Celebriti Naked: April 2010

Ten Things You Never Knew About Claudia Winkleman

Claudia Winkleman's appointment as the host of Film 2010 earlier this week came as a surprise to many. However, for her fans, who have fallen in love with her witty, warm and idiosyncratic presenting style over six series of It Takes Two, she is the perfect choice to take over from Jonathan Ross at the BBC movie show's helm. But how much do you know about Miss Winkleman? Here are ten fast facts about the TV presenter and mother-of-two.

1. Claudia Anne Winkleman was born on January 15, 1972 to mother Eve Pollard and father Barry Winkleman. Her stepfather is former Daily Express editor Sir Nicholas Lloyd.

2. Winkleman has an impressive education CV. She attended the independent City of London School for Girls and has an MA Hons degree in history of art from New Hall, Cambridge. What a show-off.

3. If Winkleman could interview one celebrity dead or alive, who would it be? Well she'd quite like to meet Elvis, but it appears that Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow may just edge it. "I've got a thing for Jon Snow. A man that bright who also isn't afraid of a jaunty tie is seriously attractive," she says.

4. Claudia notes that her worst ever interview came when she was working on This Morning as a showbiz reporter. The culprit - Harrison Ford. "[He] was a bit of a c**k. I was so disappointed," she explains. "I was excited about meeting Indiana Jones. But my expectations were too high. He ended up talking about his love for carpentry."

5. A lot of people have questioned Claudia's credentials since she was confirmed as the host of Film 2010. We're going to wait for the show to start before we judge, but apparently her favourite films are The Shawshank Redemption, the first two Godfather movies and children's classic E.T..

6. According to Claudia, TV presenting is the easiest gig going. "On TV, the researchers and directors are so brilliant, my job is basically to get a fake tan and do some reading," she says. "Work is b*llocks!"

7. Claudia has become the queen of reality TV down the years. Her long list of credits include Fame Academy, Strictly Come Dancing (and spinoff show It Takes Two), Art School, Eurovision Dance Contest and Hell's Kitchen.

8. Despite meeting celebrities every day, Winkleman admits that she still gets starstruck in the most unusual circumstances. "I walked past Christopher Biggins in the supermarket recently and almost couldn't breathe," she recalls. "I thought, 'I wonder if I can I get him to sign my left boob...?'"

9. Many people find chef Marco Pierre White to be a scary and intimidating chap. However, Claudia insists that she had a splendid time with her Hell's Kitchen co-star. "He is hilarious. He is passionate about food. Ask him how to bone a fish and he comes alive. I find him hypnotic, I still fancy him," she says.

10. I know you are desperate to find out what Claudia's favourite fruit is, so I won't waste any more of your time. Apparently it's a Granny Smith apple!

Paathshala

There are few films, a star does for friendship and some with the lure of working under a big banner, irrespective of their content.

An extremely choosy actor Shahid Kapoor after giving big hits like Vivaah, Jab We Met and Kaminey has been giving duds like Dil Bole Hadippa (Yash Raj Films), Chance Pe Dance (UTV) and an equally bad follow up with Paathshaala.

Shahid’s friendship with producer of the film, ace choreographer Ahmed Khan is well known. But still we wish, he should have not blindly trusted his buddy when it came to a film!

Shahid plays Rahul Prakash Udyawar the new English teacher joining Saraswati Vidya Mandir, a school established in 1941. Since the school doesn’t have a music teacher, he ends up being one as well.

He gets help in this from the school's nutritionist-cum-admin girl, Anjali Mathur (Ayesha Takia). School principal Aditya Sahay (Nana Patekar).

Anjali ends up falling for Rahul during this process. Sahay who has nurtured the school for 32 years, cannot see it going down financially. So, he gives in to the management's demands of generating more revenue by commercialising the operations of the school.

This is met with intense opposition from the teachers, but they eventually have to comply to save their respective jobs. The school management even decides t hired PR experts to change its image.

Thus began, film and ad shoots happen on campus wherein students are used as extras. And before they know it, all kids have to now keep aside studies for 10 days and prepare for a reality show audition.

The rest of the film is about how the reality show thing tortures the students and how Rahul stands against it.

Director Milind Ukey who gave us the very lovable animated film Hanuman has got a good topical subject on hand but falters big time in the script written by producer Ahmed Khan himself.

While it identifies the problems perfectly, a proper solution is not offered in the end. Also what happens to the school finally is also not made clear.

Bad dialogues are made only worse by loud acting by most of the cast. Certain emotional scenes leave you either bored or end up making you laugh. Hanif Sheikh’s music barring the Lucky Ali number Aye Khuda is nothing much to praise about.

In an attempt to showcase how education goes for a toss in private schools as the managements aims to earn the extra buck the makers also don’t lose out a chance to make a satire out of the media, shifting focus from his original aim.

The pathetic climax is unintentionally hilarious with no conclusion to what happened to the villains of commercialization and all suddenly become well!

Shahid Kapoor and Nana Patekar are the only saving graces of the film with their well nuanced performances. The rest including Ayesha Takia don’t really make a difference. The child stars are just about okay.

Avoid this Paathshaala if you are in no mood for a badly written gyan giving film.

Bollywood Hindi Movie Raavan Preview and Synopsis

Language: Hindi

Release Year: 2010

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Govinda, Ravi Kishan, Priyamani, Vikram

Producer: Mani Ratnam

Director: Mani Ratnam

Music Director: A R Rahman

Banner: Big Pictures, Madras Talkies

Background Music: A. R. Rahman

Sound: TAPAS

Lyrics: Gulzar

Cinematography: Santhosh Sivan

Editing: Sreekar Prasad

Dialogue: Vijay Krishna Acharya

Story/Writer: Mani Ratnam

Action Direction: Sham Kaushal

Costume: Sabyasachi

Movie Synopsis

RAAVAN is not a story, it is a world.
Beera Munda – Undisputed, Unlawful, Untamed
Dev Pratap Sharma – The Punisher, The Law, The Righteous
Ragini – Conscience, Beauty, Music

Dev falls in love with Ragini, a spunky classical dancer who is as unconventional as him. They get married and he takes up his new post in Lal Maati, a small town in northern India,

A town where the word of law is not the police but Beera, a tribal who has, over the years, shifted the power equation of the place from the ruling to the have-nots of the area. Dev knows that the key to bringing order to any place is to vanquish the big fish; in this case – Beera. In one stroke Dev manages to rip open Beera’s word, and set in motion a chain of events which will claim lives, change fortunes.

Beera injured but engaged hits back starting a battle that draws Dev, Beera and Ragini into the jungle. The jungle which is dense, confusing, scary. And in this journey they must confront their own truth. A journey which will test their beliefs, convictions and emotions. Emotions which are as scary and confusing as the forest. The forest becomes the battleground. The battle between good and evil, between Dev and Beera, Between Ram and Raavan. But when the lines dividing good and evil are blurring fast whose side will you take. When hate turns to love and the good starts looking evil which side will you battle for? Love is a battle that nobody wins but everyone must fight. Even this Raavan.