• Bollywood Superstar Abhishek Bachchan on CNN's Talk Asia this weekend


    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 05, 2007

    MUMBAI: Bollywood‘s ‘crown prince‘, Abhishek Bachchan, first referred to as nothing more than a shadow of his legendary father, is now one of India‘s most celebrated and sought after actors.

    On this week‘s TALK ASIA, Bachchan walks host Anjali Rao around the set of his new film ‘Sarkar Raj‘ talking about the different roles he now plays as actor, son and husband. He candidly exposes what it takes to succeed in one of the largest film industries in the world and to carve a name for himself given the number of actors in the industry with famous backgrounds.

    Working alongside equally well-known wife and one of the world‘s most beautiful women Aishwarya Rai, Bachchan comments, "It‘s a continued honeymoon you could say and it feels very nice. I love being on set together all day and then going back home together. Because being actors we both know there‘s going to be time ahead where we‘re not going to see each other for months. So you try and enjoy every moment of it." Considering the couple goes home after work, Rao queries whether the couple has ever argued on set, Bachchan smiles and says, "Exactly, I like sleeping on the bed as opposed to the couch, so?"

    Despite growing up in a family of elite stars, Abhishek Bachchan was not born with a silver spoon on one‘s mouth. He worked every inch of the way to get to where he is today. As he chats to Anjali Rao on the star-studded set in Mumbai, Bachchan explains, "At the end of the day it‘s got to do with luck. That‘s one thing you learn very quickly in the Indian film industry. I can think of a hundred more talented actors than me, better looking, better built, more capable, but at the end of the day you realize very soon that it comes down to luck. At the end of the day it all depends on the mood of that one audience member that goes into that theatre. They‘re not burdened with the baggage that you bring onto the film. It just depends whether the film manages to entertain them or not. And if it doesn‘t, that‘s it?So I‘ve been blessed, yes, I consider myself very lucky."

    Having starred in more than thirty movies, Bachchan‘s answer to his favourite role comes as a surprise, "More than being an actor, being my father‘s son has been my favourite role. I enjoy the fact that I‘m his son. I enjoy the responsibility he gives me. And most of all I enjoy being his bouncer. I enjoy that on Sundays hundreds of his fans come outside the gate of the house to meet him which is a trend that started after his ‘82 accident?And it‘s what I call his Lion King moment. He holds me up and says, here‘s the cub."

    Reliving the remarkable moment of his career when Uday Chopra told him that Dhoom was his first hit, Bachchan nostalgically says, "I went out into his garden and started screaming, shouting and jumping up and down for about half an hour. I couldn‘t believe it, I was in shock. And then I remember calling my sister and telling her that it‘s a hit. And I was just so overcome by emotion because at that point in time, after 17 films, you have no self confidence left, and you‘ve really put in your heart and soul into work, at that point you‘re ready to accept it as a failure, because that‘s what you‘re tuned to. So it was very emotional for me."

    Bachchan shares his view on the Indian film industry, "We like larger than life films. We‘re that kind of people. We‘re very warm, we‘re very festive, we‘re musical, we‘re over the top, and that‘s the way we like it. People snicker sometimes and can‘t believe why we have so many songs in our films. It‘s because we‘re a musical culture. If something happens in the family that is nice, we break into song." Talking about the lessons that film industry‘s taught him, he says, "As an actor, you have to realize it‘s not about you, it was never about you. It‘s about the film."

    On his forthcoming movies, he chats at length on working with his better half Aishwarya Rai and his upcoming tour to thirty different cities that takes him, his wife, Amitabh Bachchan, and Akshay Kumar to his fans around the world.

    Airtimes: Indian Standard Time

    Saturday, September 8 at 05:00 hrs, 20:30 hrs
    Sunday, September 9 at 18:30 hrs

     
  • CNN Business Traveller looks at your health and well-being on the road

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 05, 2007

    MUMBAI: This month‘s CNN Business Traveller looks at how to make travelling life more bearable. From the best cities in the world to live and work in, to what foods you can eat to stifle jet lag. It is mind, body and soul this month.

    Zurich , Switzerland is Mercer Consulting‘s number one ranked city in the world for quality of living no less. What does Zurich have that pushes it to the top of the charts? CNN‘s Richard Quest takes a look at just what makes cities business-traveller friendly. While in Switzerland, Richard catches up with ex-pat James Maughan from UBS for his insider‘s guide to making the most of Switzerland.

    Fitting in exercise while on the road is one of the major frustrations of healthy travellers. It‘s one thing to live in a pleasant environment where you can jog, swim and rollerblade but what about the rest of us who just go from airport to hotel to meeting room? We take a look at the top hotel gyms around the world to help whet your appetite for exercise when you‘re on the move.

    One of the first casualties of a long haul flight is appetite. If you‘re travelling on a regular basis the chances are you left your stomach a few time zones behind. With the help of a leading nutritionist, we‘ll show you what foods to eat and what to avoid when you‘re away from home and want to get your body back in sync.

    Airtimes: Indian Standard Times

    Saturday, Sept 8 at 1300 & 1900

    Sunday, Sept 9 at 1700 & 2300

    Thursday, Sept 13 at 1900 & 2300

  • 'Coca Cola Radio One College Champions' reaches Bangalore

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 04, 2007

    MUMBAI: The events held in college auditoriums have created a lot of frenzy in campuses across the city of Mumbai.

    Students were buzzing around in anticipation to participate and give their best to get selected and catch a glimpse of their favorite star. The campuses bore a festive and electrifying atmosphere with ‘Coca Cola Radio One College Champions‘ banners and backdrops along with Judges doing the rounds.
    The Judges at the auditions of ‘Coca Cola Radio One College Champions‘ were VJ Cyrus Sahukar, VJ Nikhil Chinappa, VJ Ranvijay from MTV and RJ Sangram, RJ Prince, RJ Prem & Amar from Radio One FM 94.3.

    Students also from various colleges were given a chance to fill in the registration form on the spot and enter the contest, apart from the participants who had registered through road shows and online registrations. The only condition was that the participating group should be a two-member team each from a common college.

    The vivacious aspirants smartly tackled the rounds where each participant was to entertain and captivate the active crowd within one minute. With the highly competitive profession that RJing has turned into, General Knowledge and update on latest happenings is a must, which was required in the competing pairs. The judges that were a balance of VJs and RJs quizzed, grilled and humored the participants. Majority of the crowd vibrated with a friendly, interactive and savvy attitude proving their worth for the title in question. The judges with the help of their unique and fun test called ‘Common Quotient‘ tested compatibility and in-sights about the partner of the participating team. RJ Sangram and VJ Cyrus were a hot favorite amongst the crowd. VJ Cyrus Sahukar commented, "This is a great platform for the students to begin their careers ad show case their talents."

    The students that came to cheer for their respective colleges at various college auditions across the city were highly charged up, cheering and reacting on the comments and actions of the participants and judges alike. The judges blended with the crowd by breaking the ice and lightening the atmosphere by cracking jokes and commenting and kidding around with the participants, co-ordinators and on themselves. RJ Prachi on Radio One FM 94.3 who is hosting the ‘Coca Cola Radio One College Champions‘ aired the on-ground activities and participants‘ reactions live on-air. RJ Prince described, "I like the crowd out here, very happy to know that all these people are interested to become RJs!!"

    RJ Sangram exclaimed, "I love to interact with such a crowd, these guys can become our competitors."

    With a number of college fest coming to an end in the city, one could not ignore the biggest and the only inter-college, national level radio contest with the potential to make a star career for the students in their respective cities.

     
  • Watch Indian Idol roobaroo with Jojo on 6 September at 9 p.m

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 04, 2007

    MUMBAI: With only three contestants left in the fray? basking in all the attention and enjoying every moment of it, Amit Paul, Emon Chatterjee and Prashant Tamang are having a great time.

    The male bonding is there for all to see. Mini Mathur is having a great time getting them to reveal some little known secrets about them on Roobaroo. She has now mastered the knack of getting them to spill the beans on each other.

    With Chang gone, it is now left to Prashant to let the cat of the bag. About his best friend and buddy Amit Paul. She asked Prashant about Amit and vice versa. What followed was a laugh riot. With Emon giving his take on both!

    There was a surprise guest on the show. Jojo made their day when he sang his new song Maheru from his latest album. Jojo confessed he followed Indian Idol and that he loves Amit‘s voice. "It‘s great for playback singing,"he revealed. He is rooting for Amit as the next Indian Idol . Looks like so is the rest of the country!

    Amit with his new look, style and shy charm is fast turning out to be a ladies‘ man much against his wishes! At their recent concert in Indore a young enthusiastic fan insisted on dancing with Amit on stage and Amit simply refuse d to oblige? because he is so shy. His friends have yet to stop ragging him about it.

     
  • Krishna Jayanti celebration at BIG 92.7 FM studios

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 04, 2007

    MUMBAI: BIG 92.7 FM celebrated Krishna Jayanti in a unique way today by organizing a fancy dress competition for the children. BIG 92.7 FM invited listeners to dress up their children in lord ?Krishna? outfit and to participate in a fancy dress competition. RJ Speed Dheena interacted with the kids and also took their sound bytes live on-air.

  • Animal planet recollects the memories of Steve Irwin - The crocodile hunter on his first death anniversary

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 03, 2007

    MUMBAI: The legendary Croc Hunter, Steve Irwin, with this signature khaki shorts, has been synonymous with Animal Planet for nearly as long as the network has been in existence

    Animal Planet will honour the wildly popular and exuberant wildlife conservationist during "Celebrating Steve"; a special full day marathon to observe his first death anniversary.

    Beginning from midnight on Monday, 3 September till 23:00 hours on Tuesday, 4 September, the special programming line-up will highlight Steve‘s background and personal history, from his early days at Australia Zoo, to his worldwide fame as the Crocodile Hunter, as well as his boundless passion for wildlife and his family. The full day programming will feature some of the best episodes from the long-running Crocodile Hunter series, which showcase Steve‘s dedication to conservation and his exuberant approach to educating viewers about the natural world.

    "Celebrating Steve" reveals some of the rare footage from the pilot of their first TV show and special segments dedicated to the conservation work that Steve and Terri did at Australia Zoo in wildlife rescues, habitat protection, endangered species breeding programs and their wildlife projects around the world. The programmes offer an intimate look at the life of Steve Irwin - husband, father, friend, conservationist and icon - through the eyes of those who knew him best. Through iconic, edge-of-your seat Croc Hunter moments to never-before-seen footage, this tribute recognizes, celebrates and honours Steve‘s passion and enthusiasm for spreading wildlife conservation. His tragic and untimely death shocked the world, but his legacy will continue to thrive through the Irwin family‘s continuous efforts to embrace and encourage wildlife conservation.

     

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