FIT IN PRINT After jet setting with Kingston, Gwen Stefani sports a chic printed dress while strutting her stuff in the South of France during the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. ALL TIED UP BRITNEY SPEARS The star shows Rihanna shows off her toned a little midriff physique in an Hervé Léger after leaving minidress and the high-end mid-calf boots for KIIS FM's lingerie store KIM KAR- Wango Tango Kiki De Mont- DASHIAN concert in L.A. parnasse in Kim promotes West Holly- her latest wood. Wednesday 18th May, 2011 fragrance, Gold, in a mixed print Rachel Roy dress and black plat- forms. YES, HE 'CANNES' Brad Pitt causes a stir on the red carpet as he arrives at a photo call for his new film Tree of Life during the Cannes Film Festival in southern France. SPIDEY ON THE BLOCK? S orting a My Jennifer Lopez PONY EXPRES r inner child, sp touch with he here she's spins a musical y Gaga gets in l in London, w Lad utside her hote This web in her Zuhair ies necklace o w album, Born Little Pon ease of her ne Murad bodysuit e May 23rd rel promoting th at the KIIS-FM Way. Wango Tango concert in Los Angeles. to get work under good banners. The classic case of Also, the basic character of the film the predominant factorbox office in any success actor’s being industry is undergoing a subtle but sig- career is that of the late hero Rajendra nificant change. Kumar. Thanks to the mushrooming of In the ‘60s and ‘70s, his films did so multi-screen theatres across the country, well that he was nicknamed Silver it is now possible for producers to make Jubilee Kumar. niche films, targeted at select audiences. But once he featured in three box During the single-screen era, when office duds in a row, he found no takers. each theatre seated close to a thousand Likewise, Rajesh Khanna in the ‘70s people, producers felt obliged to cater to and ‘80s was the original super star. the lowest common denominator. However, once lady luck turned It was financially risky to make against him, he was shunned by produc- meaningful art films. ers. Then, the accent was on saleable On the other hand, Ranveer Singh, a stars, formula story-lines, songs and gangly youth who hit pay-dirt in his dance sequences around trees and, gen- very first film, Band Baaja Baaraat erally, on an escapist, feel-good fare. (BBB), is the new star on the block. Now, due to a large educated middle So is the female lead opposite him in class and growing economic prosperity, BBB, Anushka Sharma. film makers are experimenting with eso- The film was a surprise hit of 2010 teric themes and tasting success. and catapulted both Ranveer and For instance, Peepli, an ironic take Anushka to stardom. on the 24x7 news television, made by a Produced under the most prestigious completely new team of directors, writ- Bollywood banner of Yash Raj Films, ers and actors made a huge splash on BBB’s lead actors have now been signed the multiplex circuit. up for yet another film by it. Traditional cine-goers shunned it Another big new star who emerged while the educated middle classes last year due to the stupendous success embraced it. of the Salman Khan-starrer Dabaang is Made on a shoe-string budget, it Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter Sonakashi made pots of money for its producer, Sinha. actor Aamir Khan. Though Dabaang was a hero-oriented Small wonder then that a whole new film, Sonakashi’s presence in the film as crop of young actors and directors have Salman’s love interest was enough for found acceptability in Bollywood. producers to line up outside her door Aside from the lead actors of BBB, a with new film offers. number of new faces are set to make It is lady luck, you see. their debut this year. Since the male heroes have a much longer shelf life than their female coun- terparts, already heroines like Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor are established stars. Breaking into the citadel of male stars is a tougher task. Among the new male actors are Arjun Kapoor, Nishant Dahiya and Saaqib Saleem. Given that films remain a very chancy business, the presence of big stars on the marquee is not a guarantee of box office success. Akshay Kumar, for example, is one of the most pricey and saleable stars. After BY starring in a string of big hits, he COOMI KAPOOR featured in three straight duds, all of THE S ffsprings of established actorsTAR / ANN them big-budget, big-banner films. So, casting a newcomer in his who had their break in the film end of their unquestioned Oindustry in recent years are now place as the male lead is a better slowly making a mark for themselves. crop of heroesreign and asheroines superstars, are waiting a young prospect because the latter would Age is catching up with the current in the wings to take their place. Smita not cost even a small fraction of the crop of Bollywood heroes. The Khans - For instance, Ranbir Kapoor, the 26- Patil’s fee and there is an even chance that Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir - are all year-old son of Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, son, has the film might hit the jackpot. also done a in their 40s, and no longer look pleasing a popular star-pair of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Unlike earlier times when the on the eye when romancing damsels half seems ready to grab the number one slot couple of their age on the big screen. in Bollywood. films. Dharmendras If they still do, and occasionally pull His pedigree might have ensured the However, and the Manoj it off at the box office, it is due to the initial break, but it is his talent coupled the film Kumars had to accumulated goodwill earned over the with immense good looks that have industry, struggle hard for year. helped him consolidate his position as when all is that elusive the brightest prospect among the new said and With youths constituting the core of break in films, the cinema-going audiences, film makers heroes. done, is nei- sleeping on foot- per force introduce younger actors in ther a Sons and daughters of other estab- paths and gener- the hope that they will click at the box lished actors who have got a break in the respecter of talent nor pedigree, but of ally facing office and soon replace the aging stars. industry in recent years are now slowly lady luck alone. humiliation beginning to make a mark for them- That is why new stars seem to So long as an actor continues to pull from producers, emerge after every decade or so. selves. in audiences, he is assured of success in present-day aspi- Bollywood. Now that the Khans are nearing the Sons of very talented actors Anupam rants for star- Kher and Naseeruddin Shah are already Once his films begin to flop, he is dom get to show- seen doing character roles in films. dumped like a hot potato by producers. case their talent Prateik, Raj Babbar and the late star Thus, Amitabh Bachchan’s son, general entertainmenton the myriad televi- Abhishek, despite getting a number of The gentle martial art of growing old gracefully sion channels. films because of whose son he is, has Since she was the heroine in the been dubbed a flop and may find it hard biggest hit of last year, even though her Shah Rukh Khan first got lderly people should take up the gentle mar- role was not very significant, casting her Fauji, in thepublic 80s before exposure he got in hisa TV break serial, tial art of T’ai Chi for the sake of their phys- in their films might rub off Dabaang’s in films. Eical and mental health, according to academ- ics. success on them, the producers hope. Nowadays, it is routine for wannabe cal health. film stars to do television while doing A new study has found that the ancient Chinese exercises, enjoyed by millions of people every “We recommend T’ai Chi for older people for its the rounds of producers and directors morning, can help pensioners avoid falling injuries various physical and psychological benefits.” for that all-important break. and boost their psychological well-being. T’ai Chi was developed hundreds of years ago in China as a series of graceful physical move- backed by several charities and support groups for This is because its slow movements improve ments combined with deep breathing, and is now sufferers of different diseases, the researchers balance while its deep breathing techniques aid looked back at the “uncertain” evidence for its relaxation. thought to be practised by 2.5million people around the world. clinical effectiveness. The authors of the paper, published online in They found 35 existing systematic reviews of the British Journal of Sports Medicine on Tuesday, It is based on the Confucian and Buddhist phi- losophy that the exercises can balance the opposing T’ai Chi papers published between 2002 and 2010, conclude: “Our overview showed that T’ai Chi, which examined whether or not the exercises which combines deep breathing and relaxation life forces of “yin and yang” that govern our health. helped conditions ranging from breast cancer to with slow and gentle movements, may exert exer- heart disease, as well as the ailments of old age. cise-based general benefits for fall prevention and But Dr Myeong Soo Lee at the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine and Prof Edzard Ernst of the Overall, 20 of the reviews concluded that T’ai improvement of balance in older people as well as Chi “might be effective” while eight said it was not some meditative effects for improving psychologi- Peninsula Medical School at the University of Exeter, say that “regardless of these assumptions”, and seven were inconclusive, but some of the pre- the slow movements and short postures undoubted- vious studies were said to be flawed.