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Glamour fades for artists as TV station cuts salaries |
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Written by Deepak Joshi
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Sunday, 09 August 2009 07:02 |
Hong Kong - The glamour of a television career lost some of its sparkle for around 60 actors and actresses after a Hong Kong station cut salaries, a media report said Sunday.
Broadcaster ATV cut the minimum rate to 1,000 Hong Kong dollars (128 US dollars) and reduced the number of shows per actor to six per month, down from eight to 10, the Sunday Morning Post said.
"Many have trouble surviving on such a humble basic salary. The glamour is just an illusion," said ATV veteran Paw Hee-ching, who won the best actress award at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards:
She said the changes partly reflect ATV's decision to halt drama productions in favour of infotainment and variety shows.
The pay cuts follow four rounds of redundancies, the last in May, which laid off more than 300 staff. (dpa) |
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Lily Allen’s ‘new man is married’ |
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Written by Samrat Khanna
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Sunday, 09 August 2009 06:57 |
 London, Aug 9 : ‘Smile’ singer Lily Allen’s alleged new partner Wade Oates is married, it has emerged.
Oates, who is a singer with popular New York band The Virgins, made the shocking revelation on his Facebook page.
On the site, thirty two-year-old Wade has admitted to being in a relationship with a fellow New Yorker, Audrey Gelman.
Lily, 24, was photographed snogging Oates last week, at the Fuji Rocks festival in Tokyo but it looks like their relationship may not last long after Lily discovers the truth about her new man.
The Daily Star quoted a source close to Lily as saying: “Lily had a lot of fun that night as you can see from the pictures.
“But she had no idea the guy was already spoken for. She’s pretty straight when it comes to relationships and doesn’t like love cheats.
“On this occasion she seems to have landed herself one. I can’t see this relationship lasting very long.”
“Looks like it’s back to the drawing board again for Lily,” added her friend. (ANI) |
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Julia Roberts to shoot “Eat, Pray, Love” in India ashram in September |
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Written by Reetu Sharma
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Sunday, 09 August 2009 06:56 |
 Nevada (US), Aug. 9 : Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) reportedly will be in India in the third week of September to shoot “Eat, Pray, Love”, and Hindus are concerned about the authenticity of the depiction of sacred ashram (retreat) and other Hinduism objects in the film.
Indian American leader Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that Hinduism and its belief system were quite often misunderstood and incorrectly depicted outside India and urged the filmmakers to stay to authentic traditions. Film, being a powerful medium, misrepresentation would not be fair to Hindus and Hinduism, Zed added.
Based on Pushcart Prize winner Elizabeth Gilbert’s spirituality/travel memoir (played by Roberts), this film is currently being shot in New York till end of August, and the shooting will move to India to film ashram sequences after about over two weeks stint in Italy. Some of the Indian crew of Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle) will also be helping in the India part of the production, though the shooting schedule is being kept hush-hush, according to reports.
Filmmakers are yet to select the actress to play 17-year old tomboy Indian girl Tulsi, who will be on the ashram floor-scrubbing crew interacting with Roberts, and who is equally devoted to God and hip-hop music. People of India will be anxious to see how perfectly Roberts does her job of cleaning ashram floors as a part of her devotional duty, trying to recite 182-verse Sanskrit chant, and going through grueling hours of meditation while being feasted on by mosquitoes. Gilbert reportedly spent four months in India, trying to find her spirituality.
Oscar nominated Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) and Oscar nominated Viola Davis (Doubt) will also reportedly be in India for the shooting. Rest of the cast includes Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Paris Film Festival award winner Billy Crudup (Almost Famous), Golden Globe winner James Franco (Pineapple Express), Luca Argentero (Lezioni di cioccolato), etc. Directed by Emmy nominated Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck) and produced by Columbia Pictures, Brad Pitt’s (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) Plan B Entertainment and Roberts’ Red Om Films, it is aimed at a release in 2011.
Gilbert’s bestseller memoir ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ is about her self-discovery and soul-searching after her nasty divorce, exploring through India, Italy, and Indonesia, a journey which is pleasurable as well as enlightening. It was number one on New York Times Paperback Nonfiction List for over a year and its over five million copies were reportedly now in print. She has also authored a short story collection “Pilgrims”. “Eat, Love, Pray” T-shirts, baseball caps, throw pillows, and mugs are already on sale.
Gilbert goes to India to learn the “art of devotion”. A critic has defined it as “the worst in Western fetishization of Eastern thought and culture”.
Gilbert, who currently lives in New Jersey, was born in Waterbury (Connecticut) in 1969 and grew up on a tree farm in Litchfield (Connecticut), where the family reportedly had no neighbors, no TV and not even a record player. According to reports, Gilbert’s former husband is also writing his own memoir of world travel titled as “Displaced”.
Zed further said that if the filmmaker needed any help concerning depiction of Hinduism or related issues, he or other Hindu scholars would be glad to assist. (ANI) |
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Katie Price blames Peter Andre for depression |
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Written by Neena Sareen
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Sunday, 09 August 2009 06:54 |
 Washington, August 9 : Katie Price believes that her estranged husband Peter Andre is responsible for her unhappiness and depression.
The hottie allegedly claims to have suffered from post-natal depression following the birth of her now two-year-old daughter Princess Tiaamii, for which she blames her singer husband.
Recollecting a holiday in the Maldives earlier this year, where she was alone, she said: "I''d forgotten to take my medication with me and I realised I felt fine. But then he would ring and the stress of speaking to him would make my head go all dizzy again".
Price, who apparently admits that she often strips off when she is drunk, thinks that Andre is responsible for their marriage not working out.
"Pete got it into his head that if I was out clubbing I was going to sleep with someone. He kept hassling me about the pictures and calling me ''a disgrace''. And it drove me mad. He''s the one who got his kit off in the video for ''Mysterious Girl''. He should have done his research about me,’” Contactmusic quoted her as telling Britain''s Glamour magazine.
However, she denies having one night stands.
She added: "You will never see a kiss-and-tell on me, I will never have a one-night stand - I''m just not that kind of person."
Price is currently linked up with cagefighter Alex Reid. (ANI) |
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