Actress Asin Thottumkal has been voted Youth Icon of Kerala in a public poll conducted by the popular TV channel Asianet. On March 26, the actress was presented the honour in the presence of celebrities of South Indian film industries and some political leaders.
'The poll was conducted for over 15 days and involved a lot of personalities. Asin came out the winner since she is intelligent and representative of the thinking youth. She is talented, beautiful and has done Kerala proud,' said a source.
Asin Thottumkal voted Youth Icon of Kerala
How sex Swami Nithyananda was viewed by Indian media
On March 04, 2010, Aaj Tak reported, “In yet another shocking incident, a godman Swami Nityananda has been found involved in a sex scandal after a local news channel released visuals showing him in a compromising position with a film actress. Some days before, another self-styled godman was arrested for running sex racket in Delhi.”
The updates from various sources follow:
The actress in question is Ranjitha, whose sex tapes found their way to the mainstream media and the internet. Soon it was to be followed by more and more spicy stuff involving many other women, and names of actresses such as Yuvarani, Devayani, etc. were associated with the sex guru’s spiritual adventures. The highly literate, religious and god-fearing people of South India were shocked to hear what the swami has been doing all the time. They attacked his Ashrams and burned his photos and effigies.
In the meanwhile, Lenin Karuppan, a one-time associate and driver of the sex-tainted guru, who videotaped the steamy adventures of the swami, claimed that he was contacted by Nithyananda with offers such as promoting him as a junior godman and appointing him as one of the branches of his organization Dhyanapeetham, which is claimed to have 33 branches worldwide, including in the United States. Karuppan, it is reported, has declined the offer as ‘his life is under threat’.
In a bizarre twist of events, as it happens with such fake gurus, Douglas McKellor, an American national and once a disciple of Swami Nityananda, has registered a case with California State Attorney General against the godman. In his complaint, McKellor has accused Nityananda of sexually exploiting the devotees at the ashram, fraud and financial irregularities.
McKeller, a resident of San Jose, California, was influenced by the swami in 2007, and he changed his name to Swami Nityaprabha and later became the head of the California branch of Dhyanapeetham.
In his complaint Douglas McKellor said, "I was in the first batch that enrolled for Nityananda's week-long instant enlightenment program. It was held at the Los Angeles ashram in June 2007, where I paid swami a fee of $400,000 for the workshop and the enlightenment certificate… During the workshop, I felt abnormally lightheaded. It was like as if some strange drug was causing me lose all my senses… Nityananda performed some fire rituals and asked us to cut a strand of our hair. Then, he put the hair in fire along with something that looked like marijuana seeds. After the workshop, he issued certificates to everyone claiming that we had attained enlightenment."
McKeller has also accused Nityananda of sexually exploiting his American devotees. "Nityananda was fond of pretty girls. While he was at Sanatan Dharma temple in Norwalk, California, for a two-day workshop on spirituality, he asked me to stand outside the door to ensure no one disturbed him, while he was with female guests," he said in his complaint.
Nityananda was reportedly fond of striptease parties with pretty young girls, according to McKellor, who added that ‘Nityananda used to eat his meals and rest with young girls in his private quarters at the cult organization’s Norwalk and Montclair ashrams. The swami had named attractive girls 'flowers' and used to say that they are a must item for his puja’.
“While he was at Sanatan Dharma temple in Norwalk, California, for a two-day workshop on spirituality, he asked me to stand outside the door to ensure no one disturbed him, while he was with female guests,” Douglas McKellor said in his complaint.
Meanwhile there are reported that the 32-year-old sex-maniac swami has resigned as head of his organization and all its branches as he wanted to ‘pursue his spiritual quest in silence’.
Ranjitha - Malare Mounama?
Film: Karna (1995)
Song: Malare Mounama
Music: Vidyasagar
Singers: S.P.Balasubramanyam and S. Janaki
Actors: Arjun and Ranjitha
Video: Swami Nithyananda Scandal
The controversial videos on the alleged sex scandals surrounding Swami Nityananda were shot by Lenin Karuppan, who is born a Christian and a driver but became a disciple of the swami in 2004 and took sanyas and changed his name to Swami Dharmananda, some web sites reported.
But now, Swami Lenis Karuppan Dharmananda has owned up the responsibility of recording the Indian celestial spirit-ual guru’s sex-ual Raas Leela with Ranjitha, and Lenis had lodged a complaint against him in “Chennai accusing him of rape, unnatural sex, cheating and intimidation”, reported www.news-relay.com.
Following the server-breaking popularity of the swami’s new Avatar, more of his hitherto unknown spiritual power exercise videos on Ranjitha, Yuvarani, Devayani and some unidentified women have exploded on the internet. Strangely, all the involved women claim to be heroines of Tamil cinema!
It is ridiculous, as Tamil cinema is one of the best film industries in the world that has been made world famous by such great stars such as M G Ramachandran, Shivaji Ganeshan, Gemini Ganeshan, Kamal Haasan, Rajani Kant, several other talented actors and actresses and the new crop of young and talented actors and actresses, apart from the multiple International awards winner A R Rahman and many talented directors and technicians. So, the fans of Tamil cinema should not allow its name to be dragged in to any sex controversy.
As usual, YouTube is the main battle field where the Dharma Yudha war is being fought. Now, in the comments under many videos, the focus has shifted from Swami Nityananda to the weakness of Hinduism that ‘feeds fake godmen’. So the battle has been shifted from several of his private bedrooms to the garbage dumps of internet and YouTube, and Indian spirituality, Hinduism etc. are under attack.
The godman who has been catapulted to skyrocketing popularity, thanks to his ex-crony, has allegedly contacted Lenis Karuppan and offered him a big jump in hierarchy as a mini godman (in-charge) of one of the 33 branches of his organization Dhyanapeetham, it is reported. But he may decline the offer as his life seems to be under threat. The swami wants him back in his fold and… and Swami Nithyananda’s opponents want him to stay by his original stand! Poor fellow! To which camp will he shift? Wherever he shifts, threat from one of the camps cannot be avoided!
“During the conversation, Karuppan is understood to have told Nityananda that he was his sincere and dedicated disciple. However, he was hurt, as Nityananda ignored him and slept around with women. As Karuppan was apprehensive of being attacked, he had sought protection from the swami, which Nityananda agreed to in his letter,” the web site reports, whatever it is!
Magadheera Actress Kajal Aggarwal
Magadheera Actress Kajal Aggarwal, born on 19 June 1985 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, has appeared in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her debut in the 2004 Hindi film ‘Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na’ playing a minor supporting role, before becoming a leading actress in South Indian film industries. She rose to fame after her performance as Yuvarani Mitravinda and Indu in the 2009 Telugu blockbuster film ‘Magadheera’. Currently she is involved in half-a-dozen projects including five Telugu films such as the multi-starrer Om Shanti, Brindavanam opposite NTR Jr., and Orange directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar. Her upcoming Tamil film is Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu fame Susindran's Naan Mahaan Alla alongside Karthi.
NDTV video on Swami Nithyananda scandal
NDTV video dated March 3 reports that a controversy has erupted over an alleged sex scandal involving Swami Nithyananda. The swami was allegedly filmed in a room with women in Tamil Nadu. Following the exposure his Ashram was attacked by a mob. Watch it in this video.
Ranjitha only massaged Swami Nityananda
Tamil film actress Ranjitha, who was allegedly in a compromising position with Swami Nithyananda in videos and TV reports, has finally now talked to the press, according to sources. She said she had known the godman for quite some time and she is grateful to him for curing her wheezing trouble in just a day.
About her relationship with the godman she said, "I am a devotee of Nityananda and used to offer my services like 'feeding' and 'massaging' to him… The media has unnecessarily blown the issue out of proportion. I know Swamiji for the past few years and my association with him is quite transparent."
A March 25, 2010 report from Chennai said that a doubtful video appearance of Nithyananda and Yuvarani in action which is not being broadcast on Television due to an appeal filed by Advocate and K N Subba Reddy earlier in the Karnataka High court. Yuvarani has denied the allegations about her involvement in a sex scandal video tape with Nithyananda.
Switch OFF lights to switch ON life!
Switch OFF lights to switch ON life!Earth Hour 2010 is being observed from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM local time on March 27. Are you turning off lights and other electrical appliances for one hour?Every year Earth Hour is organized by WWF on the last Saturday of March. Households and businesses are encouraged to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community.Earth Hour 2010 is reportedly on track to become the largest Earth Hour so far, with an expected participation of one billion people more than 2009’s Earth Hour! 121 countries are observing Earth Hour 2010. Total 812 icons and landmarks worldwide will turn off their lights for Earth Hour, including Atomic Bomb Dome (Hiroshima), Big Ben (London), Brandenburg Gate (Berlin), Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro), Colosseum (Rome), Eiffel Tower (Paris), Empire State Building (New York), Piccadilly Circus (London), Red Fort (Delhi), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign (Las Vegas), and many more!Let us save the earth for the posterity! |
Actress Nagma to marry this year
Popular Indian actress Nagma (Nandita Morarji or Namratha Sadanah) who appeared in hit movies like Baasha, Kadhalan, Love Birds, Gharana, Allari Alludu and Major Chandrakanth, will be getting married this year, as per news reports. “I will announce about the bridegroom shortly…,” the actress reportedly said. The 35-year-old actress began her acting career in Bollywood, but shifted to South Indian movies for greater success. Nagma is has acted in many Indian films of language Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, and Marathi.
Adah Sharma photoshoot - video
Adah Sharma the blue-eyed girl made her debut with Vikram Bhatt’s horror movie ‘1920’. She recently had a sizzling photo-shoot where she came across as bold, mature and very confident. Watch this video for some of the best shots of Adah.
Freida Pinto is not the next Bond Girl?
The mainstream press in India reported that Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto has signed up to appear in the next James Bond film opposite Daniel Craig, who plays the role of James Bond. But the website Breaking News Online reports that Pinto has denied ‘reports that she has signed a multi-million pound deal to be the next Bond Girl’. The site also reports that her ‘official spokesperson said that she has not been approached to be part of the next James Bond film’.
Freida Pinto’s films in post production stage are ‘Miral’ and the tentatively titled ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’. ‘Miral’, directed by Julian Schnabel, features Willem Dafoe, Freida Pinto and Hiam Abbass. ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’ is written and directed by Woody Allen featuring Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Freida Pinto and Naomi Watts. Both the films are tentatively scheduled for release in 2010.
She has reportedly signed up also for 'Dawn of War', a Greek mythological film, produced by Mark Canton and directed by Tarsem Singh, starring Henry Cavill opposite her. The film is tentatively scheduled for 2011.
Dubai - two worlds one city
According to the author of this photo, “Dubai has a diverse and multicultural society. The city's cultural imprint as a small, ethnically homogeneous pearling community was changed with the arrival of other ethnic groups and nationals - first by the Iranians in the early 1900s, and later by Indians and Pakistanis in the 1960s.” The photo has a woman in bikini towards the right, which may not be seen in some browsers. Click on the photo to see it, and compare it with the dress of the woman on the left. It is amazing that such different cultures co-exist in the Middle East.
Nicole Scherzinger: Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)
This photo shows Nicole Scherzinger in an entirely Indian makeover for her song ‘Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)’, the fifth single from the Pussycat Dolls' studio album Doll Domination 2.0, released on February 23, 2009. It was a hit reaching number 1 in Finland, Ireland, Australia, Greece and Turkey, according to reports. The new version based on the song from Slumdog millionaire, is called "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)". The English lyrics do not translate directly from the Hindi lyrics, and it is written by a host of writers including A. R. Rahman, Gulzar, Nicole Scherzinger, Tanvi Shah, Evan Bogart, Esther Dean, Ron Fair, E. Nuri, D. Quinones and N. Thorbourne. Also the song was produced in collaboration with A. R. Rahman and Ron Fair, and mixed by Peter Mokran.
In an interview with HitQuarters co-writer Evan Bogart described the unusual writing process for the Pussycat Dolls' version of the song, "Ron Fair ... and Jimmy Iovine had a list of writers that they wanted to send a pop version of the ‘Jai Ho!’ song to. They wanted to get a bunch of different versions to see who could nail a version for the Pussycat Dolls. In the end they took parts of The Writing Camp version, parts of Ester Dean’s version, and parts of another version, and they put them together, and then Nicole Scherzinger and Ron filled in the blanks that they thought were missing. It’s a very unique and awkward way of writing a song.”
Priyamani to star in Bollywood movie Rakta Charitra
The buzz is that Bollywood film maker Ram Gopal Varma has signed up south Indian film star Priyamani for his next Hindi movie. Priyamani, 26, a cousin of Bollywood actress Vidya Balan, has been zeroed in by Varma after watching her top performance in Paruthi Veeran for his forthcoming flick Rakta Charitra starring Vivek Oberoi. She has won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 2006 Tamil film Paruthi Veeran directed by Ameer Sultan.
Rann star Gul Panag
Actress Gul Panag, who was Miss India 1999, ranked among the Top 10 contestants at Miss Universe 1999 pageant, and following that started her movie career with Dhoop (2003). Panag has starred in films such as Jurm (2005), Dor (2006), Manorama Six Feet Under (2007), Hello (2008) and Summer 2007 (2008). She was recently featured in the film Rann by Ram Gopal Varma.
Gul Panag has also been a very successful model, appearing in several ads in television and print media, especially for Titan Raga watches and Tata Sky. She is techno-savvy and active on the micro-blogging site Twitter with a sizeable number of followers, and hence she was appointed by Twitter as their ambassador at the recently concluded Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.
Aishwarya Rai speaks Tamil at audio release
The fabulous occasion was the audio launch of the Tamil film ‘Irettaisuzhi’ produced by Shankar, and for which the music was composed by Karthik Raja. The audience had a sweet surprise for two reasons. Firstly, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a rare appearance, because the busy actress normally do not attend music launches, and secondly, the audience was taken for an unexpected surprise as Rai spoke in flawless Tamil at the music launch.
The audio cassettes and CDs of ' Irettaisuzhi' were released by Aishwarya and accepted by acclaimed lyricist Vairamuthu. As to her proficiency in languages, Aishwarya Rai communicates in several languages including Tamil, Hindi, English, Marathi, and her mother tongue Tulu, as she is originally from Mangalore, Karnataka.
Shankar is the director of the film, 'Endhiran: The Robot', in which he is directing her opposite superstar Rajnikanth. He said it was great to have Aishwarya at the audio launch, and added that the she was not present for the launch of his 'Jeans', which was one of her first hit films.
Rai said that she was proud to be part of the Tamil film industry and from Tamil she switched over to English, “It's an honour for me to have been present at this place among legends like Balachander and Bharathiraaja and I feel proud about it. I also feel happy that a woman is treated so respectfully at a public function like this.”
Rai continued, “I can never forget the Tamil film industry and director Shankar in my life. Shankar's 'Jeans' was my first successful film. The many things I learnt during the making of the film gave me enough self-confidence that I could continue to act for a few more years… I feel even more proud to be part of Shankar's 'Endhiran' opposite superstar Rajnikanth... I watched a few songs and some sequences from 'Rettaichuzhi'... I think Karthick Raaja's music and tunes are excellent. I would surely watch the film in future.”
Rai was at her courteous best at Sathyam Cinemas on Monday evening as she greeted veteran directors K. Balachander and Bharathiraaja, who also act in the film (K. Balachander as Ramaswamy and Bharathiraja as Singaravelan) in lead roles along with Anjali, Manobala, Karunas, Ilavarasu, Jayachitra, and Malayalam film actor and screenplay writer Sreenivasan.
Preity Zinta hates corruption in Maharashtra
Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, the co-owner of ‘Kings XI Punjab’ IPL cricket team, wants to stop the corruption in Maharashtra, as she says that ‘the state would have seen dramatic improvement, but for the venal habit of employees getting their palms greased at every twitch of progress.’ She says, a cut should be given to government employees for every project passed or completed by them, or they should be rewarded with a portion of the profits after a project is successfully done, as reported by a website.
Priyanka Chopra to have 7 husbands in her next film
Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra is to play one of the toughest roles in her life in Vishal Bharadwaj's forthcoming film 'Saat Khoon Maaf', in which she plays a character with seven husbands. Naseeruddin Shah will play play her oldest husband's role and Neil Nitin Mukesh the youngest husband's role. Her last film with Bharadwaj was the hit film Kaminey.
Shruti Haasan to star in Walt Disney’s Telugu movie
A little birdie tells the Walt Disney Company India is going to produce a Telugu movie with Shruti Haasan and Siddharth in the lead roles, an untitled epic fantasy adventure. Co-produced by K. Raghavendra Rao, the movie is being directed by National Award winning Prakash Rao Kovelamudi, it will also star Lakshmi Manchu and Harshitha. It will also be dubbed into Tamil The movie commenced production in November 2009 and is slated for tentative release Jan 2011, according to Disney officials in India.
Mallika Sherawat to co-star with Avatar star Laz Alonso
Mallika Sherawat’s next Hollywood project is ‘Love, Barrack’, directed by Doug McHenry, co-starring with Laz Alonso of Avatar fame. It is a political, romantic comedy set during the frantic and intoxicating days leading up to 2008 US Presidential election. Mallika plays Aretha Gupta, a local Obama election campaign coordinator.
Watch for her in ‘Hissss’, originally titled ‘Nagin: the snake woman’, her home production, produced by Govind Menon of Split Image and her brother Vikram Singh and directed by Jennifer Lynch. Irrfan Khan co-stars with Sherawat in the film. It’s collaboration between Bollywood and Hollywood, and the budget is rumored to be between $5 million and $15 million.
Hissss claims to be a special effects-loaded film and is now in post-production stage. It is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Film Market in May this year, and later the distributors will decide on the international release dates.
According Sherawat, the toughest part in shooting for the film was dealing with leeches crawling all over her body in freezing cold rain in the jungles of Kerala, India, where parts of the film were shot.
Bollywood has mostly treated her as a brainless bikini-clad woman who was all body, and when she was asked if it is it goodbye to Hindi films, she said, she is just ‘trying to find material that excites her, that's all, and these days it seems to be coming from Hollywood’.
Sherawat was the first Indian actor to be honored by the mayor and the council members at LA’s City Hall, that too on the eve of the Indian Independence Day. Mallika Sherawat seems to focus her future career on Hollywood.
Mallika has been voted as one of Asia's 100 most beautiful people by the Hong Kong based fashion and beauty magazine, Cover. There were reports recently that her brother Vikram Singh had thrown a tantrum on the sets during a shoot in Mumbai over a skimpy, skin-colored bikini she was wearing, Sherawat said that she is very close to her brother but they never agreed when it comes to her raw vegan diet and her wardrobe.
Mallika was the first Asian star to be invited to Twitter, and on her visit to the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco promos of Hissss were screened.
The lady who was an airline hostess rose to become a most controversial, yet, bold actresses of Bollywood, and now finds herself anchored in Hollywood, living there for more than a year. In an interview about her forthcoming film Hisss, an Indo-Us venture, and the subject of it, the serpent, she fondly remembered her earliest memories of her village in Haryana, India.
Sandra Bullock and Kathryn Bigelow on their Oscar Awards
Oscar winners Best Actress Sandra Bullock and Best Director Kathryn Bigelow who made the Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker that won six Oscars spoke to Harry Smith outside the Governors Ball about their awards and the historic night for women.
Sandra Bullock, in Marchesa, with Neil Lane jewels and a Celestina clutch
Sandra Bullock, in Marchesa, with Neil Lane jewels and a Celestina clutch., originally uploaded by The Chic Spot.
Actress Sandra Bullock arrives at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards held at Kodak Theatre on March 7, 2010 in Hollywood, California. The Actress won The Best Actress Academy Award for her performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy in the film The Blind Side. Ironically enough just a day before, on Saturday, she received two Worst Awards, Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress and Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple, for her performance as Mary Horowitz in the film All About Steve, produced by herself.
Sandra Bullock's Marchesa number, complete with an embellished top seemed fashioned after the Oscar statuette itself and paired with red lipstick, made the 45-year-old actress a favorite among the fashion critics.
Miley Cyrus with the Oscar statuette
The 17-year-old singer and actress Miley Cyrus was a presenter in the 82nd Awards Ceremony.
Chris Rock presents Gabourey Sidibe Best Actress NAACP Image Awards
Chris Rock presents Gabourey Sidibe with the award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for her performance in 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire,' during the 41st NAACP Image Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on February 26, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.
On December 15, 2009, the American actress Gabourey Sidibe was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance in Precious. She has already won the Best Actress Award at the Independent Spirit Awards on March 6, 2010. She has also received a nomination for a Best Actress Academy Award.
Bipasha Basu was at Lakme Fashion Week
The glamorous Bollywood star Bipasha Basu recently stunned everybody with her hot appearance in yellow and beige sari designed by Indian designer Rocky S at the inaugural show of the Lakme Fashion Week. The designer of the show says, "When I showed Bipasha the color of the sari, she was apprehensive. But she trusts me completely. After it was draped on her, she just loved the color. She tried a new color today and she was looking beautiful in it.”
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