Winners of 5th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Shahrukh Khan - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Priyanka Chopra - Kaminey

Best Movie
Ghajini - Madhu Mantena

Best Director
A.R. Murugadoss - Ghajini

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Rishi Kapoor - Love Aaj Kal

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Kirron Kher - Kurbaan

Best Actor in a Comic Role
Ajay Devgan - All The Best

Best Actor in a Negative Role
Amol Gupte - Kaminey

Best Debut Director
Ayan Mukerji - Wake Up Sid

Lifetime Achievement Award (Male)
Amitabh Bachchan

Entertainer of the year
Ranbir Kapoor

Best Debut (Male)
Jackky Bhagnani - Kal Kissne Dekha

Best Debut (Female)
Anushka Sharma - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Chevrolet Heartbeat of the Nation (Male)
Shahid Kapoor (Kaminey)

Chevrolet Heartbeat of the Nation (Female)
Deepika Padukone (Love Aaj Kal)

Best Choreography
Shiamak Davar - Dance Pe Chance - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Best Lyrics
Jaideep Sahni - Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Best Female Playback Singer
Shreya Ghosal - Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Best Male Playback Singer
Mohit Chauhan - Ye Dooriyan - Love Aaj Kal

Best Music
Pritam Chakraborty - Love Aaj Kal

Best Screenplay
A.R. Murugadoss - Ghajini

Best Dialogue
Anurag Kashyap - Dev D

Best Story
Imtiaz Ali - Love Aaj Kal

Most public appearances
Abhishek Bachchan

'3 Idiots' breaks ‘Ghajini’ records

Film makes Rs.93 crore in opening weekend

Aamir Khan starrer comedy-drama "3 Idiots" created a record by earning around Rs.93 crore (Rs.930 million/$20 million) in its opening weekend. Reliance BIG Entertainment, which is the distributor of "3 Idiots", released the movie with about 2,000 prints across 40 countries.

Loosely based on Chetan Bhagat's bestseller "Five Point Someone", the film has been produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and directed by Rajkumar Hirani.

"Response has been overwhelming from all over the world. Aamir, Raju and I knew from the responses earlier on that people liked the film but this is something else? We have got reports from places like Australia that they have reduced 'Avatar' shows and increased ours," said Chopra in a statement.

Released on Dec 25, its box office collection has beaten the initial earnings of another Aamir starrer "Ghajini", considered Hindi cinema's highest grosser till date, with 30 percent more earnings till Sunday night.

"'3 Idiots' is the highest grossing Hindi film ever in Australia on its opening weekend. Similarly in the US, I have been given to understand that '3 Idiots' would be highest ever for a Hindi film," he added.

The paid previews of the movie also garnered over Rs.9 crore worldwide, above those of the paid preview collections of "Ghajini" that was Rs.7 crore globally.

It also stars R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and Kareena Kapoor in pivotal roles.

Aamir in another South remake

After the super success of Ghajini, Aamir Khan will yet again be seen in another south film blockbuster and that too with Hrithik Roshan.

The producers of the blockbuster Allu Arvind and Madhu Mantena have planned the remake of the recent Telugu blockbuster Magadheera starring Ram Charan Teja. Magadheera grossed over Rs.65 crore and is termed as the biggest hit ever in the Telugu industry after Ghajini. After the response the Hindi version of Ghajini received in Bollywood, the producers felt it was only right to do the same with Magadheera and that too with their lucky charm Aamir Khan.

Madhu Mantena confirmed to the press saying, ‘Yes Allu Arvind and I are remaking Magadheera in Hindi. As for the cast, it's too early to talk about it. But Magadheera is definitely being planned to be bigger than Ghajini. The remake of the film is only going to be much costlier, budgeted at Rs.70 crore. Magadheera set in the17th century had Ram Charan playing a double role, but the Hindi remake will have Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan playing the warrior in two different parts, one in the Middle ages and the other in a present day avatar respectively.

Source close to Aamir revealed, “Being a period film, the remake of Magadheera needs a lot of research and hard work, and being the perfectionist that Aamir is, he’ll be getting into the nitty- gritties of his character and the movie in itself. While Aamir has loved the idea of the entire film, he’s busy with the post-production work of wife Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghaat as of now. Still if Aamir does go ahead with the film you can only imagine what the outcome will be, it will be his first as a warrior in a period film and knowing him he always loves to do something different all the time.”

Let’s hope Aamir and Hrithik come together for this highly anticipated remake, for we can only imagine how explosive their performances combined can be to take Magadheera to an all new level!

Wanted more violent than Ghajini: Salman

Said Salman Khan on whether or not Wanted would be the next Ghajini.

The actor has high hopes for his next film directed by ace choreographer and south actor Prabhu Deva. “Ghajini became a phenomenon because of Aamir Khan, his newly acquired 6 pack and the main focus at the end of the day was the love story. Wanted on the other hand is hardcore action, violence and mind-blowing dance numbers” said Salman when quizzed whether Wanted would have the same box office success as Ghajini.

Salman Khan at his jovial best poked fun at his dancing and the type of rigorous action scenes he went through for the film, saying, “I remember when Prabhu would teach me a step and I’d wonder, that can’t be so bad, but after watching myself on the video assist, I wish I’d retire then and there. I was going through a lethargic phase before Wanted and I couldn’t have been any more energised now.”

Out of the 200 days of shooting, Salman shot 8-10 action sequences for 150 days. Producer Boney Kapoor said, “The action in the film is unbelievable and you will be blown away by the type of sequences we have shot. There are no special effects and Salman has done all his action scenes himself.” The coy Prabhu Deva was all praises for his leading star, saying, “I don’t know anybody else who could have done the film other than Salman Bhai himself.”

Priyanka: Ghajini was more violent than Kaminey

Non-starry star Priyanka has a small yet important role in Kaminey and she throws herself into each scene, making you believe she is every inch the fiery Maharashtrian girl she portrays. The actress is lapping up accolades for her powerful ac. She talks about the film, the delay and ‘What’s Your Raashee?’

“I just hope Kaminey does well because we all have worked exceptionally hard on it. We have been fighting on various fronts for the film. First, the strike was there and later we got an adult certificate due to which we have lost the college-going and school audience. We made the film keeping in mind a ‘U/A’ certificate. Everyone saw Ghajini and wasn’t it more violent than Kaminey?” she muses, adding, “Now, we have to deal with Swine Flu in Pune and Mumbai. Issko abhi hi kyun aana tha! However, public health is of utmost importance and we have three weeks to recover our money as the next big release is Wanted on September 18.”

Speaking about her Marathi mulgi avatar in the film, she said, “I am glad it turned out right and people have accepted me in that role. Shahid told me I was behaving like a bai only. I even loved wearing that Kashti saree. I wouldn’t mind working with Shahid if we are offered more films.”

Priyanka is one of the busiest actresses in town. She is shooting and promoting different films together. “I was shooting for Pyaar Impossible and now I am promoting Kaminey. We will continue to do over the weekend to keep the buzz alive till the multiplexes open and request people not to resort to piracy,” says the dusky beauty.

Her next release is the highly-anticipated ‘What’s Your Raashee?’ on September 25. “No one in the history of world cinema has played 12 characters in one film. It was emotionally and physically taxing which is why I fell sick. I hope people appreciate that film too,” she signs off on a high note.

Aamir, Akshay, Hrithik nominated for action awards

Bollywood stars Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan are in the race to bag the best actor award at the AXN Action Awards.

While Aamir has been nominated for "Ghajini", Akshay is in contention for "Tashan" and Hrithik for "Jodhaa Akbar".

"'Ghajini' is a film that required a lot of aggression that exposes the basic crude emotion of human loss. I'm honoured to be nominated in the best action actor category, as the action in the film is more complex and thought provoking, showcasing anger, vengeance and physical violence," said Aamir in a statement.

In the best actor in a negative role category, the competition is between Imran Khan for "Kidnap", Saif Ali Khan for "Race" and Kay Kay Menon for "Drona".

"'Race' is a thoroughbred action film, complete with flamboyance and panache. I enjoyed performing the stunts and watching the movie evolve into a suave piece of cinema. I am thrilled to be nominated for my role," he said.

The results will depend on public voting which is now open. Fans can cast their votes by logging on to www.axnactionawards.com or by texting (from India) to 52525.

The winners will be announced on the channel next month.