Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline | Bollywood filmmakers | Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline catches Bollywood filmmakers’ eye

Mumbai, July 16 (IANS) Even before her first film “Aladin” releases this Diwali, debutant actress Jacqueline Fernandez has caught the fancy of prominent directors like Siddharth Anand and Tarun Mansukhani, who are seriously considering signing the former Miss Sri Lanka for their future projects.

“Yes, Jacqueline indeed has great potential, something that I could make out the moment I saw a couple of songs that she has done in the film. Though our talks are currently in a very preliminary stage, I would love to work with her,” Siddharth Anand of “Salaam Namaste” fame told IANS.

A source close to Anand said: “Siddharth’s movies have primarily been youth-centric with emphasis on fun, music and celebration. He himself is quite young and a similar exuberance is seen in the films he does. Even for his next project, he felt that Jacqueline would be the right fit since she is a young newcomer and brings with her a lot of promise.”

And Anand has found a supporter in Sujoy Ghosh, who is launching Jacqueline with “Aladin”.

“Siddharth is a close friend and we bounce off story ideas to each other on a regular basis. We have also never shied away from showing each other the rushes of our films.

“In one such meeting, Siddharth happened to see some of Jacqueline’s portions from ‘Aladin’ and was quite impressed with her exotic looks as well. He was even more impressed by her confidence considering ‘Aladin’ is her debut film,” Ghosh said.

Tarun Mansukhani, who made a splash with “Dostana”, is expected to start another light hearted entertainer soon. He too seems to be impressed with Jacqueline’s screen presence.

“For me, it’s not just the matter of Jacqueline showing immense confidence in her first ever movie, but the fact that she has very good screen presence and her look can be tweaked around being Indian or Western as per the demand of the situation. For me, that’s her biggest selling point,” Mansukhani told IANS.

While the Sri Lankan beuaty is yet to get concrete offers, she is certainly making her presence felt in the film industry.

Jacqueline, who was crowned Miss Sri Lanka in 2006, has been academically inclined as well – apparent from her degree in Media and Communications from Sydney, Australia.

Ambitious to the core, she had once stated: “Being independent and accomplished was imperative to me and I always demanded the best of myself. Perfectionism is my strongest asset.”

That’s something which is clear from her choice for her debut film “Aladin”, which is a co-production of Eros and Ghosh’s Boundscript and stars none other than Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt along with Riteish Deshmukh.

“Well, the journey has just begun. Last one year was quite happening but now it is going to be even more exciting times with ‘Aladin’ being round the corner,” said Jacqueline.

She follows “Aladin” with Milap Zaveri’s directorial debut. She has also been approached by several brands for endorsements.

Aishwarya Rai | Aishwarya Rai – IIFA Performance | IIFA 2009 | Aishwarya Rai to perform at IIFA again

New Delhi, May 29 (IANS) Aishwarya Rai is all set to dazzle audiences with her dance moves at the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards night in Macau, China, next month – her second such appearance at the glamorous event.

She had enthralled audiences by dancing to hit song “Kajra re” at Amsterdam in 2005. She will perform at The Venetian-Macau Resort on the night of June 13, an IIFA press statement said.

Aishwarya’s father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, is the brand ambassador of IIFA.

Also performing at the event will be Sonam Kapoor, who will make her on-stage debut, and Kareena Kapoor, who will show off her belly dancing skills.

Bollywood actors Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh, who had the audience in splits with their humour at the awards last year in Bangkok, will play hosts to the glitzy cine event again in Macau. Joining the two would be beauty queen-turned-actress Lara Dutta.

The three-day IIFA Weekend will be held June 11-13 and is expected to draw over 500 luminaries from the Indian film industry.

On why Macau was chosen as the destination for celebrating a decade of IIFA, the orhanisers said they hoped it would “end the deadlock between India and China over the exchange of cinema”.

“We feel it’s (Macau) the Las Vegas of the East. In this 10th year of IIFA’s existence we wanted either the US or China to be our venue,” said Sabbas Joseph, one of the directors of Wizcraft, the organisers of the event.

“We chose China because we feel it could be a gateway for Indian cinema to the West. We also hope to end the deadlock between India and China over the exchange of cinema. We haven’t come away from one venue without opening up doors for the India film industry. We are confident this would be the case in China,” he added.

Amitabh Bachchan | Amitabh Bachchan Blog | Amitabh Bachchan Refuses to accept Australian Honour (Honorary Doctorate degree) | bigb.bigadda.com

Legendary Bollywood Actor Big B – Amitabh Bachchan has been deeply dissappointed by the racial attack on Indian students in Australia, and he has refused to accept the Honorary Doctorate degree, offered by Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. Amitabh Bachchan is in a dilemma whether to accept the honour or not and sought help from his fans through his blog at Bigadda.

Amitabh in his blog – http://bigb.bigadda.com/

“I mean no disrespect to the Institution that honors me, but under the present circumstances, where citizens of my own country are subjected to such acts of inhuman horror, my conscience does not permit me to accept this decoration from a country that perpetrates such indignity to my fellow countrymen”

As Amitabh has sought the opinion of his fans, over 68% of his fans said NO to any such honour from Australia, while 29% fans want Amitabh to accept the honour.

New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan Monday got a notice from the Supreme Court on a plea challenging a judicial verdict allowing 30 percent tax rebate on his income to the tune of Rs.509 million in fiscal 2001-02.

A bench of Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justice Aftab Alam sought Bachchan’s stand on the lawsuit by the union government’s Income Tax Department.

The bench also asked the actor to account for his 2001-02 income and expenditure with appropriate proof and adjourned the matter for final hearing on Oct 28.

The case largely pertains to the actor’s income from the popular TV game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati” on Star TV.

The Bombay High Court had allowed the actor to avail the tax relief accepting his plea that as an artist he was entitled to the exemption as per section 80 RR of the Income Tax Act.

The Income Tax Department, however, challenged the high court ruling contending that section 80 RR of the IT Act grants tax rebates only to those artistes who earn either by performing outside the country or receive payment from foreign agencies.

The tax authorities have contended that the TV show was produced by Indian firm Star India Ltd. that renders him ineligible for the tax rebate.

Mumbai, April 28 (IANS) After travelling to countries like Britain, South Africa, Singapore, Dubai and Thailand, the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) is heading to Macau, China. The three-day long weekend will be held at the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel at Macau starting June 11-13.

“2009 celebrates a decade of IIFA magic and promises to be yet another enthralling experience to be held at the Venetian Macao. It is an excellent choice for IIFA’s celebrations and we are excited to bring its magic to that fabulous city,” said Amitabh Bachchan, the IIFA brand ambassador.

For the 10th year celebrations, Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the organisers of the event, are promising a whole set of surprises at the weekend to be sponsored by Videocon.

“We are proud of IIFA’s progression over the last 10 years. It is heartening to see IIFA’s achievements over the years and we are glad to see the event celebrating a decade of magic,” said Sabbas Joseph, one of the directors of IIFA.

“Our viewership of IIFA has already crossed 600 million. Each of the host destinations have reported growth in tourism, film shootings in their region and growth in Indian investments,” he added.

The IIFA Weekend is expected to attract more than 500 luminaries from the Indian film industry.