Lizzie Miller nude photo in Glamour magazine

The nude photo features Lizzie Miller in a candid pose with no attempt to hide her paunch and other not-so-firm bits.

It’s a different matter that the 3″ x 3″ picture, that was run with an article on women’s body confidence, was tucked in somewhere in the 200-odd pages of the magazine.

Glamour magazine’s decision to carry Lizzie Miller’s nude photo may have been tentative one, but it would never have expected the overwhelming response it received for the photo.

Glamour magazine editor Cindi Leive was quoted as saying on TODAY Monday, “Immediately, within hours of the magazine coming out, we had people telling us they were e-mailing it to friends, and that it was the first time they felt good about their own bodies, looking at this picture.”

Lizzie Miller has been modeling for the past seven years. She is 5 ft 11″tall and has a size that varies between 12 to 14.

Miller, said on TODAY Monday, that she was not sure about the nude photo that exposed her belly roll. “I’m just like every other girl who has insecurities,” she said.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘OK, not the most flattering picture’” she added.

Lizzie Miller’s nude photo has once again opened the debate about body image and the psychological harm that photos of rake-thin models does to the average woman.

Lizzie was quoted as saying, “I’ve been that girl, flipping through magazines trying to find just one person who looked a little bit like me. And when I didn’t find it I would start to think there’s something wrong with the way I looked. When J. Lo and Beyonce came out and were making curves sexy, I started to accept myself more. Its funny, but just seeing them look and feel sexy enabled me to do the same.”

Varma has barely put behind the debacle called Ram Gopal Ki Aag, a remake of the classic drama Sholay – which he himself has called a comedy, self-deprecatingly, considering how terrible it was – is now courting the next one.

Amitabh Bachchan plays Harshvardhan Malik, Head, India 24/7 in Rann

Rann’s Jana Gana Mana track lyrics go like this,

Jann gann mana rann hai
Is rann mein zakhmi hua hai
Bharat ka bhaagya vidhaata…

No more. We are a pretty sensitive people here in India. So while big media can happily go around reproducing the entire lyrics of the Rann song, some people love to get us into trouble. Can’t touch a Times of India, so let’s kick this blogger’s butt, eh? Sorry guys.

Ram Gopal Varma said at the unveiling of the first look of Rann, “I have not tinkered with the national anthem. Tinkering would be if I would have shown it in bad light. I haven’t done anything of this sort.”

Riteish Deshmukh plays an investigative journalist in Rann

He said that the Rann title track talks about the disputes in the country, and had no intentions to ridicule anything.

The last time I checked tinkering was just fiddling with existing stuff, and had nothing to do with intentions, honorable or otherwise.

Since the national anthem is part of the Indian constitution, and Varma knows very well knows it, this just might be a ploy for a little bit of publicity.

Gul Panag as Purab Shashtri's girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's Rann

I am not sure about the exact legalities, but as far as I know, one cannot the changes the lyrics of the national anthem without prior permission of the government, even for the purpose of entertainment. And even if it were not illegal to do it, it would be a flagrant flouting of tradition.

And even if it wasn’t the national anthem, it is the original work of a poet. It doesn’t matter if it is Rabindrath Tagore or an unknown poet, you cannot tweak the work without permission, even if the poet is dead as a doornail.

So either way, Varma will have go to court, and I am sure he has no wish to do that.

Besides, the lyrics are so bad, I wonder if he even planned to use it in the movie.

Also, the official website of Rann, states the fact associated with the Indian National Anthem. And one such statement, which it passes as a fact, is in fact just a supposition. The line states “It was sung to welcome King George V on his visit to India.”

Now, the national anthem has been the subject of a great deal of speculation, whether it was written by Rabindra Nath Tagore to welcome the Emperor or an ode to God. If one has read any of Rabindra Nath Tagore’s work, and I have read all, there would be no doubt that Tagore would never write a paean to King George.

To pass off a speculation as a fact, is pretty irresponsible on Varma’s part.

Meanwhile, before the censor board came out with its views on the national anthem controversy, Amitabh Bachchan who plays a lead role in Rann, was quoted as saying that he had full faith in the producers of Rann, that they would taken the requisite legal permission to change the lyrics of the national anthem.

Rann revolves around the nexus between Indian media and centres of power, and how it is driven purely by business rather than any moral compulsion to report the truth.

Rann stars Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal, Riteish Deshmukh, Manisha Koirala, Gul Panag, Rajat Kapoor, Neetu Chandra, Mohnish Behl, Suchitra Krishnamurty, and Purab Kohli.

Taare Zameen Par poster

Shakuntala Devi says her book revolves around a nine-year-old girl who hates Maths but ends up being brilliant at it. Huh?

Either Shakuntala Devi has not put across her point well or she is just talking through her hat.

Reports have said that the nine-year-old protagonist of her book, In the Wonderland of Numbers was dyslexic. If she was, then Shakuntala Devi forgot to mention it in interviews she gave in 2007.

Shakuntala Devi, author of In the Wonderland of Numbers

Shakuntala Devi was quoted as saying, “I have written a book called In the Wonderland of Numbers. It’s about a young girl, Neha, who is very poor in mathematics but in a series of illusory experiences, she becomes a great mathematician.”

Orient Paperbacks that published Shakuntala Devi’s book had described In the Wonderland of Numbers as “The adventures of an engaging and talented child, Neha, In the Wonderland of Numbers is a fine way to introduce children to the concept of maths as fun activity. The specialties of each individual number, from zero to nine, and the little mathematical tricks as shown by Shakuntala Devi, all combine to make the reader learn to befriend numbers and excel at maths. Numbers are not symbols to be written on the blackboard, They are the doorway to the world of intellectual adventure. My purpose of narrating his wonderful story is to take away any fear a child may have of numbers. Numbers are fun, numbers are magical. It is my hope that this story will inspire parents and teachers to enthuse children with a life-long love for numbers and maths.”

Anyway, the story of a teacher changing the life of a student has been depicted in god knows how many movies. Besides, Amol Gupte and his wife Deepa Bhatia had conceptualized Taare Zameen Par based on a short story written by them titled High Jump. The story was translated into a full-fledged movie screenplay seven years after the story written.

Shakuntala Devi had said in an interview after the launch of her book, that she would like to make a movie based on the book. She is now saying that she wrote the book as a movie script and is now hunting for a producer to make the movie.

So why is Shakuntala Devi raising the issue a year after the release of the movie? Either it’s pique that a movie, she thinks is a lot like her book, got made, or it is a move to get free publicity, or force Aamir Khan, who has produced and directed Taare Zameen Par, to cough up.

Shankutala Devi is a mathematical genius, who at the age of six had calculated the cube root of a 15-digit number in her head in a matter of seconds. Her father was a trapeze artist and a circus peformer. In  1980, Shakuntala Devi was able to multiply two 13-digit numbers in 28 seconds.

Taare Zameen Par is India’s official entry for the upcoming 2009 Oscar award for Best Foreign Film.

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan's wedding: YES! NO! YES!

This is getting a bit confusing though. At one end there is Saif Ali Khan saying that marriage in on the cards, and on the other, Kareena Kapoor going blue in the face saying that she has no plans of getting married in the near future and if Saif respects her he will wait for her.

Crossed wires, wishful thinking on Saif Ali Khan’s side, or coyness on Kareena Kapoor’s part?

Or is momma Babita afraid that her daughter will lose out on interesting roles once she is married? Somebody should tell her that she should stop living vicariously through her daughters.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor: Joined at the shoulder, elbow, hip, arm, thigh!

Whatever the case may be, the besotted Saif Ali Khan has said that Kareena Kapoor will accompany him to the village of Pataudi, to be with his parents, this winter. Saif also reminded us that Kareena is the love of his life, as though he ever let us forget.

Saif Ali Khan was earlier married to actress Amrita Singh in 1991, when he was only 21 years old. They divorced in 2004. After the divorce, Saif date Rosa Castalano for a bit. The two broke up in 2007.

Saif Ali Khan has two kids, Sara and Ibrahim, who live with Amrita Singh.

Hum saath saath hai!

In 2004, when Saif Ali Khan divorced Amrita, Kareena Kapoor started a relationship with Shahid Kapoor. The two were together till 2007, and parted ways just after they finished filming Jab We Met. The movie was a mega hit, Kareena Kapoor walked away with the Best Actress Filmfare award, and Shahid Kapoor, despite a sterling performance, was ignored by the critics and his lady love.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor

Now that Saif has announced the wedding, and if the wedding does happen soon, I can only hope it does not attract the kind of unrelenting frenzy the Abhi-Ash wedding inspired till one was ready to gag.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor at yet another award function: Killing us softly with their PDA

But there is a good chance, the madness will not touch dizzying heights because the duo are here, there, everywhere. In every ad, every interview, every function, every outdoor shoot, across continents, over the seas, the two can be spied hand-in-hand.

Saif and Kareena

And hopefully, everyone’s had enough of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. I, for one, am pretty close to hurling something at the TV screen when these two pop up kootchie kooing without pause.

Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire

Both companies have pulled out of scenes that involved their products. Reason: They do not want to diminish their brand image, considering the slum associations of the movie.

Danny Boyle has been quoted as saying, “We had to take that (logo) off because the company doesn’t want to be associated with being in a slum. We wanted to use a Mercedes because… this guy, this gangster would drive a Mercedes… But if you use it then clearly you have to get permission, and we asked for their permission and they refused it.”

I personally don’t get it. So if a movie director wants a Mercedes Benz or a Pepsi or Coke bottle in a movie, you have to get a permission from the companies? What about shoes? Every car in every movie was shown only after getting an official permission? If it is so, it is retarded. The companies concerned are not displaying anything – is it even practical to remove every logo from a movie? What about billboards or shops which have posters and signs outside? Something is wrong here.

Danny Boyle, Frieda Pinto and Anil Kapoor

Talking about the multinational drinks company’s refusal to display their logo, Boyle said, “There is a scene where the kids are on a rubbish dump and they get offered these bottles of… a popular fizzy drink. Not only were we not allowed to use their name, basically we had to paint over the label on the bottle as well. So we ended up paying tens of thousands of pounds painting out these symbols which are meant to unite the world, aren’t they?” Boyle added.

Dev Patel and Irrfan Khan in a still from Slum Dog Millionaire

Slum Dog Millionaire is the story of a boy, Jamal (Dev Patel), who comes from the slums of Mumbai, who takes part in the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?, Kaun Banega Crorepati? Now, the kid wins the show but he is suspected of cheating because he is illiterate. Bollywood star Anil Kapoor reprises the role of the Quiz master of the show. Slum Dog Millionaire also stars Freida Pinto, and Irrfan Khan as the cop who arrests Jamal.

Slum Dog Millionaire is based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup’s novel, Q&A. It has been scripted by Simon Beaufoy, scriptwriter of The Full Monty and directed by Danny Boyle. The movie is produced by Celador’s Christian Colson and co-developed and co-financed by Film4 in collaboration with UK production company Celador Films.

The movie will be released in the UK, on January 9, 2008.

Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors poster

Warner Bros are in battle mode because of an upcoming Bollywood flick, Hari Puttar: A comedy of terrors. The studio has sued the makers of Hari Puttar for infringement of intellectual property rights and asked for a stay on the film’s release.

It is understandable that Warner Bros is jittery about Harry Potter’s property rights, but in this case they seem to be just paranoid. Because, at first look, Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors has nothing to do with Harry Potter.

The only connection Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors has with Harry Potter is that Hari puttar in India is a play on the words Harry Potter and is a common graffiti line found on T-shirts, mugs, and such like. Hari, itself is a generic Hindu Indian name and puttar is an endearing  way of addressing a son. Puttar is a common noun, like tyke, son, or boy.

But one can’t blame Warner Bros for being suspicious because Hari Puttar in the West would be pronounced as Harry Putter (note: Putter as in Put and not Pot), whereas Hari in Hindi is pronounced as ‘Hurry’. Ditto for Puttar. The syllable Pu in Hindi is pronounced as poo and not  like, say, paw. And the syllable tar is pronounced as “thar” with a rolling r. So the pronunciation is “pootharr” and not “pottah.” Har, Har.

Hari Puttar with his mother in Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors

Hari Potter: A Comedy of Terrors is the story of a 10-year-old boy Hari Prasad Dhoonda, affectionately called Hari puttar by his parents. Hari and his family move to the UK, where his father Prof. Dhoonda is assigned a hush-hush defense project. The professor keep a chip containing sensitive data in a secure place in his home. When Hari’s Uncle, DK, and his four kids come to visit the Dhoondas, Hari feels neglected and seeks refuge in an imaginary friend, Funtoon (animated character).

Hari Puttar and Tuk Tuk

The Dhoonda and DK family plan to go for a vacation but forget to take Hari and his little cousin Tuk Tuk along. The two kids are left alone at home, when a Don sends two burglars to filch the chip. The intrepid Hari and Tuk Tuk have the adventure of their life when they take on the burglars to protect the chip.

Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors will be released on September 12, 2008 in theatres across India. Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors has been produced by Lucky Kohli, Munish Purii, and A P Parigi. Hari Puttar has been directed by Lucky Kohli and Rajesh Bajaj, under the Mirchi Movies banner. The movie stars Zain Khan as Hari Puttar, Sweeny Khara as Tuk Tuk, Sarika as Hari’s mother, Jackie Shroff as DK, and Vijay Raaz and Saurabh Shukla as the bumbling burglars.

The two burglars in Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors

Hari Puttar has a peppy soundtrack that includes the title track ‘Hari Puttar’, ‘Tutaris,’ and ‘Hari Puttar is a Dude.’

Mirchi Movies’ earlier flick, Being Cyrus, was critically appreciated and a moderate hit at the box office, a first for an English language, Bollywood film.

What can be a better de-motivational poster?