Megastar Amitabh Bachchan today wished his friends from the film industry, Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha, a Happy Friendship’s Day.

The 73-year-old “Piku” star shared a few pictures of himself along with the two veteran actors on his Twitter page, captioning it, “Happy friendship day… ever.”

Bachchan and Dharmendra, 80, redefined the bond of friendship on screen with the 1975 blockbuster “Sholay”, where they played best friends and partners-in-crime Jai and Veeru.

Bachchan posted a shot in which he is holding a photoframe having his and Dharmendra’s still from “Sholay”.

“Kuch pal yadgar ho jaate hain… Humesha ke liye…

(Some moments become memorable forever) Happy Friendship Day.”

He shared another picture, showing him greeting his “Dostana” co-star Sinha, 70, with a bouquet.

Referring to Sinha’s famous dialogue ‘Khamosh’, Bachchan wrote, “Aye dost teri dosti ki kami, Har pal mehsoos hoti hai… Jab sunte hai KHAMOSH! lafz kisiki juban se. Tumhari yaad aapne aap aajati hai.PTI

Legendary musician R D Burman, whose cabaret tunes still reverberate at pubs and discotheques, actually hated composing such songs and even believed that the genre was just a “passing fad , says a new book.

And when he first won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, an honour that came to him after two decades of hard work, excitement evaded him because it was not for any of his raga-based song, the ones he held dearer to him.

The revelations are made in ‘R D Burmania : Panchamemoirs’, published by notionpress.com and authored by Chaitanya Padukone, a veteran showbiz journalist who has compiled his works as a scribe and shared anecdotes from his meetings with the composer.

Notably, several of Burman’s songs, especially the foot-tapping numbers, have been recreated and reproduced in films, private albums and television serials after his death, while a film ‘Dil Vil Pyar Vyar’ was made as a tribute to his musical genius.

“It’s a fact that the masses get turned on, as the songs also have seductive glamour-repeat visual value. But, honestly, at times, I hate composing cabaret songs because there is no soulful melody or inspiring lyrics in it. Whenever I compose raga-based melodies, I derive total creative satisfaction. Classical music is my forte,” Padukone quotes Burman.

“When the thumri-based raga song ‘Humein tumse pyar kitna’ composed by RDB and sung by Begum Parveen Sultana merited a Filmfare Award, it was a loud testimony to all those who doubted his ability to conjure up classical numbers. This explains why RDB was not all that exhilarated when he won his first-ever Filmfare Award trophy for Best Music Score in 1983, which had eluded him for over two decades,” he writes.

“Off the record, he (Burman) mentioned to me that since the movie ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’ had only a jazzmatazz westernised score and no classical songs, he was disheartened.

“All these years, I expected award for movies like ‘Parichay’, ‘Amar Prem’, ‘Aandhi’, ‘Kinaara’, ‘Khushboo’, ‘Mehbooba’ and of course ‘Kudrat’, all of which had situation-based songs. But it was a series of ‘misacarriages’,” Padukone quotes Burman as telling him.PTI

Scores of activists from the Bishnoi community have protested against the acquittal of Bollywood actor Salman Khan by the Rajasthan High Court in two cases related to poaching of Chinkaras in Jodhpur in 1998.

Bishnoi community members, who are known for their love of wild animals especially chinkaras and deers, held protests and burnt posters of the actor on Monday.

“We protested against the acquittal of Salman Khan in the cases and burnt his posters,” Vijay Delu, district president of Akhil Bhartiya Jeev Raksha Vishnoi Mahasabha said.

Bab Lal Jaju of animal welfare organization ‘People for Animals’ said the decision of the high court has disappointed animal lovers.

“Yesterday was a black day for animal lovers. We are disappointed and urge the state government to challenge the order in the Supreme court,” Jaju said on Tuesday.

The court had held that the pellets recovered from the Chinkaras were not fired from Khan’s licensed gun.PTI

At a time when Bollywood actors are going to Hollywood, Arjun Kapoor feels he is too new to go and venture in the West as he wants to make a mark in the film industry here.

Actresses like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Nimrat Kaur and others have got work in the West, but the other mainstream actors, like the Khans and the newer generation, have not ventured there.

“To each his own. I can’t speak on behalf of anybody.

Right now I am trying to build my audience here. As an actor you need to be in a secure place to move bags there. I feel I have to achieve a lot here,” Arjun told PTI.

“I don’t think it’s about heroes and heroines, it’s about what you feel like doing. There are people who get happiness by being here in India,” he said.

The “Ishaqzaade” actor feels there should be a desire to go and work in another film industry.

“The desire has to be there. I don’t know if I have the desire still or not (for going to the West) as I am still new here, I am discovering myself here. I am very new, I have done seven films,” he said.

“I am too new to be thinking of going anywhere else (referring to going to Hollywood). I have not thought about it yet. I would say never say never, if something comes up I will consider it. I am not somebody who would not consider the possibilities,” the 31-year-old actor said.

Arjun feels actresses like Priyanka and Deepika have achieved immense success in Hindi film industry and then they have explored Hollywood.

“Priyanka and Deepika have achieved a lot here (in India). They (Priyanka and Deepika) have not gone there (Hollywood) for a day, they have gone there for months and for that you need to be in good place in your professional life.
One just can’t leave everything midway,” he said.PTI

He gained recognition as the romantic hero in “Mohabbatein” but Indian Actor Jimmy Shergill says he decided to opt for strong characters as he realised the shelf life of a lover boy was not long.

The 45-year-old “Traffic” actor, who made his debut in Bollywood with Gulzar’s directorial venture “Maachis”, believes his decision play roles like ‘Raja Awasthi’ and ‘Saheb’ made him sustain in the industry.

“After I made my debut with ‘Maachis’ people would not recognise the clean-shaven me. But then ‘Mohabbatein’ happened. It got me a lot of work. However, in my mind I wanted to do something which makes me stand out. I couldn’t have survived with lover boy image.

“It was a conscious decision to choose films like ‘Haasil’, ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’ and ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster’.

This is what has made me sustain for approximately 20 years otherwise that lover boy would have been lost somewhere,” Jimmy told PTI in an interview.

The actor shares a great bond with all his directors, who tend to repeat him in their films be it Neeraj Pandey, Aanand L Rai or Tigmanshu Dhulia.

Jimmy credits the emotional connect he has with all these filmmakers behind this.

“The directors repeat me because most of them have done their first film with me. We are friends and there is this emotional connect.

“Even if we are not doing films, we meet over a cup of coffee. We share memories and it is very nice on their part that even after becoming top directors they have not forgotten me.” .
Pti