Thursday, March 12, 2009

Britney Spears



Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) more commonly known as Britney Spears is a Grammy Award-winning American entertainer.
Raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears first appeared on national television in 1992 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. In 1997, Spears signed a recording contract with Jive, releasing her debut album ...Baby One More Time in 1999. The album established her as a pop icon and "bona fide pop phenomenon", credited for influencing the revival of teen pop in the late 1990s. Spears released her sixth studio album Circus on her 27th birthday in December 2008.
Spears is ranked as the eighth best-selling female recording artist in the United States with 32 million sold albums certified by the Recording Industry Association of America and one of the world's best-selling music artists having sold an estimated 85 million records worldwide.Spears also holds the title to multiple Guinness World Records.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sonu Nigam




Sonu Nigam or Sonu Niigaam (Hindi: सोनु निगम; born July 30, 1973 in Faridabad, Haryana, India) is a highly acclaimed Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Bollywood and Kannada movies. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films. He recently changed the spelling of his last name from 'Nigam' to 'Niigaam' in accordance with numerology.



Early years and playback singing
Sonu Nigam began his singing career at the age of three, when he joined his father on stage to sing Mohammad Rafi's "Kya Hua Tera Wada". Then on, he accompanied his father on his singing assignments at weddings and parties. In his teenage years, he participated in several music competitions successfully. He moved to Mumbai with his father to begin his Bollywood singing career at the age of 18.
His initial years in Mumbai proved to be a struggle, and he started by singing covers of Mohammad Rafi songs, mainly for the "Rafi Ki Yaadein" album series. These albums contributed to his label for some time as a "Rafi clone." His first movie song as a playback singer was in the movie, "Janum" (1990), which was never officially released. He got a break as a playback singer in Gulshan Kumar's movie, "Aaja Meri Jaan". He then sang the song, "Accha Sila Diya", for the album, "Bewafa Sanam" (1995), which gave him the recognition as an established playback singer.
Sonu started hosting "Sa Re Ga Ma," a television singing talent competition, which soon became one of the most popular shows on Indian television. The first episode of "Sa Re Ga Ma" was aired on May 1, 1995. Singing offers poured in thereafter, though slowly at first. He rose to fame with the song, "Sandese Aate Hain", in Border (1997). Anu Malik was the music director of this movie. Sonu's image as a Rafi clone changed after his rendition of the Nadeem-Shravan composed song, "Yeh Dil Deewana" in Pardes (1997). Since then, he has created a unique style of his own, and has become a role model for budding male singers in India.
Over the years, Sonu has become a major force in the Indian music industry. He has provided playback singing for a large number of Hindi movies and won many awards. His rendition of Kal Ho Na Ho has been highly popular. He is recognised for his versatile voice as well as excellent emotion range. Sonu has sung with clear pronunciations, in many languages besides Hindi, including Bengali, Oriya, Kannada, Punjabi,Tamil, Telugu, English, Bhojpuri, Urdu, Nepali and Marathi.
His 2008 playback songs include songs from Yuvvraaj and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, in which he sings a song paying tribute to yesteryear Bollywood actors like Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and Rishi Kapoor. The song is picturised on Shahrukh Khan and the music direction is by Salim-Sulaiman.



William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men and his off-screen life is widely reported. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and won one Golden Globe Award out of four nominations.
Pitt began his acting career in television guest spots, including a recurring role on the CBS soap opera Dallas in 1987. He gained recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis' character in 1991's Thelma & Louise. Pitt's first leading role in a major film was in Interview with the Vampire (1994). He was cast opposite Anthony Hopkins in the 1994 drama Legends of the Fall, which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. The following year came two contrasting, widely acclaimed starring roles, in the crime thriller Seven (1995) and the science fiction Twelve Monkeys (1995), in which he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Pitt received worldwide attention in the 1999 film Fight Club, for his role as Tyler Durden. Following the success of Fight Club, he was cast as Rusty Ryan in the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven, and its sequels Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). He has had his biggest commercial successes with Ocean's Eleven (2001), Spy Game (2001), Troy (2004), the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).
Following a high profile relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and marriage to Jennifer Aniston, as of 2009, Pitt lives with actress Angelina Jolie, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention. He and Jolie have three adopted children, Maddox, Zahara and Pax, as well as three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Pitt owns a production company named Plan B. Since his relationship with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues, both in the United States and internationally.


Early life


Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the son of Jane Etta (née Hillhouse), a high school counselor, and William Alvin Pitt, a truck company owner. Along with his siblings Doug (born 1966) and Julie Neal (born 1969), he grew up in Springfield, Missouri, where the family moved soon after his birth. Growing up, he was raised as a conservative Southern Baptist.
Pitt attended Kickapoo High School, where he excelled; he was a member of the golf, tennis and swimming teams, as well as the Key and Forensics clubs. He also participated in school debates and musicals. Following his graduation, Pitt attended the University of Missouri in 1982, where he belonged to the Sigma Chi fraternity, where he frequently acted in several fraternity shows. He majored in journalism, with a focus on advertising. In 1985, two weeks prior to earning his degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles, California to take acting lessons. When asked why he left the university, Pitt responded: "I had this sinking feeling as graduation approached. I saw my friends getting jobs. I wasn't ready to settle down. I loved films. They were a portal into different worlds for me, and Missouri wasn't where movies were made. Then it hit me: If they didn't come to me, I'd go to them."

Monday, March 9, 2009

Angelina Jolie



Angelina Jolie (born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975) is an American film actor and a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. She has been cited as one of the world's most beautiful women and her off-screen life is widely reported.Jolie has received three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award.
Though she made her screen debut as a child alongside her father Jon Voight in the 1982 film Lookin' to Get Out, Jolie's acting career began in earnest a decade later with the low-budget production Cyborg 2 (1993). Her first leading role in a major film was in Hackers (1995). She starred in the critically acclaimed biographical films George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998), and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Girl, Interrupted (1999). Jolie achieved international fame as a result of her portrayal of video game heroine Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), and since then has established herself as one of the best-known and highest-paid actresses in Hollywood.She has had her biggest commercial successes with the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and the animated film Kung Fu Panda (2008).
Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie currently lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention.Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, as well as three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Jolie has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world, and is noted for her work with refugees through UNHCR.

Deepika Padukone




Padukone was born to Ujjala and Prakash Padukone on January 5, 1986, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her family moved to Bangalore, India, when she was only eleven months old.Her parents Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins hail from Padukone village in Kundapura Taluk of Udupi District, Karnataka, India.Her father, Prakash Padukone, was a badminton player of international repute, and her mother is a travel agent. Padukone also has a younger sister, Anisha, born in 1991.
Padukone attended Sophia High School in Bangalore. She completed her Pre-university studies at Mount Carmel College in Bangalore, India.While in high school she played badminton at the state level like her father and was a member of her father's badminton club.However, she was not keen on pursuing a career as a badminton player and abandoned it to concentrate on her ICSE exams.
Modeling
While in college, Padukone pursued a career in modeling.Over the years, she has modeled for such Indian brand names such as Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, and "brand ambassador" for the Jewels of India retail jewelery show.[citation needed] The cosmetics company Maybelline made her its international spokesperson.[citation needed]
At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards she was awarded the title "Model of the Year".[citation needed] Shortly afterward, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006 and won two trophies at the Idea Zee Fashion Awards: "Female Model of the Year - (Commercial Assignments)" and "Fresh Face of the Year".[citation needed] Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA.
Acting
After pursuing a successful career in modeling, Padukone branched out into acting. She started by starring in the music video for the song Naam Hai Tera from the independent pop album Aap Kaa Surroor by Himesh Reshammiya.
In 2006, Padukone made her cinematic debut in the Kannada film Aishwarya starring opposite actor Upendra. She later made a successful Bollywood debut in 2007 with Farah Khan's international hit Om Shanti Om opposite Shahrukh Khan The film featured her portraying 1970s star Shantipriya and later as Sandhya, a young woman who looks exactly like Shantipriya. Her performance was well received, earning the actress a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award as well as her first Filmfare Best Actress nomination. Taran Adarsh from indiaFM noted, "Deepika has all it takes to be a top star — the personality, the looks and yes, she's supremely talented too. Standing in the same frame as SRK and getting it right is no small achievement. She comes as a whiff of fresh air!"
Padukone next appeared in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) opposite Ranbir Kapoor and then the Warner Bros.-Rohan Sippy collaboration, Chandni Chowk to China, which released on January 16, 2009. As of January 2009, she is working on Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal opposite Saif Ali Khan.

King Khan




Shahrukh Khan (Hindi: शाहरुख़ ख़ान, Urdu: شاہ رخ خان) born November 2, 1965, sometimes credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian actor, who has been a prominent Bollywood figure, as well as a film producer and television host.
Khan began his career appearing in several television serials in the late 1980s. He made his film debut in Deewana (1992). Since then, he has been part of numerous other commercially successful films and has earned major critical acclaim for many of his performances. During his years in the Indian film industry, he has won thirteen Filmfare Awards, seven of which are in the Best Actor category.
While some of Khan's best-known films, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Chak De India (2007) and Om Shanti Om (2007), remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits, films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) have been top-grossing productions in the overseas market, making Khan one of the most successful actors of Hindi cinema. Since 2000, Khan branched out into film production and television presenting as well. He is the founder/owner of two production companies, Dreamz Unlimited and Red Chillies Entertainment. In 2008, Newsweek named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world.
Biography
Khan was born in 1965 to Muslim parents of Pathan descent in New Delhi, India.His father, Taj Mohammed Khan, was an Indian freedom fighter from Peshawar, British India. According to Khan, his father's father was originally from Afghanistan.His mother, Lateef Fatima, was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan. He served as a General in the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose.Khan's father came to New Delhi from Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar before the partition of India,while his mother's family came from Rawalpindi, British India.Khan has an elder sister named Shehnaz.
Khan attended St. Columba's School where he was accomplished in sports, drama, and academics. He won the Sword of Honour, an annual award given to the student who best represents the spirit of the school. Khan later attended the Hansraj College (1985-1988) and earned his Economics (honors). Though he pursued a Masters Degree in Mass Communications at Jamia Millia Islamia, he later opted out to make his career in Bollywood.
After the death of his parents, Khan moved to Mumbai in 1991. In that same year, before any of his films were released, he married Gauri Chibber (who is a Hindu) in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on 25 October 1991.They have two children, son Aryan Khan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000). According to Khan, while he strongly believes in Allah, he also values his wife's religion. At home, his children follow both religions, with the Qur'an being situated next to the Hindu gods.
In 2005, Nasreen Munni Kabir produced a two-part documentary on Khan, titled The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. Featuring his 2004 Temptations concert tour, the film contrasted Khan's inner world of family and daily life with the outer world of his work. The book Still Reading Khan, which details his family life, was released in 2006. Another book by Anupama Chopra, "King of Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema", was released in 2007. This book described the world of Bollywood through Khan's life.
Khan has been awarded a number of honours. In April 2007, a life-size wax statue of Khan was installed at the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, London.During the same year, he was accorded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Literature) award by the French government for his "exceptional career".
In October 2008, Khan was conferred the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka which carries the honorific Datuk (in similar fashion to "Sir" in British knighthood), by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob, the head of state of Malacca in Malaysia. Khan was honored for "promoting tourism in Malacca" by filming One Two Ka Four there in 2001. Some were critical of this decision.
Film career
Background
Khan studied acting under celebrated Theatre Director Barry John at Delhi's Theatre Action Group (TAG). In 2007, John commented thus on his former pupil that, "The credit for the phenomenally successful development and management of Shahrukh's career goes to the superstar himself."Khan made his acting debut in 1988 when he appeared in the television series, Fauji, playing the role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai.He went on to appear in several other television serials, most notably in the 1989 serial, Aziz Mirza's Circus, which depicted the life of circus performers. The same year, Khan also had a minor role in the made-for-television English-language film, In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, which was based on life at Delhi University and was written by Arundhati Roy.

Friday, March 6, 2009

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE


SLUMDOG MILLIONAIREChristian Colson
ACCEPTANCE SPEECHThank you so much to the Academy. As you can see, our film was a collaboration between hundreds of people. I'm so happy that so many of them could be with us here tonight to share this moment. Together, we've been on an extraordinary, an extraordinary journey. When we started out, we had no stars, we had no power or muscle. We didn't have enough money, really, to do what we wanted to do. But what we had was a script that inspired mad love in everyone who read it. We had a genius for a director. We had a cast and a crew who were unwavering in their commitment and whose talents are up on the screen for all of you to see. We had partners in Film4, in Celador, in Pathé and Fox Searchlight, who had the courage to support us. And we had a shared love for the extraordinary city of Mumbai, where we made the movie. Most of all, we had passion and we had belief, and our film shows that if you have those two things, truly anything is possible. I want to thank, on a personal note, my mum and my dad for all their love and support over the years. I want to thank my girl, Saskia Mulder, who is my partner in crime and the light in my life. And I want to thank all of you very much indeed. Thank you.