BOLLYWOOD TO RECREATE ITS MAGIC AT INDIA INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS AT LOS ANGELES

A star-studded six-day celebration of India's Independence Day in Los Angeles is expected to witness participation of Bollywood's leading stars like Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan as well as spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Christened 'India Splendor,' the event planned by MGLOBAL Trust will also feature a fashion show, exhibition of several Bollywood movies and an art workshop. It will culminate in a gala evening on August 15.

The event is being organised in association with UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television, International Creative Management and ArtWallah, a non-profit body promoting art.

Organisers say they expect Rishi Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Bipasha Basu from Bollywood to participate, besides Aishwarya and Abhishek. Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is also expected to give a discourse.

Former tennis star and film producer Ashok Amritraj is the goodwill ambassador for the event.

MCorp Global Chairman of Indian conglomerate Bhupendra Kumar Modi announced that his company has donated $1 million to the ArtWallah, which will be earmarked for art education at Los Angeles public schools. "Our vision has been to bring all the facets of Indian culture, including our booming film industry, to the US in jointly celebrating this momentous mark in history."

The event will also feature film makers like Mani Ratnam and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. There will be a special tribute to Indian film legend Raj Kapoor.

It is also expected to attract Hollywood community, including industry professionals, studio executives and talent agency heads. The opening night will feature screening of Shah Rukh Khan's film Chak De India. Other movies to be screened include Guru, Eklavya and Gandhi.

WATCH OUT FOR THE RED BAD OF COURAGE, SHAH RUKH!!

Narayanamurthy is back with his 'red' brand of films. And he doesn't care about how small his film is. Nor is ashamed of claiming that his film might get leftover viewers, which means, people who don't get tickets for the superstars' films will come to watch his films.

Narayanamurthy is presently remaking his film Erra Sainyam in Hindi. For most of you who don't know Erra Sainyam did roaring business in Andhra Pradesh when it was released a couple of years back, shocking the wits out of the box-office predictors.

He explains why his film was a big success. "My subject is linked to human emotions. Like Dilip Kumar's Ganga Jamuna, Amitabh Bachchan's Ganga ki Saugandh and Mother India. My subject is how rural innocent people are feeling, how they are exploited by the non-tribals," he says.

Narayanamurthy's film releases on the August 10 and will pit itself against Shah Rukh Khan's Chak de India.

The Hindi version called Yeh Dharti Hamaari is slated for release on August 10, the same day the czar of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan's film Chak De India is releasing. But he is not perturbed. "Shah Rukh Khan is the megastar in India. In Andhra, they call me people's star but I know I am a zero in Hindi. But when thousands of people go to see Shah Rukh Khan's film, there will be many who do not get tickets. I hope that overflow will come to my film," says Narayanamurthy matter-of-factly.

Keep it up Narayanamurthy, your belief will keep your hopes and spirits alive and rake in the moolah. All the best.

LONDONERS TO WARM UP TO INDIAN FILMS AND CULTURE WITH 'INDIA NOW' FESTIVAL

It will be an Indian summer in London this year, with the British capital getting ready to celebrate a three-month India Now festival, showcasing the best of the country's culture, films and fashion.

"This is the biggest festival we have organised so far and this is just to demonstrate how serious London is about doing business with India," Mark Prescott, in-charge of Cultural Affairs at London Unlimited, which is organising the event, said in London.

"We not only want the Indian diaspora to be involved with the festival, but also want Londoners to warm up to Indian culture."

The festival will include more than 1,500 events spread over entire London city, including art exhibitions, film premiers and a fashion show by designer Manish Arora as the concluding event on September 7.
"Our main aim is to promote tourism, and also reflect the fact that the Indian diaspora is the largest in the UK. We are serious about doing business with India, but we are also serious about learning Indian culture, food and their films," Prescott said.

The festival will be kicked off on July 17 by Indian cricket captain, Rahul Dravid.

The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chak De India will also see its world premier taking place in London as part of the fest.

The budget for the entire festival runs into "seven figures" Prescott said, but declined to put a figure to it.