Peepli Live, is a home production from actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan, and will be released worldwide through 600 screens in India and 100 screens abroad.

Aamir Khan says that the overwhelming response from the public to the trailers and promos of the film, prompted the company to scrap initial plans to open at 200 screens and go for a bigger debut. The promos have been character driven – in some instances using Aamir’s character from Lagaan for mileage. For the music release, there were performances by folk singers and also a glimpse of Aamir playing the drums with Indian music band Indian Ocean.

The film has been produced by Aamir Khan and is co-produced and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures. The company has already recovered the Rs.10 crore it took to make the movie – having sold the satellite broadcasting rights to the Colors channel for Rs.10 crore and music rights to T-Series for Rs.4 crore.

The movie is satire about farmers’ suicides and the subsequent media and political response to the issue, set in a village called Peepli – a novel approach, since there are hundreds of villages scattered across India that have this name. Aamir Khan has reportedly received hundreds of letters and postcards from various Peeplis, expressing their thanks for making their village famous. Reports say that the actor was quite touched and overwhelmed to get so many postcards from so many different places that bore the same name. The Peepli in the film is set in Madhya Pradesh, but the name was chosen to represent all the Peeplis in the country. Letters have been pouring in from Peeplis in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan among others.

The film has been written and directed by Anusha Rizvi and is the first ever Indian movie to compete in the Sundance Film Festival. The UK release is scheduled for September 24.

Sonam Kapoor Verve photo

Usually it was the big names in Indian fashion and occasionally some of the middle rung fashion houses internationally that were associated with Bollywood. Now, the latest Sonam Kapoor starrer, Aisha, makes Bollywood – fashion history by tying up with top fashion houses Salvatore Ferragamo and Christian Dior. Related: Sonam Kapoor’s I Hate Luv Storys

The movie revolves around a fashionista, played by Sonam Kapoor, who is known for her fashionable tastes in real life too. According to sources at Christian Dior, there will be around sixty Dior dresses used in the film – by Sonam and other female artistes. This is the first instance of fashion’s brand integration taking the movies a step away from mass market products and closer to high end fashion.

Aisha, budgeted at 20 crore rupees also features other brands like DLF Emporio, L’Oreal Paris and Portico. But sources say that the Dior association is visibly the strongest. Sonam will be seen throughout the movie with a lady Dior purse. The male lead for the movie is Abhay Deol, and Dior’s presence will be seen on him as well – with the dapper young star clad in Dior suits. According to sources at portico, about ten or twelve new designs will be introduced by Portico to tentatively coincide with the movie’s release.

Sources say that the tie ups with the fashion brands took almost six months to work out before and during the scripting stage. Both Portico and L’Oreal have a number of TV commercials lined up that uses imaging from the film to promote their products.

Aisha, which is co-produced by PVR Pictures and Anil Kapoor Films Co. Pvt. Ltd, and directed by Rajshree Ojha is set for release on August 6. India and especially Bollywood has been the focus of intense global interest, especially in the areas of dance and music. This move by fashion houses could be a statement of the fact that Bollywood has a far wider impact and reach than anticipated before.

Photo: Omi Vaidya

Fresh from a fun time of hosting the India International Film Awards in Sri Lanka, Bollywood actor Omi Vaidya is all set to do a longer stint of hosting a show. This time, it’s a TV show on Star Plus.

Best known for his portrayal of a nerd trying to outdo the hero in 3 Idiots, Omi is savoring the success that the hit movie has brought him. The show is set to begin on the 24th of July in the 9 p.m. slot on weekends. Omi Vaidya is reportedly excited about bring on a platform that brings music and children together.

Omi’s highlight in the movie was his difficulty with the Hindi language, but the actor has no qualms about being the anchor of a show that is predominantly in Hindi. He says that far from being paranoid about polishing up his Hindi speaking abilities, he will be keen on bringing his own brand of Hindi to the small screen. Although he does admit that he is getting better at it daily.

Omi is relishing the thrill of being ‘live’ that a reality show brings. He is eagerly anticipating the unexpectedness of events, and children’s as well as judges responses. And getting a live audience response is also part of the thrill of the experience.

Always clear that performing was his forte, Omi took to comedy because he clearly lacked singing and dancing skills. Next in line with him in Bollywood are films with Madhur Bhandarkar and Abbas-Mustan.

Chotte Ustad will have 10 children each from Indian and Pakistan participating and vying for the top honors.  The new twist is that children from the two countries will be paired up to compete with similar duos. The judges for the show are celebrities Sonu Nigam and Rahet Fateh Ali Khan. The show was first aired in 2007, with singers Pritam, Kunal Ganjawala and Shreya Ghoshal as judges. The format is that the participants will be mentored by music experts and will have singing face offs during every weekend.

The actor is now readying The Expendables, for which he has co-authored the script.

Sylvestor Stallone is cast as Barney ‘The Schizo’ Ross, leader of a group of mercenaries on a rebel mission in South America. The Expendables opens with Barney Ross and his band rescuing hostages from Somali pirates. After that, the mercenaries head to a South American country. Their mission? To overthrow the bloody dictator who’s running amok. As the mission begins, the group finds itself ensnared in a lethal game of deception – one among them is a traitor.

The Expendables features the big three of action movies of the 1980s- Sylvestor Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger – and promises a lot of adrenaline-pumping action.

The Last Action Hero, 63-year-old California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is making a comeback to the big screen after more than six years in a cameo in The Expendables.

Arnold Schwarzenegger utters a crisp one-liner referring to Sylvester Stallone. “Give this job to my friend here – he loves playing in the jungle,” he drawls in his inimitable style.

Speaking about the shooting schedule of The Expendables, Sylvestor Stallone said it took eight months of planning. On the scene between the three action icons, he said it sets the tone for

the movie.

Bruce Willis plays a tycoon who hires Sylvestor Stallone’s bunch of guys (Jason Statham, Jet Li, mixed-martial-arts champion Randy Couture and former NFL player Terry Crews) — to overthrow a Latin American dictator. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Stallone’s longtime rival.

Sylvestone Stallone said the film is “the three of us going nose-to-nose, like meeting a fellow athlete in the ring.”

Action stars Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme were also reportedly approached, but did not sign up. Steven Seagal had his hands tied with a TV show while Jean-Claude Van

Damme reportedly was not convinced by the character he would play in The Expendables. It’s a pity, for had they joined the crew, this would have been a once-in-a-lifetime casting!

Meanwhile, Sylvestor Stallone has said he’s 99 percent sure he won’t work on another Rambo film and stated that the series ended with the fourth movie.

Stating that he had planned Rambo 5, he said that he realized that another movie was not necessary.

Sylvestor Stallone will also star as the voice of a lion in Kevin James’s comedy The Zookeeper in which animals at a zoo break their code of silence to help their zookeeper win the attention of a woman. The film is slated for a July 2011 release.

Chitrangada Singh

In Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, the story of three youngsters in the 1970s, Chitrangada Singh’s Geeta Rao – torn between the love of a revolutionary and a power fixer amid the backdrop of the Indian Emergency – won applause from critics as well as audiences.

But since then, she hasn’t been seen much- she appeared in the 2005 film , went on to take a break from her acting career from 2005 to 2008, then returned opposite Sanjay Suri and Sharman Joshi in Onir’s  Both films didn’t do well at the box office.

Married to ace golfer Jyoti Randhawa, Chitrangada Singh says she took a break from the industry after Ruchi Narain’s Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow, because of personal reasons. Clarifying, she says, some magazines indicated that she was being assaulted and ill-treated by her husband and in-laws. Unable to deal with the yellow journalism, Chitrangada says she gave up and retreated to Gurgaon – a move she now says was “the dumbest thing” she ever did.

2010 promises to be different. Chitrangada Singh, currently the face of Garnier cosmetics and Aliva biscuits, is sitting pretty with three films up for release – Navdeep Singh’s Basra (with Abhay Deol) and Sudhir Mishra’s Dhruv (with Farhan Akhtar and Kareena Kapoor), and Dil Dar Badar (directed by Sudhir Mishra; co-starring Irrfan and Arunoday Singh).

Navdeep Singh’s Basra, which is produced by Abhay Deol and distributed by PVR Pictures, stars Abhay Deol, Nikhil Dwivedi, Shahana Goswami, Chitrangada Singh and Soniya Mehra. Set for a 2010 release, the movie is set in the Iraqi town of Basra and tells the story of drug runners from Mumbai and Delhi. Basra also spotlights Krav Maga, an Israeli form of self defense.

Abhay Deol reportedly spent weeks practicing the hand-to-hand deadly combat tactics that the Israeli martial arts form involves.

Dhruv is reportedly based on the life of Dwarka Prasad Mishra, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, Dhruv will have Kareena Kapoor (an ordinary girl, the daughter of a police commissioner, and her journey to the top echelons of power) and Farhan Akhtar playing politicians while Chitrangada Singh plays an escort and
power broker.

Sudhir Mishra has said that he is using several elements of his grandfather Dwarka Prasad Mishra’s character in Dhruv. He also said the plot has derived inspiration from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

In Dil Dar Badar, also directed by Sudhir Mishra, Chitrangada Singh plays a struggling rock star. Dil Dar Badar will hit the cinemas in October 2010.

Photo: Megan Fox

There are conflicting stories about why Megan Fox, who launched her film career with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen in 2004, is out of the Transformers series. Some say that sexy Megan Fox was dumped, but representatives for the actress insist that “it was her decision not to return” to Transformers, a live-action film series based on the Transformers toy line.

The 2007 film Transformers, the first in the series, starred Shia LaBeouf (The Greatest Game Ever Played, Disturbia) as Sam Witwicky, a teenager involved in a war between the daring Autobots and the evil Decepticons, two factions of alien robots who disguise themselves by transforming into everyday machinery.

Despite controversy generated by her appearance after director Michael Bay asked her to gain 10 pounds, Megan Fox reprised her role in the 2009 sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

But now, putting Transformers behind her, the actress – who’s made it to several “sexiest actress” lists across the world – is focusing on her work in upcoming movies.

First up is Jimmy Hayward’s  Jonah Hex, which is scheduled for a June 18, 2010, release. In Jonah Hex, an adaptation of the DC Comics series about a scarred gunslinger (Josh Brolin) seeking vengeance on a man who killed his family, Megan Fox plays Leila, a gun-wielding prostitute and  Jonah Hex’s love interest.

In April 2009, Megan Fox signed up to play the lead female role in The Crossing. Slated to be released in 2011, The Crossing is the story of a young couple and their involvement in drug trafficking during a vacation to Mexico. Megan Fox’s character and her husband are returning from vacation when the husband is kidnapped. Fox’s character is forced to smuggle heroin across the border to save her husband’s life in this thriller by writers Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi.

Megan Fox will also be seen in Passion Play, in which she portrays Lily, a caged circus freak who has angel-like wings growing from her back. Written and directed by Mitch Glazer, Passion Play is the story of how a troubled trumpet player (Mickey Rourke) saves Lily from a gangster (Bill Murray). Labeled a not-so-typical love story, Passion Play promises to be a different kind of movie.

Megan Fox’s Fathom, currently in pre-production, is also a big project – with this she turns producer. Based on the Aspen Comics series created by the late Michael Turner, Fathom is the tale of Aspen Matthews, a marine biology graduate who is descended from the Blue, a race of humanoid ocean dwellers. Megan Fox, a self-proclaimed lifelong fan of Fathom, is looking forward to playing Aspen Matthews.

It has also been rumored that Megan Fox, who starred as the lead character in the 2009 film Jennifer’s Body, may be in the running for Red Sonja, a comic book adaptation about a female warrior.

James Badge Dale, Jon Seda and Joseph Mazzello star in The Pacific, which spotlights the U.S. Marine Corps’ actions in the Pacific. The series, which premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010, is based on memoirs by two U.S. Marines – With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa ( Eugene Sledge) and Helmet for My Pillow ( Robert Leckie).

The miniseries tells the stories of the two authors and Marine John Basilone, during the war against Japan. It also borrows from Eugene Sledge’s China Marine and Red Blood, Black Sand, abd the memoir of Chuck Tatum.

The series features battles involving the 1st Marine Division, such as Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, and John Basilone’s involvement in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Hugh Ambrose has authored an official tie-in book to the miniseries. The book – the stories of the three men featured in the miniseries and stories of fellow marines – was released in the United States and the United Kingdom in March 2010.

At $200 million, The Pacific is one of HBO’s most expensive mini-series. Shot at actual locations, principal photography took almost 10 months. The series was to be launched in India at the time it was launched in the United States, but was delayed keeping in mind the exam time and IPL mania.

HBO is bringing three other original series to India in 2010. The new series include Bored To Death, Hung and The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. The network also plans to air the third and seventh seasons of hit series True Blood and Entourage, in India.

Demi Moore with husband Ashton Kutcher

Demi Moore, now married to Ashton Kutcher, has always led an unconventional life – she had moved 30 times by the time she turned 14 years old, she dropped out of high school at 16 and went on to marry rocker Freddy Moore at 18. She then married action star Bruce Willis and has three daughters with him – Rumer, 21; Scout, 18; and Tallulah, 16.

Interest is rising in the saucy memoir promised by Demi Moore, who has 2.7 million followers on Twitter. With almost 40 films and a stint on General Hospital under her belt, a nude and pregnant Vanity Fair cover, a range of co-stars and marriages to two Hollywood stars, Demi Moore’s memoir promises to be an interesting read.

Fans would be keen for details on her 10-year marriage to Bruce Willis and their decision to raise their three children away from Hollywood, as well as a look at life with Ashton Kutcher, actor and social networking guru. Perhaps the book may also look at her short association with Scientology and her relationship with the Kabbalah.

Demi Moore, who in the early 1990s became one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, created a stir with her fabulous-over-40 bikini body in the second installment of Charlie’s Angels. Maybe her new book will include tips on how to keep looking hot post 40.

Secrets from her sets and during time spent with co-stars like Robert Redford, Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz may also be part of the book, it is being speculated.

This will not be Demi Moore’s first foray into the world of writing. She was among the women who recently contributed to That’s What She Said: Women Reveal What Men Really Need To Know, a book offering dating advice to men trying to woo women.

The book also had contributions from Madonna and Cameron Diaz. In the book, Demi Moore wrote, “If you want to get our clothes off focus on what you’re giving, not on what you can get! You may be able to score once – but we can smell the stink of selfish desires a mile away and are not interested.”

After The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Demi Moore decided to take a break from her acting career. She returned to the big screen in 2003 as a former member of Charlie’s Angels gone bad in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. In 2006, she appeared in Bobby which also featured husband Ashton Kutcher (they did not have any scenes together). In 2007, she starred in the thriller Mr. Brooks.

She hasn’t been seen around much lately. She debuted as a director in 2008 in a short coming-of-age film Streak. The story of a young woman stuck in a life she no longer wants and how she breaks free, Streak starred Demi Moore’s then 20-year-old daughter Rumer Willis.

In 2009, Demi Moore was seen in Happy Tears, an independent comedy drama by Mitchell Lichtenstein, and in The Joneses, a comedy drama directed by Derrick Borte and starring David Duchovny and Ben Hollingsworth. She is presently working on Bunraku, a martial arts live action/animation hybrid film set around a “Man with No Name” character known as The Drifter.

The old Magoo can also be seen in a re-release of Mr. Magoo in Sherwood Forest (Magoo plays Friar Tuck).

Classic Media, which recently released the two DVDs, said the purpose was to introduce Magoo (and his trademark catchphrase “Oh Magoo, you’ve done it again!”) to a new generation of viewers, and include something for the generation that grew up loving him.

Magoo’s first appearance (voiced by Jim Backus) was in 1949 in the theatrical short The Ragtime Bear, which was scripted by Millard Kaufman. Columbia was reportedly disinclined to release the short, but did so, only because the cast included a bear. However, Magoo one of the few “human” cartoon characters produced in Hollywood at the time – became the star.

Magoo went on to win two Academy Awards for the studio with When Magoo Flew (1955) and Magoo’s Puddle Jumper (1956).

In 1959, Mr. Magoo was seen in 1001 Arabian Nights, UPA’s first feature-length production.

After theatrical shorts, Magoo made his way to television in the 1960s.

The first animated Christmas special on American TV involved Magoo. Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962), a musical adaption of Charles Dickens’ story, went on to become a huge hit and set the tradition of animated holiday specials.

The special inspired an animated TV series titled The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, in which Magoo blundered his way through classic literature and fairy tales. After an introduction in Magoo’s backstage dressing room, he played roles like The Count of Monte Cristo, Merlin in a retelling of King Arthur, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Friar Tuck in Robin Hood.

In the 1970s, Magoo appeared in a new Saturday morning CBS television series called What’s New, Mr. Magoo?

In recent times, Mr. Magoo also made an appearance in a live-action film. In 1997, Leslie Nielsen portrayed Magoo in a live-action Mr. Magoo feature film. The film did not find much success.

Old pop culture seems to be the flavor of the season. Apart from Magoo, the iconic Looney Tunes characters are set for a comeback as well. Warner Bros. plans to revive the Looney Tunes gang with a new 26-episode half-hour series on Cartoon Network in the fall.

All the Looney Tunes regulars will be there – Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck will star and leave the woods to live as roommates in a modern cul-de-sac, while Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian and Porky Pig will be their neighbors.

The new TV series is likely to be broken into three six-minute stories, a two-minute Merrie Melodies component — and a two-minute Road Runner chase.

Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote will also return to theaters with a series of 3-D shorts. The first of these —  three have been approved and three are in development – will play before movie Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which is slated for a July 30, 2010, release.

The A-Team TV series focused on a group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who work as soldiers of fortune while being on the run after being branded war criminals for a “crime they didn’t commit.”

In the film, the plot shifts from Vietnam to the Middle East.

Writer Michael Brandt said the film adaptation of The A-Team will be gritty and will follow in the footsteps of Batman Begins, Die Hard, The Bourne Identity, and Casino Royale.

The A-Team follows four U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers who have turned mercenaries after three of them were set up for a crime they did not commit and arrested.

After escaping from military prison and branded as war criminals, the three – Liam Neeson (Col. John “Hannibal” Smith), Bradley Cooper (Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck) and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (Sgt. B.A. “Bad Attitude” Baracus) – team up with Captain H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock (Sharlto Copley), their reconnaissance pilot, as soldiers of fortune.

Going “rogue,” they use their unique talents to clear their names and try and find the real culprit. Jessica Biel plays Faceman’s former lover, a disenchanted and ruthless Army officer in charge of pursuing the team.

Patrick Wilson, Omari Hardwick, Maury Sterling, C. Ernst Harth, Brian Bloom and Gerald McRaney are part of The A-Team cast. Dwight Schultz and Dirk Benedict, who played H.M. Murdock and Templeton Peck respectively in the TV series, also appear in cameos in the film.

The A-Team has been in development since the mid-1990s.

In September 2009, the casting of Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and mixed martial arts fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was confirmed. Filming got under way in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the end of September 2009.

Liam Neeson, who played Zeus in 2009’s Clash of the Titans, has three other films in post-production. In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which releases on December 10, 2010, he reprises his role as the voice of Aslan, the majestic lion.

He plays a cameo in director Paul Haggis’ The Next Three Days, which stars Elizabeth Banks, Russell Crowe, Brian Dennehy, Olivia Wilde, Lennie James, Aisha Hinds and Daniel Stern. The Next Three Days is slated to be released in November 2010.

Unknown White Male, a thriller directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, is based on the Didier van Cauwelaert’s novel Out of My Head and stars Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones and Frank Langella. Unknown White Male is scheduled for an early 2011 release.

Bradley Cooper, best known for his roles in the 2009 film The Hangover, the 2010 film Valentine’s Day, and the TV series Alias, was earlier this year seen in Case 39, a horror film directed by Christian Alvart, starring Renée Zellweger, Canadian actress Jodelle Ferland and Ian McShane.

Both Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper have great expectations from The A-Team. The TV series, which ran for five seasons on NBC, has attained cult status. Some of the show’s catchphrases – “I love it when a plan comes together,” “Hannibal’s on the jazz” and “I ain’t gettin’ on no plane!” – can be seen on T-shirts and other merchandise.

A series of prequel comics to the movie began in March 2010. The comics are published by IDW Publishing and written by Carnahan and Chuck Dixon. Jazwares also plans to launch a toy line to coincide with the release of The A-Team.