a musical treat

is a medicine, can cure you. Music is heavenly, can bless you. Music is like a winter, can blossom you. And can give you happiness, make you lighter, can inspire you, and fill you with energy and… and….. I can write pages with like comments when think about music. I don’t usually have a habit of listening albums or music compositions. But if a composition really catches me, like to hear it again and again and it gives me some kind of positive inspiration and happiness.

It’s strange that I’m not a fan of great singers or music legends in the world, though  never dislike them. But some compositions really beat me with their beauty, and ‘Toss The Feathers’ is like one. It’s actually an old version of music. But I really like it and a great fan. To me something seems ‘best’ when it pull  someone or something towards them, by the qualities they have, especially positive and admirable ones. Hope you too will like it. If you feel its love comment me back, ….. want to hear,….. what you think of it. Bye…..

‘Amelia’ directed by Mira Nair

Amelia is an upcoming 2009 biographical film by Mira Nair based on the life of Amelia Earhart. Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying  experiences,  and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization  for female pilots. Amelia Earhart was  born in july 24,  1897 and disappeared in July 2,  1937 over the Pacific Ocean in an attempted circumnavigational flight across the globe. The American government spent $4 million searching for her but her body was never recovered. She was declared dead by the American authority in January 5, 1939.

Mira Nair’s biopic film Amelia, based on a script written by Ronald Bass, has an excellent cast of actors including two-time Oscar winner  (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Virgina Madsen, and Christopher Eccleston.

Though The film is expected to release on October 23 in USA, Oscar buzz for the Mira Nair’s biopic Amelia is brewing fast, with distributor Fox Searchlight focusing heavily on the film.

They say the film about the mysterious disappearance of aviation pioneer, feminist and author Amelia Earhart, will compete with James Cameron’s eagerly awaited Avatar which is distributed by Fox. It is his first film since the mega hit, Titanic, released in 1997.

Though the nominations are several  months  away ,  several prominent publications including  Los Angeles Times and Seattle PI.com are betting on Amelia playing big at the nominations. ‘Only three times in history has a woman been nominated for Best Director,’ wrote Seattle PI. Com which expects Nair’s David go after Cameron’s Goliath.

The Times expects the Nair film to bag a number of acting nominations. Los Angeles Times started the Oscar buzz for Amelia saying that Swank is a heavy contender. Her Oscar success is even more striking when you recall that she has never lost.

Fox Searchlight has released in recent years many hit films which were either nominated for the Oscars or won the coveted award. The list includes The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire and Juno. So let’s hope and especially as an Indian I wish and hope that all these factors may bring the first Oscar for the best director to India.

“Amelia” in brief…

• Directed by : Mira Nair
• Produced by :  Ronald Bass Hilary Swank Ted Waitt Kevin Hyman Lydia Dean Pilcher
• Written by :  Ronald Bass Anna Hamilton Phelan
• Starring : Hilary Swank Richard Gere Ewan McGregor Virginia Madsen Christopher Eccleston
• Music by : Gabriel Yared
• Cinematography :  Stuart Dryburgh
• Editing by : Allyson C. Johnson
• Release date :  October 23, 2009
• Country : United States
• Language :  English

JOHN the sexiest

John is the only Indian to feature in the ’25 Sexiest Men’ list compiled by E! News, one of the largest and most popular networks in Hollywood. What’s more in a special episode of the ‘Sexiest Men’ series, John has even made it to the elite Top 10 club where he features alongside soccer star David Beckham, actor Johnny Depp, rugby union footballer Dan Carter and Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers who starred in Bend it Like Beckham. John said he attributes his selection to the kind of films, commercial endorsements, growing international fan base and the love for his craft.

E! Entertainment Television, which is one of the most widely viewed networks around the world, has covered the entire globe searching for the sexiest, hottest, beach bound hard-bodies; delicious hunks that can melt women with their voice and crush them with their sizzling sex appeal. John having made it to the Top 10 of the ‘Sexiest Men in the World‘ list indeed says a lot about his sex-appeal.

John is the only Indian to make it to the ‘25 Sexiest Men’ of the world list put together by a large and popular Hollywood network that is viewed in 600 million-plus homes worldwide.

His own sexuality, John shyly admitted when asked what rocketed him from Bollywood to Hollywood in the sex stakes, was his individuality. “I don’t know how to be, look, and act like anybody else,” he admitted. But what was physically sexy about him since Hollywood doesn’t score brownie points for individuality? “Well, my smile,” John added reluctantly. “Six packs cannot substitute for honesty on the face.”

Born in Mumbai, India on December 17, 1972, John Abraham is one of the most successful male models in India. Abraham’s father is a Malayali Syrian Christian architect, from Alwaye, Kerala in India. His mother, Phiroza Irani, is part of Bombay’s Parsi community.Abraham started his career with the media firm Time & Space Media Entertainment Promotions Ltd. Later, he worked for Enterprises-Nexus as a media planner.

In 1999, he won the Gladrags Manhunt Contest and went to Singapore for Manhunt International, where he won second place. Following this, he appeared in a number of commercial advertisements.Abraham made his film debut in 2003 with the controversial film Jism. The film did well, and his work was noticed widely. Later the same year, came the paranormal Saaya (2003) and the romantic Paap (2004); neither of them did well at box-office. John’s first blockbuster hit came with the movie Dhoom in 2004 where he played the role of the villain ‘Kabir’.

Abraham has been dating actress Bipasha Basu since 2002. John loves wearing jeans and his own brand clothes. Other than being a fantastic actor and a model, he is a great human being. He is a vegetarian and works for animal rights.

Katrina Vs Kareena

Both Filmfare and Screen India ,the two very famous magazines from India, recently announced the winners of their respective polls. Katrina topped two lists on that same poll. She is considered the sexiest pin up girl and as having the hottest figure. Kareena Kapoor came in at number two on the pin up list.

Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif , born in Hong Kong on July 16, 1984, One of eight siblings. Kaif was born to an Indian Kashmiri father and British mother, was brought up in Hawaii. She has seven sisters. She started modelling at the age of 14, when she was approached for a jewellery campaign. After that she continued modeling in London.

Continuing to model was the reason she got her break in a Bollywood movie “Boom” offered by none other than film-maker Kaizad Gustad. She was flooded with modeling assignments the minute she set her foot on Indian soil, especially with her innocent expressive face, hour-glass figure, and drop-dead gorgeous looks.

Professionally she started off as a model with photographer Atul Kasbekar, and upon being accepted, she received offers from LG, Cola, Fevicol, Lakme, & Veet. It was the Lakme commercial that got her noticed. She retained Matrix as her Manager to accept work on her behalf and at the price she deserved.

Moving to different culture and country was not much of a culture shock for her, as she states that no matter where you come from, the bottom line is that everyone wants to be loved, respected, and cared for. Unlike other artistes from foreign lands, Katrina did not experience any difficulties in getting a visa nor of getting it extended in India.

Although linguistically challenged, Katrina puts on a bold face and states that other Bollywood artistes like Sridevi, who did not know Hindi, did get offers from Bollywood film-makers, and she is no different. She is taking Hindi and dancing lessons to fit in with the Bollywood culture. She likes to display a picture of her learning Kathak dancing where she used to dance 7 hours a day non-stop.

Despite of her soft gorgeous looks, she is not easily intimidated, but admits that she is very emotional, almost an incurable romantic, wears comfortable non-revealing clothes when at home, hates to do her hair, and above all dislikes make-up. Admitting to being lonely in the beginning, but now has several nice friends who she can hang out with.

Although her first movie “Boom” was panned by the critics and shunned by the audiences, two other Telegu movies “Malliswari” and “Pidugu” did get her noticed. She grossed Rs.70 lakhs for Malliswari – making her top the list of the highest paid actresses during a South Indian movie debut.

Not done with South Indian movies, she has been signed in a Tamil movie “Bheema” opposite National Award Winner Vikram. She has received decent reviews for her part in “Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya”, as well as a brief appearance in “Sarrkar”. Katrina has now made Bombay her base, and doesn’t mind singing and dancing around trees while she’s at it, and is determined to make it big in Bollywood.

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor, born 21 September 1980, is a four-time Filmfare Award-winning prominent Indian actress who appears in Bollywood movies. Born into an old and influential film family of Punjabi origin in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Kareena’s name was inspired by the book, Anna Karenina.Kareena is the grand-daughter of Raj Kapoor, who acted in and directed many successful movies and is also the great grand-daughter of Prithviraj Kapoor. Kareena was born to actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, who had divorced when she was still young.

Kareena had planned to debut in Rakesh Roshan’s “Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai” but left the project a few days into the filming.She made her debut in J.P. Dutta’s moderately successful “Refugee” in 2000 with Abhishek Bachchan and won critical acclaim for portraying the role of a Pakistani girl. The role earned her a Filmfare Best Debut Award and the film went on to become the fifth highest grossing film of that year.

In 2001, films like “Yaadein” and “Asoka” followed for her which did poorly at the box office. However her breakthrough performance of a princess in the latter was acclaimed and earned her a Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. Her next release, “Ajnabee” fared moderately well and became one of the highest grossing films of that year.

Success followed for her with films like “Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai” and “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”. The former became one of the biggest hits of that year and the latter became the second highest grossing film of 2001.These successes established her as one of the industry’s most successful stars.

Kapoor was in great demand after these successes and signed many new movies, but most of them failed to do well.Even much-hyped films like “Mujhse Dosti Karoge” (2002) and “Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon”(2003) that came from big banners like Yash Raj Films and Rajshri Productions failed to do well in India but generated decent business overseas.

She also gained critical acclaim for her de-glamorized role in the critically acclaimed “Dev”, for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance, and her negative role in Fida. Her other films in 2004 included the moderately successful “Aitraaz” and the semi-hit “Hulchul”.

She followed through with moderately successful films like “Bewafaa” and “Dosti: Friends Forever” in 2005. Her performance as a young woman who marries her sister’s husband in the former was well received by critics.

“36 China Town” was Kareena’s first release in 2006 followed by “Chup Chup Ke”. Both films managed to do moderately well at the box office. Her performance as Desdemona in the Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello, “Omkara” was praised,earning her a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress.

Her performance in the film also landed her various nominations for Best Actress at different award ceremonies including the Filmfare Awards. In the same year, she also won favorable reviews for her item number in the hit movie “Don – The Chase Begins Again”.

The Sexiest Woman Alive !!!

It’s said that if angels had a language, it would definitely be sweet music. But I just want to enhance the same by saying ‘If Angels had a face, then, it would resemble the sensuously angelic beauty, Katrina Kaif’. The name Katrina Kaif is usually followed by the sighs of a thousand men! With the face of an angel and a body to die for, this woman has it all. Recently, FHM India, the leading men’s magazine did a poll all across to find out the 100 Sexiest Women in the World! And yes, Katrina Kaif bagged the highest number of votes. She is the Sexiest Woman Alive!

The finalists included the likes of Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson, singers Rihanna and Madonna, Bollywood superstars like Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Bipasha Basu, supermodels like Adriana Lima and Gisele Bundchen, amongst several other sexy and successful women in the world. The Global Winner was Transformers star Megan Fox who came second in the poll, while the vivacious Kareena Kapoor was third closely followed by the beautiful Deepika Padukone and sexy Bipasha Basu in the fourth and fifth slot.

Katrina Kaif (born July 16, 1984) is a model and Bollywood actress.Her mother is English and her father is an NRI originally from Kashmir. She was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Hawaii and London. She has seven sisters. Her height is 5ft 8.5 inches.and her zodiac sign is “scorpio”. She started modeling by accident at the age of 14, when she was approached for a jewelery campaign. After that she continued modeling in London.

Filmmaker Kaizad Gustad discovered Katrina in London and gave her a part in his film Boom. It wasn’t long before the acting bug bit Katrina who decided to take it up full time and move permanently to Mumbai. With her attractive features, Katrina was offered a number of modeling assignments.

However, filmmakers were at first hesitant to sign her because of her linguistic shortcomings, such as her inability to speak Hindi. Films that did feature her usually had her voice dubbed over by a native speaker of the film’s language. This changed with the film, Namastey London, in which she dubbed her own lines.

She is a private person and don’t go to too many parties. She wants to go normally with friends. And she is also very particular about her clothes which she wears .

Although she wears bold outfits on screen or for ads but she feels more comfortable in not-so-revealing clothes in personal life. She had just finished his Kathak classes in 40 days only in which she had to dance for 7 hours non-stop everyday.

She is said to be romantically linked with Salman khan. Although she has been seeing Salman Khan for sometime now, she still refuses to talk about him in the media.

She has made it clear that her personal life is not meant to be known to all and that no one has a right to pass any kind of judgment on it.

A R Rahman- Indian Beethovan

Hey , Do you agree with me? Anyway I’m not doubted. A.R. Rehman is a great musician , that India have ever seen. He is classic, modern and even more vibrant. Allah Rakha Rahman , born on January 6, 1966 as A. S. Dileep Kumar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, is a critically acclaimed award-winning composer, record producer and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian film composers ever, and his career is considered a turning point in the history of Indian film music.

Many credit him with having single-handedly revolutionized the standards of film music composition in India.He is also credited with re-energizing the popularity of Indian film music the world over.In a career spanning over a decade, Rahman, by 2003, had sold more than one hundred million records of his film scores and soundtracks world-wide, and sold over 200 million cassettes making him one of the world’s top 25 all-time top selling recording artists; he is the only person of Indian descent on the list. Let us just go through some of the world famous works of Rahman.

Vande Matharam

Rahman has been involved in several projects aside from film. He made an album Vande Mataram (1997) on India’s 50th anniversary of independence to immense success. The album made this song so popular and femiliar to the least.

Roja

The soundtrack features score and 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu. This soundtrack was revolutionary in that it changed the face of Tamil Film music, announcing the arrival of Rahman as a potent force in the Indian music scene. He used many instruments and grand arrangements to generate an epic sound to the songs.

Dil Se

Chaiyya Chaiyya,a song in this movie has become one of the most popular Bollywood tracks in the last ten years. It has been featured in the soundtrack of hollywood movie Inside Man as well as being one of the songs in the hit stage musical Bombay Dreams.

Lagan

Lagaan is a Bollywood feature film made in India. It became the third Hindi language film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (after Mother India in 1957 and Salaam Bombay! in 1989). All the songs in this film were super hits.

Bombay

The original soundtrack features score and 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics in the Tamil language by Vairamuthu. The track “Bombay Theme” from the soundtrack is an instrumental orchestral piece composed, arranged and conducted by A. R. Rahman. It was recently featured in the soundtrack and score of the Nicholas Cage film Lord of War, released in 2005.

Jodha Akbar

The film centers around the romance between the Muslim Mughal Emperor Akbar, played by Hrithik Roshan and his Hindu wife, Jodhabai, played by Aishwarya Rai. The music is composed by acclaimed music composer A. R. Rahman. The soundtrack of the movie was released on January 19, 2008.

Guru

The soundtrack was released in November 18, 2006. Guru, a musical by nature, has music composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics provided by Gulzar. Like many of Rahman’s soundtracks, Guru comes with a variety of songs. The music and lyrics met popularity upon release. The songs vary in their musical style, from the Turkish inspired Mayya Mayya to the folk-ish Ek Lo Ek Muft and the love ballad, Tere Bina.

Boys

Boys (2003) is a Tamil film directed by S. Shankar. The film stars Siddarth, Genelia, Bharath, Vivek, and Senthil. The film’s score and soundtrack are composed by A. R. Rahman.In the film, there are five teenagers who are very good friends. They have stereotypical teen-boy fantasies – proposing to every girl they come across, touching women in crowded areas, boozing, porn, and call girls etc.

Rangeela

Rangeela (1995) is a Hindi-language movie, a product of the Bollywood film industry. It was directed by Ram Gopal Varma, and starred Aamir Khan, Urmila Matondkar, and Jackie Shroff. Rangeela was music director A. R. Rahman’s first Hindi movie with an original score. The film features playback singer Asha Bhosle, who made a comeback singing Rahman’s songs.

Jeans

The Jeans soundtrack was released by Westop on April 1, 1998. The original scores from the film’s composer, A. R. Rahman, make up the tracks on the album. The Lyrics are by Vairamuthu. The soundtrack also features six vocals played during the film: “Ennake Ennaka” by Unnikrishnan and Pallavi, “Columbus Columbus” by A. R. Rahman, “Poovukul” by Unnikrishnan and Sujatha, “Vaaraya Thozhi” by Sonu Nigam, Shahul Hameed, Harini and Sangeetha, “Kannodu Kanbethallam” by Nithyashree and “Anbe Anbe” by Hariharan and Anuradha Sriram. These songs were dubbed into Hindi, using Javed Akhtar’s lyrics when it was released in North India.

Janaganamana

Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India. Written in Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of a Brahmo hymn composed and scored by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.A musical album has been released by A R Rahman in this name , as a tribute to the nation.

THE KING KHAN

Bollywood is the central stage of Indian film industry. When thinking of Bollywood you can never leave the name Shahrukh, the king Khan. I don’t think that a single article can go through the whole life of Shahrukh , as he is really a topic for a blog itself. But let us have a glance at his life and achievements.

Shahrukh Khan born 2 November 1965, Zodiac Sign: scorpio , is a highly acclaimed Indian actor who works in Bollywood films, as well as film producer and television host. Khan was born to Muslim parents of Pathan ethnicity. His father, Taj Mohammed Khan was a freedom activist. His mother Lateef Fatima was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan, who served as a General in the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose. Shahrukh had one sister named Shehnaz fondly called Lala Rukh.

Khan had his education at St. Columbia High School In New Delhi and Graduated from Hansraj College, & then Masters in Mass Communication from Jamiya Miliya Islamiya, New Delhi After the death of his parents, Khan moved from Gurgaon to Mumbai in 1991. In that same year, he married Gauri Khan in a Hindu wedding ceremony. They have two children, son Aryan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000)

Khan studied acting under celebrated Theatre Director Barry John at Delhi’s Theatre Action Group. 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, appearing most notably in the 1989 serial, Circus (directed by Aziz Mirza), 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.

Shahruk Khan made his Bollywood movie debut in Deewana (1992). The movie was a box office hit, and launched his career in Bollywood. His performance won him a Film fare Best Male Debut Award. His second movie, Maya Memsaab, generated some controversy because of his appearance in an “explicit” sex scene in the movie. Since then, he has been part of numerous commercial successes, as well as delivering a variety of critically acclaimed performances.

During his career years, he has won seven Film fare Best Actor Awards, and has had significant box office success, with films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Om Shanti Om (2007) being some of Bollywood’s biggest hits, while films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Veer Zaara (2004) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) are the biggest Bollywood hits in the overseas market.Khan’s first release in 2007, the sports movie Chak De India, earned him good reviews. Though the movie started low at the box office, it became one of the year’s biggest hits. For his performance as the coach of a girl’s hockey team, he earned his seventh Film fare Best Actor Award. Next followed Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. The film emerged as the year’s highest grossing film in India and the overseas market, as well as earned him another nomination for Best Actor at the Film fare ceremony. Since 2000, Khan branched out into film production and television presenting as well. He is also the owner of the Kolkata Twenty20 franchise in the Indian Premier League.

Khan was chosen as the host of the third series of the popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who wants to be a millionaire?, in 2007 taking over from the original host Amitabh Bachchan who had hosted the show from 2000 to 2005. On Monday, January 22, 2007, “Kaun Banega Crorepati” aired with Khan as the new host. The season ended on April 19 2007

(For more interesting photos visit :www.BinBrain.Com/Photos)

Awards

Shah Rukh Khan has won six Filmfare Awards for Best Actor, the most recent being in 2005 for Swades, acting the role of an Indian-American NASA engineer whose life is transformed by his encounters with rural India. 2004 was also a good year for Shahrukh; he acted in three movies, receiving Filmfare nominations for his work in each of them.
Filmfare Power Award 2004
# Best Actor – Swades
# 2004 Filmfare Power Award (along Amitabh Bachchan) 2003
# Best Actor – Devdas
# 2002 Filmfare Special Award Swiss Consulate Trophy 2002
# Best Actor, Critics’ Choice – Mohabbatein
# 2000 Best Actor – Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
# 1998 Best Actor – Dil To Pagal Hai
# 1997 Best Actor – Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
# 1995 Best Villain – Anjaam# 1994 Best Performer Critics’ Choice# 1993 Best Actor – Baazigar
# 1993 Best Newcomer – Deewana
If all categories in which he has won are counted, Shah Rukh has the greatest number of Film fare Awards for performance in Hindi movies. He is two short of equalling the record for Best Actor category – Dilip Kumar heads that list with eight awards between 1954 and 1983.Two of the films in which Shah Rukh starred as a leading actor have been India’s entry in Hollywood’s Oscars. Paheli (2005) has been nominated for the 2006 Oscars. Devdas (2002) was an earlier nomination. Shah Rukh also appeared in a third Oscar entry, as a supporting actor in Hey Ram (2000). See List of India’s official entries to the Oscars.He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004.

Other Recognitions

# 2001 – Jade Magazine Award Sexiest Man in Asia
# 2004 – Asian Guild Awards Bollywood Star of the Decade
# 2004 – Pepsi Sabsey Favourite Star Kaun Award Favourite Hero
# 2004 – ‘F-Awards’ for Excellence in Indian Fashion Celebrity Model of the Year
# 2004 – Chhoton Ka Funda Award
# 2004 – Cover of Time magazine
# 2004 – Sabse Tez Personality of the Year Award
# 2004 – MSN Search Personality of the Year Award
# 2005 – Cover of National Geographic

National Honours

# Oscar For Best Actor To Ever Be On This Earth
# Padma Shri Award 2006
# Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in the Field of Entertainment 2005
# Best Indian Citizen Award 2002

He has won

# 13 Filmfare Awards
# 10 Rupa Cinegoers Awards
# 6 Star Screen Videocon Awards
# 6 Sansui Viewers Choice Movie Awards
# 4 Zee Cine Awards
# 4 People’s Choice Movie Awards
# 3 IIFA Awards, 3 Zee Gold Bollywood Awards
# 2 AFJA Awards, 1 Aashirwad Award
# 1 Disney Kids Channel Awards
# 1 MTV Immies Indian Music Excellence Awards
# 1 Sports World Film Awards