“ChamakteSitaren”, A Mega Musical Talent Hunt Show, is a platform of opportunities for Kids and Teens of India. A strong effort by “Rakshak Production” brings this opportunity your children. The children with extra-ordinary talent in the field of dancing & singing, twinkling the show “Chamakte Sitaren”, which is on-air on “Zee Jagran” every Saturday and Sunday night at 9:30PM. In its efforts of Talent hunt, “Team Chamakte Sitaren” shoots the Audition at Philibhit (Uttar Pradesh). Now it is time for the children of Haldwani (Uttarakhand) to show their talent and change the opportunity into a chance to perform on a wide coverage national channel, “Zee Jagran”. The date for Haldwani (Uttarakhand) audition is 27th December. They had already conducted successful audition in several cities in the country. Director of “Chamakte Sitaren”, Mr. Lalit M.S. Bisht, told the reporter that after the “Audition Round”, successful candidate will enter into “Grooming Round”, where the experts will take classes to groomed the children, so that they become a good performer.

He is the undisputed Raja of Rhythm. Sivamani, whose first-ever album Mahaleela has just been released on his new music label, says that his affair with rhythm began even before he took birth Mahaleela, you say, is about your journey. Explain. For someone like me who just completed school and never went to a regular college, the filmmaking area of Kodambakkam in Chennai was like a learning institution where I got to meet a lot of music directors and had my first exposure to various kinds of music like jazz and rock and to different languages. My father, S.M. Annan, was a well-known name in the South Indian film industry. Through him, I was introduced to the great K.V.Mahadevan, and by the age of 13 I was playing professionally for S.P.Balasubramaniam.Soon I met musicians from abroad like Noel Grant and Billy Cobham and even shared the stage with them. Mahaleela sums up the journey of my life so far, and it’s my tribute to those who were responsible in shaping me and to the Almighty who has blessed me.

Yesterday afternoon, the shoot of the Hrithik Roshan-Kangna Ranaut starrer Kites was stalled mid-way.

The lead actors were shooting for a song sequence when suddenly a few policemen and a local NGO raided the film’s sets as they didn’t want 30 foreigners to be part of the song. The 30 dancers were asked to immediately leave the sets. As a result, the shooting of Kites came to a halt for almost three hours. This happened at Filmistan Studios, Goregaon West at 1 pm. An industry insider said, “Rakesh Roshan (producer) and Anurag Basu (director) were taken aback when the film’s sets was raided. It was a surprise security check. The raid revealed that 30 foreigners who were dancing in the background did not have a proper work permit. Those dancers were not allowed to continue shooting after the raid.” Did the shooting start again? “Yes, the shooting started but not before 3.30 pm. It took about three hours for Rakesh Roshan’s production team to arrange for substitute dancers. This time, they got Indian dancers for the song. Only the foreigners who were dancing close to Hrithik had their work permit papers in place because of which they were not in trouble,” said our source.A source from FWICE (Federation of Western India Cine Employees) revealed why there was a raid on the sets of Kites. He said, “These things happen if the shooting has to be done urgently. But, FWICE has always believed that in Indian films, it is Indian artistes who should always be given preference over foreigners.” When contacted, Shammi, Production Controller for Kites, tried to cover-up the mess and said, “There wasn’t much of a problem. Some local NGO had a problem with us having foreigners in the song. But I showed all their work permits to the NGO after which they left even before they came on our sets.” Explaining why he needed dancers of foreign origin, Shammi said, “I needed foreigners in the song as Hrithik and Kangana are shown to be in the US.” Meanwhile, Rakesh Roshan said, “A man called Bunty Srivastava from a human rights association came on the sets and asked for certain papers. We had everything in place as I had taken official permission from the Federation and the Guild informing them that I needed foreigners for this particular shoot. I was not asked to make any changes.” However, Dinesh Chaturvedi, General Secretary, FWICE confirmed our story and said, “Yes, a local NGO and a few policemen did go to the sets of Kites and your information related to the incident is correct. But I don’t want to say anything more on this.”

Matthew Santos recently had the smash-hit Superstar with Lupe Fiasco. Matthew and Bindu Subrananium sang When it’s dark written by Bindu Subramanium together. It was recorded in Bangalore and Chicago with Indian and American musicians. The album will be released in early 2009. Bindu is the daughter of violin virtuoso Dr L.Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthi Subramaniam. When she approached Santos for a duet for her album he asked her to sing something for him. But after listening to a few lines, he stopped her and asked, “When can we record the song?”Bindu has collaborated on projects with Dr. L. Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurthi Subramaniam, Al Jarreau, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Larry Coryell, Corky Siegel, Matthew Santos, Pandit Jasraj, Pankaj Udhas, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Hariharan and Remo Fernandes and has performed all over the world, while Matthew Santos has secured his place in music with his distinguished style and unique musical gift. Nawab turns singer Abbas Ali Mirza, by birth a nawab from Hyderabad and currently highly-placed in the financial world, released his debut album Chaahat - Feelings Of Love with a never-before collection of five music videos on Mega Music, a Sony-BMG label, on December 10. The DVD comes free with the audio. Rajiv S. Ruia has directed the videos. The music is composed by Jatin Pandit. Models Poonam Kaur, Ganesh and Sana Khan performed live for the media. Vinay Anand, Jojo, Farhad Wadia, DJ Sheizwood, model Susheel Jangira, Bhairavi Goswami, Upasana Singh, producer Shubir Mukerjee, Kamaal Khan and Aroon Bakshi attended the launch. The lyrics of the album are written by Israr Ansari and Veenu Mahinder. Abbas Ali Mirza is a disciple of Ghulam Ali and had learnt music even earlier. He has performed with leading singers all over the world.The singer is a Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar fan and says that shades of both singers’ styles will be evident in his singing. He prefers music of the melodious kind and when he met Jatin on the sets of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa “things just clicked”. This is Jatin Pandit’s first non-film album and his trust in Abbas proves the credential of the singer, who has also experimented with a reloaded version of one of the compositions

London, : Leading British post-war playwright Harold Pinter has died, aged 78, his wife said Thursday. The Nobel laureate had been ill with cancer.His wife, the historian Antonia Fraser, said Pinter had died on Christmas Eve. The London-born author, director, actor, poet and political activist had become widely known for the sarcasm and moral vigour that inspired his work over more than 50 years. His best-known works include The Birthday Party and Betrayal, plays that became known as 'Pinteresque' dramas. Pinter was well-known for his left-wing political views and was a vociferous critic of US and British foreign policy, voicing opposition on a number of issues including the bombing of Afghanistan in 2001. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, but was too ill to collect the award in person. Lady Antonia Fraser, his second wife, said it had been a "privilege" to live with Pinter for 33 years. "He will never be forgotten," she said Thursday.

Delhi,: In the midst of numerous controversies and hurdles, Parvathy Omanakuttan did the nation much proud as she bought home the first runner-up Miss World 2008 title. Losing the top spot by just a few points, the long legged lass presented apt composure and poise as she accepted the other most beautiful woman in the world crown. But for all those who thought that Omanakuttan had it easy with her beautiful frame and stunning looks, there is a news. It took years of hard work and determined effort to achieve a dream that most of the girls just fantasize avout. Talking about her years of toil to Shashank Chouhan of Spicezee, Parvathy Omanakuttan said, "My trainers toned me up in the shape that I am now. As far as eating habits go, I am quite a foodie but I don’t hog. I take food in small quantities through the day and it’s a mix of nutrition and delicious food that any 21 year old would like…" Excerpts from the interview: Shashank: What was going through your mind when you were in the final five? Parvathy: I was sure of my training and myself. I was telling myself that I am going to win this. My name was announced in the end of top 15 - but even as the fourteenth name was announced, I knew I was the fifteenth one. I was thinking that I can do my best in the Q/A round. There was so much applause each time my name was called that there was little space for fear… Shashank: If given a chance, would you like to change the answer you gave in the finale? Parvathy: Well, I was pretty confident about my answer. All of this was at the back of my mind in the Q/A round - all the cheering that I was getting from the hundreds of Indians who were there that night, my own training and presence of mind etc. May be I would like to answer a bit slowly if given another chance, but there is nothing I would like to add or subtract from it.Shashank: Now that you have been there and done that, what do you think Indian girls need to win more consistently? Parvathy: I think you should have conviction first. That’s the most important thing. You also need to be proud of the fact that you are representing your country on the largest platform possible. In South Africa, I saw many girls who had just given up and they were just having fun there. But fun is just one element, there are expectations from you back home. Our trainers are the best in the world and they didn’t leave any stone unturned to groom me in a most international style. We have it all, in the end it’s the attitude that matters.Shashank: Is Bollywood calling? Parvathy: I am waiting for good offers right now. Of course I won’t have much choice in the beginning. But I am ready for my share of dancing around the trees! Shashank: What’s your New Year Day plan? Parvathy: Oh I m a very family person. New Year eve will be spent with friends and family at home.

New Delhi, : Interested in knowing about the rich past and the fast changing face of Delhi? A coffee table book released Tuesday may end your search. Titled "Delhi -India in One City", the book embodies centuries of life and living of changing cityscapes and fine architectural masterpieces that draw together ancient fortresses, mediaeval cities, and a metropolis that has embraced the diverse, multi-layered and dynamic reality of India and Indians. The book brought out by the Academic Foundation in association with the Delhi government was released by Delhi's Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna in a function at Hotel Ashok here. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has conceptualised the book and also penned down her reflections on the capital in the magnum opus. Malavika Singh, a publisher of a monthly journal Seminar and a well-known columnist with newspapers and magazines, has contributed the text. Uday Sahay, currently heading the Directorate of Information and Publicity of the Delhi government, has contributed as a photo editor. Celebrated international author William Dalrymple and Pavan K Varma, a senior member of the Indian Foreign Service have also contributed to the book. Khanna described the book as a rainbow of Delhi's life and sustainability. Dikshit expressed confidence that this new book would be liked by one and all including foreign visitors. The book contains information about the capital's composite culture, religious fervours, traditional hobbies, changing lifestyle, spread out city, cultural and classical extravaganzas and changing architectural aspects.The book will take the readers through some of the symbols that compel Delhi to stand apart, showcasing an old civilisation and more importantly, an energetic, creative and entrepreneurial young nation grappling with the excitement of constant reinvention.

With several Bollywood projects in hand, southern beauty Asin Thottumkal is moving lock, stock and barrel to Mumbai from Chennai and has almost finalised a house in Bandra. What's more, her parents have given up their jobs to look after their talented daughter's flourishing career. "I've been travelling non-stop. I had no time to look around and find a place. But now we're finalising a place in Bandra. Hopefully, by new year I'll lock in to the place. Right now we feel a little unsettled. In Mumbai, you desperately need your own home," said Asin, who made her Hindi film debut with the just released Ghajini
Asin's parents have moved from Chennai to Mumbai with her. "Both of them gave up their jobs to be with me. Mom is a doctor. She has taken voluntary retirement. She manages my home now. And dad had seven business enterprises. He gave them up to look after my career. Right now I'm quite a handful and worth more than all his business ventures," she laughs delightedly. Asin, who is a fun-loving and loves to talk, admits she was asked to keep quiet till Ghajini hits the screen. Directed by A R Murugadoss and produced by Allu Arvind, the film starring Aamir Khan in main lead was released Thursday. "The marketing team felt that I should maintain a distance from the press until the film's release. However, that didn't stop speculative write-ups about me. I read things about myself that I didn't know," she said. Like feeling insecure about her co-star Jiah Khan? "Is that really me? I've worked in South Indian films with female co-stars and never felt insecure. I worked with Nayantara in the Tamil Ghajini without any conflict. Why would I feel threatened by Jiah? "Was this a publicity strategy? It was being implied that I was somehow responsible for keeping Jiah out of the publicity. I don't know how one heroine can influence a huge marketing strategy," she said. Jiah and Asin have no scenes together. "But we have of course met and we're very cordial with one another. We got along fine. I've had no fights with anyone in Tamil or Hindi cinema so far. All these stories of friction make me feel strange." Asin also denies reports that she was under contract with the Ghajini makers. "I'm under no contract. Didn't I sign London Dreams while Ghajini was being shot? If I haven't signed another film, it's because I haven't come across anything exciting. I was supposed to do Priyadarshan's film with Akshay Kumar, but that clashed with promotional dates of Ghajini," Asin said. She will be moving into her new home in Bandra in January. "But even without my own home I feel at home in Mumbai. For one almost the entire unit of Ghajini was south Indian. Most of them were people I had worked with. So we were constantly chattering on the sets in Tamil or Telugu. Except, of course, Aamir who was new to all of us." London Dreams was much tougher. "The total crew was totally Bollywood. So practically speaking London Dreams is my first Bollywood experience. Ghajini was easier than my second Hindi film London Dreams where I had to start from scratch with the character. In Ghajini, my character remained untampered except the language. Here I was speaking Hindi instead of Tamil. Otherwise no changes," said Asin whose Hindi has always been good and she doesn't require any dubbing. How different is Aamir from Salman Khan? "While Aamir mulls overs scenes, Salman must be prepared from beforehand because you don't see him rehearse on the sets. But everyone in Mumbai is thoroughly professional."