Bollywood film festival opens in Poland

Warsaw, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is already a household name in Poland. Now fans eagerly await another star Aamir Khan’s directorial debut “Taare Zameen Par” during a seven-day festival of Hindi films that opened here Monday and will travel to 12 Polish towns.

The festival, Experience the Real Taste of India, is being organised by the Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI) along with Epelpol Entertainment.

The festival opened Monday with Deepa Mehta’s “Water”.

At least seven new Bollywood films will be shown in 12 towns during the next seven days. Apart from big towns like Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk, the films will be shown in some smaller towns like Koszlin, Lodz, Szezecin and Bydogosz.

“Let the mountain come to Mohammed is the main purpose. Normally people from the smaller cities are left out for the release of important Bollywood movies. This time we saw to it that we should encourage more and more people to watch our successful movies in the length and breadth of the Polish nation,” J.J. Singh, president of IPCCI, told IANS.

“Poland has become an important destination for Bollywood in eastern Europe. What the Soviet Union was for Raj Kapoor in the 1950s and 1960s, Poland is now for Shah Rukh Khan in the first decade of the 21st century. No wonder, the organisers have included Shah Rukh’s latest successful movie, ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’,” said Janusz Krzyzowski, president of the India-Polish Cultural Committee.

Shah Rukh Khan has become a household name in Poland. For the past four years his movies, such as “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”, “Kal Ho Na Ho”, “Kabhi Alwida Na Kahna”, “Main Hoon Na”, “Dil Se” and many others, have been shown in Poland.

This time Aamir Khan’s “Taare Zameen Par” will be featured.

“The chances are that Aamir will leave a great impression on us. After all he commands a great respect everywhere. And why not in Poland!” said Anna Bem, an Indophile who has lived in India for many years.

Tarun Mansukhani’s “Dostana”, John Jeffcoat’s “Outsourced”, Atul Agnihori’s “Hello”, and Vijay Krishna Acharya’s “Tashan” will also be screened during the festival.

“The set of films will present the true and various colours of a contemporary India to a Polish audience. We await the verdict of Polish audience,” said Srikumar Menon, head of the commercial wing at the Indian embassy here.

Salman Khan’s cameo in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

This is a film that all the cinegoers are waiting with a bated breath. And it’s directed by none other than the man who gave us hits and smash hits like Damini, The Legend Of Bhagat Singh and Khakee to name a few! We are indeed talking about the Ranbir-Katrina starrer Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani that’s directed by Rajkumar Santoshi.

And as the ‘tradition’ goes, we once again bring you one of the biggest news regarding this film. After having discovered that APKGK has Ranbir playing a depressed lover-boy hopelessly in love with his character inspired by the one played by his late grandfather Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker, Bollywood Hungama went one notch further and found out that the Salman Khan will be seen in a guest appearance in the film. The source also added that Sallu bhai comes only towards the end of the film.

In order to confirm the news, when we spoke to producer Ramesh Taurani of Tips, he was totally taken aback with this info. Initially he exclaimed, “Where did you guys get this information from?” On further probing, he confirmed the news by saying “Yes, Salman is indeed there in the film, but only as a cameo.”

Salman Khan had earlier worked with Rajkumar Santoshi in the cult comedy Andaaz Apna Apna which also starred Aamir Khan.

Now Sallu’s presence further adds to the anticipation of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

Sony releases indigenous Hanuman game for PS2

The Indian gaming industry has now crossed the platform barrier. In a first, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has launched Hanuman: Boy Warrior (3D) for the PlayStation 2. Developed by Hyderabad-Aurona Technologies Limited (acquired by Pyramid Samira), Hanuman is the first localized game on the PS2 platform to be completely developed by an Indian game development house.

It is also Sony’s first game based on Indian mythology and one that is playable in Hindi. The launch of the game is a culmination of a journey that was started by Sony when the first ever game developers’ conference (DevStation ’08 Mumbai) for Playstation platform was organized in Mumbai.

Atindriya Bose, Country Manager-PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment, said, “Hanuman is our very own classic hero and is ever-popular across India and with Indians abroad. The launch of Hanuman: Boy Warrior has marked a very significant milestone in the Indian game development industry and also signifies the importance we attach to the Indian market and the Indian Game development industry.”

Santosh Pillai, CEO of Aurona Technologies Limited, said, “We have created the console game to capture the hearts and minds of India’s current and aspiring game players and their families. Immersive game play is at the heart of this fascinating game. Using the PS2 console, the player helps the hero to fight evil-doers at several mystical landscapes of the epic period. We believe the game has the necessary ingredients to become a classic.”

The game is the journey of Hanuman across two phases of his life: childhood and young adulthood. He faces many obstacles and enemies on the way and uses his powers to overcome the same. Developed exclusively for PS2, Hanuman: Boy Warrior will be available in the Indian market at a suggested retail price of Rs 499.

Priyanka Chopra felicitated at the Asian Film Awards

If the existing awards in Priyanka Chopra’s kitty weren’t enough, here comes one more. This time, it’s in the form of ‘Asian Film Awards’, that’s touted as one of the most popular pan-Asian film awards. She was bestowed with the most prestigious ‘Nielsen Box Office Award’ by ‘The Hollywood Reporter’.

“Priyanka Chopra is India’s Number One female star. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her outstanding work,” said Eric Mika, Publisher of ‘Hollywood Reporter’ and Vice President, Nielsen Media and Entertainment Group. He also added that “It is truly amazing to acknowledge the breadth of her success, and we are honoured to bestow the ‘Nielsen Box Office Award’ on someone who has done so incredibly much in so little time.”

For the uninitiated, Priyanka happens to be the second recipient to receive this prestigious Award. With this, she joins the ranks of Andy Lau, who received the inaugural award at the 2007 ceremony.

Arcade Cricket: Now play your favorite sport at malls

With the IPL fever catching up, a number of companies are targeting their products and marketing towards the baap of all gaming tournaments, the Indian Premier League. A recent innovation has seen two engineers come up with an arcade cricket game.

Vaibhav Goel and Puneet Kumar, former IIT Bombay students, have set-up GaMa Entertainment, attracting a funding of Rs 55 lakh from Sweat & Blood Venture Group headed by Indiagames Founder and CEO Vishal Gondal. GaMa will be manufacturing and selling the arcade gaming machines to the FECs (family entertainment centers) in malls and gaming zones across India.

Played on a 22” widescreen LCD monitor mounted on a theme based game cabinet and powered by high end processor, motherboard and an 8-way joystick controller, the arcade game uses a tweaked version of Indiagames’ proprietary cricket game licensed by GaMa Entertainment. The arcade version has a gameplay for an average of 3 minutes as opposed to an average of an hour for the PC. The gamer plays as a batsman for the Indian team against a selected opponent, with two overs left to achieve the target score. Players stand a chance to win redemption coupons based on the number of fours and sixers they score.

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Gama Entertainment Director Puneet Kumar said, “The response has been good so far. We feel that India is a big market for us, especially now that the IPL is coming. People are very excited about us since our launch in February at the IAAPI (Indian Association of Amusement Parks & Industries convention) Expo, where we were the runners-up for the most innovative product.”

The company, which has Vishal Gondal and Indiagames COO Samir Bangara as its advisors, is currently selling the machines under Rs 2 lakh per system and plans to develop into a revenue sharing model soon. Consumers can check out the game at Inorbit Mall, Nirmal Lifestyle and Oberoi Mall (coming shortly) in Mumbai.