Aamir disappoints Mountain Man's villagers? Star India's CEO reacts
By Subhash K. Jha, Mumbai, March 5 : Actor Aamir Khan has left people at Bihar's Gehlaur village upset as they were under impression that the second season of his show "Satyamev Jayate" would begin with an episode on 'Mountain Man' Dashrath Manjhi. However, Star India's CEO Uday Shankar says there was never any such plan.
Aamir's show on social reform started on a high note, but an uproar of protest has broken out in Gehlaur village where once lived Dashrath Manjhi, who hand-chiseled a road through a rocky hill to connect his inacessible village to the nearest town.
Manjhi's family and the villagers claim they had a different impression about the show, following Aamir's recent visit to the village.
"Aamir Khan visited us on Feb 25 and told us that the first episode of his serial was dedicated to Dashrath Manjhi. We were all glued to the television in the community hall in our village at 10 a.m.," said a villager.
"We were sorely disappointed when the episode aired was about something else. Why did he visit us with the promise that the episode would be about our village hero?" he said.
When confronted with the villagers' protests, Uday Shankar, CEO Of Star India, said: "There was never any plan of an episode on Dashrath Manjhi this season. We ended season one of 'Satyamev Jayate' with an episode on Manjhi. And before we commenced the new season, we felt it would be a good idea to pay a tribute to his memory and the triumph of the human spirit that he signifies. Hence, Aamir's trip to Gelhaur."
Meanwhile, Manjhi's fellow villagers have more reason to feel disappointed. The film on Manjhi's life "The Mountain Man", directed by Ketan Mehta, lies unsold and unreleased many months after completion with no indication or hope of a release in the near future.
Mehta had wangled the privilege of shooting a film on Manjhi's inspirational tale from two other filmmakers, Neerraj Pathak and Manish Jha after fighting arduous legal battles with Pathak and Manjhi's family members.
With much fanfare, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui was signed to play Manjhi. The actor spent months in Manjhi's native village in Gaya living out Manjhi's heroic endeavour.
When asked about the status of "The Mountain Man", Nawazuddin said: "I am not sure about what is happening with the film. We've completed the shooting. You will have to have ask Ketan Mehta when the film is releasing."
While Ketan Mehta refused to respond to the release query, he lauded Aamir for visiting Manjhi's family.
Manjhi's family and the villagers claim they had a different impression about the show, following Aamir's recent visit to the village.
"Aamir Khan visited us on Feb 25 and told us that the first episode of his serial was dedicated to Dashrath Manjhi. We were all glued to the television in the community hall in our village at 10 a.m.," said a villager.
"We were sorely disappointed when the episode aired was about something else. Why did he visit us with the promise that the episode would be about our village hero?" he said.
When confronted with the villagers' protests, Uday Shankar, CEO Of Star India, said: "There was never any plan of an episode on Dashrath Manjhi this season. We ended season one of 'Satyamev Jayate' with an episode on Manjhi. And before we commenced the new season, we felt it would be a good idea to pay a tribute to his memory and the triumph of the human spirit that he signifies. Hence, Aamir's trip to Gelhaur."
Meanwhile, Manjhi's fellow villagers have more reason to feel disappointed. The film on Manjhi's life "The Mountain Man", directed by Ketan Mehta, lies unsold and unreleased many months after completion with no indication or hope of a release in the near future.
Mehta had wangled the privilege of shooting a film on Manjhi's inspirational tale from two other filmmakers, Neerraj Pathak and Manish Jha after fighting arduous legal battles with Pathak and Manjhi's family members.
With much fanfare, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui was signed to play Manjhi. The actor spent months in Manjhi's native village in Gaya living out Manjhi's heroic endeavour.
When asked about the status of "The Mountain Man", Nawazuddin said: "I am not sure about what is happening with the film. We've completed the shooting. You will have to have ask Ketan Mehta when the film is releasing."
While Ketan Mehta refused to respond to the release query, he lauded Aamir for visiting Manjhi's family.
'Batman - Arkham Knight' teases to be an explosive finale to the franchise
The Scarecrow returns in the final installment to the Arkham series to wreak havoc on Gotham once more, and this time he's not alone. Recruiting a host of Batman's rogues, he enlists Penguin, Two-Face, Harley Quinn and others to take care of The Dark Knight for good.
As per the information on the YouTube channel, 'Batman: Arkham Knight introduces Rocksteady's uniquely designed version of the Batmobile, which is drivable for the first time in the franchise. The addition of this legendary vehicle, combined with the acclaimed gameplay of the Batman Arkham series, offers gamers the ultimate and complete Batman experience as they tear through the streets and soar across the skyline of the entirety of Gotham City. Be The Batman.'
The game is reportedly targeting PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC
Akshay Kumar romances Sonakshi Sinha in Holiday
Sonakshi Sinha and Akshay Kumar are all set to be seen together
for the fourth time in a row.
After making a hit pair in Rowdy Rathore, Joker, and
Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Again; Akshay will be seen romancing Sonakshi in A.R.
Murugadoss’s film Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty.
In what seems to be the story of an army officer,
Akshay Kumar will be seen sporting a crew cut. A remake of 2012 Tamil film
Thuppakki, Holiday also has Govinda in a supporting role.
Click to see some pictures of Sonakshi and Akshay in
Holiday.
Govt Says Cable TV Digitization Schedules On Track
Phases 3 and 4 of cable TV digitization process are on the right track and the government says it is hopeful of meeting the deadlines. “We are confident about meeting the deadline. There is no holding back, we are going ahead as per plan. As of now, we don’t have any reason to believe that we won’t be able to do it. We will take stock of the situation in the next three months, which is anyways a continuous process,” says Supriya Sahu, Joint Secretary, Broadcasting, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), while addressing the media at an event organized by Casbaa.
“Every month, we are monitoring the progress and the challenges of how are we going about it,” Sahu added.
The government has set the deadline for phase 3 of digitization by September 30, 2014 and phase 4 by December 31, 2014.
About 30 percent of the phase 3 digitization would be taken by DTH and about 70 percent by the cable sector. “Our analysis in the country also shows that if we focus our attention in 10 major states in the country, then 77 percent of the set-top boxes would actually lie in these 10 states. By focusing our attention, we would be in a much better position to complete digitization in a faster and effective manner,” Sahu said.
The government says that cable operators would continue to play a critical role in the digitization process and it would be wrong to give preference to DTH providers over cable operators.
“The last mile cable operators are very important for us. And they have actually been so for over the period of years. They have built the entire infrastructure for the sector. It will be very wrong to say that let’s go for DTH and not cable operators,” Sahu added.
The government says it is extremely optimistic about the outcome of the digitization and continue to see humongous increase in the government revenue and taxes. “Transparency will give rich dividends to the industry, whether it is government or broadcasters or it is MSO or cable operator. However, everyone needs to collaborate rightly and to be patient,” Sahu noted.
The government of India had passed an ordinance, mandating the digitization of the cable services in the country. The amendment, which was made in the section 9 of the Cable TV Networks Ordinance, 1995, was an attempt to improve the quality of cable TV and push the scope for more cable TV channels in the country. Post digitization, viewers can access digital content and services through a set-top box (STB) or in the IPTV mode.
The phase 1 of the digitization in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai had been completed by the government in June 30, 2012 and 38 other key cities and areas with population of over one million got digitized by March 2013.
T-Series earned 106 crores from the Munni Badnam Hui: Aadesh Shrivastava
MY FATHER BELONGS TO LUCKNOW
Aadesh Shrivastava
Composer Aadesh Shrivastava says with pride that he has Lucknow connections. "Woh kehte hain na, ki jis jagah ko father belong karte hain, wahin ke rehne wale kehlaye jate hain. My father belongs to Lucknow. Our family is from the Banda-Lucknow area of UP. In fact, we have quite a few relatives in the city. I have cousins living in the Motinagar area," says the singer, composer who was here a few days ago.
Sharing a childhood memory of his time spent in Lucknow, Aadesh tells us, "I must have been around 8-10 years old and all us cousins got together and went to Bhool Bhullaiya. And there, my cousins left me in the labyrinth, and I remember I was so scared that I howled and howled. It's one of those incidents that gets stuck in your head," says Aadesh with a laugh.
JO HOTA HAI, ACHCHA HOTA HAI
Aadesh has been collaborating with a lot of Western singers and musicians for albums and songs. He has worked extensively with singers Akon, Shakira, T-Pain, Soulja Boy, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Queen Latifa and also the London Philharmonic Orchestra. But this international recognition came accidentally to Aadesh. "It's all courtesy T -Series, the music company, which had banned me around 2003 from composing music in Bollywood. We had a disagreement on sharing royalties. Ab yahan India main kaam nahi tha so I headed West, and like they say, jo hota hai achhe ke liye hi hota hai, wahi mere saath hua. That's how I started composing music for international artistes," he says.
MUSIC COMPANIES KI DADAGIRI
Telling us more about his fight with music companies, Aadesh says, "Inn logon ne toh dadagiri macha rakhi hai. The government has passed a law that composers and lyricist should be given royalty for their songs, yet no one is following it. Yeh sab illegal kaam kar rahe hain. I heard that this young singer who has recently sung a lot of Bollywood hits, was locked in a room and forcibly made to sign a contract against sharing royalties by a music company. Nahi karta toh usko bhi ban kar dete. I also heard that now he is so disturbed that he is shifting base to Kolkata and giving up music. In the West, everything is so clear. Even before you record a song, a contract is signed with everything laid out clear. Every single person is given their due. But yahan toh sab manmaani karte hain. These music companies tried the same thing with Sunidhi Chauhan and Sonu Nigam, but they are senior and established artistes, so woh pressure main nahi aaye."
Aadesh goes on, "I don't know why film producers do not take any action. If the royalty and rights issue is settled, they will also benefit from it. You know T-Series earned 106 crores from the Munni Badnam Hui song. Sirf ek gaane se music company ne itne paise kamaye, poore album se toh na jane kitne kamaye honge!But how much did Arbaaz Khan get out of it?
Unko batane mein bhi shayad hichkichahat ho. But now, we music people - composers, singers and lyricists - are getting together and we are going to take legal recourse to end this monopoly. Also, most of us are now floating our own music companies, which will give artistes their due."
TV CHANNELS EXPLOIT YOUNG REALITY SHOW CONTESTANTS
Aadesh was the judge on several talent hunt shows on TV and was also offered to judge Indian Idol last year, but the musician refused. That's because he says it's against his ideology. "Mujhe achha nahi lagta the way these young singers are exploited by the channles and music companies. They are so bound by contracts that they can't do anything. There's not a single winner of any of these shows who is doing anything worthwhile. Children are made to wait for hours to sing and they go through so much, yet, in the end it's of no avail. Maine kuchh logon ko break diya, but I have my limitations," rues Aadesh.
When Madhuri Dixit sang and danced to Ranbindrasangeet
Madhuri Dixit
You have seen Madhuri Dixit all dolled up in Dola re. You have seen her make men go dhak dhak. And you have seen her set trends with Ek do teen. But if you want to see Madhuri Dixit croon Rabindrasangeet while dancing to it, you cannot afford to miss the telecast of this years Kolkata Mirchi Music Awards.
This years guest, Madhuri not only sang Ore grihobaashi and danced to it, but also acknowledged the fact that she was introduced to the genre of dance drama through Tagore's works while in school.
Apart from the dhak dhak girl performing Rabindranritya, the awards show also has many more performances to offer. While Akriti Kakkar did a song and dance performance to her hit numbers like Prem Ki Bujhini, Tui Amar Hero and Jhinkunakur, Barkha Bisht performed to hit numbers like Aaj Blue Hai Paani, Kamli and Dhoom 3 Title Track. Nusrat's performance was a tribute to late superstar Suchitra Sen. She performed to the popular songs of the icon like Ghum Ghum Chand, Tere Bina Zindagi, Ei Poth Jodi Na Shesh hoy, while Soumojit & Sourendra paid a tribute to Rituparno Ghosh, which had recitation and songs as part of it like Tobu Mone Rekho, Bahu Manaratha amongst others.
To
catch all the action, tune in to Star Jalsha on March 9, 6 pm onwards.
This years guest, Madhuri not only sang Ore grihobaashi and danced to it, but also acknowledged the fact that she was introduced to the genre of dance drama through Tagore's works while in school.
Apart from the dhak dhak girl performing Rabindranritya, the awards show also has many more performances to offer. While Akriti Kakkar did a song and dance performance to her hit numbers like Prem Ki Bujhini, Tui Amar Hero and Jhinkunakur, Barkha Bisht performed to hit numbers like Aaj Blue Hai Paani, Kamli and Dhoom 3 Title Track. Nusrat's performance was a tribute to late superstar Suchitra Sen. She performed to the popular songs of the icon like Ghum Ghum Chand, Tere Bina Zindagi, Ei Poth Jodi Na Shesh hoy, while Soumojit & Sourendra paid a tribute to Rituparno Ghosh, which had recitation and songs as part of it like Tobu Mone Rekho, Bahu Manaratha amongst others.
To
catch all the action, tune in to Star Jalsha on March 9, 6 pm onwards.
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