Celina's good friend is Sonarika's confidant

Neetha Shetty is a renowned television actor who has done various popular shows like Dhoondh Legi Manzil Humein, Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann. She was also seen in CID, Crime Patrol and Savdhaan India. Well, many of you might not know that Neetha was seen in Salman Khan and Celina Jaitley starrer film NO ENTRY as Celina’s good friend.If that just wasn’t enough she will now be seen in romantic-horror SAANSEIN as Sonarika Bhadoria’s friend and confidant.When asked Neetha how did she bag this role, she said, “I have done considerable amount of television and auditioned for the film because I liked the script. It is different and so is my character.”Elaborating on her role, she said, “I play Tanya who is Sonarika’s friend and they are best of buddies in the film. In fact there are various twists and turns that take place in Tanya’s life, but well I can’t divulge much.”As Neetha just mentioned that she is good friends with Sonarika on screen, we wonder about their chemistry off screen!

On being quizzed about her chemistry with Sonarika off-screen, Neetha shared, “There aren’t any cat fights amongst us. We had our share of fun and masti while we were shooting in Mauritius.”

Well, one would have to see how two television celebs come together and bring the best in their performance while having a blast too shooting for it.

Starring Rajniesh Duggall, Sonarika Bhadoria with Hiten Tejwani, Neetha Shetty in pivotal roles along with Vishal Malhotra, Amir Dalvi, SAANSEIN is directed by Rajiv S Ruia. The music is composed by Vivek Kar and lyrics penned by Kumaar. SAANSEIN is produced by Goutam Jain and Vivek Agarwal under the banner GPA Productions.

SAANSEIN - THE LAST BREATH is set to release on 11th November, 2016.

THE LEGENDARY STEVIE WONDER DELIVERS "FAITH," FEATURING ARIANA GRANDE

STEVIE WONDER delivers the much-anticipated duet “Faith” [feat. ARIANA GRANDE] at all digital retailers today via Republic Records.  Get the new song from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ event film SING HERE. Also announced today, the official motion picture soundtrack for SING will be available for pre order November 18 to arrive at all digital and physical retailers on December 9. SING arrives in theaters everywhere December 21. 

“Faith” unites Academy Award®- and GRAMMY Award-winning Stevie Wonder and multi-platinum GRAMMY Award nominee Ariana Grande.  Produced by powerhouses and multi-GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter/producers Ryan Tedder [Adele, Beyoncé, U2] and Benny Blanco [Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry], “Faith” marks the first song that Stevie Wonder has contributed to a film in more than 25 years. 

Stevie Wonder remains one of the most legendary and influential artists in history.  In addition to selling more than 100 million albums worldwide, he has garnered a total of 25 GRAMMY Awards—the most-ever awarded to a male solo artist in history.  Among countless accolades, he is an Academy Award® winner and landed at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 All-Time Artists.  A paragon of goodwill, charity and activism, he was even named a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations.

ABOUT SING           

Illumination has captivated audiences all over the world with the beloved hits Despicable Me, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Despicable Me 2 and Minions, now the second-highest-grossing animated movie in history.  Following the release of this summer’s comedy blockbuster The Secret Life of Pets, Illumination presents Sing this holiday season. 

With its highly relatable characters, heart and humor, the first collaboration between writer/director Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri marks the sixth fully animated feature from the studio.

The event film stars Academy Award® winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, alongside Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Grammy Award-nominated Tori Kelly.

Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Sing stars Buster Moon (McConaughey), a dapper koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times.  Buster is an eternal—some might even say delusional—optimist who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it.  Now faced with the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition.

Five lead contestants emerge: Mike (MacFarlane), a mouse who croons as smoothly as he cons; Meena (Kelly), a timid teenage elephant with an enormous case of stage fright; Rosita (Witherspoon), an overtaxed mother run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets; Johnny (Egerton), a young gangster gorilla looking to break free of his family’s felonies; and Ash (Johansson), a punk-rock porcupine struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo.

Each arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life.  And as Buster coaches each of his contestants closer and closer to the grand finale, he starts to learn that maybe the theater isn’t the only thing that is in need of saving.

Featuring more than 65 hit songs, Sing is produced by Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy.  Together, they have produced all of Illumination’s films since the studio’s inception.  Released by Universal Pictures, Sing arrives in theaters on December 21, 2016.  www.singmovie.com

ABOUT ARIANA GRANDE

Within less than a year, ARIANA GRANDE captured #1 on the Billboard 200 twice—first with her Republic Records debut Yours Truly and also with its 2014 follow-up My Everything.

Yours Truly yielded the game-changing pop smash "The Way" featuring Mac Miller, which went triple-platinum, landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and seized #1 on the iTunes Overall Top Songs chart. Meanwhile, the platinum-selling My Everything garnered a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Pop Vocal Album” and spawned the six times-platinum hit "Problem." Upon the single's release, ARIANA became "the youngest woman to debut with over 400K sold first-week," while the song ranked as the 4th “highest digital song debut for a female artist” and 8th highest ever. Moreover, it debuted at #1 in 85 countries, topping the iTunes Overall Top Songs and Pop Songs charts for four weeks. During release week, My Everything was #1 on Spotify as ARIANA personally rose to #1 on Billboard's Artist 100 chart. She also became the first woman in history and the first artist since Michael Jackson to simultaneously have three songs—"Problem," "Break Free" featuring Zedd, and "Bang Bang" with Nicki Minaj and Jessie J—in the Top 6 of the Digital Songs Chart. “Bang Bang” went platinum and was Grammy-nominated for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.” By the end of the year, she landed four songs in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the most of any artist in 2014. ARIANA has enjoyed a total of eight Hot 100 Top 10 smashes.

In 2013, she was named “Best New Artist” at the American Music Awards. Other accolades followed with ARIANA winning “Favorite Breakout Artist” at the People’s Choice Awards 2014, the “Young Influencer Award” at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, the “Radio Disney Chart Topper Award,” “Choice Female Artist” and “Choice Single” “Problem” at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards, and more. At the 2014 MTV VMAS, “Problem” was named “Best Pop Video” as well. In November, ARIANA took home the award for “Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock” at the 2015 American Music Awards.

2016 sees ARIANA release her platinum-selling third full length album, Dangerous Woman, driven by the title track which captured #1 on both iTunes Overall Top Songs Chart and Top Pop Songs Chart minutes after release.  “Dangerous Woman” also debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 earning her the distinction of becoming the first artist to debut on the chart with the lead single from her first three albums. Her current single, “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, recently became Grande’s eighth top 10 hit on the Hot 100.

ABOUT ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT

Illumination Entertainment, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of event animated films.  Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the hugely successful Despicable Me franchise, which includes Minions—the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time—as well as Despicable Me 2, an Academy Award® nominee for Best Animated Feature of 2013.  In all, Illumination’s films, which also include 2016’s record-breaking The Secret Life of Pets, 2011’s Hop and 2012’s Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, have grossed nearly $4 billion in worldwide box-office revenues and feature some of the world’s most renowned talent.

Upcoming films include Despicable Me 3, starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig and Trey Parker, which is set for June 2017; The Secret Life of Pets 2, written by Brian Lynch and directed by Chris Renaud, which arrives in theaters in July 2018; and a newly imagined version of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role of The Grinch, which is set for release in November 2018.  In addition, “Despicable Me: Minion Rush” (more than 750 million downloads) has become one of the world’s most popular apps, and Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem attracts huge crowds at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.

ABOUT REPUBLIC RECORDS

A division of Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, Republic is home to an all-star roster of multi-platinum, award-winning legends and superstar artists such as Ariana Grande, Black Sabbath, Florence + the Machine, Godsmack, Gotye, James Blake, James Bay, John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Nickelback, Of Monsters and Men, Seth MacFarlane, Zendaya, among many others. Founded by brothers and chief executives Monte and Avery Lipman, it is also comprised of innovative business ventures including American Recordings (The Avett Brothers), Brushfire (Jack Johnson), Cash Money (Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj), John Varvatos Records (Zac Brown Band), Lava Records (Jessie J, Lorde), Monkeywrench (Pearl Jam), Casablanca Records (Stromae, Tïesto), NBC's The Voice, XO (The Weeknd), School Boy Records (PSY, Sheppard), among others. In addition, Republic maintains a long-standing strategic alliance with country powerhouse Big Machine Label Group which is comprised of Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, The Band Perry, Florida Georgia Line, The Eli Young Band) and Dot Records (Maddie + Tae).

Prateik Babbar attends Dharamshala International Film Festival

Prateik Babbar has recently whisked off to Dharamshala to attend the fifth edition of the coveted Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF), aimed to give the local community a platform for good alternative cinema.The versatile actor, who has been appreciated for his performance in his latest play Six, has been accompanied by his actor friend Asif Khan, with whom he shared the screen space in the movie, My Friend Pinto. During his stay at Dharamshala, the actor had also been to his favourite Italian eatery.

Prateik says, “DIFF has become one of India’s leading independent festivals and draws audiences from across the world. I’m happy to be here, surrounded by the mountains, enjoying movies and my favourite Italian cuisine at Dharamkot.”

​

Event Industry's leaders Launch WE CARE focused on women's empowerment

~An initiative towards gender equality at the workplace~

Event And Entertainment Management Association recently concluded the industry’s largest convention EEMAX Global Conclave and Awards in Mumbai. The event was graced by industry stalwarts wherein EEMA launched a structured and planned initiative that would work towards gender equality at the workplace, WE CARE.

EEMA is the Rs 15000 cr industry’s apex body and is driving change across various aspects of the sunrise industry which is the fastest growing facet of the media and entertainment business. EEMA drives government engagement and working with the various state and central governments is initiating measures for ease of doing business, single window licensing and industry-development programs.

EEMA’s leadership has envisioned the empowerment of women in the events industry by getting down to basics. The WE CARE initiative is being driven primarily with the objective to work towards changing the industry’s workplace culture, to make it more conducive for the women who comprise more than 40 per cent of the workforce.

The initiative was tabled during the Annual General Meeting, in the presence of the platinum members, heads of leading event and experiential agencies of the country. It received an overwhelming response and unanimous approval with members signing on a pledge to demonstrate their wholehearted support for it.

Sharing EEMA’s perspective, Sabbas Joseph, President-EEMA said, “The event industry is evolving. It is now a serious career option for new recruits. We need to encourage girls and women to join this industry by giving them a great workplace culture to thrive and grow without worries of their safety. And we need to sensitize agency owners and co employees to take care of them like their own.”

And added,  “While the portfolio eventually would include multiple areas of knowledge, skills and leadership development, the focus in the first leg is on empowering women at different levels. With women today becoming an integral pat of the work force and holding key leadership positions across the industry, it becomes imperative that we ensure a safe environment for them to work in. However, in a predominantly male environment, the female employee is often overshadowed by the industry's alpha characteristics”.

Poonam Lal, Vice-president-EEMA, leading on the initiative said, “The core campaign evolves from the thought of letting women know that issues that affect them, matter to the industry; that they and their well being matters, and that it is our responsibility to give them a safe, conducive environment to work in. We need to make the girls and women working here believe and know that WE CARE.“

Under the WE CARE campaign, three key issues that found resonance among the respondents collated from a survey, would be addressed and tackled.  These issues include SAFE, Security Arrangements for the Female Employees; SHH, Sexual Harassment Helpline and MOM, Mandatory Off For Moms.

SAFE proposes making it mandatory for agencies to give late night drop and early morning pick up facilities for the female employees. In fact certification of agencies on the safety standards they practice for their employees is also under consideration. 

Further, having gender specific toilet facilities with attendants at offices, workshops and warehouses is mandatory.

SHH proposes the creation of a committee with a minimum of one woman employee in it, to help resolve complaints of harassment at the workplace. Other steps include webinars and a helpline to educate, create awareness and to open lines of communication and counseling for employees and artistes.

MOM is being suggested to give working mothers the leeway to work from home once or twice in a month.

The logo design of “We Care” is a simple and straight message, using a mix of typo and graphic, to communicate our effort to reach out in empathy. WE in the logo stands for women empowerment, it stands for women entrepreneurs and employees, and it also stands for all of us combined. The soft and graceful form of the female profile is enveloped by a seamless extension flowing out of rigid form of the alphabet W signifying a soft hand of protection.

Karan Singh Grover and Bhushan Patel reunite for a thriller

Karan Singh Grover is all set to take his association with director Bhushan Patel to the next level!The talented actor who made his big debut with Bhushan Patel’s horror flick, Alone alongside Bipasha Basu, has joined hands with the filmmaker once again for another thriller, which goes on floors next month.A source says, “Bhushan and Karan share a great rapport and they had been discussing the new project while they were shooting for Alone. The film will be shot in Mumbai and Europe.”Karan, who was last seen in Hate Story 3, has wrapped up another ensemble comedy-drama, 3 Dev.