MUMBAI: They call him Bollywood‘s ‘realistic‘ filmmaker - the one who tackles subjects most others consider too risky. And yet, he finds acceptance every time, both critical and commercial. Thanks to his hard-hitting, socially relevant work, Madhur Bhandarkar has evolved into a brand. An enthusiastic, talented director, he has carved a distinctive niche for himself in an incredibly short span of time.

Why does Madhur Bhandarkar do what he does? What compels him to tackle the subjects he does? Kabir Bedi tries to find out on Director‘s Cut this Sunday, March 2, 2008, at 8:00 pm, on Zoom, India‘s premier glamour and entertainment channel.

Apparently, as a child, Bhandarkar always assumed a director was the least significant person responsible for a film, considering his name rolled in last on the credit list. He speaks about his past - running a video library business, odd jobs as a clapper, wardrobe boy and crowd manager, before his first break as director. While sharing experiences about successes like Chandni Bar and Page 3, he also speaks about the inspiration he derived from his first flop, Trishakti, which motivated him to make a different kind of cinema.

In his younger days, Bhandarkar‘s family considered him good for nothing. Today, he is among the most successful directors around, with two National Awards to his name. He refers to himself as a middle class person who doesn‘t want success to corrupt him. "I don‘t ever want to lose my ground," he says. "I still eat street food. The only difference is, earlier I watched a film in the stalls, now I watch it from the balcony."

As Kabir Bedi grills the filmmaker about the controversies he is often surrounded with, and his views on the legendary casting couch, a number of secrets are revealed.

Find out what they are on Director‘s Cut this Sunday, March 2, 2008, at 8:00 pm only on Zoom.

MUMBAI: Amber & Dhara, the conjoined twins who are already facing problems in their life are now to come across a bigger dilemma when their own father, Dev Shukla who had abandoned them and their mother when they were babies comes back in their lives as the prosecutor out to send them to jail or worse get them hanged for their crime.Coming back to television after a long time in a powerful performance is the high spirited actor Sudesh Berry who marks his entry as the father of Amber & Dhara and as the prosecutor pitted against his own wife Lata played by Mona Ambegaonkar who is also playing the lawyer defending her daughters.

Talking about how he took up this role in Amber Dhara, Sudesh says, "It is all intuition. When I read the script and the story line ahead I realized that the role is very challenging. I am a low profile actor not at all in the rat race to make it to the top. What matters to me is the story and intuitively I felt that there was some kind of challenge for me to act in Amber Dhara as the father who has come back as the prosecutor."

He adds further "I don‘t take this as a negative role just because the character has been shown to leave the mother and kids when they were babies. Every family has situations within their family unit, which make them act like they do, and what society perceives as negative might not actually be negative at all. Similarly here my character had its own reasons for his earlier actions. I think I am playing a grey and not a black, out and out negative role."

"I am not a lakir ka fakir actor and in fact in real life I am a very talkative person so I am most comfortable with the lengthy dialogues that are normally dished out for a prosecutor‘s role. I would say it is an emotional orgy for me that I am enjoying to the fullest" ends Sudesh on a lighter note.

They say life moves in mysterious ways.... Lata (played by Mona Ambegaonkar) comes forward to defend her daughters, she takes up her old profession of being a lawyer which she gave up after Amber Dhara were born and went to Panchgani to her fathers place after her husband abandoned her since she gave birth to conjoined twins. Lata is shocked to see that prosecution has her own husband Dev, who is out to get his own daughters grilled and prove guilty.

"Our audiences have been anticipating the entry of Amber Dhara‘s father for a long time. The introduction of the father comes at a very crucial time in the story. Amber Dhara are convicted for the murder of Kamini (Akshat‘s mother played by Jaya Bhattacharya). The biggest question here is that even if amber has committed a crime, why should Dhara be convicted for it ?? The character of Dev required a strong persona and larger than life depiction. Mr Sudesh Berry completely fit the bill and ensures power packed performance" says Siddharth Kumar Tewary - Creative Director and Producer Swastik Pictures.

MUMBAI: This weekend musical history was created as 9X announced the ‘Ustaad Jodi‘ on Mission Ustaad.After 13 weeks exhilarating music and entertainment, the viewers and jury crowned Roop Kumar & Sunali Rathod with the title of ‘Ustaad Jodi‘ in a musical ceremony amidst huge fanfare. In its constant endeavour to provide bigger, better & fresher entertainment to the entire family 9X has week on week created awareness on the MDG‘s of the UN‘s across the length and breadth of the country.

Commenting on their victory Ustaad Jodi Roop Kumar & Sunali Rathod said, "It was an honour for us singing in front of such a great jury Javed Akhtar, Lara Dutta, A R Rahman. Mission Ustaad was a unique concept by United Nations, Endemol and 9X to create awareness about UN‘s MDGs. I would like to thank the 9X, judges, our fans who have contributed in our victory and also our composers and lyricists for giving us beautiful compositions. Each of us are winners and I would like congratulate my fellow participants for their contribution towards this wonderful journey"

The concluding episode began with all the 8 talented singers singing tilte track of the movie Fanaa Later, the performance of the glittering evening was be by earthy genius Kailash Kher and the extremely talented Roop Kumar Rathod on ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shehenshah‘ from the historical movie Jodhaa - Akhbar welcoming the judges for the show. Adding glitter to the beautiful evening the 8 inherent singers also performed the blockbuster hit of the year 2007 ‘Om Shanti Om‘ . The performance was thoroughly enjoyed by the wonderful audience.

The performances included for the musical evening were, Naresh Iyer and Shweta Pandit lending their voice to the chartbuster of the year 2007 Mauja Mauja followed by Kailash Kher and Mahalaxmi Iyer‘s ‘Jalwa‘ from the movie Aaja Nachle. Also to dazzle the evening Vasundhara Das & Mohit Chauhan sang their favourite ‘Where‘s The Party Tonight‘ And last but not the least the winning jodi comprising of Roop Kumar Rathod & Sunali Rathod sang ‘Jogiya‘ from the movie Tere Naam.

Contributing their bit to make the world a better place to live in, the 8 Misison Ustaad singers, Naresh Iyer & Shweta Pandit, Kailash Kher & Mahalaxmi Iyer‘s, Vasundhara Das & Mohit Chauhan, Roop Kumar Rathod & Sunali Rathod contributed their prize money to the UN MDGs of their choice like Education, Environment, Health and Gender Equality projects.

MUMBAI: The second edition of Star Sports Golf Invitational was held at the par-72 Golden Green Resort, Gurgaon on 23 February.Organized by ESPN Star Sports, the one day Golf Invitational saw wide spread participation from corporate India. The tournament featured corporates and cricketers like Ajay Jadeja, Rahul Sanghvi and some young Indian talent like Laverry Kumar, Rashid Khan, Chikrangappa and Gauri Monga.

Corporate leaders across industry segments including ESPN Star Sports MD Manu Sawhney, Hero Honda Motors Ltd MD Pawan Munjal, P&G chairman Bharat Patel, IPL CEO Sundar Raman were seen swinging their clubs and vying for top honors.

Speaking on the occasion, Venkateish said, "I am extremely pleased to see the response for the second edition of the Star Sports Golf Invitational. ESPN Star Sports showcases the biggest golf events in the world like the PGA Championships, Augusta Masters and so on. With the Star Sports Golf Invitational we have extended the enjoyment of the game by allowing the spectator to become an actual player."

"Besides the sporting entertainment, tournaments like these also provide a great platform to meet up with fellow corporate heads outside official meetings and in an informal setting." added Venkateish.

STAR Sports Golf Invitational was played in the individual stroke play format with three over par as the maximum score on any hole. The handicaps were adjusted on the ‘Double Peoria System‘. The participants competed in three handicap divisions as per the declared handicaps.

MUMBAI: Radio Farishta, the 24-hour classic [retro] Hindi film music station on WorldSpace Satellite Radio celebrates Khayyam Saab‘s 81st birthday with a special series dedicated to his music and his journey in the Hindi film industry.Aired at 10:00 pm from Monday to Friday through the rest of February, the series promises listeners a peek into the veteran‘s life, love and of course, his music.

Mohammed Zahoor Khayyam Hashmi, popularly known as Khayyam composed music for the heart and from the heart. Khayyam is part of what is known as ‘the golden era‘ of Hindi films in the decades that spanned during the late 1950s through to the 1960s.

Famed for working on his own terms, Khayyam was one of the most expensive and sought-after composers of his time. In this exclusive series, Khayyam shares never-before-heard facts about his life along with hand-picked songs from his library with Radio Farishta listeners. The maestro shares memoirs on his mentors, contemporaries and the composers who set the trends in Hindi film music as he selects songs that tribute their contributions.

New Delhi, 22 February: The UTV Network has claimed that its newly launched World Movies garnered 11% channel share in the English Movies Genre beating Pix at 8% and Zee Studio at 1% on Saturday 16 February.
According to channel sources, the ratings also revealed the average time spent watching World Movies in Mumbai is 29 minutes per viewer, which is significantly higher than HBO and all English Entertainment Channels.

The channel was launched on 3 February and claims to have left behind other popular movie and entertainment channels like HBO, AXN, Star World, Zee Caf? and Hallmark among target audience group of C&S 15+ Sec A, according to TAM ratings. World Movies showcases hits from across the world in varied languages.

According to UTV Entertainment TV CEO Shantonu Aditya, "The impressive debut of the channel only confirms our belief that Indian audiences have an appetite for an international movie channel which is high on style and packaging and very different from what they have seen so far. We are currently doing mass media blitz across television, internet, online, radio and actively supported by below-the-line (BTL) activities."