WELCOME, ANIL KAPOOR!

Melboume's Indian community isgetting readyto say "Welcome" to Bollywood starAnil Kapoor in August this year.

This of course isthe name of one of his all-timetop-grossing blockbusterfilms (thesequel ofwhich, Welcome Back, issetfor a September release).

Anil Kapoor, who the mainstream community know thanks toSlumdog Millionaire, will be in Melbourne as a special guest ofthe Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), which takes place 14-27 August.

The event has become Melbourne's - indeed Australia's - fagship annual Bollywood event, which bringsto ourshores films aswell as film personalities from India's largerthan life cinema world.

Anil Kapoorwill head a long list of celebrities thisyear, including his daughter fashionista Sonam Kapoor, Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut and Fawad Khan. IFFM regulars Rajkumar Hirani and Simi Garewal will make an appearancethisyear again, aswill film-makers ShonaIi Bose (Margarita With a Straw) and Nagesh Kukunoor, whose latestfilm Dhanakwon the Grand Prix atthe Berlin Film Festival this year.

The Indian Independence Day celebrations at Melbourne on 15Augustthis year,you can besure,will belitteredwith stardust. Anil himself will take part in a major eventat Federation Square alongsidethe High Commissioner Navdeep Suri, and many notablesfromthe government in Victoria.

Don't besurprised if many Indian nationals from across Australiafeel a sudden patriotic urgeto seethe cherished tiranga unfurl in Melbourne thisyear!

Thetheme ofthe IFFM thisyear is Equality - amongtheraces and the sexes and the social classes.

Theschedule lists Umrika asthe opening film, and the world premiere of political thriller Phantom as the closingscreening, with some 45 otherfeatures and documentaries.

These include your usual Bollywood faresuch as Haider, PK, Piku and theTamil Kaaka Muttai (The Crow's Egg) which has a successful screenings at theSydney Film Festival.

But it is thegrowing LGBTQI community in India that has sent in the interesting work, including NannuAvanalla Avalu (I am Not He But She), Unfreedom and Tell Me AStory.

Check out also lndophile Australian film-maker Paul Cox's documentaryfrom India Calcutta, and a tribute to Chandigarh sculptor The Kingdom of Nek Chand. Thegala Awards Night will be held on 15August.

ComeAugust, the Indian community's annual 14-day date with Bollywood stars, will be on!

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FARHAN, ZOYA EIGHTH GENERATION WRITERS IN MY FAMILY: JAVED AKHTAR

Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar is considered a legend forhis contribution to Hindi cinema over the lastfour-five decades. Hisfamily has a rich tradition of producinggreatwriters, with his children Farhan and Zoya beingthe eighth generation writers in thefamily.

"Farhan's daughter has also started writingnow, making her a ninth generation writer in thefamily," he said at an event in Mumbai recently. He remembered the works ofboth his parents, grandparents and uncles, all writers.

"I was born in an atmosphere where there were books and talk of literature all around me," he added.

Akhtar also stressed on how the ProgressiveWriters'movement and various Russian literature influenced the writer in him.

TIGER SHROFF FOR JACKIE CHAN'S KUNGFU YOGA

ActorTigerShroffconfirms he has been approached to appear in martial arts movie starJackie Chan's upcoming action-adventure film KungFu Yoga, but he hasn't taken a call on ityet.

CallingJackie Chan his inspiration, Tigersaysthatifthe film happens itwill be a dream come truefor him. Before Tiger,thefilmwasoffered to Aamir Khan when he was in China but due to his commitmentfor Dangal, he had to decline.

Thefilm will be directed byStanley Tong.

As of now, Tiger is busy doing Baaghi: A Rebel ForLove oppositeShraddha Kapoor.

Meanwhile, director Remo D'Souza of ABCD2fame is set to do an action film with ngerthis month. Tentativelytitled Flying Sikh or even Flying Jat, the film seesTigerpaired opposite Jacqueline Fernandez.

Hmm, looks likethe tiger cub isfinally going places, after thatsomewhat shaky start....

Worth A Watch

TheCannes Film Festival this year considered this film definitelyworth watching, so if you likethe new pathwaysthatthe Indian film industry is creating, you'll like Masaan.

Forthis film, whichtellsthetruths of life of a small town with shackles of society, director Neeraj Ghaywan took inspiration from real life.

"My cinema is often infuenced by Satyajit Ray, Shekhar Kapur, butfor this film I would say that Dardenne brothers (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne) from Belgium helped me deeply in constructingthestory, as the duo also talk aboutworking class and modem crisis in their projects," Ghaywan says.

Thefilm, set in Varanasi, takes audiences to the dark side of Indian societythroughthelivesoftwo women and how their life coincides atsome point.There areghats, scenic locales with riverin the backdrop asthe movie movesforward with a holysense.

Thefilm alsotalks about caste segmentation ofthesociety by narrating a love story where a girl falls fora man from a lowercaste,who burns dead bodiesfora living.

ItstarsSanjay Mishra and Richa Chadha and will hit Indian theatres on July 24.

IT'S BULGARIA FOR AJAY DEVGN'S NEXT

Actor Ajay Devgn,whovisited Bulgaria to checkoutlocationsforhis upcoming directorial Shlvaay, will lend support to promotetourism in the countryfrom India.

Ajaywill take partin local activities and shoot a promotional videoforthe purpose.

"The Bulgarian Tourism Ministry has been reallysupportiveto me and myteam.To show ourappreciation, I will be lending a helping hand to promote Bulgarian tourism. It's a great initiative," Ajaysaid in a statement.

Ajay is not only directing but also playingthe lead in the film. Sayesha Saigal, grand nieceof legendary actor Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu will be seen making her debut.

Wonder ifAjaycaught up with old 'friend'ShahRukh Khan,whowasalso in Bulgaria at thesametime, working on his next, titled Di/wale.

(Er, in caseyou'rewondering, yes, Kajol stars opposite SRK in this Rohit Shettyfilm.)

And bingo! Nowwe know whyAjay Devgn was in Bulgaria in the first place !

But itsurelooksas though this Balkan beauty ofa nation is becoming Bollywood's latesthotdestination

OZ-BASED FILM-MAKER LAUNCHES BOLLYWOOD FILM

He's an interiordecorator by profession, and has lived in Australia forseven years now, but assoon as Lorn Harsh stepped out of India, he says he "felt a senseofmoral duties and responsibility as an Indianto promote and protectthe image of India and Indians". And so he began writing a script, about a young Indianorigin person raised in Britain. When hetravels in India as a young adult, he experiences a reconnectingto roots. Looking beyond the stereotypes of population, pollution and poverty, the protagonist discovers thebrighterside of India.

Lorn Harsh says, "There is more to Indiathanjustwhatthe eye catches."

Thefilm is called Yeh Hai India. "Thescripttookalmostsix toseven years and finally we are filming now in Jaipur," Harsh told IANS in mid-June.

ActorAshutosh Kaushik of Roadies and BiggBoss fame, hasbeen roped in to play the lead in the film, which isto bejointlydirected by G.K. Yogesh and Lorn Harsh.

Thefilm alsostars Inda-British model Deana Uppal. Veteran actor Mohan Agasheappears as the prime minister of India.

Itwill be interestingtoseewhat promisesto be a different kind of"NRI" film than the usual Karan Joharfare.

AMITABH BACHCHAN: SUPERHERO ALL OVER AGAIN

He'sgeared upto don a superhero's avatar in an animated TV series for the firsttime, but Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan believes every hero in the Indian film industry is no less than a superhero.

The 72-year-old has lent his looks and voiceto an animated superhero called AstraforAstraForce, a funny and fast paced, action-adventureseries which will go on air only in early 2017.

Asked if he was offered any superhero role in hisyoungerdays, Amitabh told IANS: "No But I imagine all Indian heroes are superheroes. They take care ofa lotofthings. Theygetthe most beautiful women, fight 50 to 60 villains at thesametime and jump off skyscrapers without a scratch what more do you want?"

He might as well be talking about his own Bollywood avatar.

What's interesting isthat Astra the superherosportsa similar beard as Big B's real avatar.

"Astra is ofmy age,sothe look on the face isthe look that I have right now except that I'll be given some superpowers.There aretwoyounger kids a girl anda boy. They are part of the story," he said.

Theactor,whohas earlieracted in films like Bhoothnath and Bhoothnath Returns which have appealed to his youngerfans,saysAstraForce will be "children-friendly".

There'sstill a year before the makers can givethe 52-episodeseriesfor broadcast.

Atthe heart of it,Astra Force tells the story ofa mythical herofrom a distantworld, whowas stranded on

Earth millions of years ago after an epic space battle.

When eight-year-old brother and sister twins accidentally awakenthe mythical superherofrom hislong hibernation, they mustteach him about ourmodern world andjoin Astra to save the universefrom a newwave ofgiant monsters and intergalacticthreats.

If monsters weren't enough,Astra's new youngfriends also haveto hide thesuperherofrom their parents and deal with Astra's insatiable hungerfor modern dessertsafter an eternityspent in hibernation.

The characterwill also be launched in a series of digital and print comic books available on a special Facebook comic app.

Thegrandfatherofthreehopes "India progresses in thefield ofanimation, a feature which has notbeenso prominent".

He has done action, romance and more onthebigscreen and now he is making his debut in animation TV series. What else isleftto explore?

"These things just keep dropping into my lap. I feel humbled and honoured thatsomebody thinksof meeven now atthis age new ideas, new thoughts keep coming in and I thankthem for thinkingof me. Hope I am able togive my best," said the star, who will next be seen in Wazir on the silver screen.

SALMAN KHAN, MAHESH BABU, DHANUSH SET FOR BOX OFFICE BATTLE

Top stars Salman Khan, Mahesh Babu and Dhanush are set to battle itoutat the box officewhentheirfilmsBajrangi Bhaijaan, Srlmanthudu and Maarlall release on July 17 worldwide.

The release date coincideswiththe Eid weekend.

Ifthe threefilms release together, it will indeed be a battle forscreens, says trade analyst Trinath.

"All thesefilmsfeaturestars who demand good numberofscreens forwide release. However, itwill be extremelytough for theatre ownersto allocate screens for all the three films," Trinath told IANS.

With another major release taking place a week before (Baahubali releases on July 10), it is goingto be an Eid bonanzaforfilm buffs no doubt, but itwill be interestingto see how operators handlethe rush!

What's the chitchat here between JAYA BACHCHAN and son ASHISHEK?

Send in your responses to win@indianlink.com.au and win a surprise prize

What'sthe chitchat here between SONAM KAPOOR and KATRINA KAIF?

KATRINA:So is it ok with you if I gethitched to Ranbir?

SONAM:You can have him - he's historyasfaras I am concerned!

Sfndhoora Vyas KirribilliNSW

Sindhoora wins a ticket to Hindi film HamariAdhuri

Kahani