Busy with parenting

The Edge of Darkness star, who is in the process of divorcing wife Robyn, insists that although he is happy in his relationship with Oksana, they have no plans to walk down the aisle because she is so busy with their daughter Lucia, who was born in October.

“Lucia, luckily, looks more like her mother than me and is an angel. The mother, turns out, she is a wonderful mother,” Gibson said. “She’d make anyone a wonderful wife, but for the moment, she’s a mother,” he added. While Gibson, who has seven children with Robyn, was full of praise for his family, and admitted that he hasn’t been easy to live with in recent months because quitting smoking turned him into “an axe murderer”.

“The first three days, you are an axe murderer. Day four, well, you might take a bat to someone. Day five? You are OK. It’s really tough,” Gibson said. However, the actor is now seeing a positive side to giving up the deadly habit.

Get ready to be educated

The wait is finally over. The theatrical trailer of Paathshaala opened on January 22 along with the film Veer. Amidst the current dismal situation of the Indian education system, Paathshaala could well be an eye-opener for educationists and parents as the film depicts the various issues faced by children today.

Starring Nana Patekar, Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia in pivotal roles, Paathshala is a film with a message that tries to answer several questions related to the sanctity of today’s education system. It sheds light on the shortcomings and wrong doings in today’s schools, where the high morals and basic ethics associated with the teaching profession, seem to have taken a back seat. The film attempts to challenge several harmful notions that threaten the children’s future and thus, our society.

Paathshaala also stars popular child artists, Swini Khara, Avika Gor, Ali Haji and Dwij Narendra Yadav. In an innovative promotional move by the producers, major multiplexes across India will have attractive, colourful benches placed along with the film’s standees to attract the attention of the audience.

Presented by Eros International, Paathshaala is directed by Milind Ukey and produced by Shaira Khan (Paperdoll Entertainment).

The film’s story and screenplay are by Ahmed Khan and the music is by Hanif Shaikh. Paathshaala hits theatres this April. 

Bollywood shines in the USA

Taare Zameen Par never got a mainstream theatrical release in the US. That doesn’t come as a surprise, since nearly all Bollywood films only play for South Asian audiences over there.

Now the film’s producers have signed a deal with the Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Recently, the film was re-released on DVD — this time by Disney, and with an alternative English language title — Stars On Earth.   The film is still in its Hindi language format, with subtitles, the songs, and its original  length of nearly 165 minutes.

Finding Tyler’s replacement

Legendary rock band Aerosmith are set to start auditions for a new frontman to “fill in” for Steven Tyler until the rocker is ready to return to the band. The group was thrown into chaos last year over reports that Tyler had quit the group, and he has since kept his bandmates in the dark over whether he plans to continue as their singer or go solo.

Guitarist Joe Perry said that Tyler, who was recently admitted to rehab to fight an addiction to painkillers, wants to return to his role in the band, but is about to undergo a series of operations which will leave him unable to perform for at least a year. So the musicians have decided to search for a new singer who can front the group until Tyler is fit again, with auditions set to kick off in February. “We are already getting the word out there. The word’s been out there for a while. We’ll start having some auditions, making some phone calls,” Perry said.

“Hopefully, we’ll have found a new singer by the summer, and Aerosmith will be able to go back out on the road. From what I’ve heard, (Tyler) hasn’t left the band. As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t left the band. He’s never said he was going to leave the band,” he added. “But he has to have leg and foot surgery and it’s basically going to take him out of the picture for about a year, year and a half. So, in the meantime, the rest of the band wants to play. We are gonna find somebody to get in there and fill that spot,” Perry said.

A punctual actor

Akshay Kumar is a thorough professional and hates to inconvenience people at any cost. The star is known to be punctual always and never cancels shoots under any condition. However recently, the actor cancelled a day’s shoot only because it was his home production.

Reveals a source, “Akshay will shoot with injuries if he has to. He doesn’t like to inconvenience people and hates it if any one suffers losses at his expense.” However recently, Akshay had to call off a shoot, when he hurt his back to such an extent that the doctor refused to let him get out of bed and recommended physiotherapy.

“Akshay was shooting non-stop for Patiala House and his back problem was only getting worse with each passing day. It was then that he decided to cancel the shoot since he himself was the producer,” adds the source.

Well, Akshay Kumar hates losses on his expense but then again the super star and box office king that he is, he sure has his producers laughing all the way to the bank.