Lata Award for Asha
Asha Bhosle was presented with the prestigious Lata Mangeshkar Award instituted by the Government of Maharashtra for her outstanding contribution to music. The award carries a cheque of Rs 1 lakh, a memento and shawl. The award, which was presented to her by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Asha said was “more important for me than the Grammy Award.” She donated the cheque to the trustees of the Dinanath Mangeshkar proposal to build a hospital in Pune.

Mukta signs deal with Film City
Mukta Arts has lined up Rs 20 crore to provide for a massive infrastructure in the form of a film and television training institute to create a pool of new talent in filmmaking and has entered into a joint venture with Maharashtra Film Stage and Cultural Development Corporation Ltd, an autonomous body which shall hold 15 per cent stake in this joint venture company known as Whistling Woods International, by way of providing land to Mukta Arts Limited which will set up the training institute within their premises. Anderson, consulting and other leading architects of India and abroad are on the job in full swing to complete the infrastructure by next October.

Mohabbatein storms UK charts
Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein has stormed the UK box-office with mind-blowing collections of UK pounds 245,460 within three days of its release. The collection figures are the highest among any Indian film released in UK so far. The film is also among the 10 highest grossers in the UK now.

Vinod Khanna in TV serial
VINOD Khanna makes his bow on the small Spotlight with Om Shakti Films’ TV serial Rang. He shot for the pilot at Nagi Villa and Ajivaasan Auditorium, Mumbai. The serial, produced by Satyenpal Chaudhary and directed by Jaidev Chakraborty, has music by Babloo Chakraborty and also stars Ronit Roy.

Neelam weds
Neelam, the actress, married the London-based businessman, Rishi Sethia recently in Bangkok. Rishi’s family was against his marrying an actress and his entire family boycotted the wedding proceedings.

Tusshar not Tushar
Jeetendra has made it clear that his son who is making his debut as a leading man will henceforth be called Tusshar. That will be his official name and not Tushar.

Vinod Khanna in TV serial
VINOD Khanna makes his bow on the small Spotlight with Om Shakti Films’ TV serial Rang. He shot for the pilot at Nagi Villa and Ajivaasan Auditorium, Mumbai. The serial, produced by Satyenpal Chaudhary and directed by Jaidev Chakraborty, has music by Babloo Chakraborty and also stars Ronit Roy.

Raju Chacha on December 28
Following the shooting of the last song, Devgan Films’ Raju Chacha is complete. Dubbing is now in progress for the film which will hit theatres on December 28. Produced by Veeru Devgan the film stars Rishi Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Govind Namdeo and Shahbaz Khan and has music by Jatin-Lalit.

Fardeen in Kitne Door...
Fardeen Khan has been signed to play the leading role in Kitne Door Kitne Paas, to be directed and produced by Mehul Kumar. The film launched with an 8-day shoot has Spotlightplay and dialogue by Yunus Sajawal and Imtiaz Patel and music by Sanjeev-Darshan.