The BUZZ

A.R. Rahman Wins CNN-IBN Indian of the Year award 2009
After winning international awards, AR.Rahman is now winning awards in his homeland. The music maestro has been voted as the CNN-IBN's "Indian of the year 2009."

"Rahman has redefined contemporary Indian music and is the pride of the entire nation. He is also an idol to millions for making a mark on the global music arena," Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief, IBN Network 18, announced on December 17, 2009. The other nominees in the category included eminent people from the entertainment industry such as Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Prince Group of Orissa and Colors Entertainment Channel.

Voting for this award went on for a little more than a month where in fans have been voting for their favorite entertainers.

Apart from winning the Oscars, AR.Rahman has been travelling along the country entertaining his fans through a series of concerts named Jai Ho!

Tiger Woods losing it
Tiger Woods is on the brink. His furious wife has tapped a top divorce lawyer and is planning to take him for as much as half his billion-dollar fortune for repeatedly cheating on her with a bevy of birdies throughout their five-year marriage.
"She plans to leave Tiger. She's made up her mind. There's nothing to think about — he's never going to change," a source close to Elin Nordegren says. Speculation has grown in recent days as Elin Nordegren was photographed without her wedding ring on. The source adds that Nordegren is "not rushing to divorce… She's going to take her sweet time. She wants all the dirty laundry to be out on the table before she signs anything."
Adding to the shamed sub-par husband's woes is that at least two more mistresses – apart from the 14 who have made their presence felt - are raring to crawl out from the hole they are hiding in; and the fact that his mother, Kultilda Woods, is furious with her Tiger. "She is hurt, angry and disappointed in Tiger" and "wants to know how he could do this to his family."

Beckham's New Role: Salesman
The David Beckham effect is, if anything, growing. He must be the only sportsman whose star can rise as his playing performance diminishes. To watch him perform for the Los Angles Galaxy, for AC Milan and for England is to witness the dichotomy once described by Anthony Dowell, the English ballet dancer who became head of the Royal Ballet, for a physical performer. With experience, Dowell said, the brain speed ups, but the body slows down. Beckham peaked as a player in 1999. He has been reinventing his roles in and around soccer ever since. In his 35th year, he gets around the field less energetically, of course, but even as he clings to his dream of playing in one last World Cup next year, his star as ubiquitous salesman for the game reaches new heights, says and article in the New York Times. It seems FIFA is star struck.

The David Beckham effect is, if anything, growing. He must be the only sportsman whose star can rise as his playing performance diminishes. To watch him perform for the Los Angles Galaxy, for AC Milan and for England is to witness the dichotomy once described by Anthony Dowell, the English ballet dancer who became head of the Royal Ballet, for a physical performer. With experience, Dowell said, the brain speed ups, but the body slows down. Beckham peaked as a player in 1999. He has been reinventing his roles in and around soccer ever since. In his 35th year, he gets around the field less energetically, of course, but even as he clings to his dream of playing in one last World Cup next year, his star as ubiquitous salesman for the game reaches new heights, say an article in The New York Times.

Travolta's Career Nosedives Every 13 Years

New research has shown that actor John Travolta's career, after a strong surge, spasms like a marathon runner having a heart attack before collapsing in the celluloid dust every 13 years.
While Mayan artifacts pointed the way, CERN researchers confirmed the Travolta data while colliding particles in Switzerland. "It's hard fact, and arguably more interesting than searching for the Higgs Boson.

Figures don't lie: following the success of Saturday Night Fever in 1977, it wasn't until 1990 (13 years later) that Travolta was as good as washed up in baby voice-over novelty sequel, Look Who's Talking Too. Four years on, Quentin Tarantino gave him his second career wind with the role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction (1994). And while scientology-influenced Battlefield Earth nearly heralded the second great collapse, Travolta limped on until finally resigning to the inevitable with Wild Hog" in 2007 – 13 years since Pulp Fiction. The actor's second prolapse has been cemented with the recent release of Old Dog, and the forthcoming Wild Hogs 2: Bachelor Ride.

Jewel Attends COP15 via Cisco TelePresence

Fans of singer, songwriter, actress and environmental supporter Jewel might be surprised to hear that she "attended" the climate change events occurring in Copenhagen, Denmark … without leaving her home state of Texas.

How did she manage this feat? Jewel and dozens of members of The Nature Conservancy used Cisco's virtual meeting technology to connect "live" to participants attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference happening in Copenhagen. The objective of ‘COP 15' is to set a global agreement between all of the countries of the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities. The TelePresence-based Global Climate Change Meeting Platform is bringing the discussions to individuals at more than 100 locations around the world, without travel, and will be used after Copenhagen to help ensure a successful emissions reduction agreement.

The system link was made possible in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, who was in Copenhagen to lobby world leaders for real, immediate change.

Former Lovers Come Face-to-Face at "Avatar" Premiere

It was fate that decreed it. Despite of years of dodging and avoiding each other, Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi bumped into each other at the premiere of the Hollywood sci-fi movie Avatar in Mumbai, giving a rise of gossip and much elbow-digging. Much to the chagrin of the Bachchan clan - Amitabh,Abhishek and Aishwarya, - were given seats in the same cinema hall and Vivek unknowingly occupied a seat quite close to Aishwarya. An awkward Vivek beat a hasty retreat when he realized that his former lady love was sitting in the next row. In his haste and much to the amusement of onlookers,Vivek forgot to leave his 3D glasses behind and had to creep in sheepishly to return them.

Another Baby for Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen's desire to adopt another child has been no secret. And the Bengali beauty has done just that. Sushmita, who already has one adopted daughter, Renee, adopted another recently. "I am feeling on top of the world. I have named her Alisah, which in Greek means joyful. She is a very happy child. She will win you over in one minute," says the proud mother
Renee and Alisah slept together in Renee's room for first few weeks because of Renee's insistence. But now, Alisah has her own room which is "like a play van" since the new mom cannot help but shop for the new addition to her family.
Sushmita, who has always lived life on her own terms and conditions, says, "I wanted to be a mother all over again. Motherhood is very special. I was thinking about it for a very long time, but there was some ruling problem with High Court." The previous High Court rules were, if you have already adopted a baby girl, then you could not adopt another girl. But three months back, High Court changed the rules. And Sushmita says, "You cannot imagine how happy I was after hearing that. Honestly, I was over the moon. I am still over the moon."

Aamir Goes Incognito, GetsHotel Owner in Trouble

Aamir Khan's incognito stay in a Varanasi hotel has put its owner in trouble, with the police charging the hotel with violating the identity verification rules for guests. Aamir checked into Hotel Saraswati in Mughal Serai area of Varanasi on December 10, 2009, along with nine other people and checked out three days later. He had gone to the Hindu holy city looking for his roots - his mother hailed from Varanasi. Aamir did manage to trace his family connections and visited his distant kin living there. To prevent being mobbed, chose to let the rooms be booked in the name of someone else. However, his Mumbai address and phone number in the hotel records were correct. But the usually lax Uttar Pradesh Police got into action and became a stickler for rules. Brij Lal said: "We do not deny that a popular actor does require some secrecy but entering a hotel under a false name is not done."  

Harry Potter Star Shamed After Drunken Hotel Outburst

"Harry Potter" star Josh Herdman caused havoc at a film convention in Copenhagen, Denmark - after drunkenly abusing fans and demanding an ambulance. The actor, who plays bully Gregory Goyle in the wizard franchise, was at the Collectormania comic and film event, and was expected to meet-and-greet fans. Instead after allegedly romping with a half-naked blonde, he staggered around the convention swearing and shouting. A hotel guest said, "Herdman was an utter disgrace. He was out of his skull when he arrived and his behavior got worse. Lots of kids came to see him. He was meant to meet them with a smile and sign autographs. But they were greeted by a scowling, offensive, foul-mouthed drunk." The guest added, "He came into reception and started screaming abuse at Collectormania's organizers. At one point he screamed, ‘I am a regular cast member in the biggest movie franchise in cinema history and you will not speak to me like that!' He kept kicking off in the hotel all evening. "Staff tried to get him to check out but he started crying for an ambulance, saying he was going to die. He finally collapsed in the toilet with his trousers round his ankles. When staff tried to get him to move he started screaming and bolted into the cafe next door. Police and an ambulance were called because he was clearly out of control." Herdman was later seen to by paramedics before cops ordered him to pay his bill and leave the venue

Salman Khan: Big Hearted and Generous

Salman Khan should be given a pat on his back for his generosity. There is a buzz all over the tinsel town about the Khan's recent largesse. While shooting at Memboob studios for Veer recently, Salman eagerly donated Rs. 100,000 to a needy lady in a wheelchair, who waited for hours to meet with favorite hero. The movie's producer, Vijay Galani, confirmed that, "The lady refused to leave till she met Salman and waited outside his van patiently for hours. She was in a wheelchair and we didn't want to be rude to her. She waited till Salman was done. When he heard what happened he immediately went over to talk to her. He was not just kind but also listened to her patiently. He also gave her money when he heard she was in dire straits." This is not the first time that Salman has lent a helping hand. Some time ago, Salman employed a few poor villagers who had approached him on the sets. He hired them to act alongside junior artistes for few days. They did not have any dialogues in those scenes and were basically part of a group of soldiers. Salman felt that the villagers might get offended if he offered them money, so decided to give job instead to help them out from their poverty. Aamir Khan's incognito stay in a Varanasi hotel has put its owner in trouble, with the police charging the hotel with violating the identity verification rules for guests. Aamir checked into Hotel Saraswati in Mughal Serai area of Varanasi on December 10, 2009, along with nine other people and checked out three days later. He had gone to the Hindu holy city looking for his roots - his mother hailed from Varanasi. Aamir did manage to trace his family connections and visited his distant kin living there. To prevent being mobbed, he chose to let the rooms be booked in the name of someone else. However, his Mumbai address and phone number in the hotel records were correct. But the usually lax Uttar Pradesh Police got into action and became a stickler for rules. Brij Lal said: "We do not deny that a popular actor does require some secrecy but entering a hotel under a false name is not done." Salman Khan should be given a pat on his back for his generosity. There a buzz all over the tinsel town about the Khan's recent largesse. While shooting at Memboob studios for Veer recently, Salman eagerly donated Rs. 100,000 to a needy lady in a wheelchair, who waited for hours meet with her favorite hero. The movie's producer, Vijay Galani, confirmed that, "The lady refused to leave till she met Salman and waited outside his van patiently for hours. She was in a wheelchair and we didn't want to be rude to her. She waited till Salman was done. When he heard what happened he immediately went over to talk to her. He was not just kind but also listened to her patiently. He also gave her money when he heard she was in dire straits." This is not the first time that Salman has lent a helping hand. Some time ago, Salman employed a few poor villagers who had approached him on the sets. He hired them to act alongside junior artistes for few days. They did not have any dialogues in those scenes and were basically part of a group of soldiers. Salman felt that the villagers might get offended if he offered them money, so he decided to give them a job instead to help them out.

[ BY GAURI KUMAR ]