Is Pavin Ponanna ready for 'Phoonk 2'?

NEW DELHI: A Bollywood filmmaker has issued a lucrative challenge to horror movie fans: a $10,000 reward for anyone who can watch his latest supernatural thriller, alone, in a cinema until the closing credits.

Ram Gopal Varma's "Phoonk 2," a sequel to his 2008 film of the same name, is about an evil spirit that traumatizes a family. "Anyone who says the movie cannot scare him is going to be put in a theater by himself," Varma told reporters in Mumbai at an event to promote the movie.

Varma said the film fan who steps up to the challenge will be wired up to a heart monitoring machine as well as a camera that ensures they keep their eyes open during the whole movie.

Readings from the machines will be shown live on a screen outside the cinema, Varma said, and if the contestant succeeds, they will win 500,000 rupees (approximately $10,850).

Varma issued a similar challenge ahead of the release of the original "Phoonk" but the promotional contest was withdrawn after allegations the selection process was rigged.

Varma said the contest winner ran out 30 minutes after the film started, but newspaper reports said a film fan in the southern Indian city of Bangalore booked an entire cinema to prove the director wrong and watched the film alone with a doctor on call and security personnel stationed outside.

Madikeri says no to plastic, yet again

MADIKERI: Members of the Madikeri City Municipal Council (CMC) and students from various institutions took out a jatha here on Monday urging citizens to refrain from using plastic.

“Use of plastic has been banned in Madikeri city,” CMC president P.D. Ponnappa declared at the start of the jatha. He appealed to shopkeepers and customers to shun plastic and, instead, use cloth bags to carry items. Madikeri Rotary Club office-bearers too joined the initiative, and students raised slogans and carried placards.

The CMC would initiate action against those found selling plastic material such as bags, plates or cups, Mr. Ponnappa warned. The environment should be preserved for posterity.

Plastic is a toxic, non-biodegradable material that damages soil fertility and prevents water ingression into the land. Burning of plastic affects the ozone layer. Plastic bags also kill cattle when they eat it,

Mr. Ponnappa said. He appealed to the citizens to collect plastic at home and send it over for recycling. Various organisations, particularly the trading community, should join hands with the CMC to stop the use of plastic, he said.

The jatha went around the city distributing handbills.

This bus driver knows that mud roads are a better option these days

(Photo: Shaloot)

Biddu makes a comeback

After a long sabbatical, legendary musician, song writer, and composer, Biddu Appaiah best known for smash hit chart busters of the 70’s, has come out with his autobiography ‘Made in India- Adventures of a Lifetime’ published by Harper Collins. Hits like Kung Fu Fighting sung by Carl Douglas, Disco Deewane, Boom Boom, and songs in Feroz Khan’s Qurbaani practically defined the music of the era. Biddu, born 1945 composed a number of hit records during the early part of the British Disco scene of the mid-1970s.

He lifted the careers of British Disco music stars Tina Charles, Carl Douglas, Jimmy James among others; and later found success producing several hits in India. He launched the career of Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan, and Zoheb Hassan and produced Indipop hits for a number of Indian acts, notably Alisha Chinai. From the mid-1970s, Biddu has also been producing his own pop instrumental albums as Biddu Orchestra. (more)