Watch Priyanka Chopra respond to racist attacks aimed at her

When you are a celebrity, you get your share of bouquets and brickbats. And it's the same for Bollywood queen Priyanka Chopra.

In September 2013, Priyanka performed the kick-off song "In My City" for a Thursday night football game at the NFL in the US. (See her performance video below)

However, she apparently received tons of hate mail and tweets for her performance with most of them calling her an "Arab terrorist" who had no business being on American television, much less at an American sporting event.

Speaking about it for the first time, Priyanka, in an interview with Wall Street Journal's Lee Hawkins, gave a very calm and powerful response to all that hate coming her way. She also spoke about how she's experienced and handled racism directed at her over the years. The video, posted on Wall Street Journal's YouTube channel on January 19, 2014, has so far been viewed nearly 8,000 times.

She said, "I've been in the limelight, in a public space, for very long. I understand dealing with brick bats and bouquets. You will get the bad and you will get the good. And I've dealt with racism… I think the only way to go forward is to shut the detractors with your work. Keep being an achiever, keep achieving, because there are so many people who support you," she said.

She further went on to say, "Instead of harping on the fact that yes, I'm called a terrorist, because I happen to be brown and from South Asia, and on getting hate mail saying 'You're not white, why should you be on NFL?' Despite that, I'd rather focus on the millions of other people who've been sending emails or tweets and writing in to the NFL network saying it's amazing. I'd rather focus on that."

That's telling them, Priyanka.

Alia Bhatt will be a very big star, predicts Parineeti Chopra

Who says two actresses don't praise each other? Bollywood's current favourite Parineeti Chopra is not only friends with her contemporary Alia Bhatt, but also feels that Alia has the potential to achieve the "big star" status.

Earlier, Alia was heard praising Parineeti in an episode of Karan Johar's chat show "Koffee With Karan Season 4". She said Parineeti's skills make her insecure in her skin and she sees competition in her.

"Alia and I are good friends. In fact, she always tells me these things. So when she said this on the show, I felt good that she praised me. I even gave her a call and told her that she doesn't need to feel insecure because I feel Alia will be a very big star," Parineeti said in an interview here.

The actress also praised Alia's "good looks" and "great screen presence".

"If I would not have been an actress, then as an audience I would have been an Alia Bhatt fan. But as an actress, I know she is very crafty, very good looking and has a great screen presence," said the 25-year-old who made her debut in 2011 with "Ladies vs Ricky Bahl".

Parineeti will next be seen in "Hasee Toh Phasee" with Siddharth Malhotra, while Alia's next is Imtiaz Ali's "Highway" with Randeep Hooda.

Nayanthara’s new mom

The shooting of an untitled film which has Simbhu and Nayanthara is going on. This film is being directed by Pandiraj.
After a long hiatus, Nayanthara is pairing with Simbhu. Because of this there are lots expectations amongst the people.
Famous theatre artist Deepa Ramanujam is donning the role of Nayanthara’s mother. Deepa Ramanujam’s husband Mahesh is donning the role of Nayanthara’s father.

Hansika’s lungi dance for Maan Karate

Sivakarthikeyan and Hansika are paired opposite each other for the first time in the upcoming film Maan Karate which is being directed by Thirukumaran, a former aide of producer-director A.R. Murugadoss. Madhan of Escape Artiste Motion Pictures is producing the film at a huge cost.
The crew has been staying at Chandigarh for the past fortnight and has been shooting at a village. The crew members are reportedly finding it very difficult to shoot amid extreme cold conditions, which are diametrically opposite to the hot weather in Chennai.
Punjab, like many other States in the North, is reeling under severe cold waves and smog is disrupting vehicular traffic on most roads. Flights to Chandigarh have been cancelled due to foggy conditions. Especially in Chandigarh and surrounding villages, the temperature has dipped to below zero degree Celsius.
Braving the cold, the crew has been moving out of Chandigarh and returning back to the city for the past many days. Sivakarthikeyan and Hansika feature in two songs which are being shot there. Brinda, the dance choreographer, has been working with the lead pair in choreographing their dance movements. A particular sequence, which necessitated Hansika to be clad in lungi and shirt, was recently picturized.
Hansika didn’t bother about the cold conditions and went ahead and completed the sequence in minimum number of retakes, the crew insists.

Hansika’s Upsetting Decision

Through the many decades of cinema, heroines have primarily been used to improve the glam quotient of a movie, with only a minimal share of films that have actually performance-oriented role for them. This did not seem to bother Hansika much, until recently when she changed her mind and declared her decision, much to the disappointment of many directors.
A lot of yesteryear actresses have been in constant touch with Hansika, mentoring her decisions, showering praises and offering suggestions on her projects. The list also includes Simran, who recently came out in the open, appreciating the pretty young lady.
Having wrapped up Sundar C’s ‘Aranmanai’, in which she plays a semi-goddess sort of role, Hansika has made her mind not to stick to glamorous roles alone, and to look out for performance oriented subjects. This has resulted in a big no to many of the directors who approached her with glam roles recently, and the current, we hear, has diverted in search of Tamannaah for the role.

Vijay- A R Murugadoss’s film titled Vaal

Thuppakki is a hit film which had Vijay in the lead role. This film which was released in the year 2012 was directed by A R Murugadoss. This film yielded a profit of Rs 100 Crore. Vijay and Murugadoss are once again joining hands for a film.
It was earlier mentioned that this film could be titled Thuppakki 2. There was a great expectation amongst Vijay fans with regard to the title. Now it is reported that Vijay’s film directed by Murugadoss has been titled as Vaal.
Anirudh will be composing the music while Samantha will be pairing with Vijay. George G Williams will be handling the camera while award winning art director Lalgudi Ilayaraja will be in charge of art. The official announcement regarding this film is expected soon.

SP Balasubramaniam Is Fine

There were reports that SP Balasubramaniam fell ill on Sunday (January 19) after performing at the International Indian Film Festival of South Africa (IIFFSA). But his manager has denied the rumours saying that the legendary singer is doing good and requested his fans not to believe such speculations.
“He was invited to South Africa to receive the award as well as perform. He didn’t face any health-related problems there. He is doing fine and has urged all his fans to not believe in rumours,” Harnath, the 68-year-old’s manager, his manager told IANS. The singer had landed in South Africa on Saturday.
Rumour were doing rounds that SP Balasubramaniam faced breathing issues after he finished performing at the function. This even made the organisers to cancel the dinner meet. The news sent a shocking waves to his fans.
At the event, his Telugu drama Midhunam was also screened. He had accompanied the film’s director Tanikella Bharani to the special screening. Awards were made in various categories for regional language films from both countries.

Vairamuthu and Yuvan Shankar Raja to join hands for the first time

After Neerparavai, Seenu Ramaswamy is directing a film titled Eval. Lingusamy’s Tirupati Brothers which had earlier produced films such as Paiyaa, Vazhakku En 18/9, Kumki and Ivan Vera Mathiri is producing Eval. For the first time Vishnu and Vijay Sethupathi will be sharing the screen.

Vijay Sethupathi had acted in the film titled Thenmerku Paruvakaatru directed by Seenu Ramaswamy. Similarly Vishnu had also acted in the film Neerparavai directed by Seenu Ramaswamy.

Both of them will be sharing the screen in a film to be directed by Seenu Ramaswamy. Yuvan Shankar Raja is composing music for the lyrics penned by Vairamuthu. Vairamuthu is penning all the songs.

Since Yuvan Shankar Raja and Vairamuthu are joining hands for the first time, there are lots of expectations in the air. The first schedule shooting of Eval will commence in Kodaikanal during the month of February.