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Academy Award winning Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tavonic is not happy that The Good Road has been chosen over The Lunchbox as the representative to compete for the Oscar in the best foreign language film category this year. He claims that he didn’t say this because he has co-produced The Lunchbox, starring Irrfan Khan as lead. For the uninitiated, the Film Federation of India (FFI) chose The Good Road, a Gujarati travel drama, over Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox, as they felt that the former movie reflects an India that our movies usually don't showcase. "You had a chance and you don't have it anymore," Tanovic said, adding: "If I could give my place to The Lunchbox, I would give it." Tavonic is unhappy that The Lunchbox didn’t get the chance. "It's still stuck in my throat - the decision... If you ought to win an Oscar, then you put the better horse in the race. The best horse was The Lunchbox," Tanovic said at the ongoing Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF). "They should know it from Lagaan. Lagaan was the last Indian film in the Oscar shortlist and it had the backing of Sony Pictures Classics, due to which they managed it. I spoke to somebody in India and asked them, 'Why did you send The Good Road? The person responded - 'It is a good film'." "It's not a question of a good film. It's about whether you really want to win an Oscar, or do you want to send a film which you think is great," said Tanovic. Guess everyone has an opinion on this subject!

All set to be seen in upcoming action-comedy Boss, superstar Akshay Kumar revealed while promoting the Anthony D’Souza directorial, that he has this greed of doing good work, and it is in his nature to not take success for granted.He also revealed that he feels a sense of thrill doing stunts in his films, on his own, and exclusively for Boss, he has also avoided cable action. “In Boss, there is no cable action because youngsters are getting bored of it. They feel that the actors are not doing much — the cables are in all the jumps etc. In this film I have avoided cables. I just sit with my 10-year-old son and he gives me so much input. I get introduced to new music, new cinema, short films on YouTube courtesy Aarav (his son),” says Akshay.With Boss, he has turned mentors to two actors, Shiv Pandit and Aditi Rao Hydari, on the same, he said, “Shiv and Aditi are both very good. The team and I thought that they would be perfect for the parts they play. He's a handsome, good-looking young boy. I really enjoyed the first film that he did —Shaitaan—he had done a very good job. Aditi works from the heart, is a very good actress, with a vulnerable face so we decided that they should be a part of our film. Shiv and I are brothers and sons to Mithun Chakraborty. As for mentoring talent, I like people with bright ideas.”Boss releases on October 16!

Even though Indra Kumar-directed Grand Masti worked well at the box-office, and turned out to be the first adult film to enter in 100-crore-club, the film has been written off by the critics, and has garnered a lot of disapproval.In fact, film director Zoya Akhtar has nothing good to say about the adult comedy film Grand Masti, and says she would never waste her money for such movies."Grand Masti... I wouldn't even enter to watch it. I have seen the promo and I know that it is not for me. It is appalling, it will make me very irritable and there is no way I am going to give money to this film," the 40-year-old said.The film starred Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani and Riteish Deshmukh. And even though Zoya is not disturbed that a bad film like Grand Masti made money, but it does hurt her when good cinema fails to impress the audience. "I feel sad when good films don't make money. When bad films make money, I am like 'something had to come out of it, he has no talent so he might as well make some cash'. But a good filmmaker should make money," she said at the launch of film critic Anupama Chopra's book 100 Films To See Before You Die.We hope things would change for better in coming days!

The women centric show Sasural Simar Ka on Colors has currently been revolving around the character of Jhanvi, played by Falaq Naaz. The actress has been receiving rave review for her portrayal and says it has now become my identity. She added that the show is a turning point for her career.An elated Falaq, about the popularity said, “It has been a very good experience. Initially Jhanvi was negative but now she has turned positive and now I can relate myself to the character of Jhanvi. Jhanvi has now become my identity. Recently few people recognized me as Jhanvi in a market and they asked me, Are you Jhanvi? People have lots of sympathy towards Jhanvi and I am loving it.”The actress admits that her character is quite similar to her. “I am finding it very easy to get myself involved in this character. She is a very emotional girl like me. I think 80% of Jhanvi is within me.”Falaq feels the show is a turning point for her career. “Playing Jhanvi in Sasural Simar Ka is a very big turning point for my career. I have got a lot of recognition by playing the character of Jhanvi. Sasural Simar Ka is a lucky show for me.”About her bonding with costars, she said, “I share a very good bonding with Dipika Samson. We share food with each other and eat together. We spend good time together and we visit each other’s place in Eid or in Diwali. Both of us also go for shopping together sometimes. I would like to play positive roles as a lead in future. I haven't thought of doing movies yet but if I will get something good then I can think over it.”Keep on going this way, Falaq!

Attending the three day fest, Cinema beyond Boundaries in New York, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar feels good with the international film dignities. He is exchanging notes with Hollywood directors, writers and music composers on understanding the global perspective in cinema. The director also said that Indian film industry and Hollywood can learn a lot from each other as the two industries seek to cater to the evolving nature of cinema.“There will be something that I take from them and they will take from us. While Hollywood has had a huge influence on the Indian industry, Bollywood and its actors too are garnering a lot of attention in the western film world,” said the filmmaker, who is well-known for his films like Chandni Bar, Page 3, Fashion and Heroine. The event would focus on the global influence of Indian cinema, forecast changes in the fast growing and rapidly evolving filmmaking industry. “Cinema has changed drastically over the years and films are now being made in different genres like commercial, edgy and radical to cater to the tastes of an evolving viewership,” he added.“Indian cinema is no more limited to audiences in India. We have viewers all around the world and hence understanding the global perspective is a must. Cinema Beyond Boundaries would get the viewers and the filmmakers together and would help us in serving them with good quality cinema,” Bhandarkar said. Well said Madhur Bhandarkar!

Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor and veteran actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu starrer Besharam has slipped at the box-office despite a good opening. Directed by Abhinav Singh Kashyup, the film was released on October 2 over 3600 screens across the India and 700 screens overseas. Trade experts say that the movie had a good opening, but couldn’t retain the footfalls on the subsequent days.Not only critics disliked the film, but audience was not too impressed with the movie and given feedback that with Besharam, Ranbir sinks to a low. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh termed the collection of the film at box office an epic disappointment. He Tweeted, “Besharam (earned) Wednesday Rs.21.56 crore, Thursday Rs.7.13 crore, Friday Rs.5.68 crore, Saturday Rs.5.94 crore. Total is Rs.40.31 crore net. Epic disappointment!”He updated, “Besharam collects 47.31 net in its 5-day opening weekend [Wed to Sun]: Wednesday 21.56 crore, Thursday 7.13 crore, Friday 5.68 crore, Saturday 5.94 crore, Sunday 7 crore.” Also starring newcomer Pallavi Sharda, Besharam was made at a budget of Rs.60 crore in addition to the cost of promotions, marketing and advertising. “First day was good, but second day onwards the performance of the film has drastically dropped. Even on weekend, I don’t see any improvement,” Puneet Sahay of Spice Cinemas said.It is co-produced by Himanshu Mehra, Sanjeev Gupta and Reliance Entertainment.

Elli Avram, the actress and model of Swedish-Greek origin, who has been eliminated from the Bigg Boss - Saath 7 house can't hide her gratitude for the warmth that the reality show's host and Bollywood star Salman Khan's extended to her during the show."I don't know why he was so nice to me. He is a big superstar. And his kindness meant a lot to me. I think he sensed that I was all alone in Bigg Boss house. The only foreigner. He helped me feel comfortable in Bigg Boss by just the way he spoke to me. Of course, I soon became comfortable in there. I've learnt a lot of Hindi in there," said Elli, who was evicted on Saturday.Elli comes out from Bigg Boss with a good feeling about most of the inmates. "My friends say, I find everyone to be good and likeable. But I can't help it. I don't have unkind thoughts about anyone inside the Bigg Boss house. Yes, there were stressful moments and ugly scenes with some of them. But it was soon okay," she added.Elli wants to connect with her friends Hazel Keech and Ratan Rajput whom she bonded with good friendship during the show.

Gori Tere Pyaar Mein actor Imran Khan says he has had the best time working in the movie, and it was one of the most entertaining work experiences that he has had till date. "For me this is the most fun film. What makes it special is the chemistry and interaction between me and Kareena Kapoor Khan. That is what makes the film stand up," said Imran."Kareena and I have good chemistry. I think we look good together. Part of the reason is because inherently we understand each other as actors," said Imran, who was in London with his leading lady Kareena. The film has been helmed by Punit Malhotra, and produced by Karan Johar under the banner of Dharma Productions.The actor said that the film has the target audience in younger couples and the family audience. "Karan likes his films to reach out across the audiences and he likes to make his films family friendly. You can watch it with your parents and parents can take their kids to watch it," he said.He also added that it was picturised in many locations. "The first half is primarily shot in Bangalore where the romance begins. The second half was shot outside Bhuj in Gujarat, then Wai outside Pune in Maharashtra and then in Filmcity. It was a difficult film to shoot. We were shooting outdoors in the peak of summer in May and June - it was over 45 degrees every single day."The film comes out on November 22!

If Sylvester Stallone-Arnold Schwarzenegger combination The Expendables 2 was Rowdy Rathore, Trust me Escape Plan is Ra.One and Trimurti of Hollywood. My first question is why this film is directed by Mikael Hafstrom. Mikael Hafstrom is a director who made some commendable Horror/Thrillers such as The Rite (Anthony Hopkins), Shanghai (John Cusack), Derailed and one of my favorite 1408 (John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson). 1408 still scares the hell out of me.Take a close look at the film Escape Plan's trailer and i promise you will know the entire plot of the movie. But a craziest fan of Arnie and Stallone (Like myself, Of course) you would like to watch the two biggest super action (Aging) stars on the screen.Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone), an expert of breaking out of federal maximum security prisons who is hoodwinked into testing a new privately run facility for people who should not be allowed out in the real world. In the allegedly escape-proof prison (Which was designed with references from Ray's book), known as The Tomb, he meets Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger -Appears exactly after 35 minutes of the Film). And together they plot their eventual liberation.Just when you start to feel Escape Plan can become Stallone's 90's Lock Up and Arnie's Terminator 2 (Both fantastic films of the stars respectively),The movie starts becoming easy and ill-logical. The Prison Doctor (Sam Neill) who gets so easily convinced by Ray (In hardly few seconds), and arranges the Helicopter along with Guns etc for their escape. Ray's partner's involvement with Warden Hobbs (Jim Caveizel). And of course the hopeless climax which will definitely make you think what went wrong with Arnie-Stallone's head while coming on board for this movie.Oh? Did i miss the "Muslim" inmate who helps both Arnold and Stallone in their Escape? Gosh! That was so Bollywoodish!Speaking of performances, Stallone is good but handicapped by a bad script. Arnold appears just how Jackie Shroff used to appear in films that were made after 2000. Stallone uses Arnold as a "Chai-Wala' in the whole film and Arnold looked very comfortable doing this part (I am still surprised). Sam Neill is another example of any Kiran Kumar's character from any Bollywood Film. Jim Caveizel is a wonderful talent wasted in this Multi Million dollar "Proposal". Now, Why do i call this one as a "Proposal"? Because, I heard somewhere that Hollywood and Bollywood make such kinds of film to lure the Audiences and fails miserably.Mikael Hafstrom, as I pointed out earlier is good at his Horror/Thriller works. He is not capable in making or executing an action flick which he proves with Escape Plan. The Production Value, Camera Work is good but doesn't help a Bad Script. The Screenplay and Editing is jerky and boring. If you (Still Dare To) see the film, There are lots of unanswered questions.Escape Plan does not even works for its Action, Because it does not have it. I will also not recommend you to rent the film on DVD or Blu Ray because such films are best on the Free Television Premiere which i guess will happen soon. I feel sorry for Heroes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger (Especially) and Sylvester Stallone!