’t be bothered to tweet, but surely he would read Anthony’s to try to keep tabs on his misdeeds. Akbar the musician would promote his concerts on Twitter in between flirting with @DoctorSalma, who could have kick-started the story by tweeting the urgent need for a particular blood type at the hospital.

Even heroes can benefit from more exposition, particularly in settings in which they are forced to conceal or act at odds with their true natures. I’m thinking films like “Main Hoon Na” (2004), where the hero cannot reveal who he truly is but also has responsibilities deriving from that identity, ones that are comically thwarted by his discomfort with his disguise. What would Major Ram say about trying to fit in at college, his aggravation of getting so much resistance from the person he’s supposed to be helping, the pain of seeing the cool kids’ dismissive tweets about him?

The two leads in the comedy “Dostana” could offer an ethnology of sorts, reflecting on their assumed lifestyle as gay men. How different (or not) are their lives when larger society thinks they’re something they’re not? In what way is their new life constricting and liberating? Maybe they learn to really value the friendship with the heroine, enabled by a lack of romantic pressure. Abhishek Bachchan’s character, for  example, could tweet: “In the middle of a Three’s Company marathon w @Neha_Miami and @PhotoKunal.”

Screen capture from the movie ‘Nagin’
The most showy and megalomaniac ones are the perfect fit for Twitter. Above, Reena Roy from ‘Nagin’ (1976).

Villains sit on the other side of the moral spectrum. The most showy and megalomaniac ones strike me as the perfect fit for Twitter: They wouldn’t be able to resist boasting publicly (and anonymously) about their overly complicated schemes, desperately yearning for attention despite their bravado. Mr. A in “Dhoom 2” (2006), Mogambo in “Mr. India” (1987), Shakal in “Shaan” (1980), and the vengeful shape-shifting Reena Roy in “Nagin” (1976), who, as she kills each successive hero, would taunt those that remain.

The only non-promotional Bollywood character on Twitter I’ve encountered so far is Mama Jenny  (@IamMamaJenny), the “magical negro” stand-in mother figure of the hero of “My Name Is Khan” (2010), actually run by the blogger behind the site Bollywood Food Club. Just like she does in the film, on Twitter Mama Jenny offers homespun advice to her followers and encourages her hero to lend a hand following natural disasters or times of political upheaval. In addition to skewering the tone of the dialogues from the film, Mama Jenny’s tweets expand her story from a flatly ridiculous stereotyped character in a fictional disaster to the real world, where her commentary reminds us that as much as we may wish for heroes, they very rarely appear.

Our desire for solution and salvation are much more palpable than any filmi response. Without Rizwan Khan around, Mama Jenny somehow reminds us that we’ll have to fix things ourselves.

What characters from Bollywood films would you like to see on Twitter? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.

Beth Watkins has been blogging for more than five years at Beth Loves Bollywood. She is an expert on Bollywood history and lore as well as contemporary movies and actors (that’s her on the left, with the Shah Rukh Khan action figure). You can follow Ms. Watkins on Twitter @bethlovesbolly.

Follow India Real Time on Twitter @indiarealtime.

Article source: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/02/07/bollywood-journal-what-characters-would-light-up-twitter/?mod=google_news_blog