GreatHollywood.com

London, Feb 28 (ANI): ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ child star Azharuddin had a rather painful homecoming after attending the Oscars, for the boy was beaten up by his father just because he wanted to have some rest.

Mohammed Ismail slapped and kicked his 10-year-old son in front of shocked neighbours and passers-by soon after he flew back to India from Los Angeles, where he and his other young co-stars watched as their movie picked up eight Oscars.

Azharuddin, who plays young hero Jamal, got tears in the eyes and ran back inside his home, cowering and begging his father to stop while trying to hide in a corner.

The young star had been given the day off school after his long flight and wanted to take rest, but his father wanted to show him off outside their home.

And when the boy didn’t agree, the 45-year-old father, who is hoping his son could be his ticket to get out of Mumbai’s Dharavi slum, launched his attack while his mother pleaded Ismail to stop.

“Azharuddin’s father was upset that he was asking to be left alone because he was so tired. He didn’t attend school today so that he could recover from his long flight from LA and simply wanted all the attention to stop. However, when Azharuddin put his foot down and said that was it and there was to be no more talking, Ismail just flipped,” the Sun quoted one stunned onlooker as saying.

However, Azharuddin’s return to the slums was another picture altogether when his father had lifted him up and paraded him like a trophy.

Just a few hours after the attack, TB patient Ismail apologised for the attack, saying: “I was very sorry I did what I did. I was confused and stressed by my son’s homecoming and I did not know myself for a minute. I love my boy and I am very happy to have him home.” (ANI)

Washington, Feb 28 (ANI): Rihanna and her singer boyfriend Chris Brown are back together, it has emerged.

According to People magazine, the couple, who reportedly had been involved in a domestic abuse incident that led to charges against Brown, have rekindled their romance, reports Fox News.

‘They’re together again,’ People magazine quoted its source as saying.

‘They care for each other,” the source added.

Following the incident, Rihanna had scrapped a planned birthday bash in New York and postponed concerts overseas.

The pair is currently at one of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ homes, People reported.

The magazine said Brown was ‘reflective and saddened about what happened.’

Brown, 19, was arrested Feb. 8 on suspicion of making felony criminal threats, but police have not publicly identified his alleged victim. The woman was Rihanna, according to a person familiar with the situation. (ANI)

London, Feb 28 (ANI): Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson are firmly back together and planning to take their relationship to the next level – by starting a family.

Owen tried to kill himself after they split in 2007, but has now put the past behind him and is ready to settle down.

A pal of the Wedding Crashers actor said: “Kate and Owen initially got back together three months ago after realising they couldn’t live without each other. Now they are ready to become parents.

“Kate has been desperate for a brother or sister for Ryder – her first child with ex-husband Chris Robinson – for some time.

“It was a stumbling block previously with Owen. He’s always had a difficult time committing, but this time it’s different.

“Kate was with him throughout his recovery and that made Owen realise how much he loves her.

“They’ve discussed the idea of becoming parents at length and Kate has seen a change in Owen.

“He is now is truly committed and is showing a new-found maturity.

“He loves the idea of being a dad and has told Kate that he’s ready when she is, but the sooner, the better!”

The source added: ‘Kate is over the moon and really wants to start a family with Owen now she feels that he has finally grown up.

‘The fact that he is ready to make that commitment to her has given her faith in the relationship.

‘Kate’s family are all really behind the relationship as well after seeing how Owen has turned it around.

“Everyone is now confident the relationship will work out long-term and they will be together forever.” (ANI)

Washington, Feb 28 (ANI): Joaquin Phoenix’s rep has slammed a Chicago-based psychiatrist for claiming that the actor-turned-rapper is mentally ill.

Apparently, Paul Dobransky — a relationships expert — had told the Los Angeles Times that the 34-year-old artist may be schizophrenic, pointing to his ‘socially inappropriate behavior,’ including a new rap career, bushy beard and a bizarre Late Night with David Letterman appearance.

But Phoenix’s rep tells MTV News: ‘How absolutely inappropriate for a doctor who has no personal interaction or relationship with someone to diagnose them.’

‘And to do so in a public forum. Hope they spelled his name right. Another 15-minute ‘expert’ is born!” the rep added.

However, Dobransky defended Phoenix in the Times interview, saying that he was ‘pretty offended’ by Ben Stiller’s portrayal of Phoenix at the Oscars, reports Us magazine.

He said it seemed as if Stiller was ‘potentially beating down on the mentally ill.’

‘The jury is not exactly in on what is happening,’ Dobransky said of Phoenix, whom many speculate is pulling an elaborate hoax.

‘Whatever it is, it’s not funny — whether it’s drug abuse, mental illness coming on or the clumsiest attempt ever at a career change,” the doctor added.

Phoenix, who won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line has said that his most recent film, Two Lovers, will be his last film.

Washington, Feb 28 (ANI): Following shooting murders of her family, Jennifer Hudson is happy to be back in the spotlight and insists that performing is ‘like therapy.’

The 27-year-old popped by The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday and said it’s good to be singing again, reports Us magazine.

Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew were murdered last October.

Although she did not make a direct reference to the slayings, Hudson told Winfrey: ‘I’m good. I’m really good. Glad to be back to working and doing what I love to do. I’m in a very good place.’

The Oscar-winning actress added that she found a good place for her awards – in her piano room.

She said that she has named her three dogs after her biggest accomplishments: Oscar, Grammy and Dreamgirl.

The Grammy winner recently performed at American football’s Super Bowl event and announced a string of tour dates soon afterwards. (ANI)

London, Feb 28 (ANI): Eddie Murphy will be stepping into the shoes of Richard Pryor for a new biopic, it has emerged.

Apparently the ‘Meet Dave’ actor has given up his usual fee of 25 million dollars to take on the role of his idol.

Oscar-winning writer Bill Condon is reportedly involved in the project, reports The Sun.

Richard, who starred in See No Evil, Hear No Evil, battled drug addiction before suffering a fatal heart attack in 2005. He was 65.

He infamously set himself on fire in 1980 following a cocaine and booze binge.

The comedian later used the tale into his stand-up routine by waving a lit match and saying: ‘What’s this? It’s Richard Pryor running down the street.’(ANI)

Mumbai, Feb 28 (IANS) The last time they worked together was in the 1983 movie “Sadma”. Now, after 26 years, Gulzar is once again teaming up with Ilayaraja for “SRK” and says the music maestro’s ability to create “perfect harmony” is still intact.

“The last time Ilayaraja and I came together was for Balu Mahendra’s ‘Sadma’. Now we’re working together in another film after so many years,” Gulzar told IANS.

“His aptitude and skills for creating the perfect harmony have not altered at all. Ilayaraja is one of his kind. I wish he was heard more often in Hindi cinema,” said the lyricist, who has just won an Oscar for his song “Jai ho” in “Slumdog Millionaire”.

“SRK” is being directed by Ajay Varma, a descendant of the legendary painter Raja Ravi Varma. The film stars Vinay Pathak, Rituparna Sengupta and Manoj Joshi among others.

“It’s interesting that Ajay Varma has made a film at just about the same time a film on the life of Raja Ravi Varma by Ketan Mehta is ready for release,” said Gulzar.

The poet is not too fond of the title though.

“The film is at the moment called SRK. Hopefully, it will change. What the film most certainly changes is the idiom of expression for film music. I feel Shaad Ali’s ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ and Anurag Kashyap’s ‘No Smoking’ gave me a chance to experiment with words in a way that film music generally doesn’t. Now I feel the same way about my poetry in ‘SRK’.”

London, Feb 27 (IANS) Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway has learned to love her pale skin after a tanning experience went horribly wrong.

“The Devil Wears Prada” star is renowned for her pasty complexion, but the petite actress once decided to go a bit darker and ended up regretting her decision when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, reports contactmusic.com.

“I had a spray tan done and I wound up looking like an orange zebra. When it came off, because I’m so pale underneath, I looked like a giraffe with leprosy. And I smelled like nachos and maple syrup the whole time. It was not a good idea,” she said.

London, Feb 27 (IANS) Oscar winning actress Helen Mirren, determined to perfect her role as a Jewish secret agent in the forthcoming movie “The Debt”, is reportedly taking Hebrew lessons.

The 63-year-old British star, currently in Israel filming for the movie, plays a Mossad spy searching for a Nazi war criminal in the film.

In order to do the justice to the character, Mirren has been learning all about Jewish history, reports contactmusic.com.

“Helen has spent the past six weeks reading up the history of Israel, Mossad and the life and times of Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and she’s learning Hebrew too. She’s really taking this (role) seriously and is totally immersed into the way of life over there,” said a source.

London, Feb 27 (IANS) Academy award winner Julia Roberts skipped the Oscars ceremony Feb 22 for a quiet night at home with her family.

“My husband had been away and just returned home so I felt it (was) best to stay at home and be with my family. That was my priority so we watched the show on television,” Julia was quoted as saying by mirror.co.uk.

The 41-year-old actress, who is one of the top-earning stars in Hollywood, says she enjoys the life of domesticity as a wife to cameraman husband Danny Moder and mother to their three children.

“My life at home gives me absolute joy,” she said.

The “Pretty Woman” star has two movies to be released soon – “Fireflies in the Garden” and “Duplicity”.

London, Feb 27 (IANS) Just months ago she was a virtual nobody, but with the eight Oscar sweep by her debut film “Slumdog Millionaire”, Indian model-turned-actress Freida Pinto is now hot property for magazine covers.

Being the obvious new darling of Hollywood, Freida has also become a much in-demand magazine cover girl back home for obvious reasons, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The actress will dominate the newsstands across India in March, with men’s magazine Maxim opting to put her face and knock-out body on its cover, as will women’s magazines Cosmopolitan and Vogue.

Basking in her new found success, the 24-year-old, who has described her meteoric rise to fame as a “dream”, also appears on the cover of industry bible Entertainment Weekly alongside her co-star from the underdog drama Dev Patel.

Posing for the covers didn’t come hard for the actress as she started out her career posing in advertisements for products like Wrigley’s Chewing Gum.

“I used to anchor a travel show in India, which is clearly not acting, and I had done a little bit of modelling. Both of those things helped me with the camera,” she said.

Freida, however, always had acting at the back of her mind as a career.

“I always wanted to act in films, but in India it’s very difficult to become an actress if you haven’t got a godfather – someone with influence, always a man, in the industry to help get you into auditions.

“But I didn’t need a godfather for ‘Slumdog…’ I just went along, did the audition with Dev and then Danny picked me,” she explained.

Despite the success of her first film and her passion for acting, she is not sure of her career in the profession.

“I have no idea whether acting is a future for me, but I would like to do more film work. The reaction to ‘Slumdog…’ has been beyond my wildest expectations.”

In what will be only her second film, Freida is now lined up to star in Woody Allen’s next alongside Hollywood stars Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts and Anthony Hopkins.

Filming will start in London this summer.

Washington, Feb 27 (IANS) “Jai Ho!”, the Oscar-winning best song from “Slumdog Millionaire” and ‘slumdog’, the term used to describe the boy from the slums of Mumbai who became a millionaire, have been named top ‘HollyWORDs’ of 2008.

“Jai Ho! – literally ‘Let there be Victory’ in Hindi” – and ‘Slumdog’ – “Definitely a politically incorrect term for young slum-dwellers in Bombay (Mumbai)”, top the list of words from Hollywood that most influenced the English language in 2008, according to the 6th Annual Survey by the Global Language Monitor.

The language monitoring group, which uses an algorithm to track the frequency of words and phrases in the world’s print and electronic media, noted Thursday it was the first time that two words from the same movie were ranked in the Top Ten.

“2008 was a remarkable year for words in films, with a Hindi phrase, the name of a Laotian tribe, a West African drum, and a modified quotation from Frederick Nietzsche all making the list,” said Paul J.J. Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor.

Closely following were ‘Hmong’ from “Gran Torino”, ‘Nuke the Fridge’ from “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” and ‘Twinkie defense’, which followed the events depicted in “Milk”.

Rounding out the Top Ten were: ‘Djembe’ (The Visitor), “There are no coincidences” (Kung Fu Panda), “What doesn’t kill you makes you…stranger,” (The Dark Knight), Posthumous (The Wrestler), and Katrina from “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.

This is how the group described the other Top Hollywords:

3. Nuke the Fridge (Indiana Jones and the…) – Indiana Jones surviving a nuclear blast in a lead-lined fridge is viewed as proof that the franchise has run its course.

4. Hmong (Gran Torino) – The name of the mountain-dwelling peoples of Laos who were US allies in the Indochinese Wars of the 1960-70s.

5. Twinkie Defense (Milk) – The apocryphal outcome of the 1979 trial of Dan White. The term was never actually used in the trial but was picked up in the media as a stand-in for ‘diminished capacity’.

6. Djembe (The Visitor) – West African percussion instrument that Tarek teaches Walter.

7. There are no coincidences (Kung Fu Panda) – Oogway’s solemn pronouncement to Master Shifu.

8. What doesn’t kill you makes you…stranger (The Dark Knight) – The Joker’s twist on the famous Nietzsche epigram.

9. Posthumous (The Wrestler) – Yes, that really was Mickey Rourke as a Best Actor nominee, well after he had been pronounced dead many a time.

10. Katrina (Benjamin Button) – The ominous and pervasive threat of Katrina framing the movie demonstrates the depth to which the hurricane has penetrated the American subconscious.

New Delhi, Feb. 27 (ANI): Pinki Sonkar, the child protagonist of Oscar winning documentary ‘Smile Pinky’, has a dream to grow up and be a medical practitioner.

“After the operation, she (Pinki) becomes a normal girl, her fate has changed. Now she wants to be a doctor and wants to perform lip-cleft surgery on other patients suffering from cleft lip problem,” Pinki’s father Rajender Sonkar said, while talking to media.

Megan Mylan’s short film Smile Pinki, which won the Oscar for the Best Documentary Short Subject, is tale of a six-year-old girl who becomes a social outcast because of a cleft lip.

The 39-minute documentary traces Pinki’s journey from being ostracized to being surgically treated in a bid to lead a normal life.

Subodh Singh, the noted surgeon, who gave Pinki a smile that ushered her onto the Hollywood’s red carpet, was optimistic that the film would spread awareness about cleft lip problem in the society.

“This will have a great impact and has a far reaching effect because this will bring tremendous amount of awareness all over the world and people will come forward to help ‘Smile Train’ (a US based NGO) which is helping millions of children all over the world,” Dr. Singh said. (ANI)

Kolkata, Feb. 27 (ANI): Bollywood actor and former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai Bachchan said on Thursday that she has always been a fan of double-Oscar winner A. R. Rahman, and feels fortunate that maximum of her films featured maestro’s music.

“Working with Rahman has been an absolute pleasure. It’s not just from Taal to Guru, but it’s from ‘Iruvar’ till ‘Ravana’. In fact, maximum of my films have enjoyed the music of Rahman and as a music lover and fan, I have always admired his music and he is a gifted musician,” Rai said, while addressing a press conference in Kolkata.

The Bollywood actress, who was in Kolkata for the shooting of her upcoming flick ‘Ravana’, said she was elated at Rehman’s double win at the Oscars for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

Rai added, though Rahman was very much celebrated in India but winning Oscar meant the global recognition, which was special.

Talking about Hollywood flick ‘The Pink Panther 2′, Rai said the experience of working with actor Steve Martin has been enriching.

“Working with Steve Martin was a good experience since he is the institution of comedy. We grew up watching his movies. So when it came to working with him and since he had already worked in Pink Panther before, so you know the kind of film you are going to be a part of. I am very happy that I got a chance to work with all these great actors because I feel experience is the greatest teacher of all,” the Bollywood star said.

Comparing her character in ‘Ravana’ with the one in hardcore Hollywood flick, Pink Panther, the former Miss World said her characters in both the films were quite challenging.

“These are very different. One is Mani Ratnam and the other Pink Panther. So you can assume what the audience can expect. Those who watch English movie know about Pink Panther. Mani Ratnam is the kind of filmmaker we know he is, so he will present that kind of cinema only,” Rai opined. (ANI)

New York, Feb 27 (IANS) Danny Boyle’s underdog drama “Slumdog Millionaire” that took the Oscars by storm has also given the words “Jai ho” and “Slumdog”, which have topped a survey as terms that most influenced the English Language in 2008.

In the sixth annual survey by the Global Language Monitor the words – “Jai ho” and “Slumdog” have topped the list.

“Jai ho” is the title of a song in “Slumdog Millionaire”, which won composer A.R. Rahman and lyricist Gulzar the best original song Oscar. “Slumdog” is the metaphoric title of the film for an underdog from the slums coined by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy.

“2008 was a remarkable year for words in films, with a Hindi phrase, the name of a Laotian tribe, a West African drum, and a modified quotation from Frederick Nietzsche all making the list,” said Paul J.J. Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor, on the official website www.languagemonitor.com.

It was the first time that two words from the same movie were ranked in the Top Ten.

Closely following the two words are “Hmong” from “Gran Torino”, “Nuke the Fridge” from “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” and “Twinkie defense”, which followed the events depicted in “Milk”.

Rounding out the Top Ten are “Djembe” (“The Visitor”), “There are no coincidences” (“Kung Fu Panda”), “What doesn’t kill you makes you… stranger,” (“The Dark Knight”), “Posthumous” (“The Wrestler”) and “Katrina” from “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.

The Global Language Monitor uses a proprietary algorithm – the Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) to track the frequency of words and phrases in the global print and electronic media, on the Internet, throughout the blogosphere as well as accessing proprietary databases.

New York, Feb 27 (ANI): It seems film director Steven Spielberg’s refusal to act as artistic adviser during the Beijing Olympic Games has not been forgotten by the Chinese, for censors in the country cut his appearance at the Academy Awards.

It happened when the Oscars ceremony was re-aired in the Far East 12 hours later, and Spielberg announced the nominees for Best Picture and the winner, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, reports the New York Post.

Chinese viewers saw their screens suddenly cut to the beaming ‘Slumdog’ crew without any build-up, and insiders say that it was done as a revenge for his refusal to help at the Olympics.

Spielberg had refused to take part because China buys oil from the Sudanese Government, whom he considered responsible for the genocide in Darfur.

More than 200,000 have been killed and 2.5 million made homeless in the conflict between Arab Janjaweed forces, supported by the government, and Christian villagers in the country’s south. (ANI)

Washington, Feb 27 (ANI): Barbadian singer Rihanna has not come forward to press charges against her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown after he allegedly beat her.

Brown had been arrested and charged with making criminal threats following an alleged attack on the Umbrella hitmaker after a pre-Grammys party on February 8.

Though the police are working to gather evidence on the case, Rihanna has so far not come forward to press charges against Brown.

“We do not have enough evidence and there have been no charges filed on the Chris Brown case,” Contactmusic quoted a spokesman for Los Angeles district attorney’s office as telling In Touch magazine.

But the spokesman is adamant they will seek justice – even if Rihanna doesn’t appear in court to testify.

“If the state gathers up enough evidence, we will press charges with or without her testifying. It is not up to the victim. She will not have to show up during the arraignment,” he added. (ANI)

New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) Farmer Rajender Sonkar Friday said he would ensure that his daughter, eight-year-old Pinki, becomes a doctor. For it was surgery that transformed the cleft-lipped girl and made her the protagonist of the Oscar winning film “Smile Pinki”.

“I’ll make Pinki study so that she can become a doctor and operate upon other children with cleft lips,” Sonkar, a poor farmer from Rampur Dabai village in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district, told IANS here.

“I’m feeling immense happiness because Pinki is my daughter,” he added. He along with Pinki is back from Los Angeles where the film, “Smile Pinki”, won the best short documentary Oscar.

On Friday they met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur and will be leaving for their village Saturday.

Directed by American filmmaker Megan Mylan, the 39-minute film shows how the girl was a social outcast before free surgery, conducted on her to correct her cleft lip, transformed her not just physically but also emotionally.

Sonkar along with his daughter and Varanasi-based surgeon Subodh Kumar Singh, who operated upon Pinki, was among the people who walked the red carpet at the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

“I’m happy for Pinki. She got such a big opportunity. But more than being happy about the award that the film has won, I’m glad she doesn’t have a cleft lip anymore and can live a better life,” said an elated Sonkar who didn’t know what the Oscars were before the film got nominated.

The father of five children – Anju, 10, Pinki, 8, Laloo, 4, Sunil, 3 and Rinki, 1 – said that it was a good experience walking the red carpet. However, he said it was slightly strange because he did not know anyone.

“I went there, saw various things and it turned out to be a great experience. I knew big people are walking beside me, but I did not know who they were,” said Sonkar.

Jammu, Feb 27 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir assembly Friday congratulated music composer A.R. Rahman and other Indian members of the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” for winning the Oscar awards.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chaman Lal Gupta spoke about the achievement of Rahman and other Indian winners.

Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone welcomed the suggestion and the house unanimously adopted a message of felicitation to Rahman and other winners.

Washington, February 27 (ANI): Oscar-winning comedian Robin Williams is all set to bring his stand-up on Broadway stage, when the tour of his solo show ‘Weapons of Self-Destruction’ gets a short stint at the Neil Simon Theater in the spring.

‘Weapons’, which kicked off an 80-city tour earlier this month in Santa Barbara, California, will be presented by James L. Nederlander and Ron Delsener.

It runs April 28-May 3 at the Neil Simon, which was home to ‘Hairspray’ until the tuner shuttered in January, reports Variety magazine.

When Williams played the Rialto the last time in 2002 with ‘Robin Williams: Live on Broadway’, the production was broadcast live on HBO. (ANI)