Rai Bachchan shields daughter from media
Attending her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan's birthday celebrations, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan spoke to the press about how protective she is of her 11-month-old daughter Aaradhya. "I understand it is your job to take pictures and get sound bites. But I don't want the child to get hassled. You want the child to be protected. It's a natural instinct of being protective," she told a group of reporters and photographers. Asked how motherhood has been like for her, the actress said: "I am on double duty for 24 hours. I love spending time with her." * IANS
Barfi! gets standing ovation at Busan
Barfi!, India's official entry for the best foreign film category at the forthcoming Oscars, won hearts at this week's Busan International Film Festival, prompting a standing ovation from an audience of 4,000. The sold-out screening on Thursday was attended by the film's lead actors Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor. "What an amazing reception. The standing ovation was both exhilarating and humbling for us," said Kapoor, who plays a deaf and mute character in the film directed by Anurag Basu. Chopra, who plays an autistic girl in the movie, said: "I am thrilled with the response received for the film and also for my performance. This was the first film festival to showcase Barfi! and I'm looking forward to many more." * IANS
Dinesh Yadav is first Bigg Boss 6 evictee
The Bhojpuri film superstar Dinesh Yadav became the first contestant to be voted out of the top-rated reality show Bigg Boss 6 on Friday night. In his short stay of less than a week, the actor maintained a low profile among the 14 other contestants in the series, patterned after the Big Brother franchise. Yadav got the least number of votes along with the cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, the model Karishma Kotak and the celebrity hairstylist Sapna Bhavnani. The sixth season of Bigg Boss premiered on October 7 and is hosted by the Bollywood star Salman Khan. * IANS
Director Manivannan set for comeback
The popular Tamil actor and director Manivannan is set to make a comeback after 11 years with Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA, a follow-up to his 1994 political drama Amaidhi Padai. "The sequel will have Satyaraj reprising the lead role he played in the first film. We are planning to shoot the film in Coimbatore and hope to release it by mid-2013," said the 58-year-old, whose last film was 2001's Aandan Adimai. The 1994 film told the story of a poor village boy who goes on to become a national politician. * IANS
