February 20, 2009
Salma Hayek’s Surprise Marriage to French Beau
Hollywood beauty Salma Hayek finally said “I do” on Valentine’s Day to her on-off lover of three years, French business mogul Francois Henri-Pinault.
Paris, the city of love, seemed an appropriate setting to the small romantic wedding which took place at the Salles des Mariage in the famed City Hall of the Paris’ Sixth Arrondissement. The guest list included only a dozen close family members including Salma Hayek’s mother, Diana Jimenez, her brother Sami as well as little Valentina, her daughter with Pinault.
While the bride looked ravishing in a white gown and carried a bouquet of red and white roses, sources at People magazine also revealed that she shed a few tears as she said “Oui” to marriage vows.
Salma Hayek was apparently introduced to Pinault by his step mother in 2006. Pinault is an extremely successful businessman in France having taken over PPR, a luxury goods company, from his father. The company owns high-value brands such as Balenciaga and Gucci and it is estimated that Pinault’s family is worth at least $16.9 billion.
Even though Hayek and Pinault hit off soon after being introduced to each other, it was a stormy romance. In March 2007, the couple announced their engagement but called it off ten months after Valentina was born. Finally the couple sealed their love in a surprise marriage on February 14, this year.
Filed under Buzz by Kalyani Mookherji
February 10, 2009
Halle Berry is set to go bald for new movie
Hollywood actress Halle Berry is all set to take an extreme step and set another example of her dedication. The Oscar-winning actress is set to go bald for her new flick, a romantic comedy, currently titled ‘Nappily Ever After’.
The actress who has acted as a secret agent Jinx in the James Bond flick “Die Another Day,” told reporters last evening that the shooting for her new movie would start as soon as this summer.
She has decided to go where few top actresses would dare. “I’m going to shave my head bald. I can’t believe it,” she said.
The 40 year old actress has signed a role where she plays a woman whose hair is starting to fall out and she subsequently decides to shave it all, leading her to deal with people’s perceptions of who she is and how her hair defined her.
The actress says, “I still struggle with this hair issue. I’m going to get the lesson on film, and hopefully other women will get it, too”, she added further.
Berry is currently starring in a thriller ‘Perfect Stranger’, in which she plays a news reporter caught up in a murder investigation. The movie is slated for its release on April 13 across the United States.
Filed under Buzz by Purnima
January 7, 2009
What is the Cinema Reflecting?
After the Mumbai trauma, the only thing to cheer up the gloomy 2008 was the two major box office releases lined up for their December release, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini. And surely, both the movies did live up to the expectations.
Rab Ne Bana Di Jod, as expected, was another typical SRK movie, banking on colossal expectations of a man and conservative thinking of a woman. RNBDJ was another emotional drama, an extra sweet love story with a tinge of new flavor - a dancing reality show. As the cliché goes, old wine in a new bottle! But is it justified to show everything with so much of perfectionalism, show a false picture and give false expectations? The over dosage of romance and love, unrealistic expectations and the hypothetical parameters being set makes it difficult for the active audience to digest the story.
The latter, Ghanjini, too verified that Bollywood still does not have the potential in it to recreate the magic of Hollywood or for that matter even redo a Tamil version. Amir Khan starrer Ghajini, though praised by most, failed to do justice to the storyline it copied..errr..was ‘inspired’ from, kiling the beautiful love story with an over dose of violence. Every now and then when the audience gets a ‘Short Term Memory Loss’ of the previous violent act, a newer one would crop up!
What’s more, though Amir Khan seems to be the hero of the movie, was he any less from the villain? Was it justified to show a man going so crazy that he revenges by killing people in broad daylight? He committed minimum three murders after all! So why was he spared from the criminal court case? Bollywood’s tradition has been biased movies, portraying hero as the man always fighting for a just cause, a man who can never be wrong, so what if he has lost all his senses after the tragic death of his girlfriend?
Does the mere ‘A’ certification ensure that the right audience is watching the movie? Viewing from a different angle, isn’t cinema expected to play a constructive role in the development and reinforcement of our culture and beliefs? The connotation is that cinema in India is taken by most as the reference group. And hence the portrayal of such unrealistic and biased stories could force them to think wild and believe what’s illegally wrong as just.
Filed under Reviews by Purnima



