Jhalak Dikhla Jaa winner takes home Mahindra XUV500

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), India’s leading SUV manufacturer, today presented, Ashish Sharma, the winner of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, its popular cheetah inspired SUV, the XUV500. 

The XUV500 was the associate sponsor for this season of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, a show with leading performers and Bollywood artists on Colors television channel. This symbolizes the association of a popular brand with an equally popular dance reality show.

The ‘Mahindra XUV500  is an ideal vehicle for India’s dancing star Ashish Sharma, as both epitomize style and have the ability to  capture the imagination of one and all. In fact, Ashish epitomized Mahindra’s RISE philosophy by ‘Accepting No Limits’ and clearly stood out from the rest to become the winner of the 7^th season of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said “It is my pleasure to handover the grand prize of XUV500 to Ashish today. This was an apt association for brand XUV500 as it signified the coming together of two entities that exemplify style and performance. Ashish fully deserves this win, as he set the floor ablaze with his dancing in a distinctive and stylish manner just like the distinctively styled Mahindra XUV500. He is now all set to make a personalized statement with the vehicle.”

While receiving the keys to the vehicle, Ashish Sharma said, “I am very pleased to own the XUV500. With its stylish looks and power-packed performance, the XUV500 is indeed a great compliment to my personality and I am looking forward to owning and driving it.”

 

Is Arti Trying to Take Rashmi’s Place?

 

Well, while there is a lot happening on the field of Sony Entertainment Television’s BCL, there is lots’ happening off screen too. In fact, two of the team players were seen showing their affection towards each other during one of the matches and they are none other than Arti Singh and Nandish Sandhu. Arti who is a part of the team Ahmedabad Express was seen showering love on her team player Nandish. During the break when Nandish wanted to sip on some tea, he decided to help himself but Arti immediately came to him and instead of letting him go, she herself went to get tea for him and Nandish too happily agreed for the same. We wonder what Nandish’s wife Rashmi has to say about this? To watch all the action, tune into BCL Monday to Friday 7:30 pm onwards only on Sony Entertainment Television

3rd DELHI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2014

Subhash Ghai  to receive 'Life Time Achievement Award’ with ‘Special Honour Award’ to Biswajeet and ‘Minar-e-Dilli’  to Sushil Kumar at 3^rd DIFF 2014

We take great pleasure in informing you about our initiative to organize an International film festival in New Delhi from 20^th Dec to 27^th December, 2014 namely Delhi International Film Festival (DIFF -2014).  DIFF 2014 has been planned as an eight Day event and will showcase 250 films from more than 45 nations. It is an initiative by “The Social Circle, A Society for Cause and - A step toward inclusiveness” to showcase the best of Cinema, Art and Literature from across the globe.

Started in the year 2012, the advisory board for this festival is headed by “Dada Sahab Phalke” awardee Adoor Gopal Krishnan. Working closely with him are some of the greats of Indian Cinema namely  National award winning director Tigmanshu Dhulia, Anurag Kashyap, Anooj Kapoor, Mohan Agashe, Manoj Bajpai,  Shriram Raghwan, N. Chandra, Sandeep Marwah, Shailesh Loadha, , Arvind Gaur  with Jamal Shah and Satish Anand from Pakistan.

Awards will be given in various competitive categories with the 'Life Time Achievement Award’ being presented to Sh. Subhash Ghai, ‘Special Honour Award’ to veteran actor Sh. Biswajeet and a special award called ‘Minar-e-Dilli’ which will be conferred to Olympic Medallist,  Sh Sushil Kumar.

The Hon’ble Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma will be inaugurating the festival on the 20^th Dec with Sh. Satish Upadhyay, Presdient Delhi BJP as the Guest of Honour. Also present at the occasion will be Sh. Subhash Ghai, veteran actor Sh. Biswajeet and Olympic medallist Sh. Sushil Kumar.

The Closing Ceremony of the festival will be graced by the Hon’ble Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Sh. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore with Sh. R.P. Singh, National Secretary, BJP India, Sh. Khushi Ram, Mayor, South Delhi and National award winning filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia as the Guests of Honour.

The eight day festival will begin on the 20^th Dec with Ilan Yagoda’s Israeli film ‘The Neighbourhood’ and a short Greek film ‘The Sun and The Wind’ directed by Thansis Neophotolistos.

Critically acclaimed film, Zinda Bhaag from Pakistan starring Naseeruddin Shah and Dir by Meenu Gaur will be the closing film for this edition of the festival.

In its 3^rd edition the festival has received some of the finest films from the neighbouring countries for its ‘Cinema across the Border’ section. ‘Infinite Justice’ dir by Pakistani filmmaker Jamil Dehlavi, Bangladesh’s Oscar nominated film ‘Glow of the Firefly’ dir by Khalid Mahmood Mithu and Nepalese film ‘Talakgunj vs Tulke’ are the major highlights of this section.  

The festival will see the participation of more than 45 countries with films from as far as Uruguay and Lithuania also part of the world section. Major attractions in this section will be ‘The Amateurs’ from Russia, Spain’s ‘A Esmorge’ , Iraq’s ‘Lost in the Dust’ , Mexico’s ‘Pork Chops’, Nepal’s ‘Bal Krishan Sama’, Canada’s  ‘If You Love Your Children’ , China’s ‘Back to 1942’ and Turkish film ‘Spring is Rebellious’.

The festival will also be screening 22 films in the NRI section with major attraction being a film on homosexuality, ‘Confused @16’ starring southern star Sidhartha.

Through the course of its eight days, the festival will have films on social issues, book launches, and workshops on wildlife photography and animation and special Seminar to promote Delhi as Film City.

The festival will have a film ‘Rainbows are Real’ and a seminar on transgender and cinema on the 21^st of Dec with more than 300 people from this community taking part in it. The event will be followed by another film, ‘Goonga Pehalwan’ and a seminar on Wrestling and cinema with Sushil Kumar as the guest.  

The festival also plans to have a 3 day art camp from the 21^st Dec with more than 30 artists from India and abroad and an International Kavi Sammelan on the 25^th Dec.

The festival is also working with NDMC to promote Delhi as a Film City and will have a Special Seminar and workshop to promote the ‘One Window Clearance’ , an initiative by the NDMC , DIFF and the Delhi Tourism.  The initiative aims to ease the process of shootings in New Delhi and the nearby areas.

Pakistan’s first Bollywood film, starring  Meera Ali will have its Indian Premiere at the Festival on the 25^th Dec. 2014.

Catch the MAX premiere of the film 'Mardaani' at 8 pm on Saturday, 20th December

MAX, the premium Hindi movies and special events channel brings you the Bollywood crime thriller film, ‘Mardaani’ at 8 pm on Saturday, 20^th December.

Directed by Pradeep Sarkar and produced by Aditya Chopra, Mardaani sees Rani Mukherjee in a violent avatar. This film is about a tough female cop Shivani Shivaji Roy who uncovers the depraved world of human trafficking. This leads to a cat-and-mouse game between the cop and the ruthless mafia.

Commenting on many movies being based on the police force, Rani Mukherjee said, “By and large we need to see the positive side and there are a lot of cops who do a lot for us. I am very proud of the way the Mumbai Police functions. There could be problems in different states in India but I think Mumbai Police really rock. They have probably always got things and the law and order situation (under control) very, very quickly.”

VELVETCASE sculpts exclusive Winners’ Trophy for the International Premier Tennis League

International Premier Tennis League trophy won by the Micromax Indian Aces, early this week was created exclusively by VELVETCASE.

The IPTL had commissioned VELVETCASE.com, an online platform for bespoke and international designer jewellery to create the trophy for the Winners of the inaugural Coca-Cola IPTL Challenge. The exquisitely hand sculpted trophy designed exclusively by Velvetcase for the Coca-Cola IPTL Challenge Trophy, features a life-size tennis racquet 24 inches in length, completely gilded on a base of pure silver and decorated with genuine diamonds. This rolling trophy also features a tennis ball exquisitely crafted with gemstones and diamonds accompanies the racquet perfectly representing the global presence of the sport.

Speaking about the trophy, Mahesh Bhupathi on behalf of the Coca-Cola IPTL said, “I think the trophy looks absolutely sensational! Having the mix of diamonds on the tennis racket makes it all the more interesting and it will certainly be treasured by the winning team! I congratulate VELVETCASE.com for putting this piece of art together”

Kapil Hetamsaria, CEO Velvetcase said, “Victory and Velvetcase, are two simple words that are synonymous with passion and beautifully encapsulate a strong union between elegance and style. These adjectives also in a nutshell capture the very essence of the trophy’s design, which articulates a balanced equation of the sport of tennis and the remarkable design. The Indian Premier Tennis League as a non-cricket sport stands out as it can truly boast the Best-of-the-Best sportsmen and sportswomen competing in the league, to which Velvetcase is proud to lend its support.”

VELVETCASE.com is a unique marketplace for global jewellery designers offering consumers a platform to discover and buy fine jewellery. It has secured funding to the tune of USD 1 mn from Chennai Angels (TCA) investors Kayar Raghavan and Lakshmi Potluri among other prominent business professionals and angel investors including Jacob Kurian, Jerry Rao and Arihant Patni.

VELVETCASE.com was founded in 2012 by Kapil Hetamsaria (CEO) and Runit Shah (COO). A MBA from The University of Chicago, Hetamsaria earlier held various key roles at Microsoft, McKinsey & Co., while Runit Shah (COO) previously worked at Crystaline Exports Pvt Ltd and General Motors and is a graduate of Purdue University, USA. 

In its inaugural season, the multi-million dollar tennis league featured top stars such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and others playing for four franchises in the Philippines, Singapore, India and the UAE.

The star-studded teams included - Micromax Indian ‘Aces’, DBS Singapore ‘Slammers’, Manila ‘Mavericks’, and the UAE ‘Royals’.

About VELVETCASE.com

VELVETCASE.com is an online platform for bespoke and international designer jewellery. It boasts of designer partners from New York, Italy, Australia and across the world and brings curated designs to its customers. The company has built a disruptive supply chain model by leveraging cutting edge technology like 3D printers in delivering personalized and unique jewels to consumers worldwide. The innovative model adopted by VELVETCASE.com has already found its way in a case study written by Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and recently published by Harvard Business Publishing. It is probably the first time when a company from India has been covered by Harvard Business Publishing this early in its evolution.

About International Premier Tennis League

The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) is a unique team-based tennis league founded by multiple grand-slam winner, India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and played across 4 countries in Asia. The league will feature 21 Grand Slam Champions and 14 current/former World Number Ones, with the winning team walking away with prize money of USD 1 million. The inaugural edition will be held in the cities of Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai between 28th November and 13th December 2014.

The IPTL promises to ‘Break the Code’ of the game’s traditional etiquette in order to attract a new audience to the sport. Modeled after successful international sports franchise concepts and being recognized as tennis’ newest spectacle, the IPTL combines world-class sport and entertainment in a format that keeps both spectators and global TV viewers thoroughly engaged.