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March 20, 2009: News Bites

By APA Staff

Aishwarya Rai is bankable, Anil Kapoor will get a tribute at IFFLA, and BoA is officially in America. All this and more in the latest edition of News Bites.

Freida Pinto, Bond Girl?

The Slumdog Millionaire craze continues, as Freida Pinto is being considered as the next Bond girl to star with Daniel Craig. Recently cast in Woody Allen's upcoming film, Freido Pinto had previously auditioned for the Bond girl in Quantum of Solace but was rejected on the grounds that she was "too young at the time to have a part as a love interest for a secret agent." After the attention and acclaim she received from Slumdog Millionaire, Freida Pinto's chances at getting the role seem much more favorable. Some say that the possibility of Slumdog Millionaire director, Danny Boyle, as director of the next 007 film will work in Freida's favor. As the movie is still in the pre-production stage, we'll just have to wait and see what good fortunes will come for the emerging actress. --Megan Chun


A Stranglehold without John Woo or Chow Yun Fat

Mmm...a silver screen adaptation of Stranglehold, the official video game sequel to the classic John Woo action hit Hardboiled, sans Woo AND Chow Yun Fat. Doesn't really add up, does it? It'll be overseen by Woo's long time producer Terence Chang, who explains that the movie shares some of the game's action set pieces, but will feature a younger Tequila (and a different actor). So it won't be a sequel. Is it a prequel? Or a reboot? Only Chang, director Stephen Fung, and writers Jeremy Passmore and Andre Fabrizio know. Hopefully the newcomers did their homework and don't get any funny ideas like giving Tequila a sidekick named Scotch and turning it into a buddy flick. --William Hong


BoA's music finally arrives

BoA's US debut album was released yesterday, available at Amazon, iTunes and Target. Since releasing her single "Eat You Up" back in October, BoA has appeared at KIIS-FM's Jingle Ball concert and Kollaboration. BoA was also featured on MTV's Iggy, the global pop culture network and has done multiple interviews to promote the much-anticipated release of her self-titled album. Her album features her two singles, "Eat You Up" and "I Did It For Love" (feat. Sean Garrett) and other songs such as "Did Ya", "Touched" and "Dress Off" -- making for an overall upbeat dance album. Having prepared with English coaches to perfect her pronunciation and practicing with choreographers to refine her dancing, BoA is counting on this album to break her into the US music industry. Although many fans who have followed her throughout her career in Asia have eagerly come out to see her performances, the reaction to her album will be the true indicator of whether the mainstream has accepted her and what her future as an American pop star will be. --Megan Chun


Forbes calls Aishwarya Rai "most bankable"

While you already know her as one of Bollywood' s most beautiful faces, Forbes magazine named Aishwarya Rai as the most bankable star from India – over megastars Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. Rai has also been in talks for more work in Hollywood, such as with her role in the Pink Panther sequel. Rai is also set to star in Vipul Shah' s time-travel film Action Replay, alongside Akshay Kumar and Randhir Kapoor. –-Kanara Ty


New Additions to Airbender Cast
 
Aasif Mandvi, Shaun Toub, Cliff Curtis and Keong Sim have joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender which will be produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. The four new members join the Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel. The movie, which is scheduled for a July 2nd, 2010 release is based on a popular anime-inspired series. The film is being produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Sam Mercer and Frank Marshall. In the film, the four nations of Air, Water, Earth and Fire are in a state of chaos as the Fire Nation wages war on the others. Aang, who will be played by Ringer, is the only Avatar who can manipulate all four elements and possibly restore peace. The film, which will have a lot of martial arts is set to film in both Greenland and Vietnam. --Kristie Hang

 
Slumdog Millionaire release to feature short Manjha

The upcoming Blu-ray release of Slumdog Millionaire will feature the short film Manjha, a piece directed by upcoming and coming director Rahi Anil Barve. Slumdog director Danny Boyle has been singing nothing but praise for this film, calling it “visually stunning and emotionally captivating”. Barve is currently preparing for his directorial debut with the film Tumbad, based on the folk tales of Maharashtra, with some underlying horror involved. –-Kanara Ty


Anil Kapoor at the IFFLA
 
The Indian star who famously played the game show host in Slumdog Millionaire, Anil Kapoor, is being honored at the seventh annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. The Festival will run April 21st to the 26th at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood. The festival will screen two films in which Kapoor himself stars, 1991's Lamhe and 1997's Virasat, as well as Gandhi, My Father, which he produced. It has also been announced that Megan Doneman's Yes Madam, Sir, will be the closing film of the night. The documentary is about Kiran Bedi, India's first and highest-ranking officer of the Indian Police Service. Kiran Bedi, himself will be in attendance as guest of honor. --Kristie Hang


Made in China, winner at SXSW

This year's South By Southwest (SXSW) committee agree that an East Texan man's experiences in trying to manufacture his novelty invention in Shanghai make for a very good comedy. They awarded the jury prize in the best narrative category to writer-director Judi Krant for her debut film Made in China. She also took the SXSW/Chicken & Egg Emergent Woman award. The SXSW is held annually in Austin, Texas. --Christine Chiao

 

Date Posted: 3/20/2009