star screen awards 2010 nominations: Who are there?

Though the year 2009 has been a turbulent year for Bollywood, we have seen some great movies and great performances in the end. Once again we are going to see another episode of Star Screen Awards full glitz and glamour. The Star Screen Awards is one of the most prestigious awards in the Bollywood movie industry and the only awards ceremony in India that involves the Executive Director and the Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The awards ceremony was initiated by Vivek Goenka, Chairman, The Express Group, in 1994.

This year, the 16^th Nokia Star Screen Awards will be held at the Bandra-Kurla’s MMRDA complex in Mumbai. As usual, the show will be full of excitement and glamour with rocking performances by top Bollywood actors and actresses. This year, the show is conceptualized by Cineyug and the set was designed by Omag Kumar. The color scheme of the stage was white and gold. It contains 45 feet tall replicas of the Star Screen Awards, mosaic mirros, and wings. The total set was built within twenty two days. This year, Bollywood hero Shahid Kapoor will host the show and it will be his debut as a host. Bollywood stars including Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif will perform in the show. The winning team of the Dance Premiere League will choreograph the dances of Bipasha Basu and Kareena Kapoor. Bipasha Basu will do a carnival act and dance to her hit numbers. Kareena Kapoor will dance to hit numbers from Kambakkht Ishq and Kurbaan. Katrina Kaif will be performing to a catchy number from her 2009 hit romantic comedy, Ajak Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Shahid Kapoor, one of the best male dances in Bollywood will perform to Dhan Te Nan, the hit number of Kaminey.

Here are list of nominees in various award segment of the 16^th Nokia Star Screen Award:

Best Film: 3 Idiots; Dev D; Kaminey; Love Aaj Kal; Paa.

Best Director: Anurag Kashyap (Dev D); Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal); R Balki (Paa); Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots); Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey).

Best Actor (Male): Aamir Khan (3 Idiots); Amitabh Bachchan (Paa); Ranbir Kapoor (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani); Ranbir Kapoor (Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year); Saif Ali Khan (Love Aaj Kal); Shahid Kapoor (Kaminey).

Best Actor (Female): Deepika Padukone (Love Aaj Kal); Kareena Kapoor (3 Idiots); Katrina Kaif (New York); Priyanka Chopra (Kaminey); Priyanka Chopra (What's Your Raashee?); Vidya Balan (Paa).

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male): Abhimanyu Singh (Gulaal); R Madhavan (3 Idiots); Rishi Kapoor (Love Aaj Kal); Rishi Kapoor (Luck By Chance); Sharman Joshi (3 Idiots).

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female): Arundhati Naag (Paa); Divya Dutta (Delhi-6); Gauhar Khan (Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year); Neha Dhupia (Raat Gayi Baat Gayi); Shahana Goswami (Firaaq).

Best Actor in a Negative Role: Amole Gupte (Kaminey); Boman Irani (3 Idiots); Kay Kay Menon (Gulaal); Mahesh Manjrekar (Wanted); Manish Choudhary (Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year).

Best Actor in a Comic Role: D Santosh (Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year); Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots); Paresh Rawal (De Dana Dan); Sanjay Mishra (All The Best); Vinay Pathak (Raat Gayi Baat Gayi).

Best Background Music: Amit Trivedi (Dev D); Ilaiyaraja (Paa); Salim-Sulaiman – (Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year); Shantanu Moitra, Atul Raninga, Sanjay Wandrekar (3 Idiots); Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey).

Best Music: A R Rahman (Delhi-6); Pritam (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani); Pritam (Love Aaj Kal); Pritam (Tum Mile); Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey).

Best Playback Singer Female: Kavita Seth - Iktara – (Wake Up Sid); Rekha Bhardwaj – Genda Phool – (Delhi-6); Shreya Ghoshal – Zoobi Doobi (3 Idiots); Shilpa Rao – Mudi Mudi – (Paa); Sunidhi Chauhan – Mere Sang (New York).

Best Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya - Emosanal Attyachaar – (Dev D); Irshad Kamil - Chor Bazari – (Love Aaj Kal); Javed Akhtar - Sapnon Se Bhare Naina (Luck By Chance); Piyush Mishra - Ranaji (Gulaal); Prasoon Joshi - Man Ko Ati Bhavey (London Dreams).

Best Story: Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots); Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Malhotra, Raj Singh Chaudhary, Sanjay Maurya (Gulaal); Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal); Nandita Das, Shuchi Kothari (Firaaq); R Balki (Paa).

Best Screenplay: Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra (3 Idiots); Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane (Dev D); Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal); Pankaj Advani (Sankat City); R Balki (Paa).

Best Dialogue: Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots); Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal); Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane (Dev D); R Balki (Paa); Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey).

Best Editing: Aarti Bajaj (Dev D); Aarti Bajaj (Love Aaj Kal); Anil Naidu (Paa); Meghna Manchanda Sen, Sreekar Prasad (Kaminey); Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots).

Best Sound: Bishwadeep Chatterjee, Nihar Ranjan Samel (3 Idiots); Dileep Subramaniam (Love Aaj Kal); Sanjay Maurya, Allwin Rego (Dev D); Shajith Koyeri, Subhash Sahu, P M Satheesh (Kaminey); Tapas Nayak (Paa).

Best Special Effects: Charles Darby (Aladin); Prime Focus Ltd (Blue).

Best Cinematography: C.K. Muraleedharan (3 Idiots); P.C. Sreeram (Paa); Rajeev Ravi (Dev D); Shankar Raman (Frozen); Tassaduq Hussain (Kaminey).

Best Art Directon: Acropolis, Rajnish Hedaa, Sumit, Snigdha Basu (3 Idiots); Sabu Cyril (Aladin); Samir Chanda (Delhi-6); Samir Chanda (Kaminey); Sukanta Panigrahy, Helen Jones (Dev D).

Best Choreography: Ahmed Khan - Prem Ki Naiiyya (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani); Avit Dias - Aal Izz Well (3 Idiots); Bosco- Caesar - Zoobi Doobi (3 Idiots); Prasanna - Marjaani (Billu); Baawre - Vaibhavi Merchant (Luck By Chance).

Best Action: James D Bomalick (Blue); Huan-Chiu Ku (Chandni Chowk To China); Shyam Kaushal (Kaminey); Tinu Verma (Acid Factory); Vijayan Master (Wanted).

Most Promising Newcomer (Male): Amole Gupte (Kaminey); Chandan Roy Sanyal (Kaminey); Navin Kaushik (Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year); Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots).

Most Promising Newcomer (Female): Gauhar Khan (Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year); Giselle Monteiro (Love Aaj Kal); Jesse Randhawa (Gulaal); Kalki Koechlin (Dev D); Mahie Gill (Dev D).

Most Promising Debut Director: Ayan Mukerji (Wake Up Sid); Nandita Das (Firaaq); Pankaj Advani (Sankat City); Shivajee Chandrabhushan (Frozen); Zoya Akhtar (Luck By Chance).

Best Child Artiste: Jahan Bativala (Little Zizou); Iyanah Bativala (Little Zizou); Rahul Kumar (3 Idiots); Parzan Dastur (Sikandar); Pratik Katare (Paa).

Best Ensemble Cast: Delhi-6; Firaaq; Gulaal; Luck By Chance; Sankat City.

Related articles:

Bollywood Hungama

Screen India

The Financial Express

Multiplexes increased ticket prices of 3 Idiots

On the first day of its released, Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi and Madhavan starrer 3 Idiots collected Rs. 290 million in ticket sales setting a new record for the first day collection for any Bollywood movie. 3 Idiots tells the story of three friends- Farhan (R. Madhavan), Raju (Sharman Joshi) and Rancho ( Aamir Khan). The movie had been equally liked by the audience and critics and people are now crazy for the tickets and the multiplexes are taking full advantages of this frenzyand increased the ticket price. Magnamags.com reports:

On an average, the increase has been around twenty five percent per ticket. This has helped multiplexes not only rake in huge moolah but also provide audiences with tea and snacks in the morning shows. Sources say that the extended weekend has helped the film in attracting the audiences towards theatres. Some trade sources say that the film has raked in more moolah than even Aamir Khan’s earlier blockbuster ‘Ghajini’.

A day before release, 3 Idiots had paid previews in limited theatres and it did very well. The movie collected Rs. 25 million on that day which has never been achieved by any other Bollywood movies. On that day, the movie was showcased in four theatres in Chennai and all the four theatres were houseful.

Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani: Meet the two idiots behind 3 Idiots

Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani are now basking under the sun of their success. Their latest movie 3 Idiots is ruling the Bollywood box office. Both the audience and critics liked the movie very much. Based on three friends and a journey, 3 Idiots take a comical approach to reveal the dark side of the Indian education system that only encourages students to memorize and pass exams but not to think creatively. Every year, students come out from many prestigious educational institutions in India but they are not making anything new. Why this happens? 3 Idiots takes a peek into this problem. In an interview, Rajkumar Hirani and Aamir Khan share their views on various aspects of movie making.

Rajkumar Hirani likes to present something new to the audience but that does not mean it has to be entirely new. His movies revolve around people whom we meet in our daily lives but never looked too deeply into their lives or works or their inner feelings.

According to Aamir Khan, human emotions are age old. There is nothing new but one must have his or her own way of seeing and appreciating things and that’s what makes one a good film maker.

In this age, marketing is a big factor behind the success of movies and Aamir Khan has been referred as a “marketing monster” by Rajkumar Hirani. To Aamir Khan, the marketing approach of his movies has to be something that is very much present in the movie and it has to be something that would enable the moviegoers can relate to. For example, Ghajini, and Taare Zameen Par it was the hairstyle. In 3 Idiots, the theme of journey was very important. So, Aamir Khan went on a two week promotional tour for the movie.

Related article:

The Economic Times

3 Idiots is rocking Chennai and Tamil Nadu

The year 2009 may be the year of failure for many Bollywood actors but definitely not Aamir Khan. The actor’s latest movie, 3 Idiots, is out and it is doing great business all over India and overseas. 3 Idiots was released in 1896 screens in India and overseas and it collected Rs.90 million on the first day setting a new record for any Indian movie. His last release, Ghajini, collected Rs.70 million. With this movie, Aamir Khan also scored a hat trick. From 2007 to 2009, all the movies he released during Christmas were block busters. Taare Zameen Par (2007), Ghajini (2008) and 3 Idiots (2009) all the movies are very successful. I think Christmas is becoming Aamir Khan’s lucky charm. I would not be surprised if Aamir Khan releases his next movie during Christmas.

On December 24, 2009, 3 Idiots was released for “Paid Previews” in four theatres in Chennai and it observed 100% collection making it the best ever PP in Chennai. The next day, the movie was released in eight theatres and in all the theatres tickets were sold out. Reliance Big Pictures marketed the pictures very aggressively in Tamil Nadu. One of the trade analyst said that Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots enjoyed huge openings just like any other big South Indian movie stars and the movie will break Ghajini’s record. 3 Idiots, which tells the story of three friends studying in prestigious Indian engineering college, also stars popular South Indian movie actor, R. Madhavan. He expressed his happiness about the success of the movie. Madhavan wanted to be in Chennai and show the movie to his friends but would not be able to do so as he was busy in promoting the movie and the world premiere.

Related article:

Sify Movies

3 Idiots on Youtube: How to Watch it Online?

The release date of Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots is closing in. This Christmas, Hindi movie goers are going to have another reason to smile. Aamir Khan is known for doing cinemas with exceptional stories. For this reason, whenever Aamir Khan’s movies come out, people go to the theatres because they know that they are going to watch something new and enjoyable. Now, there is a great news for Aamir Khan fans, especially those, who would not be able to go to the theatres and enjoy his 3 Idiots. Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who produced 3 Idiots, said that the entire movie will be released on You Tube but you would have to wait for twelve weeks to see it. This will be the first Hindi movie, to do so. Vidhu Vinod Chopra said:

"I'm providing this facility for those who can't see it on big screen and watch pirated movies. I just want them to discourage pirated prints. They just need to wait for 12 weeks and after that they can legally download the movie and watch it,"

Mr. Chopra also said that if there is any facility available to show the movie on mobile phones then it would become also available on the phones but it will be done at an appropriate time. After all, the producer does not want to harm its theatrical business.

This is quite interesting and a very novel idea to fight against movie piracy. I think Bollywood should start giving Internet the attention it deserves. In the U.S., there are companies like Netflix that rents movies to people via online. Bollywood movie makers can also make such arrangements because more and more Indian people, especially the Indian youths are browsing the net for knowledge and fun.

3 Idiots is directed by Rajkumar Hirani who also made the superhit Munna Bhai movies. A romantic comedy, 3 Idiots tells the story of Rancho (Aamir Khan), Pia

(Kareena Kapoor), Farhan (R Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi). Raju, Farhan and Rancho were close friends during their days in their college. The movie starts when Raju and Farhan embark on a journey in search for Rancho, a free thinker and the most talented among them. During their journey, they suddenly remember a “long forgotten bet, a wedding they must crash and a funeral that goes out of control.” As the journey goes on, the story begins to unfold at the backdrop. With his unique ways of thinking Rancho changed the lives of his classmates but his ideals always caused a big clash with their oppressive mentor, Viru Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani). Then there was the love story of Rancho and Pia. Suddenly, one day, Rancho vanished. Nobody knows where he went. 3 Idiots is a movie of friendship and self actualization and also a great laugh riot.

Related article:

The Economic Times

Aamir Khan wants Sharman Joshi’s role to be edited in Three Idiots

In Aamir Khan’s upcoming movie Three Idiots, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi and rumor is that Sharman Joshi’s role was smaller in the beginning but as the shooting of the movie began it was made larger and now in the final movie, not only Sharman Joshi’s role is bigger than Aamir’s but they talented actor also overshadowed the Bollywood superstar. This irked Aamir Khan and resulted in an argument between Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani on the promo of the movie. Now, Aamir Khan is demanding that the film to be edited such a way that their roles look balanced.

However, source close to the filmed rubbished this rumors and said that Aamir Khan is not among those actors who are really bothered about their roles. Aamir Khan is in the heart of Three Idiots and nobody can change that. These stories are intentionally circulated to generate a hype about the movie. This is not the first time, Aamir Khan acted in a multi-starrer movie. Previously, he worked in Raang De Basanti, Dil Chahta Hai and Taare Zameen Par where other actors got more exposure and fame.

Related articles:

Star Box Office

Three Idiots Promo: Looks promising so far

After a hardcore action movie, Ghajini, Aamir Khan appeared with a breezy romantic comedy, Three Idiots. Forget the muscular Aamir Khan with eight pack abs and bald head. Three Idiots shows Aamir Khan in an entirely new avatar. He plays an engineering college student. Along with Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi shared the screen. The first promo of the movie is out and it looks good so far. Kareena Kapoor looks stunning as usual. If you have not seen it yet, here is the promo for you.

The promo opens up with the three characters talking about rat race and life. So far the movie looks romantic and hilarious. Directed by famous Munna Bhai director, Rajkumar Hirani, Three Idiots is going to hit the theatres on December 25, 2009. Aamir Khan is known for giving all his focus on one movie at a time and the rule worked so far. Aamir Khan’s movie means you will not be disappointed. You will definitely like it. I am eagerly waiting to see what miracle Three Idiots would show in Christmas.

Aamir Khan plays badminton in Europe for romancing with Kareena Kapoor

Aamir Khan shaping up

This is a picture of Aamir Khan shaping up for the role of Ghajini. You all know the rest of the story. Imagine such an actor fighting with weight. Sounds a bit odd but it is true. Aamir Khan’s wife, Kiran Rao, recently had a miscarriage. To support her wife, Aamir Khan took a one month long vacation to an undisclosed location in Europe. The actor could not maintain his workout schedule and the result was gaining an extra seven kilo weight. Aamir Khan is supposed to shoot a romantic song with Kareena Kapoor. He would really look ugly with Kareena Kapoor, the “Size Zero” actress of Bollywood. So he is now playing badminton to loose those extra weights. India Server.com reports:

Aamir wants to look his best for the romantic song he is scheduled to shoot with Kareena Kapoor for Rajkumar Hirani’s forthcoming film, Three Idiots. With the song-shoot scheduled for September 21st, Aamir has started his efforts to get back in shape. Upon realizing that he should lose some weight for the song with the gorgeous Bebo, Aamir searched online for a badminton coach in Europe. Besides regular workout and diet, Aamir stays fit by sweating it out on the badminton court.

Finding a coach in Europe was pretty tough for the perfectionist actor as the sport is not very much popular in that region. Still, Aamir Khan hired one and the coach stays with him 24/7 so that he can play badminton anytime he likes. According to Aamir Khan badminton is a fun way to maintain weight. Every day, he gets up early to play badminton.