George Clooney buys girlfriend a diamond ring

LONDON - George Clooney has bought his girlfriend a diamond ring and close friends says this is proof that his romance with Elisabetta Canalis is getting serious.

Cousins will start in January

Director Lal Jose’s Cousins, starring Mohanlal and Prithviraj, will start filming in January next year. The script of the film will be by Iqbal Kuttipuram and it will be produced by Gopan Chennithala under the banner of Bhagyachitra Combines. This movie will be carrying many expectations.

Kadakshams shooting starts

Director Sasi Paravoor is excited as his film Kadaksham stars actor Suresh Gopi. The film has started shooting at Peerumedu. The rest of the cast includes Nedumudi Venu, Shwetha Vijay, etc. The movie is about the problems women face everyday in the modern world.

Two Malayalam films go to film festival

Reliance’s Big Pictures has taken two Malayalam movies, Mammootty starrer Kuttysranku and Abohamaan to the 14th Pusan International Film Festival. The films will be featured in the Asian Cinema Section of the film festival. Directed by Shaji N Karun, Kuttysranku has received much praise. Big Pictures is also taking two Bengali films to the London festival.

At 55, Rekha still an engima, an icon (Oct 10 is Rekha’s birthday)

NEW DELHI - Her glamorous persona still has men gawking. Bollywood actress Rekha, who turns 55 Saturday, metamorphosed into a diva from the overweight young actress she once was and inspires the current league of actresses.

Preity Zinta not an ‘item girl’ in my film: Director

MUMBAI - She is making a special appearance in a song in his directorial debut “Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna”, but filmmaker Prem R. Soni says it will be “derogatory to call Preity Zinta an item girl”.

My movies are about books that influence me: Ashutosh Gowariker (Interview)

NEW DELHI - When Ashutosh Gowariker read a book based on the 1930s Chittagong uprising against the British, he made two decisions - to make a film and to cast Abhishek Bachchan in it because of the actor’s “strong and towering personality”.

Shakira was plump as a teen

LONDON - Colombian pop star Shakira has revealed she was overweight as a teenager but was too focused on becoming a successful singer to care about her looks.

Metallica launches iPhone application for fans

LONDON - American heavy metal band Metallica has launched a new iPhone application to allow fans to listen to its live show recordings on the move.

Rachel Weisz happy to get older!

LONDON - Hollywood actress Rachel Weisz has no problems about getting older, because she feels she is more confident and happy with herself.

Tamil media persons, actors at war

CHENNAI - The arrest of a news editor of a leading Tamil daily has sparked off a full-fledged war between the journalists in the state and movie actors.

Rani Mukerji makes TV debut on ‘Rin Dance Premier League’

MUMBAI - After a string of big ticket celebrities who have taken to reality shows on the small screen, it’s now actress Rani Mukerji’s turn. She is set to judge Sony TV’s “Rin Dance Premier League” (DPL) along with actor Arshad Warsi and dance guru Shiamak Davar.

Katie Holmes wants to play vampire in new movie

LONDON - Hollywood actress Katie Holmes wants to play a vampire in her next movie.

The “Batman Begins” actress loves watching horror films and has said she would enjoy portraying an undead blood-sucker as long as the storyline is realistic, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Guy Ritchie still holds flame for Madonna

LONDON - British director Guy Ritchie has revealed he has struggled to cope with his divorce from pop diva Madonna, and admits he still loves her.

Hilary Swank taking flying lessons

LONDON - Joining the league of qualified celebrity pilots like John Travolta, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, Hollywood actress Hilary Swank is taking flying lessons for a pilot’s license.

FIRST LOOK: RADIO (2009)

Releasing on December 4, 2009

India premiere of Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock’ in Goa

PANAJI - The India premiere of Oscar Award winner Ang Lee directed Hollywood film “Taking Woodstock” was held at a multiplex in Goa.

Love Never Dies to follow record-breaking Phantom of the Opera

LONDON - Britain’s “Musical King” Andrew Lloyd Webber Thursday launched Love Never Dies, the long awaited sequel to The Phantom of the Opera which has thrilled global audiences for the past 23 years.

Salman, Kareena romance on 125th floor of a hotel! (Snippets)

NEW DELHI - Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor romanced on the 125th floor of a hotel in Melbourne for their forthcoming romantic movie “Main Aurr Mrs Khanna”.

I love Preity Zinta’s jovial nature: Salman Khan

Every body who comes on 10 Ka Dum makes it a point to ask Salman Khan only one thing: When does he plan to get married? If that fails to get a response then they try to veer the conversation to Katrina Kaif. So when Shenaz Treasurywala and Sonal Sehgal (cast of Radio) pinned him down to name his favorite heroine he took his own time before answering.

‘Teen Patti’ release to clash with ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’

NEW DELHI - It will be a clash of biggies with two major films releasing on the same day - both Amitabh Bachchan starrer “Teen Patti” and Farhan Akhtar’s “Karthik Calling Karthik” are scheduled to hit the screens Feb 12 next year.

This Diwali, all the bets are on ‘Blue’

NEW DELHI - Multiplexes are looking to find their pot of gold this Diwali with the Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt starrer “Blue” which is itself about a treasure hunt. Other films competing for their place in the viewers mindspace are “Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna” and “All The Best”.

Singer Yesudas to help Thekkady boat driver

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Veteran playback singer K.J. Yesudas Thursday said he would provide all legal help to the driver of the ill-fated boat, which capsized Sep 30 at Thekkady lake in central Kerala’s Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary killing 45 people.

Don’t laugh at my mom, Rakhi tells ‘Bigg Boss’ inmates

NEW DELHI - Reality show veteran Rakhi Sawant is not at all pleased with the way her mother Jaya is being treated on the third instalment of “Bigg Boss”.

Pirates of Bollywood: Film to expose murky world of piracy

NEW DELHI - Heres a crime thriller that could be Bollywoods first feature film exposing the murky world of piracy - a problem that costs the worlds largest movie industry millions every year. Titled “Pirates”, it is being made by Percept Picture Company close on the heels of Divya Khosla’s short film on the subject.

Mexican state government refuses to fund film version of Marquez’s book

MEXICO CITY - The government of Mexican state of Puebla has refused to fund the film version of Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel “Memories of My Melancholy Whores” after a complaint was filed by a coalition alleging that the movie would promote child prostitution, a state government report said.

Suraj wants to finish ongoing work first

Suraj, who played the lead role in Duplicate, is getting more and more offers for the lead roles in films. After all, he did catch everyone’s eye in Duplicate, which has been running houseful for two weeks. But he has politely declined them for now saying that he has to first complete his ongoing projects where he’s playing supporting roles. It’s nice to see that he is a professional, through and through and hasn’t let his success affect him.

Duplicate takes away the cake

Out of the three movies, Loudspeaker, Vairam and Duplicate, even though Loudspeaker and Vairam got better reviews and even have a good star cast, Duplicate is the one doing better business with audiences. It has been running houseful in the all the centers for two weeks now. Suraj, who has mostly been seen in supporting roles, plays the lead in the movie.

Joshi obsessed with making sequels

Director Joshi is hit by the sequel-making wave. He is working on the sequel of Dileep starrer Lion as well as that of Runway. The latter has been named Valayar Paramashivam and also stars Dileep. Kavya, who will be a part of Lion 2, will also be a part of the sequel to Runway.

Swathi this time with Vikram

Vikram became well-known among the Telugu audiences with ‘Aparichitudu’. Presently he is playing a role in ‘Ravan’ directed by Maniratnam. Soon after this project, Vikram would play hero in a film to be directed by Selva Raghavan of ‘7/G Brindavan Colony’ and ‘Adavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule’-fame. The film would go on sets during October itself. According to available information ‘Colours’ Swati was selected as heroine opposite Vikram in this film. While Swathi has become a noted heroine in Telugu with her films ‘Danger’ ‘Ashta Chemma’ and ‘Kalavaramaye Madilo’, she also played in a Tamil film ‘Subramanyapuram’ in Tamil too. As she is acquainted to both the languages the producer chose her as the heroine, it is learnt. Stay glued for more details about this film.

Sandesh returns to films

Sandesh Nagaraj is back with a bang. The producer, who was away from films because of his illness, is now back. He is in talks with many directors and actors to start his next few projects. His first film after his return will be launched around December. Directed by S Mahendar, the film will star Raagini and Vijay in the lead roles.

Launch of Johny Vijay

Director G Raghunath’s film, Johny Vijay was launched with a puja in his house. Raghunath, who was the producer for Accident, is now ready to don the director’s hat. The lead heroine of the film will be Raagini but the remaining details about the cast are yet to be revealed. Raghunath will be supported by T S Sathyanarayana and Gurudutt for the film.

50 victorious days for Raaj The Showman

Raaj– The Showman has completed 50 successful days. The film has made a collection of Rs. 25 crores from different centers. This is a record-breaking collection for a movie that has run for 50 days.

Ram Charan in Anjana Production’s

Ram Charan and Genelia are pairing up for the first time for a film to be presented by K Venkat Rao and produced by K Nagendrababu under the banner of Anjana Productions in the direction of Bommarillu Bhaskar. The film would be formally launched with puja activities on October 21.

Panetteire had a blast doing lesbian scene

LONDON - Actress Hayden Panettiere says she “had a blast” doing the lesbian kiss with co-star Madeline Zima.