In the Ice Candy Man, written in the backdrop of 1947’s Partition, Bapsi Sidhwa wrote: “And the gramophones and speakers mounted on tongas and lorries scratchily, endlessly pouring out the melody of Noor Jehan’s popular film song that is now so strangely apt,” Mere bachpan ke sathi mujhe bhool na jana, dekho, dekho hanse na zamana, hanse na zamana. When director Deepa Mehta made the novel into the movie Earth, she chose the same voice from the same 1946 hit Anmol ghari, but a different song: Jawan hai mohabbat, haseen hai zamana.

Forget the behind-the-scenes drama, the Zee Cine Awards in Dubai last weekend truly rocked. More than anything else, it made a genuine effort to cement the Indo-Pak relations further, which have been on an upswing in the recent times. Simply put, Bollywood and Lollywood were akin to the ambassadors of peace that night.

Hosting a majestic show not in India, not in Pakistan, but in a third country (Dubai, U.A.E.) and assembling the biggies of Bollywood (Big B, Dharmendra, SRK, the Roshans, Preity Zinta, Urmila, Sushmita Sen, Saif Ali Khan, Randhir and Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapur, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi) and Lollywood (Reema, Resham, Jawed Sheikh, Umar Sharif) was an effort in the right direction and the management of Zee deserves bouquets for it.

Producer: Vinesh Gandhi
Director, Story, Scripy: Honey Irani
Music: Shankar Ehsan Loy
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Starring: Amitabh Bachan, Anil Kapoor, Pretty Zinta, Gracey Singh, Anupam Kher & Randheer Kapoor

Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachan have never worked together in a movie before though it has been tried several times but never accomplished because of whatsoever reasons. The writer turn director Honey Irani (director) has very strong terms and relations with these two mega stars and both of them trust Honey Irani so much that they agreed to work in this movie without reading the script!

Zubeidaa’s all-star cast for both screen and soundtrack brings together some of the biggest names in modern day Indian entertainment.

THIS is the tragic story of a princess (Karisma Kapoor in the title role), narrated through the eyes of Riyaz, the son who never knew her.

Directed by 66 year old Shyam Benegal and set in the backdrop of the formation of the republic of India, Zubeidaa is the daughter of Suleman Seth (Amrish Puri), who secretly takes part in the shooting of a film. Her father is horrified and hastily arranges for her to be married to Mehboob Alam. However, circumstances after the birth of her son mean the poor girl faces a bleak future.

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee
Music: Jatin-Lalit, Aadesh Shrivasatava
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Producer: Dreamz Unlimited
Director: Aziz Mirza

Shahrukh Khan is back and this time in a BIG way, starring in ‘Chalte Chalte’. The movie ‘Chalte Chalte’ is like a breeze of fresh air in the almost scorched Bollywood industry. It has weak story but with strong technicalities, direction and superb performances it turns out to be a big not-to-be-missed movie. It has all the qualities to stand at a big place among the major flicks of the year.

Although Farhan Akhtar had scripted his debut film DIL CHAHTA HAI, his next film – LAKSHYA – won’t be scripted by the talented director, but by his father, writer Javed Akhtar. The reason? “That’s because the idea is dad’s,” Zoya Akhtar, Farhan’s sister, reveals, “When dad bounced off the idea of LAKSHYA to Farhan, he liked it immensely and that’s how dad decided to pen the script.”

Meanwhile, LAKSHYA is all set to roll in April with non-stop shooting. The final cast is Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, Sushant Singh and Om Puri.