Director Sudhir Mishra, who is awaiting the release of his project DAAS DEV, says its story is unlike the original "Devdas" as it is more about freedom and liberation.

Mishra, known for directing critically acclaimed films like HAZAARON KHWAISHEIN AISI, DHARAVI and CHAMELI, has interpreted the concept of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's DEVDAS, which was interpreted for two film versions.

"If you take the literal meaning of the original 'Devdas', it means God's slave. So, this is a journey of a noble creature who becomes a slave, to his addiction, to his guilt, and dies.

"Now in my film, he is a 'daas' who is a slave to addiction of alcohol and power is also an addiction in the context of politics. He is the heir to a political dynasty. It is about how he rids himself of that addiction — it's a reverse, more positive journey," Mishra told IANS.

DAAS DEV, he said, is about the protagonist's liberation.

"It is a guy who breaks the shackles rather than a guy who becomes a 'daas'. It is not a downer in the end, it is an 'upper'. It is a story of freedom, of standing by Paro, of how he liberates himself.

"Rather than dying with her or she be dying behind a closed door," added Mishra, who has a three-decade long career in the industry.

DAAS DEV is a romantic political thriller, scheduled to release on March 23. It features Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadda, Rahul Bhat, Dalip Tahil, Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap.

Star cricketer Virat Kohli has showered praise on his actress-wife Anushka Sharma's work in her latest release PARI. He has vouched for it as her best work.

"Watched PARI last night. Has to be my Wife's best work ever! One of the best films I've seen in a long time. Got quite scared, but so very proud of you Anushka Sharma," Kohli tweeted on Friday.

Directed by debutant Prosit Roy, the horror film is jointly produced by Anushka's Clean Slate Films and KriArj Entertainment.

This is Anushka's third project as a producer after NH10 and PHILLAURI.

PARI, which released on Friday, also stars Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee.

Star cricketer Virat Kohli has showered praise on his actress-wife Anushka Sharma's work in her latest release PARI. He has vouched for it as her best work.

"Watched PARI last night. Has to be my Wife's best work ever! One of the best films I've seen in a long time. Got quite scared, but so very proud of you Anushka Sharma," Kohli tweeted on Friday.

Directed by debutant Prosit Roy, the horror film is jointly produced by Anushka's Clean Slate Films and KriArj Entertainment.

This is Anushka's third project as a producer after NH10 and PHILLAURI.

PARI, which released on Friday, also stars Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher has been invited to speak at the LSE SU India Forum (LIF) 2018 hosted by the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE).

Previously known as the Economic Forum for India at LSE, it is a first of its kind conference in the UK involving keynote speeches and panel discussions on major issues facing contemporary India across a variety of fields.

The conference serves as a platform for students and professionals alike, to hear from and engage with inspiring leaders.

Kher will address the students at the Old Theatre at LSE on Saturday.

"It is a pleasure to speak to the students at the London School of Economics. By sharing my life experiences, I hope to motivate them to achieve their dreams, become successful individuals and most importantly responsible human beings," Kher said in a statement.

The youth, he believes, are the future of the country.

"They live in times of tough competition where certain failure is inevitable. The power of failure gave me the strength to succeed and it is our responsibility to help our youth realise this to be able to live life to its fullest," he said.

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Chairperson has featured in over 500 films like DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE, A WEDNESDAY! and HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..!

Veteran actor Anupam Kher has been invited to speak at the LSE SU India Forum (LIF) 2018 hosted by the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE).

Previously known as the Economic Forum for India at LSE, it is a first of its kind conference in the UK involving keynote speeches and panel discussions on major issues facing contemporary India across a variety of fields.

The conference serves as a platform for students and professionals alike, to hear from and engage with inspiring leaders.

Kher will address the students at the Old Theatre at LSE on Saturday.

"It is a pleasure to speak to the students at the London School of Economics. By sharing my life experiences, I hope to motivate them to achieve their dreams, become successful individuals and most importantly responsible human beings," Kher said in a statement.

The youth, he believes, are the future of the country.

"They live in times of tough competition where certain failure is inevitable. The power of failure gave me the strength to succeed and it is our responsibility to help our youth realise this to be able to live life to its fullest," he said.

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Chairperson has featured in over 500 films like DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE, A WEDNESDAY! and HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..!

Trends come and go, but only a good song has the power to sustain all the undercurrents of the music industry and make the right noise, says singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan.

He drew a similarity between the music and fashion industries.

‘Music industry is like fashion. Things keep coming, things keep going, trends keep changing. There is good music, bad music and mediocre music. Everything co-exists but at the end of the day it is a good song which wins,’ Mahadevan told IANS in a recorded response.

Mahadevan, who scored new heights in the musical world with the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio, agrees that music trends are cyclical.

Asked what trend he thinks will be making a comeback in the time to come, the composer said, ‘I think melody is a trend which is coming back and we are doing a lot of melody this year.’

Starting his career as a software programmer, Mahadevan eventually drifted away from the profession, and found his passion to create sounds and rhythms.

With tracks like ‘Maa’, ‘Dil chahta hai’, ‘Kal ho naa ho’, ‘Desi Girl’, ‘Kajra re’ and ‘Uff teri adaa’, Mahadevan along with his partners from the trio made a place for himself in the music industry. His sons Siddharth and Soumil are following his footsteps and entering the industry.

Mahadevan, who also teaches music through his online academy, is seen judging reality TV shows and radio shows. At the moment, he is busy with live voting-led singing TV show ‘Rising Star 2’, which is aired on Colors channel.

The music composer feels reality TV shows are one the best platforms for young talent.

‘Because you are on national TV, you are being watched by the entire country and they know your first name, which is the highest form of popularity. If you are able to come on a reality show that is success forget about winning the show. If they win the show then it is a brownie point.’

But what happens to the contestants once the show gets over? Are they able to survive in the industry or do they just enjoy few minutes of fame and then get back to their life?

‘All the contestants make a mark for themselves. Not all of them become number one playback singers, but each one of them is performing, travelling, earning his bread and taking care of the family and doing something which they love doing and making a living out of it.’

On Rising Star 2, he said, ‘This is a great national platform where crores of people are listening to you. The fact that youngsters aspire to come on the stage even if you are being selected among top ten, then it itself is a great dream.

‘The fact that the contestants don’t have age bars, caste bar, people of varied sizes and musical genre are part of this show really inspire the youth of the country. By looking at these stories, you will get inspired.

‘And these stories not only inspire musicians but also people from various fields like sports, painters. It is inspiring people to give their dreams a shape.’

Bollywood actor Upen Patel, set to start shooting with Atharvaa Murali for BOOMERANG, says the new trend seems to be of Bollywood heroes getting negative roles in the southern film industry.

Upen had played a negative role in Shankar's Telugu film I.

"I have been lucky enough to be given my debut in the southern film industry by Shankar sir with I, whose next is 2.0 with Rajinikanth sir and Akshay Kumar, where Akshay will be seen in a negative role.

"Bollywood heroes turning into southern film villains seems to be the new trend. I am just thankful to be part of great cinema and to be able to work in both Hindi and south industries," he said.

Upen is playing the main villain in BOOMERANG.

"The film is definitely commercial, but since it is a thriller, I can't reveal much about the film. It is not a typical thriller, where a story revolves around a love story and betrayal but its a unique story.

"The action sequences are just great. What I like about the film is that there are many factors involved. I think the southern cinema always brings new and fresh takes on different stories. That excited me to do this film and it is not something you have seen before," Upen said.

Asked which southern film franchise would he like to be a part of, Upen, who made his Bollywood debut with 36 CHINA TOWN, said: "I would love to do a film like BAHUBALI. I don't know any other actor who would not like to be part of a franchise that is as big as BAHUBALI.

"The script, scenes, direction, music all of it is, just amazing," he said.

BOOMERANG is directed and produced by "IVAN THANTHIRAN fame R Kannan. It also features Megha Akash, Sathish, RJ Balaji and Suhasini Maniratnam.

Bollywood actor Upen Patel, set to start shooting with Atharvaa Murali for BOOMERANG, says the new trend seems to be of Bollywood heroes getting negative roles in the southern film industry.

Upen had played a negative role in Shankar's Telugu film I.

"I have been lucky enough to be given my debut in the southern film industry by Shankar sir with I, whose next is 2.0 with Rajinikanth sir and Akshay Kumar, where Akshay will be seen in a negative role.

"Bollywood heroes turning into southern film villains seems to be the new trend. I am just thankful to be part of great cinema and to be able to work in both Hindi and south industries," he said.

Upen is playing the main villain in BOOMERANG.

"The film is definitely commercial, but since it is a thriller, I can't reveal much about the film. It is not a typical thriller, where a story revolves around a love story and betrayal but its a unique story.

"The action sequences are just great. What I like about the film is that there are many factors involved. I think the southern cinema always brings new and fresh takes on different stories. That excited me to do this film and it is not something you have seen before," Upen said.

Asked which southern film franchise would he like to be a part of, Upen, who made his Bollywood debut with 36 CHINA TOWN, said: "I would love to do a film like BAHUBALI. I don't know any other actor who would not like to be part of a franchise that is as big as BAHUBALI.

"The script, scenes, direction, music all of it is, just amazing," he said.

BOOMERANG is directed and produced by "IVAN THANTHIRAN fame R Kannan. It also features Megha Akash, Sathish, RJ Balaji and Suhasini Maniratnam.

Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan's 'the Da-Bangg Tour to Nepal', which was scheduled to take place in Kathmandu on March 10, has been called off citing threat from a section led by Netra Bikram Chand 'Biplav', according to the organisers.

Other Bollywood stars such as Sonakshi Sinha, Kriti Sanon, Prabhudheva, Daisy Shah, Meet Bros and Maniesh Paul were scheduled to join Salman at Tundikhel, Kathmandu.

The organisers Sohail Khan Entertainments and JA Events and the partner organiser from Nepal, ODC Entertainment on January 19 had jointly organised a press conference in Kathmandu to confirm Khan's arrival.

However, Netra Bikram Chand 'Biplav' of the CPN-Maoist, a splinter of CPN (Maoist Centre) last week had demanded cancellation of the show and called all the nationalist forces to unite and oppose against the even saying it amounts to 'expansion of cultural intervention on Nepali soil'.

Some top Nepalese artists and 110 other singers and dancers from Bollywood were also expected to be part of the show. An audience of 30,000 was expected to attend the show while the tickets were priced from Rs 3,000 to 30,000. The cost of the show was reported to mount Rs 50 million.

The tour, which kicked off last year, has already entertained several cities around the world, including Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, London and Birmingham.

The organisers in Kathmandu said: "The show is just postponed for further dates and going to reschedule it very soon."

The CPN-Maoist also attacked the sponsors of the show, most of them liquor brands. "In a way, the programme is also promoting liquor which is not acceptable to us. We are against all kinds of globalisation bids," the statement said.

Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan's 'the Da-Bangg Tour to Nepal', which was scheduled to take place in Kathmandu on March 10, has been called off citing threat from a section led by Netra Bikram Chand 'Biplav', according to the organisers.

Other Bollywood stars such as Sonakshi Sinha, Kriti Sanon, Prabhudheva, Daisy Shah, Meet Bros and Maniesh Paul were scheduled to join Salman at Tundikhel, Kathmandu.

The organisers Sohail Khan Entertainments and JA Events and the partner organiser from Nepal, ODC Entertainment on January 19 had jointly organised a press conference in Kathmandu to confirm Khan's arrival.

However, Netra Bikram Chand 'Biplav' of the CPN-Maoist, a splinter of CPN (Maoist Centre) last week had demanded cancellation of the show and called all the nationalist forces to unite and oppose against the even saying it amounts to 'expansion of cultural intervention on Nepali soil'.

Some top Nepalese artists and 110 other singers and dancers from Bollywood were also expected to be part of the show. An audience of 30,000 was expected to attend the show while the tickets were priced from Rs 3,000 to 30,000. The cost of the show was reported to mount Rs 50 million.

The tour, which kicked off last year, has already entertained several cities around the world, including Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, London and Birmingham.

The organisers in Kathmandu said: "The show is just postponed for further dates and going to reschedule it very soon."

The CPN-Maoist also attacked the sponsors of the show, most of them liquor brands. "In a way, the programme is also promoting liquor which is not acceptable to us. We are against all kinds of globalisation bids," the statement said.