Korean-French film bags Pune International Film Festival top prize

The government of Maharashtra’s Prabhat ‘Best international film’ award of Rs10 lakh was given to the film Dooman River/ La Riviere Tumen (South Korea/ France) by Zhang Lu at the concluding ceremony of the 9th Pune International Film Festival held at Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch on Thursday.

Likewise, the Prabhat Best international director award of Rs5 lakh was given to director Borys Lankosz for the film The Reverse (Poland) and the special jury award was given to Natalie Smirnoff, director of the film Puzzle (Argentina, France). While the Sant Tukaram Best Marathi Feature Film award of Rs5 lakh was given to the film Baboo Band Baaja by Rajesh Pinjani.

Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) student Tathagata Singha bagged the PIFF special award of Rs25,000 for direction.

Jabbar Patel, director, PIFF said, “Next year, we are going to introduce Indian cinema competition award in which first or second film of the Indian director will be eligible for the competition. Forty films from PIFF will be sent to the first Yashwant International festival which will held in Mumbai later this month.’’

Minister of state for culture Faujia Khan, who was the chief guest of the function, said, “PIFF is the only award function, the state government involves itself with and government takes lots of efforts to encourage Marathi films.’’

The Most Popular Actors and Actresses in the U.S.

There's no such thing as a sure thing in the movie business, and a recent poll on America's favorite actors and actresses proves it. Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie have supplanted Clint Eastwood and Sandra Bullock, respectively, as the most popular actor and actress in the U.S., according to the online survey

Depp beat out Denzel Washington and John Wayne as the post popular actors, while Jolie finished ahead of Julia Roberts and Bullock. Eastwood fell to No. 7 among actors, while Bullock fell to No. 3 among actresses.

Salaries of the Stars

And all the top-listed stars have benefited handsomely from their popularity. Depp also topped Forbes's September 2010 list of highest-paid actors, with a salary that reached an estimated $75 million for the year ending June 2010 -- ahead of Ben Stiller's estimated $53 million -- largely on the popularity of Walt Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" film franchise.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" is the fourth-highest global grossing film of all time, generating $1.07 billion in worldwide box-office sales after its 2006 release, while its 2007 follow up, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," is No. 9

Jolie tied Roberts for sixth place on a Forbes list of highest-paid actresses in August 2010, having earned an estimated $20 million for the year ended June 2010. Bullock topped that list at $56 million, followed by Reese Witherspoon, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Depp and Jolie co-starred in the Sony film "The Tourist," which opened Dec. 10. That film, which had a production budget of about $100 million, has grossed a disappointing $61.5 million in U.S. box-office receipts after being largely panned by critics

Actor Vivek Shauq dies

The film industry lost a very good character artist in the form of Vivek Shauq who breathed his last today. The actor was a prominent face in a lot of Punjabi films but also had done work in a lot of Bollywood films as a support actor.

He has films like 'Gadar Ek Prem Katha', 'Aitraaz' and '36 China Town' where his comic timing earned him a lot of accolades to his credit.

The death was rather untimely as he was just 47 and suffered a heart attack on Jan 3 after which he was taken to Sant Nirankari Mission where he breathed his last today.

He has worked with a lot of top bollywood actors like Sunny Deol, Akshay Kumar, Akshaye Khanna and Shahid Kapoor. His acts with Jaspal Bhatti in Ulta Pulta TV show were very famous in the north region.

He slipped into coma after a minor operation and could never attain conscious again. His sense of humor was amazing and had a lot of fans in the industry; he was also one of the founder members of Nonsense Club.

The Top 10 Actors To Keep An Eye On In 2011

Andrew Garfield

When you're one of the top stars of "The Social Network" and that's not your biggest headline of 2010, you're either doing something very right or very wrong. For Andrew Garfield, we're quite confident it's the former. While his big "Spider-Man" debut is still more than a year away, something tells us we're going to hear a lot more about him in 2011.

Blake Lively

Lively boldly demonstrated that she's a lot more than just a pretty face on "Gossip Girl" with her unsettlingly honest depiction of drugged-out Krista Coughlin in "The Town," and she's likely to make similar waves in this summer's "Green Lantern." We're betting those roles will lead to much more work in the near future.

Chris Hemsworth

We already met the Australian actor (albeit briefly) in "Star Trek," but the biggest role of Hemsworth's career is still on the horizon in the form of "Thor." In addition to playing the Norse God of Thunder in the Marvel Studios epic, Hemsworth also has his long-awaited turns in "Red Dawn" and "The Cabin in the Woods" to look forward to.

Hailee Steinfeld

After seeing "True Grit," there's simply no way that Hailee Steinfeld disappears into the ether of obscure child actors that only starred in a handful of movies. She better not, at least, because the 14-year-old actress delivered one of the single most powerful performances of 2010 as Mattie Ross, and we're banking on many more memorable characters to come.

James Franco
He's already co-hosting this year's Oscars and he's a likely shoe-in for a Best Actor nomination for his work on "127 Hours." What else does Franco have to look forward to? A lot, apparently, as the actor has his eye on directing adaptations of William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" and Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" in the next two years. Say what you will about Franco, but you can't say he's lazy.

Jennifer Lawrence

Did you happen to catch Jennifer Lawrence's moving performance as wise-beyond-her-years teenager Ree Dolly in "Winter's Bone" last year? If not, you need to fix that mistake immediately. Lawrence is on the cusp of stardom here, not just because of this celebrated performance, but also her upcoming turn as Mystique in "X-Men: First Class."

Mila Kunis

Although most eyes are on Natalie Portman when it comes to "Black Swan," don't forget her stunning co-star. Kunis turned in a truly haunting performance as the enigmatic Lily, the perfect foil for Portman's deeply troubled Nina. If that performance was any indication, Kunis has big things ahead of her as a dramatic actress. But before she brings the drama again, she'll flaunt her funny side in the raunchy rom-com "Friends With Benefits," out this summer.

Natalie Portman

But, come on, credit where it's due: Portman gave the performance of her career in "Black Swan," and every ounce of praise she's received is fully deserved. A likely Oscar winner by this time next year, it'll be very interesting to see what the phenomenally talented Portman does with this kind of success. In the meantime, there'll be no shortage of the Portman on the big screen this year. She's got no fewer than four wildly different films on the horizon in '11: the Ashton Kutcher-co-starring romantic comedy "No Strings Attached," the wrenching drama "The Other Woman," the medieval stoner comedy "Your Highness" and the superheroic "Thor."

Ryan Reynolds

Ignore the fact that Reynolds is taking the lead on "Green Lantern." That's not what he's doing on this list. No, it's his tentative involvement with "Deadpool" that we're worried about. There's no one else on the planet better suited to play Wade Wilson than Reynolds, so we're hoping that the actor makes a firmer commitment to the comic book movie this year.

Tom Hardy

The "Inception" star has a few movies on the way in 2011, including "Warrior," "This Means War" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." He's filming an unknown role for "The Dark Knight Rises" this year as well. Already responsible for the most badass character of 2010, "Inception"'s erstwhile Eames is likely to have an equally successful year in 2011.

Happy Birthday A.R. Rahman!!

Oscar winning music director AR Rahman is celebrating his 44th birthday today, January 6th, 2010. Rahman’s entry into filmdom was with Roja in 1992 and since then he has bagged fourteen Filmfare Awards, eleven Filmfare Awards South, four National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe. The Maestro of Madras, as he is fondly referred to, has been nominated for the Golden Globe Award for the Hollywood flick 127 Hours.

Rahman is actively involved in various social welfare activities and is promoting the cause of education through his KM Music Conservatory by adopting children from corporation schools and imparting free education in music.

Let’s wish this musician a very happy birthday and many more to come!

Singer Gerry Rafferty dead after illness

Gerry Rafferty, famous for the hit songs Baker Street and Stuck In The Middle With You, has died after a long illness his agent Paul Charles confirmed earlier this morning.

Scottish singer-songwriter Rafferty had a successful solo career as well as being a member of the band Stealers Wheel, with whom he released the hit-track Stuck In The Middle With You in 1972. This song also featured in Quentin Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs, which was released in 1992.

Rafferty’s biggest hit was Baker Street, the 1978 song famous for its distinct saxophone solo, which got to No. 3 on the UK charts and No. 2 in the US.

Gerrry Rafferty started his career as a busker on the London Underground in the mid-60s.
The funeral is believed to be held in his hometown of Paisley later this month.

More Unreleased Johnny Cash Due in February

You won’t have to wait very long into the new year for more Johnny Cash. In February, Columbia/Legacy Recordings will release a two-CD set “Bootlegs 2: From Memphis to Hollywood.”

The two-CD set will focus on Cash’s early career, with disc 1 including seven outtakes from his Sun Records days, eleven unreleased demos, and a radio broadcast hosted by Cash himself. Disc 2 focuses on his days at Columbia from 1958 to 1969 and features rare B sides and outtakes.

The CD set comes out, almost a year to the date, after the release of “American VI: Ain’t No Grave,” the final installment of "the man in black," critically acclaimed American Recordings series produced by Rick Rubin. Pre-orders are now being taken for the February 22nd release date.

Stacy Fogarty is an on-air radio personality and music director for a popular radio station in the heart of the Colorado Rockies.