Lage Raho Munnabhai lost out to Rang De Basanti for India's official entry for the Oscar. So the makers of the movie have applied to the academy through the "Foreign Language" category. Depha Mehta's film Water (submitted by Canada) has also been submitted for the Foreign Language Oscar.

Argh! It can be so frustrating to buy movies here in the city. Bootleggers are so good at making them look authentic - even the little hologram thingy! So I get home, make some popcorn, and then two hours into the movie all the subtitles go or it just stops working. That's when I realize it's a phoney. GRRR!(*@#&

A friend tipped me off to nehaflix.com. I totally recommend them! They have a lot of new movies & oldies - and not just Bollywood, but other regions as well. They usually have sales & special offers so you can buy a lot and not feel horribly guilty. The bonus was the friendly & fast Customer Service. The woman who helped me w/a problem with my order (my error) over a weekend. Yes, that's right, the weekend!

Go check them out.

Padmini appeared in over 350 films. Dubbing wasn't needed as she was fluent in Hindi, Malayalam, tamil, Kannada, and Telugu. Although classically trained in dance, she was able to cross over boundaries & styles. She is partly credited  for the "pseudo-classical" style that has influenced the choreography that is prevalent in popular Indian Cinema. She also created the Padmini School of Fine Arts in NJ, which is the oldest school of its kind in the US.

goes to Rang De Basanti! Only two movies Mother India & Salaam Bombay have been nominated previously, but have never won an Oscar. Let's hope this year is the year!

Saif Ali Khan & Rani Mukerji are currently shooting Tara Rum Pum Pum on NY's LES. The rumor mill is saying that he's been annoying the staff at Madam X. I go to Madam X quite often & I've never seen him there, cos you know if I did I'd be telling everybody about it for days :o

...but I still think it's funny! Now you can have your own piece of Bollywood right in your living room (or whichever room you prefer..perverts!). Kajol, w/the assistance of Funschool,  launched a line of "Bollywood Legends" early this September including herself (a la DDLJ), Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra.

Personally, I think they're cute, but they really did a job on Hritik. This doll bears no resemblance at all.  Bummer.

Check out pictures from the event here