MUMBAI: After the stupendous success of Zee Nite in Singapore (2006), Hong Kong (2008) and Bangkok (2009), it was Malaysia?s turn this year. The country experienced a memorable night with thousands of bollywood fans flocking in to witness their favourite television stars perform at Merdeka Hall in PWTC, Malaysia on 2nd October 2010. The audience overwhelming response validated the channel?s popularity and performance in Malaysia. Zee, subtitled in Bahasa Melayu language has been consistently ranked among the top 2 international channels among Malays.

The event was brilliantly hosted by Saumya Tandon, host of DID from India along with Aanantha, a local anchor, singer, actor and also a popular RJ.

Performers at the event included the talented kid Rohanpreet along with Sumedha and Harpreet (all from Sa Re Ga Ma), Jai and Shakti (from DID) and Sushant (aka Manav) and Ankita (aka Archana) from Pavitra Rishta.

The opening act was a spectacular performance by dancers from Malaysia Tourism, the main sponsor of the event. The highlight of the evening was Jai and Shakti, whose electrifying performance not only impressed the crowd but also left them wanting more. They were mobbed by the crowd when they went down the stage to meet them. The evening got more exciting with the appearance of Malaysia?s Bollywood icon, Datuk D.J. Dave. The magnificent show ended with all the artistes performing to the tunes of the popular ?Jai Ho? with the audience jumping in joy.

Undoubtedly an unforgettable night for Malaysia!

MUMBAI: What does it mean to be an adult? Chicago TV weatherman, Dave Spritz, is unhappy to be divorced, unhappy to be recognized on the street, distracted from the needs of his chubby preteen daughter and his naive teenage son, disconcerted when strangers throw things at him, and convinced he‘s a failure in the eyes of his father, a successful writer. In response, Dave constantly announces breathless plans to make things better - impractical, unrealistic, juvenile drivel. A job opening in New York, his father‘s illness, his ex-wife‘s romance, and his children‘s problems from growing up too quickly converge on the hapless Dave. Can he step into adulthood?

The Weather Man is a 2005 American comedy-drama film, directed by Gore Verbinski. Written by Steve Conrad, it stars Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine and Hope Davis and tells the story of a weatherman in the midst of a mid-life crisis.
 

MUMBAI: Amrita TV?s Vidyabhyasa Varthakal , a 15 minute concise bulletin devoted entirely to educational news, covers every scholastic level from school to the University. Starting from October 2nd and telecast Monday through Saturday at 7.15 every morning, this first ever educational news communiqu? in Kerala visual medium history provides reliable, up to the minute information that will keep the public posted on all
matters academic .

Collecting together the information from every University in the State and the colleges affiliated to them, Vidyabhyasa Varthakal will give details in a nutshell of :

The range of courses across a variety of subjects in various colleges ; the last date for applying to courses; intimation for new courses introduced in colleges ;admission for fresh courses; details of new course structure and fees ; Examination schedules ; change of exam dates; declaration of results ; dates of entrance exams to professional courses; allotment of seats ; change in syllabus; dates of closing and opening of schools ; unexpected educational holidays etc.

Vidyabhyasa Varthakal will intimate opportunities and openings in the Public Services by notification of PSC examination dates, postponement of exams, announcements of results etc.

Besides, the programme will also bring to the notice of the public, changes in Government educational policy and its impact and ramification on students
 

MUMBAI: In the midst of the ongoing wedding celebrations of Kokila & Vinaychand aka Ami Trivedi & Swpanil Joshi in the hit SAB TV show ?Papad Pol?, the onset visit of Rahul Vaidya & his team from Sankalp added a lot more zest and energy to the celebrations.

The entire cast and crew of Papad Pol was very excited to be a part of the most awaited Garba sequence, which was scheduled to be shot in the afternoon. Rahul who had come to perform especially for his friend Vinaychand?s wedding was in for a pleasant surprise when he found out that Vinaychand is actually getting married to his old friend, Kokila. Ami who was equally surprised to find Rahul on her set and who has been fan -following him since his Indian Idol days just couldn?t control her excitement on meeting the talented singer.

Rahul Vaidya on the sets said, ?While we were shooting on the sets of Papad Pol we had great time, fun on the sets and we shot for several Garba numbers. Then I had to sing a special number for the lead pair Ami & Swapnil Joshi.I started singing Ghunghat Ki aad Se Dilbar Ka and I kept singing for 25 minutes and Director was so engrossed and lead cast was having a ball of time that the whole shot happened without a single break in between.?

He further added, ? Also I was surrounded with so many beauties on the set that I had no lack of inspiration.?

Despite suffering from a severe leg ache, even Swapnil couldn?t control tapping his feet to the beats of Rahul & his team as he performed quite a few famous ?Gujurati Garba? songs.

MUMBAI: British Council and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) present In The Further Soil, an ambitious new arts project weaving together dance, music and spoken word. The collaborative arts project tells stories of love, separation and other urban themes, bringing out the ever-changing globalised identities of the youth through these art forms.

The show is inspired by the text of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), a Bengali poet, philosopher and social reformer, who was the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.

Tagore once said, when commenting on the Indian diaspora; ?To study a banyan tree, you not only must know its main stem in its own soil, but also must trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil, for then you can know the true nature of its vitality.? The name of the project was taken from this one insightful quote.

7 Oct ? Delhi: Performance at British Council, 8:00 p.m.
8 Oct - Gurgaon: Performance at The Epicentre, 8:00 p.m.
14 Oct - Mumbai: Performance at Bandra Amphitheatre, Mumbai, 8:00 p.m.
Entry to all performances is free.

In The Further Soil explores the emergence of contemporary British Asian dance and music forms in the UK and their relation to their traditional roots in India. It has developed through a collaboration of international artists from the UK and India, through a period of experimentation, skills sharing and artistic exploration.

Piali Ray, Co-Producer, and Director of Sampad said: ?In the Further Soil has brought together young, highly talented artists from the UK and India to share, create and celebrate their personal styles and cultural identities.?

In The Further Soil has been written by Satinder Kaur Chohan and Janice Connolly, and directed by Harmage Singh Kalirai, whose credits include Layla Mujnun, Heer Ranjha, and Chicken Tikka Masala ? nominated for the Raindance Award.

The international cast includes Shelley King, Soweto Kinch, Anusha Subramanyam, Ratul Shankar Ghosh, Dibyendu Mukherji and Sanjukta Ray.

In The Further Soil is presented by British Council and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and has been produced by Birmingham-based South Asian arts organisation Sampad in partnership with Teamwork Productions in India. The production is part of British Council‘s initiative, Connections through Culture, to support collaborative work in the arts.

MUMBAI: He was the master wordsmith of his times. He is someone even Salman Khan holds in reverence. And his name is Salim Khan, one half of the famous scriptwriting duo of Salim ? Javed and father of the Khan trio of Salman, Arbaaz and Sohail.

Much like his explosive scripts, he gave an explosive interview to ETC Bollywood Business host Komal Nahta.

As a parent, are you not worried that Salman Khan is still unmarried?

?You need 2 people for a marriage,? states the elderly Khan, and then explains further, ?There?s a contradiction in Salman?s character. He gets attracted to women from his industry only?his co-stars become his love interests. Once a relationship is established, he starts looking for his mom in them. Now that is not possible. A woman who has just started her career can?t be doing stuff like preparing meals, washing clothes, preparing kids and yet lead the hectic life of a movie star! This expectation can?t be met by a woman who has just started her film career?not even if she tries.?

As a father Salim Khan doesn?t want to hurry his son into marriage. The elderly writer, though, draws comfort from the fact that Salman?s kundli clearly mentions that he will get married.

Will Salman tie the knot with Katrina Kaif? ?I can?t say if Katrina is in Salman?s life. Whenever a decision stretches for so long a time, I think we can say that the ideal he was looking for, is not there. If a marriage decision stretches for so long, it usually does not happen. It means that the person is not 100% sure to get into it?that?s why the delay.? answers Salim Khan. And then adds philosophically, ?Marriages are emotional accidents of life?they can?t be debated for so long and then entered into!?

Salman Khan is one superstar who?s had innumerable girlfriends without any one relationship failing to culminate into marriage. ?Whenever girls have come into Salman?s life, they were looking to be movie stars. So settling down was the last thing on their minds. So the relationships reached a saturation point and then fizzled out,? explained Salim Khan.

Known as a straight talker, Salim Khan says of his other son Arbaaz, ?His career was going nowhere. When he?d started 20 years ago, he used to get Rs. 20 lakhs for a movie. It came down to 15 lakhs, then 11 lakhs, then 5/6 lakhs. Ghar pe rehta tha, ghari dekh ke bachcho ko school se lane jata tha. We were all worried for him. Then we decided that he should get into the movie production business. And look what he has achieved!? beamed the proud father, relief quite evident in his voice, now that Arbaaz has struck gold with his very first production venture, Dabangg.

For the first time in 29 years, Salim Khan spoke on what caused the famous duo Salim ? Javed to part ways, ?We were in Javed?s building one evening when Javed told me he wanted to split?.that he?d been thinking about it for some time now. I shook hands with him and started walking towards my car. He also started to walk with me, but I held him, turned him towards his house and said, ?I can look after myself.? I came back home and didn?t tell anyone about it. The next evening, calls started coming in, asking about the split. It was only after a few days that I announced the split.?

But what was the reason behind ending such a wonderful and successful association? ?Javed wanted to use this partnership to start writing lyrics too. I hadn?t consented to the use of my name for something that I had no interest in and knew nothing about. I told him to constrict the partnership to script-writing, while he could write lyrics on his own.? explained Salim Khan.

?When Javed had come from Bhopal, he hadn?t come to be a writer. He had come to Mumbai to be a director. I discovered the talent in him,? he added.

Javed Akhtar was working as an assistant director in a S.M. Sagar production of which Salim Khan was the script writer. ?From there we got to know each other. He started coming to my home and that?s how we started growing close. One day, Sagar sa?ab came home with a story that he wanted me to script. Javed was there with me at that time and requested that he work on it (the script) with me. We got Rs. 10,000 which we split in half. That was how the partnership started!? reminisced Salim Khan.

Just when it looked that Salim Khan was done, he came up with another startling declaration. The Angry Young Man image that has defined Amitabh Bachchan?s persona is solely his creation. ?The Angry Young Man image was conceptualized by me for the film Zanjeer. Javed wasn?t even my partner when I wrote the film. It was only after I had sold it, that Javed became my partner,? clarified Salim Khan, and added almost as an afterthought, ?And I believe even Javed Sa?ab would confirm that it was solely my creation.?

The ace script writer feels that the Big B doesn?t quite acknowledge his role in shaping up the superstar?s career. ?If Amitabh doesn?t remember, I?d like to remind him that his 2 successful associations, with Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra, were because of me. I?d called Amitabh to Juhu Hotel and introduced him to Manmohan Desai, while we were there to discuss the script of Chacha Bhatija.

Prakash Mehra was shooting at Rajkamal for Pyar Ki Kahani. I?d called Amitabh to the sets and introduced him to Prakash Mehra,? stated Salim Khan, quite matter-of-factly.

And then, chuckling, added, ?I?m mentioning the locations so that he doesn?t forget them too!?

With Dabangg on a roll, the proud father of the superstar Khans, Arbaaz and Salman, looks all set to pour his heart out. Watch more of this explosive interview exclusively on ETC Bollywood Business on channel ETC on Thursday, 7th October at 8:30 p.m.