The 15 finalists of the second edition of the Miss Diva Universe beauty pageant were unveiled in Mumbai this week. The event was held at a Sundowner party at Palladium Hotel in Mumbai.
Lara Dutta
Lara Dutta performed in “Aisa Jadoo” in “Khakee” (2005). Recently she was also in a song in “Don 2 – The King is Back” (2011). Reuters

Miss Diva is a part of Miss India beauty pageant. The winner of Miss Diva beauty contest will represent India at the global platform – Miss Universe.

Unlike Miss India, the Miss Diva pageant will be held as a TV series. In each episode celebrity judges will give the contestants some tasks.

“Each episode will see the girls prove their mettle on tasks set by celebrity judges, who will test them on different attributes. Full of twists and turns, surprise tasks and innovative challenges, every episode will end in elimination, with three divas being crowned in the finale,” the Facebook page of Miss Diva said.

Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta will monitor the 15 contestants throughout the series and the Bollywood actress will also host the show.

The series will start on 6 October and will be aired on Zee Café at 8.30 pm and the repeat telecast will be aired on Zoom at 11.30 pm.

Here is the list of top 15 contestants who will fight to win the Miss Diva Universe 2014 crown.

Karanveer Kaur from Jalandhar, Punjab
Asha Bhat from Bhadravathi, Karnataka
Aishwarya Vhatkar from Mumbai, Maharashtra
Shreeradhe Kanduja from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
Alankrita Sahai from Delhi
Niddhi Agerwal from Bangalore, Karnataka
Shruti Iyer from Kerala
Monisha Ramesh from Bangalore, Karnataka
Chahat Dalal from Mumbai, Maharashtra
Minash Ravuthar from Mumbai, Maharashtra
Hida Siddique from Delhi
Lopamudra Raut Nagpur from Maharashtra
Vartika Singh from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Shivani Singh from Udaipur, Rajasthan
Noyonita Lodh from Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj whose next ‘Haider’ has been written by Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer, says the movie is set in the year 1995, which was the peak of militancy in the Valley.

The 49-year-old director says it was with the help of Mr. Basharat, the author of Curfewed Night, an eyewitness account of the Kashmir conflict that he could manage to complete his Shakespearean trilogy.

The director has set his adaptation of ‘Hamlet’ against the unrest in the Valley.

“I had a great working experience with Basharat, who is the writer of ‘Haider’. This is the first time I have worked with a journalist. I have imagined a lot about Kashmir, but the Kashmir of 95 I could only see through Basharat’s eyes,” said Bhardwaj at the launch of his three books ‘Maqbool’, ‘Omkara’ and ‘Haider’ based on his movie adaptations.

The director also thanked his past script collaborators Abbas Tyrewala, who penned ‘Maqbool’ and Robin Bhatt and Abhishek Chaubey, co-writers of ‘Omkara’.

Bhardwaj revealed that he struggled for more than a year to raise money for ‘Maqbool’, his first movie based on Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’

“I roamed around with the script of ‘Maqbool’ for one and a half years. Tabu was the only person who had said yes to the film at that time. I met many producers and none of them acknowledged the script. One of them asked me not to go ahead with the film as Shakespeare’s stories were boring,” he said.

The filmmaker said that despite the producer’s advice, he went on to complete the trilogy in the past 10 years.

“I feel very emotional to get so much love and respect. Money, I have never earned. The grass is always greener on the other side. But I am happy that I started my journey with ‘Maqbool’ At that point of time I was a student and working with Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Piyush Mishra was unbelievable,” he said.

‘Haider’ stars Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon and will hit theatres on Thursday.

Actors Shahid Kapoor and his ‘Haider’ co-star Shraddha Kapoor will be the first guests to be a part of Salman Khan-hosted celebrity reality show ‘Bigg Boss 7.

The two will be seen promoting their upcoming film ‘Haider’ which will hit theatres on October 2.

This is not the first time Shahid is appearing on the show. The 33-year-old actor has been part of the show during promotions of his previous films ‘Phata Poster Nikhla Hero’ and ‘R… Rajkumar.

Shahid will be seen rooting for ‘Bigg Boss’ inmate Upen Patel with whom he shared screen in ’36 China Town’.

Shraddha will be making her first appearance on the show.

‘Bigg Boss 7’ airs everyday from 9 pm on Color

London: Model-actress Kelly Brook is reportedly considering getting married in Greece.
Brook, 34, and her fiance David McIntosh spent the past week holidaying on the island of Mykonos, Greece and took some time out of their relaxing trip to visit four potential wedding venues, suggest reports.
“Mykonos is one of the most romantic islands in the world. They could not have thought of anywhere better to get married,” a source said.
The couple got engaged in March this year after just a month of dating.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has crossed 9 million followers on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The 48-year-old actor is now the second most followed Indian actor on Twitter after megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has 10.4 million followers.

The ‘Chennai Express’ star joined the site in July, 2010 and has since shared 7,718 tweets. His contemporaries Salman Khan and Aamir Khan lag behind with 8.26 million and 8.45 million followers respectively.

Hrithik Roshan is all set to charm the audience with his tribute to the God of dancing – Michael Jackson — in his upcoming movie “Bang Bang”. The makers on Wednesday released the stills of Roshan in MJ look.

In the title track of the film “Bang Bang”, Roshan will be seen recreating the magic of his dance idol, the late King of Pop Jackson. But that’s not all; audience will also get to see Katrina Kaif doing some great moves.

The title track, which will release on Wednesday night, is a complete party number. Roshan and Kaif have shown their sizzling chemistry in the first two songs “Tu Meri” and “Meherbaan”. And looking at the stills from the third song, one can say that the lead couple will set the stage on fire.

In the third song, Roshan will recreate Jackson’s magic but in his own style. Roshan is one of the best dancers in Bollywood and he has previously shown some great moves in the song “Tu Meri”.

“I have idolized Michael Jackson since the time I first moved to a dance beat. I remember learning the moves through play-pause mode for hours. I love his style and energy, so when Bosco and Sid (Siddharth Anand) said ‘Michael Jackson’, at first I thought there’s no way I could match up, but then I reframed that and did it for my love for him in my own style, my own way,” Roshan told Bollywood Hungama.

“Also, where there is love, there is no fear. That made it fun. The Bang Bang title track itself is outstanding which empowered me further. It’s my ode to the inspiration he has been.”

Roshan also added that both he and Kaif have given their 100 percent for this particular song.

“This is an out-an-out dance/party track. It’s high on glamour, scale and Katrina and I have danced our hearts out,” he added.

The song will release on Wednesday night, but the makers have released a 15 second teaser of the song for the audience. Watch the teaser below:

Toronto: Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi-starrer ‘Tigers’, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) recently, will hit theatres in India in January 2015.
The film, directed by the Oscar-winning Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanovic, is based on the true story of a salesman, Syed Aamir Raza, with a multinational pharmaceutical firm in Pakistan.
‘Tigers’, which seeks to relay a broader message about the benefits of breastfeeding, delivers a harsh judgement on the practises of MNCs in developing countries like Pakistan.
Tanovic said that the film is likely to be released in India in January next year.
Hashmi, who is making his Hollywood debut with ‘Tigers’, said the film is a brave, new breed of cinema.

“It is a global project with Indian and foreign cast and crew, directed by a Bosnian, set in Pakistan, and filmed in four countries including Patiala in India,” the 35-year-old actor said.
Emraan’s character in the film Tigers is called Ayan, and he features with a principal cast including names like Geetanjali Thapa, Danny Huston, Khalid Abdalla, Adil Hussain, Maryam D’Abo, Satyadeep Misra, Heino Ferch, Sam Reid, Supriya Pathak and Vinod Nagpal. The producers involved in the project are Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga, Prashita Chaudhary, Kshitij Chaudhary, Cedomir Kolar, Marc Baschet, Andy Paterson and Cat Villiers, while Prerna Saigal has edited it.

MINMargarita, with a Straw directed by Shonali Bose won the NETPAC award for Best Asian Film at the 39^th Toronto International Film Festival which wrapped up on Sunday.

The NETPAC Jury comprising Lekha Shankar (India), Hannah Fisher (China) and Anderson Le (Hawaii) remarked, “Margarita, with a Straw is both universal and groundbreaking. Director Shonali Bose and actress Kalki Koechlin have jointly created a character and a world that embody a love letter to life, with all its highs and lows, in spite of overwhelming physical limitations.”

Margarita, with a Straw is scheduled for an early 2015 release in India.

The film revolves around Laila (Kalki Koechlin), a young romantic and a secret rebel in a wheelchair. Undeterred by cerebral palsy, she embarks on exhilarating adventures of self discovery, which cause a rift both within and with those she is closest to. Ultimately, it is in the intensity of these bonds where she must find the strength to truly be herself.

Anup Singh’s Qissa had won the NETPAC award last year.

The other awards at Toronto:

Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award: WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award: BEATS OF THE ANTONOV

Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film: FELIX AND MEIRA

City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film: BANG BANG BABY

Vimeo Award for Best Canadian Short Film: THE WEATHERMAN AND THE SHADOWBOXER

Vimeo Award for Best International Short Film: A SINGLE BODY

FIPRESCI Prize – Discovery: MAY ALLAH BLESS FRANCE!