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Co-production Market to feature new projects from Kanu Behl, Aditya Vikram Sengupta and Nandita Das, along with Ritesh Batra’s first project as a producer.

Film Bazaar, hosted by India’s National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc), has unveiled the 19 South Asian projects selected for this year’s Co-production Market.

The line-up includes new projects from Kanu Behl, whose Titli premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard 2014; Aditya Vikram Sengupta, director of Venice 2014 title Labor Of Love; acclaimed Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage; and Fahad Mustafa, whose credits include award-winning documentary Katiyabaaz.

In addition, Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox) is stepping into producing with Raj Rish More’s Pirates, which Batra will produce through his new outfit Poetic License Motion Pictures.

Drishyam Films’ Manish Mundra is bringing a new project from Amit V Masurkar (Sulemani Keeda), while acclaimed filmmaker Nandita Das will present her new project Manto at Film Bazaar.

The market is introducing a new feature this year – Open...

Mumbai, April 30 – He is a southern superstar. As Vikram steps into Bollywood at the age of 44 with ‘Raavan’, he is acutely aware of going where perhaps no Indian actor has gone before – playing the hero in the Hindi version and the villain in the Tamil edition.

He admits to being initially scared to be part of the Hindi version of director Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’ but says his co-star Aishwarya Rai’s brilliant performance in the Tamil venture boosted his confidence.

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Mani Ratnam's latest venture, Raavan (starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan) had its music launch at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai over the weekend. This was an historical event as it was the first major Bollywood release that had a live webcast from BollywoodHungama.com enabling people across the world to watch.

Aishwarya graced the stage in a cream sari as she introduced the various acts and song promotions. The film will be released in both Hindi and Tamil simultaneously and the actress admits that this has been the most challenging role of her career as she spoke of the sometimes difficult conditions in which they had to film certain scenes.

Giving the audience a sneak peak into the production process, she shared the director’s favourite piece of advice to his cast: "Keep it real" which is exactly what the stars did with their respective roles.

South Indian actor,...

Seems like Govinda is miffed with the way his role has shaped up in Raavan. The latest buzz in Bollywood is that when Govinda saw the rushes of Raavan, he felt his role, which was anyway brief to begin with, had turned out far smaller than he had expected. Apparently, Govinda not only requested Mani Ratnam to bill his part as a guest appearance but he also stayed away from the grand music release of the film in Mumbai on April 24 as a mark of protest.Govinda, however, refutes these rumours. He says, .I couldn.t attend the event on Saturday at such short notice. I was informed about it only two days in advance. I had to be in Vrindavan for a puja on Saturday. It was a day meant for prayers for the welfare of one.s children. How could I skip that?.He quickly adds, .It.s...

April 26, 2010: The promos of upcoming film Raavan have generated a lot of interest in the film. The Mani Ratnam directed film is a loose adaptation of acclaimed Indian epic Ramayana, with a twist. It has Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan and South star Vikram in lead roles. Interestingly, Abhishek will reprise the character of Raavan while Ash plays Sita. He has recently spoken about how tough and challenging the role was for him.

Sampurn Wire found out that Abhishek considers this his most challenging film so far. Mani is known as a tough taskmaster and likes to shoot on real locations. The unit shot in the.

 He dived from a 90-ft cliff into water, stood under a waterfall for two hours, braved snakes and leeches in Kerala's forests - Abhishek Bachchan says shooting for 'Raavan' was emotionally and physically challenging for him.The actor revealed that he decided to jump from scary heights despite a no from director Mani Ratnam.'I did jump. There was a professional diver to train me how to do it,' Abhishek, who has teamed up with wife Aishwarya Rai in the movie, told Ians in an interview.'When we went up there, it was 90 feet or something. So the insurance people said that we can't allow him to do it. You can't put your lead actor's life at risk,' he said.'Mani said no, I am not going to risk my actor jumping off that (cliff). Actually, the current of that river is very intense. There are rocks at the bottom.

Mumbai, April 25 – Southern superstar Vikram is playing Raavan and Rama in Mani Ratnam’s new film! Confused? So was the actor, who plays opposite roles in the Hindi and Tamil versions of the film ‘Raavan’.

While in the Hindi version he plays Aishwarya Rai’s cop husband Dev, in the Tamil version he plays the brutal outlaw Veera. Both the versions were shot simultaneously.

Vikram was constantly running in and out of the two completely different characters, makeup and.

April 24, 2010: Tamil superstar Vikram who makes his debut in Hindi with Mani Ratnam’s Raavan is a traumatized man.

While in the Hindi version of Raavan he plays Aishwarya Rai’s cop-husband Dev in the Tamil version he plays the brutal outlaw Veera and that too with both the versions being shot simultaneously. Vikram was constantly running in and out of the two completely different characters makeup and languages, sometimes within half an hour.

Says a source, “It got really taxing for him. While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the same character in two languages Vikram.

Ravaan Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram; Director: Mani Ratnam; Music: A. R. Rahman.

Preview:

Mani Ratnam has reportedly shot a film that is a modern day version and a loose adaptation of the great Indian epic Ramayana which tells the story of Rama, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rākshasa) king of Lanka, Ravana. It is said that Raavan will have a new twist on the Ramayana. Mani Ratnam had earlier directed Thalapathi, which bore close resemblance to the Mahabharata.

Movie Trailer:

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Heard this?? Mani Rathnam, the ace director from South who has been making Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan starrer mega- budget flick .Raavan. for quite some time now, is facing dilemma in the choice of ending of his flick.Sources close to production house say that the ace director has kept his options open by shooting for four endings with Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram (Tamil super star). One of the probable endings is said to be Sita going over to Raavan, after demon King succeeds in influencing her thought process in his favor. However, this line has potential of enraging Hindu groups in the country and that might invite opposition and ban on the film. Another option of ending is said to be Sita reuniting with her husband Ram, which is the normal practice in Ramleelas and other plays and books. But, Mani Rathnam.s problem is that Raavan...

Heard this?? Mani Rathnam, the ace director from South who has been making Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan starrer mega- budget flick .Raavan. for quite some time now, is facing dilemma in the choice of ending of his flick.Sources close to production house say that the ace director has kept his options open by shooting for four endings with Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram (Tamil super star). One of the probable endings is said to be Sita going over to Raavan, after demon King succeeds in influencing her thought process in his favor. However, this line has potential of enraging Hindu groups in the country and that might invite opposition and ban on the film. Another option of ending is said to be Sita reuniting with her husband Ram, which is the normal practice in Ramleelas and other plays and books. But, Mani Rathnam.s problem is that Raavan...

Motts wants me to hear a piece of gup about the Tamil superstar Vikram, who plays a prominent character in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan. The actor was badly injured during one of the action scenes. Though the doctors said that he would take over a month to recover, the actor has already started walking around, of course with some pain. Mottu says that her friend, who visited the actor, told her that the flesh on the actor’s knees has been chipped off. Ouch! ...

Hindi cinema continues to import Southern talents, be it the chirpy Genelia D’Souza, the musical mystro Yuvan Shankar Raja, the cinematic genius A R Murgadoss or the ever so popular Vikram.

Vikram has attainted the position of not only one of the most commercially successful actors down South but also one of the most critically acclaimed names of the industry. Audiences are guaranteed to flock to the cinemas if his name is in the cast list, and with the combined star power of the Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan, Raavan’s opening will be one hell of a sight!

The film is without a doubt one of the most talked about and awaited films in perhaps all the cast and crew’s careers, including that of Mani Ratnam who’s films carry with them an aura of excitement no matter who the cast. Now at last the film is wrapping...

There.s something about Iifa. The event seems to hold definite charm for Mani Ratnam, whose big budget extravaganza Raavan may premier at this year.s edition of the International Indian Film Academy Awards . to be held at Seoul in South Korea.Of course, this isn.t the erstwhile director.s first brush with the Iifa. Yuva, also starring Abhishek Bachchan, had also premiered at Iifa. The Bachchans have a long connection with the Iifa, as Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador of the event. The move may definitely do some good for Raavan, as the Iifa is a popular event and will provide the film with some much desired international exposure and acclaim.Slated for a July 18 release, Raavan also stars Aishwarya Rai Bachahan, Govinda and South star Vikram.

There is not even an iota of doubt that Mani Ratnam's star studded big budget extravaganza, Raavan, is certainly one of the most talked about and highly anticipated projects of 2010. The film which stars the real life hot and happening couple of Bollywood, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, also boasts of superstars like Vikram from South and our very own Govinda. After a highly successful outing in Guru with the master, Mani Ratnam, Ash-Abhi are looking forward to wooi...

Director Manirathnam is currently directing a film titled Raavan in Hindi and Tamil languages. Popular actors Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and Aishwarya Rai are starring in this film. Initially Big Pictures belonging to Dhirubhai Ambani was supposed to produce this film. But due to some internal problems they kept away from this project.

So Manirathnam started producing his film on his own under the Madras Talkies banner. The shooting of this film is over and the post production work is going on. Now at this stage Big Pictures is bent upon acquiring the rights of this film. They are willing to a whooping amount to procure this film. But Manirathnam is keeping mum over this matter.

The shooting of Raavan has ended at last. You name it and they faced it - rains, accidents, legal issues, jungle safaris, and all kinds of delay that you can think of.

Raavan’ is produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. It has a big star cast including Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Govinda, Vikram, Priyamani, Karthick, Prithviraj and others. Raavan is made into a bilingual (Hindi-Tamil) movie. It is remotely based on Ramayana. Interestingly, the director has modified the story and changed the angle altogether, making the villain a hero. Abhishek here plays the title character as Raavan. Cinematography is done by Santosh Sivan and no guesses for the music - it's A R Rahman as always.

Mani Ratnam breathed a sigh of relief at last and to mark this occasion, Mani Ratnam and his wife Suhasini threw a party for the team. Mani Ratnam personally praised Govinda for his performance,...

Bipasha Basu tops this year's Hot 100 Celebrity List from men's magazine Maxim. She also appears on this month's front cover. "I find it a huge compliment to be in the No 1 position in Maxim's Hot 100 especially as it has a worldwide circulation," she says. Bips, who was once concerned at always being cast in sexy roles appears to have come to terms with her status recently. "I love being sexy and I would be happy if people call me sexy even when I turn 100. I would love to be called a sexy grandmother," she confides.

Bipasha is on a roll with her roles at the moment. After a hot performance in Aa Dekhan Zara, next up is Pankh in which she will be heard using the 'f' word, which the director feels is essential to the plot at that point. He won his battle after a six-month tangle with the censors.

<div style="text-align: justify;">Even though the much-awaited Raavan/ Ashokavanam has run into trouble so often this gritty filmmaker has scheduled to shoot the crucial climax scenes of this movie at Malshej Ghats near Mumbai as per his original plans.Recently, the Maharashtra state authorities slapped cases against 14 crew members of his unit charging them for trespassing forest property when they were levelling the land for the film.s shoot. According to sources, one now hears that Mani will be shooting the first phase of these scenes from August 29 onwards. Aishwarya, Abhishek, Vikram and Munnah play key roles in this sequence and the filmmaker has obtained due permission and even paid the requisite amount to the forest authorities.Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who is recovering from a bout of fever is joining the unit tomorrow. Insiders reveal that the rest of the cast comprising Prithiviraj, Prabhu, Karthik and Govinda will join them after a week.s time.

Aishwarya Rai, the gorgeous bollywood beauty who plays the character of Sita in Hindi and Tamil versions of Mani Rathnam.s upcoming flick .Raavana. opposite Vikram(who plays Raavana in Tamil, Abhishek Bachchan plays Raavan in Hindi version), has inspired the Tamil superstar to perform on her super hit Hindi song numbers in his film .Kanthaswamy.( Kandasamy). Vikram, who has a huge following in south, has cross-dressed as Aishwarya Rai and performed on songs taken form her films .Taal. and .Devdas.. Sources say that this particular sequence of Vikram has the audience asking for more in theatres and they are thronging to auditoriums more and more to see just this sequence. In any case, Aishwarya Rai has always been a hit with the audiences in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and this combination of Vikram and Ash has further created magic at the box office for .Kanthaswamy.

Aishwarya Rai, the gorgeous Bachchan bahu who plays the character of Sita in Mani Ratnam.s upcoming ambitious film .Raavan., is all set to return to sets of the film from May 22 in a month -long spell. The schedule will be held in the jungles of Kerala, where the film had taken off in the beginning. All the pre- climax sequences of the film are likely to be shot during this spell involving Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Ravi Kissen, Govinda, Vikram, Nikhil Dwivedi and Ajay Gehi. Afterwards, a fifteen -day final spell will be held in Bangalore to complete the shooting of the film.

Chennai, Multilingual filmmaker Mani Ratnam was admitted to a private hospital Wednesday following "breathing difficulty and dizziness", a family source said. "He had a few minutes of breathing difficulty and dizziness. There is no need for any panic as the director is healthy and likely to be discharged after routine check-up and a day's rest. He may resume work shortly," the source said. With a history of cardiac problems since the making of multilingual film "Yuva" (2003), Ratnam is resting in Apollo Hospital, the source added. The 52-year-old is currently working on "Raavan" starring National Award winner Vikram, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, publicists said in a press statement. Having introduced Oscar winner A.R. Rahman to the ...

Mythology gets a new twist in the Mani Ratnam movie 'Raavan', starring Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan .

Though the makers try hard to guard the stories of their much-hyped films, it’s a tough task to plug all the holes to prevent a story from leaking. And now, the story of Abhi-Ash starrer ‘Raavan’, loosely based on Ramayana, is out of the closet.

If sources are to be believed, Abhishek plays a vindictive villain in the film who tries to take revenge after his sister is humiliated in public by the lead actor, Vikram , who plays the husband of Aishwarya. Like Ravana, the traumatised antagonist Abhishek enters Vikram’s household to take revenge, but in his absence Abhi kidnaps Ash.

To hide her, he takes her to a jungle where both of them eventually fall in love and herein lays the unexpected twist. The story explores the complex...