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Kangana goes light-hearted for 'Tanu Weds Manu'
Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Kangana Ranaut is known for playing heavy duty roles in films like 'Gangster' and 'Fashion', but the actress has now signed on her second light-hearted movie 'Tanu Weds Manu'.
The fun film, directed by Aanand L. Rai of 'Strangers' fame, has Kangana paired with R. Madhavan.
'It was after much deliberation that Kangana was finalised for the role. The character that Kangana would be playing in 'Tanu Weds Manu' is such that it is of paramount importance to get the casting right,' Rai told IANS.
Kangana, who has played a traumatised women in most of her films, was signed on for her first comic role by Anil Kapoor for his production 'No Problem', a comedy directed by Anees Bazmee.
Before venturing into comedy, Kangana did a series of serious films.
While she was haunted by ghosts in 'Raaz - The Mystery Continues', 'Fashion' had her playing a supermodel who fell to drugs and abuse. 'Life In A... Metro' showed her in a turbulent affair with a much married boss (Kay Kay Menon), 'Woh Lamhe' had her play a schizophrenic while in 'Gangster' she played an alcoholic moll to a gangster (Shiney Ahuja).
Director Rai, however, is confident that she will pull off the role in 'Tanu Weds Manu'.
'Yes, I have studied her filmography quite closely and I know for sure that 'Tanu Weds Manu' would finally showcase Kangana in a different light. There is a definite humour to the film which thankfully is poles apart from life vs death roles that Kangana has played in the past,' he said.
Explaining the reason behind finalising Kangana, Rai said: 'When I was narrating the film to her, she came across as someone who was very passionate and energetic when it came to films. Moreover, what worked for me was the fact that she was taking a personal view on the subject. Now that's the kind of girl I wanted for the film since I wanted her to add something of her own to the character as well.'
But before Kangana, Rai had approached Konkona Sen Sharma but she couldn't accept the offer due to date problems.
'There were genuine date issues due to which Konkona couldn't come on board. We are looking at shooting the film in the months of September, October and November but she is unavailable then. However, I'm happy about Kangana now being signed for the film since she and Madhavan coming together would be really special for the film.'
Rai had earlier made 'Strangers', a thriller that had Jimmy Sheirgill and Kay Kay Menon.
'After working on 'Strangers', it is nice to be working on a light-hearted entertainer with a sensitive love story at its heart. The film has an interesting soul while going well with the commercial aspects of things. I would be travelling across my locations through the next few days and begin shooting in September,' he said.
The filmmaker said his movie would be shot in places like Lucknow, Kanpur, Faridkot, Patiala and New Delhi.
Joginder Tuteja
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'Sikandar' narrates Kashmir's tensions through children's eyes
New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) After making comedies like 'Chalo America' and 'The King of Bollywood', director Piysush Jha returns with suspense-thriller 'Sikandar'. Releasing Friday, the film is about the tensions in Kashmir seen through children's eyes.
Set in Jammu and Kashmir, the film has Parzan Dastur and Ayesha Kapoor in lead roles along with R. Madhavan and Sanjay Suri. It revolves around teenage boy Sikandar Raza (Parzan), who dreams of playing football at the national level, and his friend Nasreen (Ayesha). But things take an unexpected turn when he finds a gun on the road.
Sikandar's parents were killed by militants when he was four years old. And now he lives with his foster parents and he is only concerned about their happiness and football.
One day, on his way back home from a school football match, he finds a gun lying on the road. Despite warnings from Nasreen, he picks up the gun and his life is never the same again after that - he enters into the darker side of his nature.
The quiet yet strong Nasreen becomes Sikandar's conscience keeper and also tries her best to pull him out of the murky goings-on. But to her dismay Sikandar has sunk so deep that things go beyond his control.
Jha says 'Sikandar' is not a children's film despite having children as protagonists.
' 'Sikandar' is not a children's film at all. It just has two important characters as children but it's for everyone. Just like 'Taare Zameen Par' which had a child protagonist and still appealed to people of all ages, this film too will appeal to one and all,' said Jha.
''Sikandar' basically reflects the situation of Kashmir seen through the eyes of children... It's a film full of hope but told in a manner that is not preachy. It is involving and intriguing and connects at an emotional level. The underlining theme is about fighting against the odds, living up to expectations and coming out with a clear conscience,' he added.
Produced by Big Pictures and Sudhir Mishra, 'Sikandar' has already garnered its share of positive reactions when it travelled to festivals like the Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Los Angeles Indian film festival.
Earlier slated for a March release, the film was delayed by the tussle between producers and distributors over revenue-sharing of forthcoming releases.
Indo Asian News Service
Source: yahoo news
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Rains here, but govt has no seeds to give farmers
The state Agriculture Department was caught off guard when the drought struck. And now that the state has received extensive rain over the last three days, the department has failed the farmers once again.
The rain has made the conditions ideal for sowing the late kharif crops. But the seed grains that were to be distributed to farmers as a drought-relief measure, will not reach them in time.
The grains were to be distributed as mini-kits, each containing two to three kg seeds of the late-sowing and low-water intensity crops — millets, pulses and oilseeds. Besides small and marginal farmers, those who had failed to sow paddy or had their crop damaged due to scanty rainfall, were entitled to these.
As per the original schedule, the seeds for the mini-kits were to be procured by the Agriculture Department by August 14. Now the date has been extended to August 30. The mini-kits will reach the farmers by the third week of September after laboratory tests for germination, purity and physical quality.
"The delay is going to deprive the drought-hit farmers the benefit of the current wet spell and the distribution of mini kits will be of little use to them," said O P Agnihotri, former state advisor to the National Food Security Mission programme. "The seeds of three pulses, Arhar, Moong and Tur, and two millets like Jwar and Bajra, should be sowed latest by August 30. Only Toria (an oilseed), can be sowed till mid-September, but it has not been included in the mini-kit."
The Agriculture Department, however, has a counter-argument.
"Had we supplied the seeds before the rains in August, it would have gone waste," said Rajit Ram Verma, Director of Agriculture. Now there is sufficient moisture in the fields, which will ensure proper germination of the seeds.
"It is the mandate of the UP Seeds Corporation to procure and supply the seeds to us," he said, "our job is to distribute the seeds to the farmers." The mini-kits are to be distributed to over 13 lakh farmers in 58 drought-hit districts and the list of beneficiaries is ready.
The seed, he said, is not available in the market and it is an uphill task for the UP Seeds Corporation to procure it, he said.
The state government has provided Rs 27.23 crore for the mini-kit programme. The progress of the distribution was reviewed on Monday and the department has been directed to expedite the process, said Chief Secretary Atul Gupta. "As per the estimates of the Agriculture Department, the rains will help improve the productivity of the paddy crop. Against the earlier estimate of loss of 40 per cent, it is now estimated to be 30 per cent."
Against the total coverage of 92 lakh hectares under the kharif crops, the share of paddy was targeted to be 60 lakh hectares, which is now estimated to be close to 40 lakh hectares.
As a result, rice production is set to nosedive from 131 lakh MT last year.
Despite the rains in August, the deficiency in rainfall remains at an alarming 46.5 per cent. Against an average rainfall of 527 mm between June 1 and August 17, the state has received only 282 mm.
Central team surveys areaAn 11-member Central team arrived to take stock of the damage caused by poor rainfall. After meeting officials, the team left for a field tour of the state. It will visit around 30 districts in next two days and submit a report to the Union Agriculture Ministry next week. The state government presented a "drought mitigation package" to the team, and demanded the sanction of a special package of Rs 8,939 crore.
Virendra Nath Bhatt
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Swine flu cases dip but too early to breathe easy
Though there is some respite in the swine flu scenario that dominated the city for last two weeks, it would be too early to breathe easy, say medical practitioners.
One of the main reasons, they believe, could be because the number of people diagnosed with the infection probably presents just a fraction of those who may be carrying the infection but remain undiagnosed.
"You could say the ones detected are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a huge number of cases that are not reported simply because we have stopped doing the swab tests, except in the case of critical cases. Thus many of the cases of swine flu are now with family doctors, who of course, refer them to the screening centres, but finally the patients end up taking Tamiflu without being tested for the virus and thus do not become part of the official statistics," said Dr Dilip Sarda, president, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Pune chapter.
Agreeing that just about 10 per cent of the infected cases may have been reported, Dr Pandurang Pawar, medical superintendent of Sassoon Hospital said while there may be many more suspected and confirmed cases that do not make it to Naidu or Aundh Chest Hospital, it's not a case for alarm as long as the precautions being taken are continued. "Ninety per cent of the cases need just home medication," said Pawar.
Dr Pallavi Bhargava, infectious diseases specialist at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, said the number of those having tested positive may be way below the number that are actually infected. "In the US those who tested H1N1 positive were around 50,000 and the estimate ran to one million — about 20 times over. The same could definitely hold true for Pune at least," said Bhargava. She said given this estimation, the mortality has been fairly low, which is a good sign and proves that the disease is fairly well curable.
"Despite big numbers, the transmission seems to have reduced. There is a thing called herd immunity. That combined with the city closures we've had and the masks being worn by people may well go a long way in containing the spread," said Bhargava.
According to Sarda, such a virus occurs thrice in a century and this is its third attack. "The virus peaks at about three weeks which was the situation last week and then declines in about three months. So though it is at a low now it could spurt in the coming months," he said.
General practitioner Dr Tushar Choudhary feels that it's a logical conclusion that for every one case detected, there are many that go undiagnosed due to lack of testing facilities and medical infrastructure.
"But the good part is that this is a self-limiting disease, so as long as the cautious approach continues things should stay under control," said Choudhary.
Sunanda Mehta
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Michael Jackson to be buried on birthday
Mon, Aug 17 09:01 PM Los Angeles, Aug 17 (IANS) Pop legend Michael Jackson will be laid to rest on his birthday, according to the singer's father.
Jackson will be buried in Forest Lawn cemetery at 10 a.m. Aug 29 - on what would have been the king of pop's 51st birthday, reports nydailynews.com
Jackson father indicated that the burial plans had been made final just in the past few days and he will return to Las Vegas after that.
Indo Asian News Service
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