Daily Bollywood News:Bipasha Basu - Bollywood will remain a hero-centric business

Women are active in show business like never before, but will they surpass the status Bollywood heroes enjoy? Never, says Bipasha Basu, who feels there is minimum opportunity for female actors in the Hindi film industry

“In Bollywood, the opportunities for female actors are very minimum. There’s not much choice for us except to be safe and look pretty and do some nice dance numbers,” said Bipasha in an interview.


The year 2011 saw films like The Dirty Picture, No One Killed Jessica and Saat Khoon Maaf – showcasing a promising trend as far as women finding prominent roles in movies was concerned. But Bipasha says: One Dirty Picture hasn’t changed anything much. It’s just that you’re lucky sometimes to get a Dirty Picture or for my sake, get a Raaz, Jism or Corporate. As one off, you will get a film, which will be talked about in the context that ‘Oh! Women are getting into trend now! It’s going to be such a great time for female actors’. The thing it is never. “We all are going through it, including my contemporaries. As much as we say that the film industry is changing, it is a very hero-centric business and it will always remain that,” said the 33-year-old, who entered the film industry in 2001 with Ajnabee.

After spending over a decade in show business, and having cemented her standing with projects such as Raaz, Jism, No Entry, Dhoom 2, Apharan, Corporate, Race, Bachna Ae Haseeno and, most recently, the successful Raaz 3, Bips admits she can sense some positive change. “There are now some intelligent filmmakers, who are making movies which are thankfully not about being feminist, but about making an entertaining product with the heroine having to do something. And as an actor, you have to really hunt for these films! These are not very easy to find and they are not on higher budgets. It’s rare that a Raaz 3 comes your way and that’s when you jump at the opportunity,” said the actor.

Who does she blame for the paucity of films with women in focus? “The audience is the barrier. If we get eyeballs for films which are just women-centric, it is going to definitely get us more revenue and more infrastructure so that many more films will be made with women as protagonists. It happens for a little while when one works and then it goes away. And it happens again, and goes away. So it’s like a trend,” she said.
For now, Bipasha awaits the release of her debut Hollywood movie Singularity, in which she plays a Maratha warrior Tulaja Naik, opposite film star Josh Hartnett. Unlike her glamorous image in Bollywood, Bipasha has gone simple for the role. She will also be seen in a cameo in Race 2, the sequel to her successful 2008 film Race. To give variety to her filmography, Bipasha will also be seen in psychological thriller Aatma.

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Kin of Mumbai attack victims welcome Kasab’s hanging: World News

Relatives of victims of the 2008 Mumbai attack victims on Wednesday welcomed the execution of the lone surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, saying justice has been finally delivered.
In Varanasi, Sunita Yadav, wife of victim Upendra Yadav, expressed her gratitude to the authorities for carrying out the execution.

Upendra was killed while waiting at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station to catch a train as militants opened fire on unsuspecting civilians.
“We would like to thank the authorities and the law for hanging the one who had widowed so many women and orphaned so many children. We sincerely thank them,” Sunita said.
Many foreigners, some of India's wealthy business elite, and poor train commuters were killed by 10 Pakistani gunmen in a three-day rampage through some of Mumbai's best-known landmarks, including two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre.

The news of Kasab’s execution was also received with joy by Shabbir Dalal in Maharashtra’s Sholapur town, who lost his uncle and cousin in the attack and himself suffered severe injuries.
Dalal recounted the horrors of the attack on the fateful night of November 26, 2008 when he was waiting at Mumbai’s Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus rail station to catch a train home along with his relatives.

“We had been sitting outside the VT station. Three of us were waiting outside gate no. 12, me along with my uncle and nephew. The first bullet hit my cousin Ejaz Dalal and he died on the spot. Then another bullet hit my uncle and he also died on the spot. Then I got hit in my leg by a bullet and began to bleed badly. I lost a lot of blood as bullets were being fired blindly in all directions. So much blood was spilled that day. After that I was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and then I was shifted to the J. J. Hospital. My treatment went on for one year at J. J. Hospital, where I underwent six operations. Today when I heard that the government has hanged Kasab, I feel elated,” he said.

Kasab was filmed walking through Mumbai's main train station carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and a knapsack on his back. Nearly 60 people were gunned down in the crowded station.
For several of the relatives of victims, happiness was tinged with a feeling of delayed justice.

Dev Singh Gosain, father of Gautam Gosain, who was gunned down at the Taj Hotel when the attacks happened, said the hanging should have happened much earlier.
“I have talked to my wife and she was watching the television as well and is very happy. Whatever had to happen has happened. The entire country wanted that he should be hanged. We were very happy when the President had rejected his mercy plea. If it had been done earlier, then it would not have got so delayed,” he said.

The co-owner of Leopold Café, Farzad Jehani, said: “The materialistic loss can always be replaced but human life cannot be replaced. So, I don’t care about the materialistic loss but, always the thought comes to the people’s lives that we have lost - two of my waiters that I have lost, three of the foreign nationals that were lost, three local Indians that were lost, so many that were wounded. How are we going to change those people’s family life? How are we going to change those who were wounded and are having the nightmares going on? So all those things cannot be changed.

Ramdas said: “Though the decision of hanging Kasab was delayed, but a good step has been taken by the government and is in the interest of the people. He deserved to be hanged.”
Mujeer Ali, another Mumbai resident, said: “We are happy with the decision of hanging Kasab, but it came pretty late. He should have been hanged on the day when he was caught. Our government delayed its decision and fed him in the jail for so many days. If the amount that was spent on him, was given to a poor family, they would have sustained for their entire life.
Kasab's execution happened very quickly for India's usually glacial justice system. Three people convicted of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi are still on death row, 21 years after he was killed by a suicide bomb.

Kasab was found guilty on more than 80 charges in May 2010, including murder and waging war on India, and was sentenced to death by hanging. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence on August 29.

It was the first time a capital sentence had been carried out in India since 2004.

India accuses Pakistan-based militants of organizing the attacks, saying Islamabad is failing to act against those behind the raids. Pakistan denies involvement and says it is prosecuting seven suspected militants for their role.

Source by dnaindia

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London Olympics 2012: India`s protest against boxer Sumit`s loss rejected

London Olympics 2012: India`s protest against the controversial opening-round loss of boxer Sumit Sangwan (81kg) on Monday in the Olympic Games has been rejected by the jury that reviewed his bout against Brazilian Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino here.

"The protest has been rejected. The reasons were not given to us but in cases like these, it is extremely rare that a protest is accepted and the decision overturned," national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said.

Sumit lost 14-15 to Florentino in a closely-contested bout which left the Indian team and Sports Minister Ajay Maken enraged, prompting a quick protest.

Sangwan found himself on the wrong side of the judges` scoring pattern as the boxer, despite dominating the second and third rounds, did not get enough points for his efforts.

"Sumit is fine now. Obviously, he was very upset with the result. But there is no other option but to accept things and move on. He will have his chances in future," said Sandhu about the 19-year-old from Haryana.

Indian Boxing Federation Secretary General and acting Chef-de-Mission Muralidharan Raja had stated that the protest was specific to the scoring in the second round.

"The protest was specific to round two. We thought Sangwan should have got more points in that round," Raja said.

Sangwan, one of the bright youngsters on the Indian boxing scene, had made the cut for the Games after winning a gold medal in the Asian Qualifiers earlier this year.

Last night, he came into the final round trailing by two points following the first two rounds going 5-4 and 5-4 in favour of the seeded Brazilian.

His loss was a blow to the Indians, who have already seen Shiva Thapa lose in 56 kg bantamweight class.

Top of Form Bottom of Form

Top of Form Bottom of Form

However, 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60kg) have progressed to the round of 16 and Vikas Krishan (69kg) has got a bye into the pre-quarter finals.

Today, L Devendro Singh (49kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) will open their campaigns in the mega-event.

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Ajith in Billa 2 Teaser

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Latest Bollywood News: Kareena's cameo in 'Rowdy Rathore'

Kareena Kapoor is presently busy playing cameos and grooving to item numbers for free. She has agreed to do item number for good friend Salman Khan’s ‘Dabangg 2’ and now she has shot for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Rowdy Rathore’ starring Sonakshi Sinha and Akshay Kumar.

The highest paid actress of Bollywood has shot the cameo for her good friend Sabina Khan, designer cum producer. Bebo and Sabina are friends from days when Kareena was dating Shahid Kapoor. Sabina used to design Shahid’s outfit then.

Though Kareena broke up with Shahid, the actress maintained her friendship with Sabina. Kareena has done the cameo for free only for good friend Sabinaa who is co-producing the film with Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Her role in the film has been kept under wrap except that she is playing a glamorous lass.

Kareena confirms, "I have done the cameo for Shabinaa and Sanjay. Both are very dear to me."

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World News Updates: Riot over arrival of new iPhones at Apple store in Beijing

Beijing: Thousands of Chinese tech fans queued in freezing temperatures on Friday as the new iPhone 4S went on sale, sparking violent scenes when staff at the Beijing Apple store refused to open its doors.



Police detained at least two people after customers scuffled, threw eggs at the glass front of the store in Beijing's upmarket Sanlitun shopping district, and shouted at staff to open the doors so they could buy the new phone.



An AFP reporter at the scene saw frustrated shoppers attack a security guard outside the shop after police with megaphones shouted at the 1,000-strong crowd to go home and said the new iPhone would not go on sale.



"We waited here all night. It's not fair," said 18-year-old Tom Sun. "We're angry because this American company told us it would open its doors at 7:00 am."

Another, Li Tianye, had travelled for two days by bus from eastern China's Shandong province to get to Beijing for the launch.

"IPhone 4S is Steve Jobs' best, that's why I want one. I will be really upset if they don't open the doors," said the 29-year-old.



Apple did not immediately return calls for comment on why the retailer, one of only two official stores in Beijing, had not opened. Police declined to comment on the violence.

Some of the 1,000 or so people gathered outside the store from the early hours on Friday told AFP they had been paid 100 yuan (around $15) each by touts to stand in line and wait for the doors to open.

One young Chinese man who refused to give his real name said he planned to buy as many of the phones as he could and resell them at a profit of at least 500 yuan a piece.

"These are not fake iPhones," he said. "People want Steve Jobs' best."

Reselling is a major industry in China, where the new iPhone has been on sale for months at a premium on the black market, after being smuggled in from neighbouring countries and from Hong Kong.

But not everyone was disappointed. Some Beijing shoppers said they had bought the phone from a nearby electronics retailer after being turned away from the official Apple store.

"There was a problem at the Apple store. Too many angry people," said one, a young Chinese man who gave only his surname, Du, and said he had been waiting since Thursday evening to buy the phone.

Calmer scenes were witnessed in Shanghai, where an AFP reporter said Apple stores had opened to large crowds and the phone was on sale.

Greater China -- which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan -- has become Apple's fastest growing region, with revenue there second only to the United States.

Die-hard fans in China, which has the world's largest online population with more than 500 million users, have been known to line up for days to get their hands on the latest Apple products.

The California-based company has recently expanded aggressively in China, opening its first store in Hong Kong and its third in Shanghai last September, which brings the total to six in Greater China.

But Apple's popularity has also brought problems, with widespread counterfeiting and illegal smuggling of its products.

In July, an American blogger uncovered fake Apple stores in the southwestern city of Kunming, where even staff working there did not appear to know they were fake.

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