Watts, Owen, Worthington lead AFI awards nominations

London, Oct 28 (IANS) Hollywood actress Naomi Watts and actors Sam Worthington, Clive Owen are leading this year's nominations list for the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards.

Watts' role in 'Mother and Child' has landed her a place on the shortlist for the International award for best actress along with Toni Collette, Bojana Novakovic of 'Edge of Darkness' and Mia Wasikowska of 'Alice In Wonderland'.

Worthington is competing for the International award for best actor for his role in 'Avatar', going up against Simon Baker, Ryan Kwanten and Kodi Smit-MCPhee.

Other stars nominated for prizes at the upcoming ceremony include Clive Owen, who is up for the AFI Award for best lead actor for his role in 'The Boys Are Back', alongside contenders Ben Mendelsohn, James Frecheville and Brendan Cowell.

Imran, Deepika to be paired again

Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone will once again be seen together in Homi Adajania's yet untitled film.

The makers of the film were in a dilemma for a long time about whom to cast opposite Imran in the quirky comedy. However, after watching Imran-Deepika's chemistry in trailers of Kunal Kohli's yet-to-to be released film "Break Ke Baad", they decided to once again cast the two actors together.

The script of the film is being written by writer-director Imtiaz Ali, who has helmed movies Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal.

This is Adajania's second film as a director. He had previously won critical accolades for his directorial debut Being Cyrus, which starred Saif Ali Khan. It is being produced by Saif's ex-business partner Dinesh Vijan.

Himesh Reshammiya turns music publisher

Himesh Reshammiya is a music director, singer and even an actor, but what he wasn't and now is, is a Music Publisher, and not just any, but one who has global aspirations.

While his international album At Da Edge is all set to release in 122 countries, Himesh Reshmmiya' publishing company HR Musik Limited is all set to launch a talented group of singers, lyricists, composers and musicians. Himesh has big plans for this venture and intends it to be the biggest music content provider in all languages globally.

Himesh is ready to seed the industry with new, promising talent and hopes to move this industry's focus from individual talent to something that fits international standards. He seeks to provide the next generation music that would be created under Himesh's guidance and finesse, thereby assuring quality control.

HR Musik Ltd. will also be producing films, albums and singles and will be launching in 2011 with its content.

As far as his acting career goes, Himesh wasn't happy with the way things shaped up with his last release Kajraare. Instead of a proper big screen release, the film was given a DVD release after a single show played in a single screen. Learning from past, Reshammiya is now extra cautious about his upcoming Studio 18 project Ishk Unplugged starring him and Sonal Sehgal. He plans to be in complete know how involving this one as the film is complete and ready for release.

Ali Zafar roped in for David Dhawan's next ?

Pakistani actor Ali Zafar was signed by Yash Raj Films after his first Bollywood film Tere Bin Laden. Even though, the film was not a commercial success Ali's acting talent and wonderful comic sense in the film was appreciated by all. Now, the latest report is that renowned comedy filmmaker David Dhawan has narrated the script of his next film to Ali.

David’s film is likely to be titled Chasme Badoor and Ali is one of the top contenders to play the lead role in this flick. A source was quoted saying that Ali is suitable for romantic roles with his chocolate boy looks. David has reportedly met him in Delhi and narrated the script of his next comedy flick Chasme Badoor.

The actor is presently busy shooting his second film Mere Brother Ki Dulhan with Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif. He is playing the second lead in the film.

He will be flying down to Mumbai next week to finalize the details of the David Dhawan film. Speaking about the film
, Ali said that he has just read the script and loved the script of Chasme Badoor. The actor added that he likes watching David's films and would love to work with him.

However, Dhawan has denied the story saying that it is news for him. So, is it not a mutual admiration?

Its Hard To Choose

Bollywood Actress Lekha Washington has another interest than acting, sculpting. After cementing her position in Bollywood with a three film deal with Rajkumar santoshi, which includes POWER, she is all set to participate in a sculpture exhibition too.

Lekha’s Mumbai home is a mess, not because she has moved in recently but because she is a passionate sculptor. Washington is preparing for an exhibition and juggling her shooting schedules for Rajkumar Santoshi's film POWER that stars Ajay Devgn. She plays Amitabh Bachchan's daughter and Ajay Devgn's love interest in the film.

According to sources, director Santoshi has advised her to go easy on sculpting and focus on her acting career. "I love sculpting with clay and find it comforting. Although I've been asked to choose between the two, I can't," says Lekha.

Morgan Freeman to receive Life Achievement Award

Veteran star Morgan Freeman is set to be honoured for his life-long work on screen.

The Oscar winner will receive the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award in recognition of his career achievements, E Online reports.

'Morgan Freeman is an American treasure,' Howard Stringer, chairman of the AFI board of trustees, said in a statement on Monday.

'Across decades, whether playing a prisoner, a president or God, he embodies a calm authority that demands respect for the character and for the art form'

Steven Spielberg, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis and Orson Welles are previous recipients of the gong.

Tom Hardy Cast in "Batman 3"

After "Inception" hit theaters, a rumor began circulating that Christopher Nolan will hire one of the actors from the film for the third "Batman" installment, which will begin shooting in April.

It was assumed that it would be Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but Deadline is reporting that Tom Hardy (Mad Max 4, Bronson) has already been signed for "Batman 3." No word on whether he will play a villain, but it will definitely be a lead role.

Back in July, Warners' casting grid for the movie showed that The Riddler would be the main villain. Then a few days ago we learned that production will be taking place in Louisiana. Combined with some hints from Mark Millar, it is now being assumed that Killer Croc will appear in the movie as well.

Nature of the Work

Actors, producers, and directors express ideas and create images in theater, film, radio, television, and other performing arts media. They interpret a writer's script to entertain, inform, or instruct an audience. Although many actors, producers, and directors work in New York or Los Angeles, far more work in other places. They perform, direct, and produce in local or regional television studios, theaters, or film production companies, often creating advertising or training films or small-scale independent movies.

Actors perform in stage, radio, television, video, or motion picture productions. They also work in cabarets, nightclubs, and theme parks. Actors portray characters, and, for more complex roles, they research their character's traits and circumstances so that they can better understand a script.

Producers are entrepreneurs who make the business and financial decisions involving a motion picture, television show, or stage production. They select scripts, approve the development of ideas, arrange financing, and determine the size and cost of the endeavor. Producers hire or approve directors, principal cast members, and key production staff members.

Directors are responsible for the overall creative decisions of a production. They interpret scripts, audition and select cast members, conduct rehearsals, and direct the work of cast and crew. They approve the design elements of a production, including the sets, costumes, choreography, and music. As with producers, large productions often have many levels of directors working on them. Assistant directors cue the performers and technicians, telling them when to make entrances or light, sound, or set changes. All directors must ultimately answer to the executive producer, who has the final say on all factors related to the production.

SRK gets a Ducati bike!

Shah Rukh’s most ambitious film Ra. One is still under production and there was a minor delay recently. No, this time the delay was not the result of a starry tantrum thrown by one of his co-stars. It was caused due to a bike. And it was no ordinary bike. It was a Ducati that was the cause of the glitch.

SRK and the unit of Ra. One had a major schedule shot in London. Most of the portions with SRK dressed as a super hero were shot there and a Ducati was used in these sequences. After the unit returned to Mumbai, SRK realised that they needed to shoot some more sequences on the bike. But they could not find a similar bike and SRK was left with no option but to have the bike brought from London.

Lekin, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost. The story doesn’t end here, SRK booked a bike for himself from London which took its own sweet time to arrive. Until then SRK had no option but to wait. However, now that the bike has reached Mumbai, SRK is busy shooting with it.

Whatever the fate of the movie, SRK will at least have one expensive memento to remember it by.

Actress Lisa Rinna Gets Robbed On Live TV And Confirms Lip Reduction Surgery

For those of you who are familiar with actress Lisa Rinna, you will be sorry to hear that her fashion boutique got robbed while she was promoting her new book and her new television show.

Actress and author Lisa Rinna found out about the news while she was on NBC’s The Today Show. She was present with her husband, Harry Hamlin, when she was told of the unfortunate news.

The robbery took place at the Belle Gray clothing store that was owned by Lisa Rinna. Surprisingly, the actress did not seem to panic too much but instead stated how it had happened three times already.

“Oh Lord. Unbelievable. This has happened three times now,” stated an infuriated Lisa Rinna when she heard of the news.

In other Lisa Rinna news, it was recently confirmed by PEOPLE magazine that she had an operation performed on her upper lip. Many always commented on the size of her lips, especially after she admitted to injecting silicone into her upper lip back in 1986.

Lisa Rinna is most known for her roles in Days Of Our Lives and Melrose Place. She was also recently recognized for her role as the host of Soap Talk. Some also recall her performance in the second season of Dancing With The Stars.

Marilyn Monroe contemplated suicide

A new book on American actress Marilyn Monroe, one of the most popular faces in Hollywood,eveals the actress was feeling suicidal in the final stages of her life. The actress was rated the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. The book, which is a compilation of letters the actress wrote to her acting mentor Lee Strasberg, reveals she was in severe depression and was trying to end her life. The book also exposes that Monroe was in a mode of self loathing and agony due to her repeated failures in romance and marriage.

During the final stages of her career, Monroe was becoming difficult to work with and had become isolated in Hollywood. Monroe shot to fame through her roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How To Marry A Millionaire (1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Monroe was famous for havinge created the dumb blonde persona. The actress died in 1962 under mysterious circumstances. Though cited to be a drug overdose, a suicide was never ruled out.

Naveen Mayur died

Kannada actor Naveen Mayur died at 5.30 pm on Sunday on 3rd October. The chocolate hero of Sandalwood ended his journey of life at a very a tender age of 32. He was suffering from jaundice
The 32-year-old star had recently visited the holy places like Dharmastala and Kukke Subramnya. His health condition was not good when he returned on this Saturday. Immediately, he was admitted to a private hospital in Bangalore, but he could not recover, says his family sources.

The actor completed his primary schooling in Sri Kumaran's School and joined National High School in Jayanagar. He got graduation in BBM from Jain College Bangalore. Right from his college days, he was interested in acting and he acted in a couple of plays like 'Naanu Neenu'.

Naveen Mayur debuted in Kannada films with Sunilkumar Desai directed movie Sparsha, which featured Sudeep in the lead. Later, he acted in movies like Lava Lavike, Upendra's Uppi Dada MBBS, Poorvapara, Ninagoskar, Preeti Mado Hudugarigella, Nanna Hendti Kole, Avanandre Avane, Neela and Hello.

He was one of the 25 persons selected from South India for The Regional Scanning of Graviera Mr India in 1997. He was a descent actor, but he was unnecessarily dragged into controversy of Kudlu Ramakrishna's Hello film. Later, he was proved innocent at KFCC.

According to his family sources, Naveen's brother Shreyas, who is staying in the USA, had invited him to visit America. He had even booked an air ticket for him. But the actor's fate did not allow him to go there. Naveen's sudden death is an irreplaceable loss to Kannada film industry.