Top Entertainment India News Stories of 22nd October 2008

Daily news summary

'Rang Rasiya' to be screened at London film fest
Ketan Mehta-directed forthcoming bilingual film ‘Rang Rasiya’ in Hindi, and ‘Colours of Passion’ in English, will be screened at the 52nd London Film Festival. There will be two screenings on Oct 25 and 30. The film ‘Rang Rasiya’ is a sensuous love story of the great Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma and his muse, a woman called Suganabai. Mehta said that the movie also dwells at length on an obscenity case slapped on Raja Ravi Varma by puritans in the late 19th century. The film is starring Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen, Paresh Rawal and Jim Boeven. ‘Rang Rasiya’ will be screened at the MIACC Film Festival, organised by Indo-American Arts Council, in New York on November 6 and 8. However the movie is slated for commercial release in December.

Malika Sukumaran denies links with fraud financial firm
Well-known film and TV serial actress Malika Sukumaran today denied any links with the financial firm that has cheated more than 3,000 investors to the tune of Rs.5 billion.
"A leading Malayalam newspaper has been reporting without naming me that I have been working overnight to hide Chandramathi, a government employee who is named as an accused in the cheating case," Malika, wife of actor Sukumaran, said. Malika further added, “We have had no relation at all - be it in financial or any other deals. It is really painful that baseless allegations are being leveled against my family and me." The financial firm involved in the scam is named ‘Total4U’, which was owned and managed by 20-year-old Sabarinath, who was arrested by the police in September. Ever since, six others including four women who had business relations with Sabarinath have been put behind bars. The other absconding accused includes an airhostess, whose mother Hemalatha, a bank employee, has been arrested.

Mira Nair happy with her latest project ‘Amelia’
US-based Indian director Mira Nair after being disappointed when her much publicised film ‘Shantaram’ was shelved, is now happy with her latest prized project ‘Amelia’, which stars Hollywood actress Hilary Swank. ‘Amelia’ is about legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world. “In September 2007, when I was offered 'Amelia', I said no because I was busy with 'Shantaram'. Then 'Shantaram' fell apart. They came back to me with 'Amelia' in January,” Nair said.

‘Lamha’ to break stereotype of Kashmiri women: Bipasha
After ‘Corporate’, Bipasha Basu once again gets real for her role in Rahul Dholakia's hard-hitting drama ‘Lamha’, and she says the biggest challenge for her is to break the stereotypical image of Kashmiri girls in Hindi movies. "When you think of a Kashmiri girl in our movies, what comes to mind is a fair-skinned, light-eyed girl. But I want to disprove that myth. The pre-conceived notions have to be overcome," said Bipasha. She had asked her producers to invite a born-and-bred Kashmiri girl to Mumbai to study her body language, speech patterns and mannerisms.

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