Sarkozy’s girlfriend likely to visit Taj Mahal alone

http://faltoonews.blogspot.com/2008/01/sarkozys-girlfriend-likely-to-visit-taj.html 

London, January 19: Former supermodel Carla Bruni may follow in Princess Diana’s footsteps by visiting Taj Mahal alone, when her boyfriend French President Nicolas Sarkozy goes on a two-day visit to India next week. Though Sarkozy has shortened his official part of the visit to accompany Bruni to Taj Mahal, protocol problems might compel her to visit the great marble mausoleum near Agra alone and not with him, The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday.

“In two thirds of the countries of the world it is impossible for Carla to officially sleep in the same bedroom as the President. The problem is the President doesn’t know how to stay on his own at night in his room,” one of Sarkozy’s aides was quoted as saying.

In fact, there have been mixed signals from the Indian government over Bruni’s possible presence and it has asked for a clue from France on her status before deciding where to put her in official banquets.

There remains the crucial question of where Bruni will sit to watch the Republic Day parade on January 26 where her new found love is the guest of honour.

Sarkozy’s diplomatic aides have tried to persuade him to prolong the official part of his visit in which he would conduct sensitive talks on nuclear and defence deals with the Indian government, but he has ruled out their suggestion, according to the daily.

The 52-year-old President, who divorced his wife of 11 years, Ccilia, in October and met Bruni the following month, has seen his popularity ratings declined in the polls since Christmas because of his affair.

Selectors tempted to give Dravid his ODI slot

http://faltoonews.blogspot.com/2008/01/selectors-tempted-to-give-dravid-his.html

I am one of the worst servers in tennis: Sania

Melbourne, January 19: Sent packing from the Australian Open after her straight set third round defeat against the big-hitting Venus Williams, Sania Mirza admitted she counts among the worst servers in the game.

more….

http://faltoonews.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-am-one-of-worst-servers-in-tennis.html 

3rd Test Ind v Aus Short Hilites

‘Shilpa’s Yoga’ tops the charts in European market

Within two weeks of its release in the European market, Shilpa Shetty ’s fitness DVD ‘Shilpa’s Yoga’ has topped the charts.

‘Shilpa’s Yoga’ is giving tough competition to other recently released workout videos of fitness specialists Davina McCall, Samanda, Erin Boag, Karen Hardy, Rebecca Wheatley, Nell McAndrew, Fleur Murray, Lilia Kopylova, Gaynor Faye and Danielle Llyod.

“Everyone wants to maintain a slim waist without dieting and Shilpa’s yoga secrets seem to be helping achieve that. No doubt the DVD is selling like cakes,” says her publicist Dale Bhagwagar.

In ‘Shilpa’s Yoga’, the actress reveals her fitness secrets to create a lean and toned body while retaining all the feminine curves. Outlining the various benefits of yoga, t he DVD demonstrates specific sequences to enhance concentration, agility and flexibility.

“It showcases the right techniques of doing ashtanga yoga including breathing techniques.

Shilpa has been a regular practitioner of yoga from four years, but took special added intensive training from yoga trainers Shiv Kumar Mishra and Vinayak Dixit for some time, making sure she perfected the asans before demonstrating them to the world,” adds Bhagwagar.

Shot at the backwaters in Kerala, ‘Shilpa’s Yoga’ is directed by Manish Jha (of the critically-acclaimed feature films ‘Matrabhoomi’ and ‘Anwar’ fame). While Arghya Lahiri has written the script, the camerawork is handled by Englishman Jamie Sowlds.

To go with the mood and feel, the package also contains a free lounge music CD with compositions by Pankaj Awasthi. This is to help unwind and relax after practicing the yoga techniques.

Released by Firefly Entertainment, the DVD is produced by Shilpa’s newly launched production house ‘S2 Global Productions’.

Rajnikant hopes ‘Robot’ will be a smash hit

Years 2006 and 2007 were special for Tamil cinema’s most popular superstar, Rajnikant , after his miserable flop Baba in 2002, in which he starred opposite Manisha Koirala .

The film performed miserably and Rajnikant was nearly written off.

However, the bus conductor-turned-actor bounced back to where he belonged after a four-year holiday.

In 2006 his next release, Chandramukhi , remake of a Malayalam film, broke an existing record for the longest running flick.

In May 2007, Sivaji a typical Rajni action flick from the famous AVM banner went on to celebrate a jubilee run.

And just when his lakhs of fans are asking for more, Rajnikant is already on a high with a science fiction film, another Malayalam remake and an animation film ”Sultan the Warrior’ to be produced by his daughter. Rajnikant will be lending his voice in the film.

Robot the next venture of ‘Sivaji’ director Shankar is most eagerly being looked forward to. However, ‘Robot’ seemed to be a lame duck soon after Shankar announced the ambitious project in Hindi with none other than Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan .

The film was to be produced under SRK’s ‘Red Chillies Entertainment’.

But even before the excitement cold die down, SRK called it off and pulled out.

However, ‘Robot’ is back on its feet. Rajni, during the jubilee celebration function of ‘Sivaji’ Friday night said he was excited about the project, which would be the last of his two forthcoming films to hit the theaters.

”I hope ‘Robot’ will be a bigger success than our first film together, Rajni said.

And Shankar, who is normally secretive about his projects, opened up a bit at the function and said he had originally decided to make Robot in Hindi as the budget required for it would not fit into the ways of Kollywood.

”But due to some reasons, the original idea did not come through. And then following the success of ‘Sivaji”, I thought with stalwarts Rajnikant and A R Rahman with me, why not make it in Tamil itself and here we are.”

The budget for the high-tech film has been currently estimated at Rs 100 crore.

The one obvious question now is: will Rajni’s gain be SRK’s loss or just a case of sour grapes for both.

Only Rajni fans can provide the answer!

Katrina Kaif to make her Tamil debut?

Beautiful Bollywood belle, Katrina Kaif will make her maiden appearance in a Tamil film soon.

The grapevine says the tall actress will, in all probability, be the heroine of Ajith in his forthcoming film.

The movie, which will be directed by Raju Sundaram, will be an action thriller with a heavy accent on hilarity.

Katrina has so far declined offers to act in Tamil films against heroes like Vikram and Vijay .

But, this time around, the buzz says, Ms Kaif may give her nod.

Katrina has acted in Telugu and Malayalam movies already. In Malayalam, she played the female lead in the Mammootty starrer, Balram Vs Tara Das .

Sherlyn Chopra keen to show her ‘other talents’

Bollywood hottie Sherlyn Chopra hopes that her music album ‘Outrageous’ will showcase her “other talents” as well.

There was a time when she seemed a possible contender to knock off Mallika Sherawat from the pedestal of Bollywood’s topmost sexbomb. But Sherlyn’s raunchy acts in films like Time Pass , ‘Naughty Boy’ and ‘Red Swastika’ could not find many takers.
Consequently, Sherlyn had to try another route to fame.

The sexy belle has now come out with a music album titled ‘Outrageous’. The album, Sherlyn believes, will bring to the fore her other talents.

“I feel I am more than just a good body and looks. I want people to realise that I have other talents too. I feel an album will not just give me creative freedom to express myself but I can learn a lot more from it,” Sherlyn is quoted as saying by a news agency.

Sherlyn also attributes her Bollywood failure to the lack of a godfather in the industry.

“I did try the traditional way to get into movies. But I don’t have a godfather so all the movies that were offered to me did not appeal to me.

“I was ambitious and hence made a few mistakes that in hindsight could have been avoided. I did a film that I realise did no good for my career. Hence now I’m more careful and choosy about what assignments I take up,” Sherlyn told the agency.

By the way, Sherlyn is highly inspired by Jennifer Lopez who has done well both as a singer and an actress. Even the cover of Sherlyn’s album reminds of the topless cover of J-Lo’s album ‘Rebirth’.

Sherlyn even wanted to imitate some of J-Lo’s dance moves in the album’s music video, but director Prahlad Kakkar asked her to be original.

Nayantara the highest paid heroine in Kollywood?

 

Has gorgeous girl, Nayantara become Tamil cinema’s highest paid heroine? That is the question doing the rounds in Kollywood these days.

Nayan, who used to charge around Rs 25-30lakh per film, now commands a fee of Rs 70 lakh, says the buzz.

The sudden hike in her fee is the result of the super success of her latest flick, Billa , according to the grapevine.

Apart from superstar Ajith , the ‘Billa’ success has benefited Nayantara also immensely, according to trade circles.

Her super performance as a glam girl in ‘Billa’ fetched her rave reviews, besides boosting her status in the industry.

Whatever, it is, the going is extremely good for Nayans, who is doing equally well in neighbouring Tollywood, too.

Shilpa Shetty misses ‘NDTV Indian of the Year’ award

At a glittering ceremony for the ‘NDTV Indian of the Year’ awards held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, Bollywood star and Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty missed winning the award.

The award was bagged by south superstar Rajnikant .
In the year gone by, Rajnikant achieved huge popularity with his superbly scripted character in the film Sivaji .

On the other hand, Shilpa received worldwide recognition for the dignity with which she stood up against racial discrimination onslaughts in the British reality show ‘Big Brother’.

This not only made the actress a household name and an icon in the United Kingdom, but brought immense pride for our country, propelling her as an ambassador of equality across the globe.

“Shilpa has only been an achiever, while Rajnikant has been a great performer,” commented the actresses’ publicist Dale Bhagwagar on her losing out to the award. “Shilpa has emerged the most famous Indian in UK. Hopefully, India will reward her for this accomplishment in future,” he added.

Apart from Shilpa and Rajnikant, other nominations in the entertainment category of the ‘NDTV Indian of the Year’ awards, included Shah Rukh Khan (who was given a ’special award’) and Himesh Reshammiya .

The jury comprised former BBC correspondent Sir Mark Tully, Kiran Karnik, Shobha De, Shekhar Gupta and former chairman of ISRO Dr K.Kasturirangan, among others.