New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The glamour may be intact but the multiplicity of fashion events has diluted the seriousness of the business, says veteran designer Tarun Tahiliani, who believes that too many people are putting up shows "that are very badly organised".

Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS) Fashion designers should attempt to "seek and unlock" and "reach out" to bring India's dying textiles and techniques from the shadows back into the limelight, says ace designer Raghavendra Singh Rathore.

New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) In a film career spanning 10 years, Vivek Oberoi has played diverse roles, witnessed ups and downs, successes and failures, but he says nothing is more gratifying than being able to aid society and work towards its betterment.

New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS) India needs to make movies that are original and come out of "our land, our issues, our problems" to shine at international platforms like the Oscars, says veteran actor Anupam Kher.

Mumbai, Feb 14 (IANS) Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is entering the cluttured TV medium with "Saraswatichandra", a show replete with "never-seen-before grandeur", says he feels intimidated with the competition on small screen. Nevertheless, he admits he is now keen to expand his presence on the medium.

New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) The Indian film industry, pegged at over $3 billion, produces over 1,000 movies annually. But acclaimed filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra describes it as a "cottage industry" and believes it will really evolve when it crosses the phase of "intellectual bankruptcy".

New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) Hitting big time with his first film, Indian-origin actor Ricky Sekhon, who plays Osama bin Laden in Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar-nominated "Zero Dark Thirty", says he loved the challenge but wasn't sure whether he could pull it off.

Kolkata, Feb 11 (IANS) Independent filmmakers in India should be given a chance and space to showcase their style of cinema, says Saeed Akhtar Mirza, award-winning director of the 1980 cult movie "Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Ata Hai".

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The Tibetan government-in-exile is encouraging Tibetans to have more children in the wake of "identity challenge" faced by the community and is considering giving incentives to couples who go for a third child, their political leader Lobsang Sangay has said.

Mumbai, Feb 9 (IANS) Arshad Warsi believes he will never be comfortable doing bold scenes on the big screen but says he made an exception for the kissing scene with Vidya Balan in "Ishqiya" because he and wife Maria Goretti were confident about Vishal Bhardwaj.

Agartala, Feb 7 (IANS) Saying that Communism has not lost its relevance, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has asserted that the Left Front is supremely confident of returning to power for a seventh time.

Mumbai, Feb 7 (IANS) It is a good time for Indian cinema with films like "Vicky Donor" and "Kahaani" striking a chord but such successes are still few and not enough to transform the economics of filmmaking, says writer-director Tigmanshu Dhulia. And change is still some way away.

Mumbai, Feb 6 (IANS) One of the best actresses in tinsel town, Madhuri Dixit is very strict when it comes to health issues and adds she is quite good at multi-tasking too.

New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) Imran Khan, a talented actor with chocolate-boy looks, says with the influx of new filmmakers and fresh storylines in the Hindi film industry, this is the best time to be a part of showbiz.

New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) China's "hardline policies" in Tibet have failed and the international community ought to do more to press the country to allow a UN delegation there in the wake of rising self-immolations by Tibetans, Tibetan political leader Lobsang Sangay says.

New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) Akbar Padamsee is one of the of the last of the surviving masters of modern Indian art, who unlike his peers, has diversified his oeuvre to include paintings, nude studies, sculpture, photography, print-making and computer graphics in sync with time.

Mumbai, Feb 1 (IANS) Comebacks are for those who get married and have kids, says actress Ameesha Patel, insisting that she had never left the industry and "Race 2" does not signal a return.

New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) The menswear segment in India needs urgent attention and the best way to reach out to a larger market is to cash in on the online retail boom, says fashion designer Varun Bahl, who crafts clothes for both genders.

New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) More youth could be given key roles in the party after Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress vice president, party general secretary Digvijaya Singh has said.

Jaipur, Jan 28 (IANS) Conflict, civil wars and personal choices drive award-winning African writer Aminatta Forna's fictional narratives which probe the social movements and human trauma in troubled zones across the world and on her home turf in Sierra Leone.

New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh's ruling Congress is "manipulating" the situation for its own ends and, had her husband been alive, everything would have been under control, says the widow of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. who died in a helicopter crash over three years ago.

Mumbai, Jan 26 (IANS) On the 64th Republic Day, filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra feels India is still fighting social inequality and injustice. He says if politicians and government officers are paid well, corruption can decrease drastically.

New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS) The role has to have an edge, says John Abraham, who made sexy look sexier in "Jism" and grey even greyer in "New York". After a decade in movies, the Bollywood heartthrob believes his middle-class roots have helped him balance his personal and professional life.

Mumbai, Jan 24 (IANS) "I have had the most amazingly eventful journey," said Subhash Ghai, who turns 67 Thursday, and added that he is penning a book where he will encapsulate all aspects of his life.

Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) "Nothing is unfilmable," says author Salman Rushdie, whose "Midnight's Children", an epic Indian tale of partition, independence and emergency told with touches of magical realism, has been turned into a movie by Deepa Mehta.

Hyderabad, Jan 20 (IANS) It is good to educate girls, but they should be educated separately, suggests Jamaat-e-Islami Hind chief Moulana Jalaluddin Umri, asserting that the "problem starts with co-education." He also favours death for rapists.

Mumbai, Jan 19 (IANS) He believes his own imperfections reflect in the characters in his films, but "Inkaar" filmmaker Sudhir Mishra says the audience doesn't enjoy watching characters which are a mirror of their own personality.

New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) Mark Wahlberg's tryst with crime began at a young age. The ace Hollywood star, who was once a drug dealer and was arrested 20-odd times for various crimes, has turned his life around and says he has "really started doing good and doing right for other people".

Mumbai, Jan 18 (IANS) A producer's job is a thankless one with benefits shared by the actor and the director and no kudos for the person behind that good film, says actor Arjun Rampal, who produced the not-so-successful "I See You" in 2006 and is clearly in no hurry to get back to it.

Mumbai, Jan 17 (IANS) Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar has launched her music lable LM Music, which has already taken off in a big way. She says her immediate plans are to sing with Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bahchcan other than releasing a ghazal album and creating a platform for children who are seen on reality shows.

New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) Lal Singh Dil was a destitute Dalit poet whose verses on caste oppression and call for a revolution made him the bard of the Maoist movement in Punjab. But despite being a legend in his state, few know about the poet outside.