Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Raj Kumar Santoshi was on the look-out for a very big star for the vital role of Ravana for his film Ramayan, so he approached Rajinikanth CHENNAI: According to sources, Raj Kumar Santoshi , who has undertaken the ambitious Rs 100 crore film, Ramayan, has managed a casting coup by roping in superstar Rajinikanth to play the role of Ravana. The bi-lingual recreation of the Ramayan, this film is being produced by K Sera Sera, and has real life couple Ajay Devgan and Kajol playing the lead characters of Rama and Sita. According to sources, Raj Kumar was on the look-out for a very big star for the vital role of Ravana. He went to Chennai recently and met Rajinikanth to see if he’d be interested in doing the role. Rajini was impressed by the offer but said he needed some time to think about it. Though Ravana is commonly depicted as an evil man, in Indian scriptures he is portrayed as a figure of immense moral and physical strength. He is a man of immense penance, learning and devotion to Sh...

India’s ambassador to international cinema and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai on Wednesday celebrated her 33rd birthday, with the screening of her latest Hindi movie Umrao Jaan and a visit to a temple. “Aishwarya ushered in her birthday at midnight with a screening of Umrao Jaan, organised by the film’s director J.P. Dutta and was thrilled to be watching the results of six months of hard work,” Rai’s business manager Hari Singh said. “She visited the Siddhivinayak temple this morning and will spend the day attending to phone calls, SMS’ and emails by her friends, relatives and numerous fans. Since she has not been here for the last few years on her birthdays, she is making the most of it and spending time with her family,” he said. Rai has been seen in public after a long absence, promoting her forthcoming film Umrao Jaan, in which she plays the lead role with Abhishek Bachchan. The anticipation for the movie has been heightened after speculation in the media that she and Abhishek wer...

WARREN BUCKLEITNER With the recent flurry of devices that play both digital music and movies, it only makes sense that content companies like Walt Disney get into the act, wrapping their branding, or in this case mouse ears, around the gadgets themselves. The Disney Mix Max Personal Media Player is slightly larger than an iPod Nano and can play MP3 or WMA music files. But the hallmark of this player is the 2.2-inch screen, created especially to display TV-quality Disney videos and movies. The movies, including High School Musical and Ella Enchanted, are available on specially formatted memory chips that sell for $15 and slip into a side port that also accepts standard SD memory cards.