As Hrithik Roshan turns 40 Friday, his father and filmmaker Rakesh Roshan says that he would never work with any other actor, unless he is making a women-centric drama like "Khoon Bhari Maang". Rakesh had launched his son with the blockbuster "Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai". Later they worked together in the "Krrish" series. Getting emotional, he said: "He can work with outside directors. But I'd never work with any other actor, unless I am making an out-and-out heroine-oriented film like 'Khoon Bhari Maang'. I might be tempted to make a film with a female protagonist, but only if Hrithik is too busy to work with me." 
"When I was an actor, I could feel a filmmaker lurking within me. But I was never satisfied as an actor. I had a big hit like 'Kaamchor'. But that helped Jaya Prada's career, not mine. I knew god wanted me to be a director," he added. Rakesh predicts that Hrithik too will direct a film some day. "Now I feel Hrithik, who is such a successful actor, far more than I ever could be, has a filmmaker lurking within him. He will one hundred percent direct a film some day. Mark my words, he'll be a very fine director. I am sure of that. He may not be a good producer, but he'll be a terrific director," he said. The father-son duo's recent hit was "Krrish 3". Rakesh has enjoyed Hrithik's films outside the family banner. "I liked his performance immensely in 'Jodhaa-Akbar', 'Agneepath', 'Guzaarish' and specially 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' in which he had to play a normal regular guy. That's really difficult to do. He never let us feel a superstar was playing that role," he said. Recently, Hrithik announced that he and his wife Sussanne have parted ways after the latter decided to annul their marriage. "My wife and I want Hrithik to be happy and at peace with himself, no matter what," said Rakesh who looks forward to launching Hrithik's sons - Hrehaan and Hridhaan - as heroes. "Provided they want to be in films. I'd love to launch them. My blessings are with Hrithik. Whatever he does in life, my wife and I want him to never change. He's kind, helpful generous. He deserves happiness," he said.
A new feature in Google Inc's Gmail will result in some users receiving messages from people with whom they have not shared their email addresses, raising concerns among some privacy advocates. The change, which Google announced on Thursday, broadens the list of contacts available to Gmail users so it includes both the email addresses of their existing contacts, as well as the names of people on the Google+ social network. As a result, a person can send an email directly to friends, and strangers, who use Google+. Google is increasingly trying to integrate its Google+, a two-and-a-half-year old social network that has 540 million active users, with its other services. When consumers sign up for Gmail, the company's Web-based email service, they are now automatically given a Google+ account. Google said the new feature will make it easier for people who use both services to communicate with their friends. "Have you ever started typing an email to someone only to realize halfway through the draft that you haven't actually exchanged email addresses?" the company said in a blog post announcing the feature. "You're in luck, because now it's easier for people using Gmail and Google+ to connect over email." Google said that users who did not wish to receive email messages from other people on Google+ could switch the settings so that they receive messages only from people they have added to their networks of friends or from no one at all. Some privacy advocates said Google should have made the new feature "opt-in," meaning that users should explicitly agree to receive messages from other Google+ users, rather than being required to manually change the setting. Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center, called the new feature "troubling." "There is a strong echo of the Google Buzz snafu," he said, referring to a social networking service that Google launched in 2010. Buzz initially used its Gmail users' contact lists to create social networks that the rest of the world could see, leading to an uproar and ultimately a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Google said the new feature would not expose the email addresses of any Google+ users to strangers. Emails from strangers on Google+ will be routed to a special section within the recipients mailbox that is separate from messages from friends and other contacts. If the recipient does not reply to the message, Gmail will block any future messages from that person. A Google spokeswoman said the company planned to send an email to all Google+ users during the next two days alerting them to the change and explaining how to change their settings. One exception to the new feature is celebrities on Google+, who are followed by a large number of fans. According to the spokeswoman, the Gmail accounts of such public figures will not automatically receive emails from other Google+ users.
In the weeks before the release of "Dhoom 3", actor Aamir Khan got a message from his dentist, who was concerned that his patient's new film wasn't being promoted enough. That was exactly what Khan, who plans the marketing of his films as meticulously as he prepares for roles, wanted to hear. "When people are concerned enough about your film that they ask you why they aren't promoting it more, you know you've achieved what you wanted," the 48-year-old Bollywood star told Reuters in an interview. 
As each big-ticket Indian film tries to outdo previous box-office records, shouting about the latest premiere has become routine. Before "Chennai Express" opened in cinemas last year, actor Shah Rukh Khan appeared on popular reality TV shows, toured several cities and ensured newspaper coverage for the film. "Chennai Express" became the highest-grossing Bollywood movie, raking in 2.27 billion rupees ($36.6 million) in domestic ticket sales. Six months later, "Dhoom 3" - the third instalment of Bollywood's only action franchise - has surpassed that record, netting at least 2.7 billion rupees ($43.5 million) by employing the opposite strategy. In the run-up to the film's release, the lead stars didn't do any road shows, and hardly any interviews or appearances on TV shows. Instead, Aamir Khan was spotted in public wearing a fedora - which his character sports in "Dhoom 3" - for nearly a year before the film's release. Production house Yash Raj Films didn't release the official soundtrack, distributing 30-second video snippets instead. 
"What was really innovative was that they held back on the music. Most movies rely on music videos for free play on radio and music channels, which ensures traction, but they took that risk," said Shailesh Kapoor of Ormax Media, a media research firm. (Related story - Q&A: Aamir Khan on movie marketing ) Kapoor's firm estimates that 420 seconds of "Dhoom 3" footage were distributed in the form of trailers and song promos before the film's release, compared with 700 seconds on average for big-ticket Bollywood movies. "Chennai Express" handed out 820 seconds of footage. "We want you to enjoy this film in the theatre. If I have seen the song on TV 20 times and on YouTube 20 times, when it comes in the film, I have lost interest in those five minutes. But when you are seeing it for the first time, your curiosity is piqued," Khan said. The other reason to skimp on music previews, Khan said, was to draw repeat audiences to cinemas with the spectacle of elaborate song sequences. "These are the two things you do - you release the songs, you get them popular and you get a big first day. You go on big-ticket shows, you create awareness of a film, and you get a big opening. We got a big opening without that - that means our tests were correct. And 36 crores (360 million rupees or $6 million) is a huge opening. You cannot go higher than that," he said. Figures released by Yash Raj Films this week show that "Dhoom 3" grossed more than 5 billion rupees ($80 million) worldwide, a first for an Indian film. Aamir Khan often teams up with film producers to brainstorm on marketing strategies. In 2008, the actor ensured that ushers and food vendors at cinemas playing arch rival Shah Rukh Khan's "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" sported haircuts like his character in the film "Ghajini", which released the same year. 
In 2009, Aamir Khan announced a nationwide treasure hunt for fans to find clues to the character he was playing in "3 Idiots". He was also one of the first Bollywood actors to promote films through reality TV shows, a formula he rejected for "Dhoom 3". "The marketing team at YRF (Yash Raj Films) was terrified. They were convinced we were doing something disastrous. They wanted to go all out, and I am not blaming them," said Khan. Kapoor of Ormax Media said heavily promoting a film like "Dhoom 3" could have increased expectations or given away a plot twist, affecting ticket sales after the first weekend. "But since there was so much mystery surrounding the plot and the film, it carried on. It is only now, in the third week, that the content is catching up, and collections are falling," he said. Bollywood might need to take a leaf out of the actor's book. For an industry that relies heavily on the first weekend for most of its revenues, marketing is a crucial tool, and not too many films innovate in that department. "We need to realize that marketing a film is as important as making it," said Khan. "People think...our story, concept is unique, but when it comes to marketing, we will do the same thing that 25 other people are doing. It doesn't work like that."
Actor Paul Walker's death certificate, which reads that he died from "combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries", has been released. 
As per the death certificate, Walker, 40, did not die from the impact of the crash alone. He was also charred to death in the resulting fire, reports tmz.com. The Fast and Furious star died in a crash after a charity car show in Santa Clarita, California Nov 30. His friend Roger Rodas was also with him in the car. The L.A. County Coroner released Walker's cause of death earlier this month, according to which Rodas also died from "multiple traumatic injuries", but the coroner did not list burns as a factor in his death. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but officials suspect plastic bumps in the road may have caused Rodas to lose control. Walker's funeral was held on Dec 14 at Forest Lawn Cemetery. The late actor's close friends and family gathered to say goodbye.
Yaariyan Director: Divya Khosla Kumar Cast: Himansh Kohli, Dev Sharma, Serah Singh, Rakul Preet Singh, Nicole Faria, Evelyn Sharma, Gulshan Grover Rating: 
The movie opens to a scene of a play in motion, one that's telling the story of Indo-Pak war. When suddenly there's a scene that requires "Ma", only "Ma" is busy kissing her boyfriend backstage. Such is the comedy. Pretty immature. It is to save your from the torture of watching this movie that reviewers like myself are writing this. I give half a star to the movie, like I do to most, purely for the effort of making the film. Yaariyan is an entirely disappointing film. The characters are flawed, and the acting is fake. There's not story or plot in the film. This college in Sikkim has five young kids. The boys just have the one dream of gaining access to the girls' hostel and kissing a girl. Mind you, before heading out there, the hero even takes the permission of his aunt and the girls' hostel's warden. Trouble comes in the form of a company wanting to build a casino on the spot where the college now stands. The challenge is to win five competitions, between the Australians and the college kids. Lots of action, lost of attempt to create drama, and not-so-great dialogues take over the movie. Avoid watching the film.
