Om Shanti Om's end credits inspire American director

Josh Radner, the American television actor of How I Met Your Mother has turned director with his debut film Happythankyoumoreplease. And for his end credits, he has taken inspiration from Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om.

Though Josh has not seen the entire film, he says he was much impressed with the idea of the cast and crew being introduced against the background of a movie premiere, with each of them getting down from a vehicle. He believes it is similar to the tradition of theatre, where the cast return in the end of a play to take curtain calls. Thanks to our own OSO, Josh decided to incorporate this in his film too.

Meanwhile, Josh regrets he was unable to watch Peepli Live, which was screened along with his film at the Sundance Film Festival recently.

Sony MAX announces King Khan Film Festival

Mumbai: MAX, the Premium Movies and Special Events Channel brings the Baadshah of Bollywood to your living rooms this November. While SRK has celebrated his birthday earlier this month, MAX handpicks the best of King Khan titles for his fans. Starting 16 November, 8 PM block your seats to get absorbed into myriad shades of the actor's high octane performances! Get ready for the treat of the year, as MAX presents a festival of 10 hit films of the undisputed, the charismatic Shah Rukh Khan.

As part of this film festival MAX will showcase films like Chak De (a story that motivated a compulsive losing Hockey team to emerge as a winner on the world platform), Om Shanti Om (a Farah Khan Bollywood spoof that can only result in spleen aching laugher). The platter remains incomplete if Shah Rukh does not romance. To cater to fan demands, MAX dresses up the bouquet for the festival with some of SRK's cult romantic hits like Veer Zaara and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

Schedule of SRK movies to be aired on Max:

Day Date Time Movie

Mon 16/11/09 8:00 PM Chak De India!

Tue 17/11/09 8:00 PM Dil To Pagal Hai

Wed 18/11/09 8:00 PM Karan Arjun

Thu 19/11/09 8:00 PM Koyla

Fri 20/11/09 8:00 PM Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

Mon 23/11/09 8:00 PM Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

Tue 24/11/09 8:00 PM Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Wed 25/11/09 8:00 PM Veer-Zaara

Thu 26/11/09 8:00 PM Om Shanti Om

Fri 27/11/09 8:00 PM Mohabbatein

I can`t wait to work with SRK again: Arjun Rampal

Bollywood heartthrob Arjun Rampal is super excited to work with good friend Shah Rukh Khan once again! Arjun and SRK, who were seen together on screen in Farhan Akhtar's modern version of 'Don' and Farah Khan's 'Om Shanti Om', will now be teaming up for the sequel of 'Don'.

Looking forward to shooting with superstar Shah Rukh, Arjun said, "I can`t wait to work with SRK again. He is such an entertainer and a livewire on the sets that people miss not working with him."

Talking about the film, Arjun said, "The sequel has more action than 'Don'. So it will be good fun."

The film will reportedly go on floors next year.

Deepika Padukone admits 'crush' for King Khan

Film Actress Deepika Padukone revelead that she was having a crush on the actor Shahrukh Khan when the both were doing the shooting for 'Om Shanti Om'. This was come up when she told Farah Khan on his show 'Tere Mere Beach Mein'. Along with co actor Asin(of Ghajini fame), Deepika fights with for there love Sharukh on the show. The theme of the show was Josh Jawan Hindustan Ka. The episode will air on Sunday, September 27 from 9 to 10 pm, only on STAR Plus.

Deepika and Farah recall the time Farah blew her lid on the young actress when she came unprepared on the sets of Om Shanti Om. Farah admits she later regretted it saying, "I had to remind myself that Deepika was only 19 years of age and that she was at Shah Rukh's house for a party. I'm sure she must have had a poster of him as a kid in her room."

She tells Deepika, "I remember you telling me during the first love sceme in OSO that you were 10 years old when DDLJ released. And Shah Rukh chided mesaying that I'm taking a young kid in the film. And I also know that you had a crush on Arjun Rampal."Deepika ( smiling like a girl in wonder) says, "Yes… When you had finalised me for Om Shanti Om and said that Arjun will play my husband, I was very happy because I have a huge crush on him.Watch more such revelations from the beautiful & charming Deepika Padukone and Asin in this Sunday's episode of Tere Mere Beach Mein, from 9 to 10 pm, only on STAR Plus!

Shahrukh Khan Vs Aamir Khan

The two Khans from the industry vie to win the National Award for the Best Actor. Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan both have been nominated in the best actor category for the year 2007.

If SRK’s portrayal of a staunch coach trying to redeem and absolve himself in Chak De India impressed the jury members, so has Aamir Khan’s performance as a determined teacher inspiring a dyslexic child to realize his true potential in a critically-acclaimed movie Taare Zameen Par. Both the movies were blockbusters, and if any of the Khans wins, it would be their first National Award.

Aamir has an added reason to smile as his ‘Taare Zameen Par’ is nominated in the Best Film category. Whereas, Shahrukh’s Om Shanti Om will give tough competition to the movies like Jab We Met, as it is nominated in the category of Best Feature Film for wholesome entertainment (category especially meant for Bollywood films).

The awards for the year 2007 got delayed because of the documentary film-maker Anant Patwardhan who challenged the awards for the year 2005 in court.

Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni is likely to announce the awards by next week and President Pratibha Patil will give away the awards in Delhi in October.

SRK, the four-pack Khan!

When King Khan developed those six-packs for Om Shanti Om, his built made more news than his acting.

Suddenly, there seemed to be a more-and-more packs race in Bollywood, with Aamir going for an eight-pack look in Ghajini.

But, from what we have heard lately, SRK now has four, not six packs.

Two of them have disappeared because of his health lately. Will that reduce his fan following? No way, since his countless fans don’t give a damn to his packs. What matters to them is his charm, which continues to increase with each passing day.

Deepika praises Shah Rukh Khan

Om Shanti Om star Deepika Padukone has declared that she was fortunate to debut opposite her idol Shah Rukh Khan.

Padukone, who was last seen in Chandni Chowk To China, praised Khan for putting her at ease when they began shooting.

The 23-year-old actress told CNN: "He is definitely someone who I have idolised; I have grown up watching him. He is so normal, down-to-earth and a great person to start off with."

Padukone also claimed that she was surprised to be so successful at the start of her film career.

She added: "Until today it still hasn't sunken in that so much has happened to me so soon... I'm not from Mumbai. Nobody from my family is from the film industry. I used to be the one buying tickets to watch a film and now suddenly I'm on the other side where people are buying tickets to watch my film."

SRK's 'Yana Rascala' act to become a film

Shah Rukh Khan's cool Quickgun Murugun act in Om Shanti Om has inspired Telugu actor Rajendra Prasad to do a film on SRK's character!

A spoof, the film will be in English.

"The film is targeted at young audiences. We are exploring the possibility of building it into a franchisee brand," said Vijay Singh of Fox Star Studios.

In Farah Khan's blockbuster OSO, Shah Rukh played a popular actor. One of his roles was a South Indian film, where he fights a fake tiger, and mouths dialogues like superstar Rajnikanth. Though it lasted barely five minutes, people simply loved it. In fact, his 'Yana rascala' became a huge hit.

Will Rajendra Prasad's Quickgun Murugun become a big hit too? Let's wait and watch.

Shah Rukh’s pal hits out at tabloid journalism

Shah Rukh Khan’s biographer and close friend Mushtaq Sheikh, who has co-written films like “Om Shanti Om” and “Billu”, says he hates being used by those who have personal grievances against the superstar.

Furious at a media report that he and Shah Rukh had fallen apart, Mushtaq said the superstar was “very much family”.

“I hate it when my friends are attacked. I mean how can you demean names like Farah Khan, Priyadarshan and Shah Rukh Khan all in one article without an iota of truth and get away,” Mushtaq told IANS.

“This is tabloid journalism at its worst. I hate being used by somebody who has misused his pen to vent personal grievances against Shah Rukh.”

Mushtaq, whose friendship with the superstar dates back more than a decade, recently released a book on Shah Rukh titled “Still Reading Khan”.

“Malice? Desperation? You tell me what inspires muck-rakers and I will till you where this came from,” said Mushtaq when questioned if Shah Rukh and he had indeed fallen out.

Doesn’t he feel that in today’s desperate times when movies are not releasing and news is hard to find, this is just one way for a section of media to grab attention and increase viewership?

“See, movies are releasing, and there is enough news out there, but it does depend on what kind of media you are and what you think are ‘good stories’. Matter of fact, Shah Rukh is family and will continue to be one. People can imagine, say and write anything they want.”

SRK mends bridges with Manoj Kumar

Signaling the end of the bitter war that ensued between Shah Rukh Khan and yesteryear actor Manoj Kumar with the release of Om Shanti Om in 2007, Shah Rukh visited Manoj recently and spent nearly four hours with him.

He shared some light moments with Manoj’s grandchildren too. Shah Rukh also went to enquire after the health of Manoj’s ailing mother-in-law, Savita Devi, who is SRK’s late mother’s good friend.

Says Manoj, “Look, there wasn’t ever an epic war between us that we wouldn’t meet again. He made a mistake and apologised for it. My 94-year-old mother-in-law had to be recently operated upon, and Shah Rukh wanted to meet her. My mother-in-law used to make khakras for Gandhiji. She is a former MP from Congress and Shah Rukh’s mother was a social worker, that’s how they met.”

Ask him more about the visit and Manoj continues, “Shah Rukh asked me why I was not making films anymore. I asked him what his problem was if I don’t make any and just rest at home. We joked about it. It was nice to meet him, I hardly interact with present day stars. I’ve just spoken to Aamir Khan over phone. And imagine, I haven’t met Salman since the last 19 years, despite his father, Salim Khan, being one of my closest friends.”

Shah Rukh-Manoj Kumar truce over 'Om Shanti Om' spoof

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan met veteran actor Manoj Kumar for an out-of-the-court settlement regarding the cases filed against him in connection with the spoof in his home production 'Om Shanti Om'.

Kumar called him to his residence to discuss withdrawal of the court cases, Shah Rukh told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday night.

"He told me that he was elder to me and was forgiving me for the mistake committed. I and director Farah Khan had sought forgiveness from him several times for our mistake," he said.

"The spoof in the film was not with an intention to belittle him or hurt him. He told me that he would not like to carry on the burden of the court cases," Shah Rukh said.

Kumar had dragged Shah Rukh to court for not honouring the promise of deleting the sequence in the film that shows security guards of a movie theatre beating him up after he displays a driving license showing his photo in his trade mark style covering the face with his palm.

The veteran, who has produced and directed several patriotic films earning him the title 'Bharat Kumar', had asked Shah Rukh to withdraw the scene to which director Farah Khan and he as the producer of the film agreed.

But, the scene continued to be a part of the film and before its television premiere Kumar filed a case against Shah Rukh.

FLASH BACK 2008

As we gear up for the NOKIA 15th Annual STAR-Screen Awards, here’s a replay of who clinched the trophies in the year gone by.

The New Year heralds new beginnings and last year this time the industry was abuzz with the nominations of Nokia 14th STAR-Screen Awards. It was a rewarding box-office year as experimental, small-budget films worked as well as big-budget formula films. 2007 had seen diverse kind of films churned out by the industry and the Screen nominations aptly picked the different shades. From Chak De! India,which will go down in the history of Indian cinema as one of the finest sports films, to Life In A...Metro, one of the best films to bring out the ethos of an urban life and Taare Zameen Par that simply raised the bar for Indian films, the nominations netted a neat spread. Guru, inspired by the illustrious life of industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, Om Shanti Om, a commercial blockbuster and Saawariya, a box-office dud got their fair share of nominations. In fact, OSO and Saawariya were running neck-to-neck in the list with nine and eight nominations respectively, which just shows that excellence is the sole benchmark for the Screen Awards.

It was King Khan who walked away with the Best Actor (Male) award amidst a thunderous applause for his understated but determined hockey coach act in Chak De!India. It was also adjudged the Best Film. However, it was Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par that bagged the maximum number of awards, eight in all, with Aamir himself bagging three trophies for Best Director, Most Promising Debut Director and Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Child artiste Darsheel Safary who wowed one and all with his outstanding performance as a dyslexic child, won the Best Child Artiste as well as the Special Jury Award for Best Actor. Amole Gupte, the writer and creative director of the film walked away with the Best Story and Best Dialogue awards. The heart-rending song Maa rightly fetched Prasoon Joshi the Best Lyrics award.

Chak De! became the nation’s catchphrase, thanks to Shah Rukh Khan and his all-girls’ hockey team of Chak De! India. On the awards night too, one could hear the war cry every time the film bagged an award and that was one too many. Even our hosts Sajid Khan and Shreyas Talpade did a spoof on the film, dressed as girls, which brought the house down.

SRK’s hockey team won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) award – the first time in the history of awards that so many girls were nominated and won together. Shimit Amin shared the Best Director award with Aamir Khan and Amitabh Shukla won the Best Editing award.

The other SRK film Om Shanti Om bagged three awards. In fact, Shah Rukh stole the thunder with his energetic performance on Dard-e-disco in the grand finale. He also won the STAR Jodi No.1 with his OSO co-star Deepika Padukone who won the Most Promising Newcomer (Female) award beating Sonam Kapoor nominated for Saawariya. However, co-star Ranbir Kapoor won the Most Promising Newcomer ( Male). In fact, Sajid did a hilarious take on Ranbir’s hit number Jab se tere naina, draped in a towel. Needless to say, that was the highlight of the show and had others aping it at their functions.

Life In A...Metro and Guru,which had 15 and 14 nominations respectively, bagged three awards each. Anurag Basu’s take on life in a metropolis earned for him the Best Screenplay, while Irrfan Khan’s subtle and dry humour won him the Best Actor in a Comic Role and Soham’s haunting melody Inn dinon was the winner for Best Playback Singer (Male). Mani Ratnam’s Guru dominated the music category winning three awards including Best Music, Best Background Score (both for A R Rahman) and Best Playback Singer (Female) - Shreya Ghoshal for the lively number Barso re megha.

The star-studded evening was memorable also for the scinitllating performances by Shahid Kapoor who danced to Mauja hi mauja, Katrina Kaif, who grooved to Soni de nakhre, Riteish Deshmukh who arrived atop a truck and gyrated to his hit song Dil mein baji guitar and Urmila Matondkar who did a medley of Lifetime Achievement awardee Manoj Kumar’s songs.

Now plagiarism charges against OSO makers

The family of iconic filmmaker Bimal Roy has lodged a formal complaint with the Film Writers Association saying the climax of Farah Khan's "Om Shanti Om" was lifted from Roy's classic "Madhumati".

Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, the eldest daughter of the filmmaker, has dashed a letter against the movie released last year.

"The climax from the film (OSO) is similar to the scene from "Madhumati". I have formally made the protest about the climax being lifted by the makers of 'Om Shanti Om'," Bhattacharya told reporters during the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2008 in Panaji.

"It's a genuine complaint. Even the OSO film reviews mentioned that the parts from the film are from 'Karz' and 'Madhumati'. But the filmmakers have not given the credit to 'Madhumati'," she pointed out.

"Madhumati", starring Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala, was produced in 1958 and written by Ritwik Ghatak. It had bagged Filmfare's best movie award in 1959. Bhattacharya, chairperson of Bimal Roy Memorial and Film Society, said she would not slap a legal case against filmmakers.

"It's not like slapping a case. I will protest on whatever is unjust," she commented. On asked why such a delay to file a case, she conceded that she had no reply for the question.

OSO was in trouble earlier when veteran actor Manoj Kumar protested against few of the scenes in the flick which he felt had ridiculed him.

A Mumbai civil court had ordered that OSO would be aired on television only after deleting the objectionable scenes. In yet another tussle with OSO, a film writer Ajay Monga had claimed that the movie is a copy of his script.

OSO controversy: Court summons SRK, Farah

A metropolitan magistrate on Tuesday issued notices to Shah Rukh Khan, wife Gauri and director Farah Khan, asking them to remain present in the court on February 22 in connection with an application moved by veteran actor Manoj Kumar.

Manoj Kumar had filed an application against the three regarding a scene in the movie 'Om Shanti Om' which he felt ridiculed him. The Andheri metropolitan magistrate had last month issued summons to the three, asking them to remain present in the court on Tuesday.

However, the three failed to appear following which the magistrate issued notices to them asking them to be present on February 22, advocate Ashok Saraogi, appearing for Manoj Kumar, told PTI.

SRK & Arjun's Bonding

It’s not unknown that Arjun Rampal and SRK have become close buddies ever since ‘Don’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’ happened. In fact the friendship has become the talk of the town.

The duo have been labeled as a hit jodi too.

The buzz is that the Khan and Rampal families have been bonding a lot. Arjun has been working out under the training of SRK’s trainer in the plush gym at Khan’s house, Mannat .

He and wife Mehr have been spotted outside Mannat many times in their gym wear.

Arjun has been over heard giving diet tips to Khan on the sets like he having only grilled chicken and fish along with veggies and going easy on carbs after 6 pm.

Hottie Arjun who’s got an amazing physique can easily be an inspiration for King Khan to maintain his six pack abs!

"I am not king to my kids!" - Shah Rukh

Shah Rukh Khan is away, has been away — actually, post-IPL, from the public eye.

He laughed at the realisation, “You cannot miss me for too long. I will be back.” The Bollywood Badshah explained his absence. He was busy “with incessant shooting” for his home production Billoo Barber and Yashraj’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi which he hopes to complete before plunging into preparations for the next Twenty20 tournament.

During this time the ‘King’ tag which he wore for years came within grabbing distance of other Bollywood contenders. It is a situation that amuses him. “It’s better to be known as King Khan than Pauper Khan,” admitted SRK. “But this is just an image, a clever alliteration by the media. My kids don’t wake me up in the morning saying, ‘Get up, King’. They say, ‘Get up, Daddy’. That says it all. It’s far away from reality.”

However, he is handsome enough to admit that times are changing and these are the signs. “The territory of superstar doesn’t belong to one actor today. Actors who have consistently worked for around 20 years are all superstars. Akshay is rightfully a superstar today. So is Aamir Khan, and Ajay Devgan, Salman, even Hrithik, though he is from the younger lot. They have super energies and super luck.”

How come he is generous in his praise of Salman when, after their fallout, Salman was vocal about his feelings even though he, Shah Rukh, kept quiet? “I don’t like talking things private to me. I’m talked about because I’m emotionally not available to everyone and that disturbs them. They have the right to talk and I have no issues,” he said.

Throwing further light on the spat, he added, “I think like a father would whereas Salman thinks like a son. That’s okay. We are two different kind of people. We had nothing in common. We think differently.” But, in flashback mode, SRK revealed, “Salman and I had some really good times together. Strangely, these memories are fading away. So I’m sure even the bad memories will fade.”

Would they work at a reconciliation? He refused to be drawn into a commitment, but said, “We are both happy in our own worlds. If it happens — good; if it doesn’t happen, — very good. Not being friends doesn’t mean Salman and I are great enemies.”

SRK rides Knight Riders wave

Industry sources say, Khan’s popularity has soared after his association with Kolkata Knight Riders, with many Kolkata-based brands looking beyond Sourav Ganguly, tagged ‘maharaja’ of Bengal, and pursuing the ‘baadshah’ Khan’s endorsements instead.

Shahrukh Khan has emerged a brand that is selling not only through Bollywood movies but also through new endorsements.

Industry sources say, Khan’s popularity has soared after his association with Kolkata Knight Riders, with many Kolkata-based brands looking beyond Sourav Ganguly, tagged ‘maharaja’ of Bengal, and pursuing the ‘baadshah’ Khan’s endorsements instead.

Moreover, Shahrukh Khan, who gave two hit movies in the year - Om Shanti Om and Chak De India - reportedly earned more from the advertisements and endorsements.

Khan’s most recent endorsement after Indian Premier League (IPL) was with Linc Pen, one of the largest players in the branded pen industry, which appointed Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador.

This is also the first time that Linc Pen has opted for a celebrity brand ambassador to endorse its products.

According to Deepak Jalan, Managing Director, Linc Pen, “Shahrukh Khan is someone who personifies style, entertainment and popularity and these values resonate perfectly with our brand attributes. Moreover, Shahrukh cuts across age groups and demographics and appeals to a universal audience just like our products and was therefore a natural fit for the brand.”

In hand phones, Shahrukh Khan endorses Nokia.

According to Nokia India managing director D Shivakumar, “We are planning to bundle exclusive content featuring our brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan for handsets sold in India.”

Nokia recently bundled the full length ‘Om Shanti Om’ movie in Nokia N96. It will look at bundling video clips and music of Shah Rukh Khan movies in the handsets.

Shahrukh Khan, on his part, would extend collaboration with Nokia for such possibilities through his production house Red Chillies Entertainment.

Khan also has Kolkata-based Emami to add to his long list of endorsements.

Khan is reportedly paid Rs 5 crore every year for his association with Emami.

Emami is known for having the maximum number of celebrity endorsers including Madhuri Dixit, Raveena Tandon, Sunny Deol, cricket captain Sourav Ganguly and also Amitabh Bachchan.

Shahrukh’s ad campaigns for Emami include ads for Chyawanprash and few other herbal healthcare products of Emami. The Kolkata-based Emami gets more than half of its revenues from their personal healthcare range.

Emami’s prime catch, however, has been Amitabh Bachchan, who is its umbrella brand ambassador, though he was signed on for Emami Fast Relief and Emami Navrattan Oil. Bachchan reportedly is paid a remuneration of Rs 10 crore - Rs 12 crore per annum, for this endorsement.

This year, Shahrukh Khan, who gave two hit movies in the year - Om Shanti Om and Chak De India - reportedly earned more from the advertisements and endorsements.

Also, Shahrukh Khan gets Rs 1 crore for being present in a function arranged in India.

Shahrukh Khan currently endorses more than 30 brands, including Pepsi, Hyundai, Airtel, Videocon, Sun Feast, Tag Heuer, Dish TV and Mayur Suitings.

According to TAM Media Research, Shahrukh has logged 4.25 million TV seconds in 2007 and has endorsed 39 brands. He was followed closely by Amitabh Bachchan, who logged 3.16 million seconds, having endorsed 36 brands.

However in 2008, Aamir Khan has been the highest paid star-endorser having bagged a fee between Rs 12-Rs 15 crore per annum for his last three commercials, including Tata Sky, Samsung Mobiles and Parle Monaco biscuits. Khan’s competition?

Till a year ago, the gap between Shahrukh Khan, the No 1 player in Bollywood, and Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan was big.

However, now, Akshay is the highest-paid actor currently getting Rs 17 crore for a film, and Aamir having produced two super hits in Taare Zameen Par and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na which have grossed Rs 220 crore, has pushed up Aamir Khan’s market value in sync with Shahrukh Khan.

iPhone 4 U : SRK to Farah

SRK has gifted Om Shanti Om and close friend, director Farah Khan, the latest iPhone.

Says a source from the sets of Shah Rukh’s next home production, Billoo Barber, “Last month, Farah Khan was choreographing a song picturised on Shah Rukh and Deepika Padukone at Filmistan Studios for his home production.

SRK and Farah being big techno game freaks became obsessed with the latest iPhone game Lexitron (a word forming game) which cinematographer V Manikandan had on his iPhone. The actor and the director played the game on Manikandan’s phone till the battery died.”

The next day, Farah was pleasantly surprised when Shah Rukh gifted not just her but also her assistant Feroze the latest iPhones. Farah uses the iPhone for playing games and taking videos and pictures of her triplets Anya, Diva and Czar. She has been showing the pictures and videos to everyone on the sets on Billoo Barber.”

Says Farah when contacted, “What a silly thing to talk about! What’s the big deal in such gifts? These things happen between friends all the time.”

SRK's ‘OSO’ nominated for Asia Pacific awards

Om Shanti Om will compete with Men Jeuk (Sparrow, Hong Kong), Tulpan (Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland/Poland/Germany), Hong Se Kang Bai Yin (The Red Awn,People’s Republic of China) and Uc maymun (Three Monkeys, Turkey/France/Italy) for the Best Feature Film Award.

“Om Shanti Om”, “Jodhaa Akbar” and “Taare Zameen Par” are amongst five Indian films nominated Wednesday for the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), the highest accolade for film in the region.

The smash hit “Om Shanti Om” has been nominated for Best Feature Film, Ashutosh Gowariker’s blockbuster “Jodhaa Akbar” for Achievement in Cinematography, Aamir Khan’s critically acclaimed “Taare Zameen Par” and K Kanade’s “Mahek” for Best Children’s Feature and Rajat Kapoor has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor for “The Prisoner” by Pryas Gupta.

The awards for the nine out of the 12 APSA categories will be announced at the popular tourist destination of Gold Coast on November 11.

Om Shanti Om will compete with Men Jeuk (Sparrow, Hong Kong), Tulpan (Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland/Poland/Germany), Hong Se Kang Bai Yin (The Red Awn,People’s Republic of China) and Uc maymun (Three Monkeys, Turkey/France/Italy) for the Best Feature Film Award.

The Awards have attracted more than 180 films from 43 countries, showcasing the talent and cinematic diversity of a region covering one-third of the earth’s surface and 60 per cent of its total population.

A total of 33 films from 17 countries are vying for the nine award categories. “We are greatly encouraged by the response from filmmakers from Asia-Pacific in our mission to acclaim their work and promote it to an international audience,” said APSA chairman Des Power.

Two additional awards will be presented for outstanding achievement: The International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) Award for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia-Pacific region; and the UNESCO Award for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film.

APSA is an initiative of the Queensland Government in collaboration with CNN International, UNESCO and FIAPF (The International Federation of Film Producers Associations) to acclaim films that best reflect their cultural origins and cinematic excellence.

SRK the Best Actor Again!

Shah Rukh was adjudged the best actor for his performance in Chak De! India. The best actress award went to Kareena Kapoor for her performance in Jab We Met at a function organsied in Mumbai last night.

Shahrukh and Deepika Padukone were named as the Best Pair onscreen in Om Shanti Om.

Deepika was also adjudged the Best Newcomer (Female), while Ranbir Kapoor was adjudged the Best Newcomer (Male).

AR Rahman’s musical score for Guru earned him the award for the Best Music Director.

Aamir shared the best director award for the film with Shimit Amin for Chak De! India starring Shahrukh Khan. He additionally won awards as Best Supporting Actor and for Best Dialogues.

Lifetime Achievement Award went to Manoj Kumar. Chak De! girls shared the honour for Best Supporting Role (female).

Irfan Khan bagged the Best Comedian Award for Life…In a Metro while Anurag Basu won the Best Screenplay Award for the same film.

Lifetime Achievement Award went to Manoj Kumar. Chak De! girls shared the honour for Best Supporting Role (female).

Singer Soham won the Award for the Best Playback Singer (Male) for the film Life…In a Metro while Priya Ghosal was adjudged Best Playback Singer (female) for Mani Ratnam’s Guru.

Shah Rukh performed the Dard-e-Disco number from Om Shanti Om at the award function. Others who performed at the event included Shahid Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Urmila Matondkar, Riteish Deshmukh and Dia Mirza.