Informer

Name gone wrong! Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan were the guests of honour at the Cinema Verite 2009 event at Cannes on Thursday.

Name gone wrong!

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan were the guests of honour at the Cinema Verite 2009 event at Cannes on Thursday. Ash was invited for her commitment to social and humanitarian issues as Cinema Verite highlights films dedicated to human rights.

But the organisers got her hubby's name all wrong. He became Avhishek Bachchan! Wonder how Avhi...oops Abhi reacted to this rechristening?

The invite for the Cinema Verite press conference

Designs on the red carpet
Ashvin Kumar's film The Forest was screened at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. The director attended the screenings with his mother designer Ritu Kumar (who is catching the action in Cannes for the first time). They walked the red carpet with Frieda Pinto (as some of her outfits in Slumdog Millionaire were designed by Ritu). While Manisha Koirala caught up with them at the post screening party. Time to bond.

CLICK HAPPY: Manisha Koirala, Ritu Kumar and Ashvin Kumar

We told you so...
We had first reported about Aishwarya Raiu00a0 being upset with Sonam Kapoor ('Cannes carpet sirf mera hai' Hitlist, May 15) for walking the red carpet on behalf of a cosmetic brand both endorse. A spokesperson of the brand says, "We do not want to take part in or encourage any controversy involving our spokespeople.


There were reports after some comments by Sonam Kapoor, which were presented out of context. In order to avoid further escalation, we have advised Sonam not to go to Cannes as was planned earlier, bearing in mind that there would be more interesting opportunities for future appearances in Europe for her. The brand is extremely mindful of protecting the image of its spokespeople." Aakhir daal mein kuch kaala nikal hi aya na?

Cell fury
Ekta Kapoor's mobile got smashed yesterday. Apparently the soap queen, in one of her high drama anger fits, flung the cell. It hit a wall and came crashing down in several pieces. As a result, she has lost all her contacts in her phone book. So anyone who wants to talk to her, now has to first SMS his/her name. We wonder which hapless production guy was the target of her wrath? Aur Ekta ko itna gussa aakhir aaya kyu?



Purab Kohli
The Rock On actor on his fave films...
The Movies I Loved Growing Up
Naseeb: Whenever I recall the films I grew up with, Naseeb is the first that comes to mind. What a masterpiece there are so many stories woven in the film, yet every character is so important and contributes to the super revolving restaurant scene and the fire scene in the climax. Amitabh Bachchan's boxing matches to Rishi Kapoor going hu-tu-tu and the sword fights in bull fighters' outfits to Chal Mere Bhai. Mawa cakes, BEST buses, Irani restaurants, glass houses and the songstress on the grand piano.... Wow! How I would have love to be a part of a film like that. I remember each and every scene of Naseeb so clearly and vividly still!
u00a0
Evil Dead: This is the first horror film I watched. I think I was about six or seven years old and my family had just moved to Lonavala for a short while. At that time, Lonavala was nothing like we know now it was extremely quiet. The film is about six teenagers who leave the city and get into this lonely, abandoned house in a small town. It was too close for comfort. Of course the creepy crawlies that come out of the dead, which were scary then, now make me break out in laughter.
u00a0
Hum kissi se kam nahi: Another mega-starrer I love watching over and over again. I was a big Rishi Kapoor fan. My best friend and I always danced like him after seeingu00a0 his films just like we did our martial arts with the snake and the monkey's shadows. But Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahi had more lots more. It had childhood sweethearts reuniting with the beautiful Kya Hua Tera Waada. Pancham Da's (R D Burman) score was fantastic. The film had the actor wearing diamonds in a belt and it had Amjad Khan Now that's what I call commercial cinema. Lovely.
u00a0
King kong Versus Godzilla: This film comes to mind because it was the first movie I rented when I came back to Bombay in 1999. Also, it was the the first film to play on my brand new TV. As I had studied in a boarding school, I did not have access to to many films. I had seen King Kong earlier and had heard about Godzilla doing his rounds. So as soon as I got close to a resourceful video library I had to see King Kong back in action chasing the lizard.
u00a0
Top Gun: The last on my list but I think every boy watches this film with stars in his eyes. It made me want to be a pilot for so many years and I'm sure it has inspired many more. I don't think any film has glamourised an air force pilot's life as much as Top Gun did. There were not only jets but a super bike too. So while the girls were going, "Oh, wow Tom Cruise." The boys were wanting to be him!

RAZA'S BOLLYWOOD
Q What would be the title of a popular Salman Khan reality show if he just keeps mum instead of asking the questions?
Au00a0 Dus ka 'dumb'