Features

Five years after she brought "shame" to her village and family in Punjab's green hinterland by being caught in Portugal with mafia don Abu Salem, former actress Monica Bedi might get a guarded welcome in her ancestral village Chhabewal. With two court cases of passport forgery going in her favour in recent months, relatives of the woman, known as Salem's moll, expect her to return to Chabbewal, 10 km from here on the highway to Chandigarh.

Regional cinema seems poised to emerge out of the shadows of Bollywood. And the global success of "Sivaji - The Boss", the Rajnikant-starrer released in Tamil and Telugu, is not the only indicator. Films made in Bhojpuri have been routinely eclipsing Bollywood fare at the box-office. Hindi movies, which dominated the Indian box-office for years and have come to be indicative of cinema in India, are being edged out by regional films as they make their presence felt in foreign film fests.

Barely 30 km from the hustle-bustle of Pune is this haven called Mulshi. This scenic village has suddenly come under the limelight - courtesy star farmers like Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. Mulshi is a painters' delight, carpeted with lush green grass, mountains covered with floral trees and a view of the Pavana dam. The village offers a perfect weekend getaway from Pune and Mumbai. Little wonder then that Bachchan and Aamir have already purchased land here.

Big banner, big movies, big stars and big money were the intrinsic features of Yash Raj Films but the box office performance of their last two movies - "Ta Ra Rum Pum" and "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" - failed to attain big success. Though both the films got good openings, thanks to the pre-release hype that projected them as box office sure things, the films couldn't sustain the success in the following weeks.

From "Daag" and "Kabhi Kabhie" to "Dil To Pagal Hai" and "Veer-Zaara", the songs from Yash Raj Films' romantic sagas always had a dreamy quality and the haunting melodies captivate listeners even today.

Animation films may have emerged as one of Hollywood's most successful money-spinning formula the world over, but the made-in-India varieties are not exactly setting the box-office on fire as yet. Nearly two years after the Indian marquees lit up with the antics of an animated "Hanuman" - the monkey-god revered by Hindus - filmmakers have been trying to recreate the magic. While one routinely hears of megabuck tie-ups, innovative breakthroughs are hard to come by.

First it was Mallika Sherawat for "Unveiled", then Akshay Kumar was taken for "Australian Bandstand" and now Salman Khan's "Marigold" is ready for release - the West appears to be increasingly welcoming Bollywood stars. These films will not feature Indian actors in character roles or blink-and-you-miss-it-parts as in the past, but as the main protagonists.

TV tycoon Ekta Kapoor is all set for her belated birthday bash July 6 and the theme for the annual party is James Bond 007. Her rooftop has been converted into a casino like the one in "Casino Royale" and the guests have been asked to dress in black and red. Since Ekta owns the only soundproof rooftop among all her friends from the film and television fraternity, there's an extra reason for them to make a beeline for her residence on July 6.

Sometimes it seems that nations emerge from nowhere on the global filmmaking stage. So is the case with Malaysia as a new wave of directors emerges across Southeast Asia to create their own distinctive brand of filmmaking. Often overshadowed by the giants of the Asian movie game - China, South Korea, India and Japan - Malaysia has gone over the last few years from being barely a recognisable dot on the world cinema map to gaining the increasing attention of leading international film festivals.

From Shabana Azmi to Priyanka Chopra and Anupam Kher to Hema Malini - most members of the Bollywood film fraternity feel the Taj Mahal, a symbol of true love, definitely deserves a place among the new seven wonders of the world. Stars apart, people from all sections of society are also campaigning for the Taj Mahal, which is facing tough competition to find a place in the new list of wonders. The grand monument in Agra was built in the 17th century by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.