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Oscar winning musician A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) has come up with a Calendar 2010 in aid of "education for the less privileged children".

With pictures of Rahman in various music related moods/settings and his thoughts on topics like love, music, and language; this desktop calendar is being sold for Rs 250.

Reportedly produced by A R Rahman Foundation in collaboration with World Light (Audio Media Education subsidiary), its photographs are captured by T Selvakumar, Audio Media Education director.

"All praises belong to the Almighty," is one of the quotes on the calendar.

A R Rahman Foundation wants to "make poverty history". As a first step towards achieving the vision of "strive towards making poverty history", the Foundation will set up educational institutions and provide world class, state-of-the-art infrastructure and education to underprivileged children who do not have the means to access and fund their education. This will equip them with knowledge and skill sets to pursue specialized higher studies that will provide them career opportunities to build a secure future for themselves and their families, Foundation states.

Foundation is reportedly providing free music education to 30 students from corporation schools in Chennai (India) in Rahman's world-class K M Music Conservatory and aims at increasing this number.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has applauded Rahman for his efforts in educating the less privileged children, saying religions tell us to help the helpless. Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, urged other world entertainment celebrities to follow Rahman in contributing to poverty eradication from the planet.

Katrina Kaif has had three big hits in 2009. A track record that none of her peers can even begin to equal in these times of creative and box-office recession. That isn't all. She has just been declared as the sexiest Asian actress by a leading Asian website from London.

But the girl remains grounded, so much so that she refuses to budge from her abode in a bustling part of Mumbai.

"I know I've been reading about relocating my home. I admit I've looked at a few properties. But nothing seriously. Though it's a little noisy on my street I'm too attached to the place I stay in. I'm also too lazy to make a move. Yes, I'll need a bigger place when my sister Isabelle joins me. But right now she's studying acting in the US. There's still time," says the actress.

So is she planning to move home?

"Not at all. I've always wanted a home by the sea. But I love my current home too much. So no plans of moving."

No plans of signing any new films yet either.

"It's very sweet of directors to mention my name in forthcoming projects. I feel privileged. But I haven't said yes to anything new. At the moment I've cut my workload by half because of my ill health."

As for being designated one of Asia's sexiest women by Eastern Eye, the stars smiles: "Me? Hot and sexy? People should see me at home. I'm painfully unglamorous. Just another working girl making a living.

Aamir Khan, who has been criss-crossing the country in disguise to promote his new film 3 Idiots, has been denied permission to spend a day with the Indian Army's cadets at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

"The film star had sent a request to the defence ministry to spend a day at OTA. But it has been declined and the ministry has not given any reason for it," sources said.

Aamir wanted to interact with the cadets and wanted to see their lives from close quarter.

Nearly 500 cadets from the Short Service Commission cadre pass out from the military institution every year.

It is yet not clear whether Aamir wanted to spend a day at the army institution for his future project or to promote 3 Idiots releasing this Friday.

The movie revolves around three friends and their college days and marks Aamir's return to the big screen after a year. The actor has created a buzz because of the innovative ways he has been promoting the film.

To market the film, Aamir has been travelling across the country in different get-ups. His travels have so far taken him to Varanasi, Madhya Pradesh's Chanderi district, former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly's home in Kolkata, Jaipur and Punjab's Faridkot district.

Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar will shoot his next production venture, I Hate Luv Stories, in Queenstown in January, and a New Zealand official has welcomed it, saying it will help promote tourism.

"The movie will attract a huge audience and the media surrounding the filming and the release will also present great opportunities for promoting New Zealand as a visitor destination," said Tourism New Zealand's acting chief executive Tim Hunter.

Ace designer Manish Malhotra's nephew Punit is directing I Hate Luv Stories, which is being made under Karan's banner Dharma Productions. Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor play the lead roles in the film that is due for release in May next year.

During the film's shooting, Tourism New Zealand plans to host Indian media who will follow the lead actors as they participate in tourist activities in the Queenstown area.

The visitors will have plenty to choose from - Queenstown is considered the adventure capital of New Zealand and offers a wide range of experiences from bungy jumping to jet boating, skiing and snow-boarding besides spectacular scenery, gourmet food and local wines.

Part of the Hollywood blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in Queenstown.

It truly seems like Sallu's going all out to make sure Veer is royal enough! Reports have revealed that the Bollywood star's upcoming flick now has the rare distinction of having been shot at the Buckingham Palace in London, England.

The makers reportedly spent over £50,000 for a shooting schedule of just four hours. Also, before Veer, only a handful of Hollywood productions have been allowed to shoot at Queen Elizabeth II's official residence.
Leading producer Kalpathi S. Aghoram and his AGS Entertainment has decided to release their action comedy Irumbukottai Murattu Singam (IMS) directed by Simbudevan for Pongal 2010.

Says Simbudevan: “IMS takes place in the 1850s in Tamil Nadu. Whatever was there in the cowboy culture in Texas, I have incorporated in the film. It is a cowboy style western movie set in a Tamil milieu with essential commercial ingredients like songs, fights and comedy.”

The main lead actors are Raghava Lawrence, Lakshmi Rai, Padmapriya and Sandhya. The others in supporting roles are Mouli, Manorama, Delhi Ganesh, Ramesh Kanna. The film has music by GV Prakash.

A leading business paper has come out with the latest 2009 TAM AdEx data, which puts up Priyanka Chopra as India’s first woman to top the endorsement charts.

In the chart Mahendra Singh Dhoni is at number two followed by Kareena Kapoor and her lover Saif Ali Khan at number three and four. This year there are five women in the top 10. The shocking news is that Asin who featured among the top 10 in the endorsement chart last year, is missing from the list this year!

Among the 10 in this year’s list five are Bollywood leading ladies- Priyanka Chopra taking the crown, while the others are Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Genelia D’Souza.

It is a major blow for Asin, as arch rival Genelia who also came to Bollywood via south regional cinema has found a place in the list.

The 2009 Christmas is just three days away, and finally it’s happening after years- M v/s M battle to take the traditional Christmas cake at the Kerala box-office.
Mammootty’s Chattambinadu will release on December 24 in nearly 100 screens, while Mohanlal’s Ivide Swargam Aanu releases on December 25 in the same number of screens.
Mammootty is riding a wave after the super hit Pazhassi Raja, and Chattambinadu is a mass film which may work. Mohanlal is under more pressure to deliver a hit after Angel John failure at the box-office.
Both the films do not seem to be having any songs as there was no audio launch. There will be some background bit to be shown along with the television promos.
After a long time there will be a direct box-office confrontation between Mammootty and Mohanlal. The fans of both the stars are making all efforts to make their favourite’s film a hit.
Sneha who has done Thurupugulan with Mammootty is once again his heroine in B Unnikrishnan directed Pramani.
Remember Sneha’s first film was in Malayalam Ingane Oru Nilapakshi in 2001?
The original choice was Kavya Madhavan who backed out of the project at the last minute. It is for the third time that Sneha is doing a film with Mammootty, as she is his heroine in long delayed Tamil and Malayalam bi-lingual Vande Mataram, which is yet to be released.
It is also a shrewd move by Sneha, as she could easily have been the number one actress in Malayalam after Thurupugulan in 2005, but she wanted to concentrate then on her career in Tamil.
Now that Shriya, Sameera and other Mumbai based glam girls are making a beeline to Kerala, Sneha also threw in her hat.
The shoot of Pramani. is starting in Kochi from December 27, and Sneha will join the unit from January 6.

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