Movie Review: 'Billu Barber'

Watching BILLU BARBER is like getting a hair cut done without 'tel maalish', meaning the movie seems very promising but strangely wilts towards the end.

But that doesn't mean you'd want to tear your hair out in frustration, like in DEV D, instead there's a feeling of a gaping hole in the bridge that connects you to the movie. Why does SRK have to talk about his old friend and weep at a school function?

First things first, BILLU BARBER is not a Shahrukh Khan film. The movie belongs to Irfan Khan alone, and he carries it's weight with ease. As the simple hairdresser Billu, Irfan's character is delightfully amiable. It's time Irfan got a fatter paycheck and moved to mainstream cinema for good.

BILLU BARBER is loosely inspired from the Rajnikanth superflop 'Kuselan'('Kathanayakudu' in Telugu), which in turn was a remake of the Malayalam film 'Katha Parayumbol'. The Tamil remake deviated from the original, and BILLU BARBER too has incorporated a few interesting changes. Hairdresser Billu (Irfan Khan) lives with his wife (Lara Dutta) and kids in a charming little UP village. Money is scarce and customers are elusive, especially since a bigger, flashier barber shop has opened opposite his own. His kids have been suspended from school for not paying fees, and the principal won't give a hoot even if Billu begs her.

Just when things look bleak, up pops a rich movie producer announcing the arrival of the superstar of India, Sahir Khan (SRK) in the village. While the town goes mad with glee, Billu's face glows quietly, for Sahir Khan is none other than his childhood friend. His kids get to know of their friendship and word spreads like wildfire across the village. Everyone becomes extra nice to Billu, and they shower him with gifts, on the condition that he would help them meet Sahir Khan. Billu becomes helpless, not knowing how to tell them that his friend might not recognize him anymore. All hell breaks loose when the villagers suspect him of foul play and lies. Were Billu and superstar Sahir Khan really friends? Or was he lying through his teeth? Watch the film to find out!

Shahrukh Khan basically plays himself in BILLU BARBER - the ultra popular, yet humble Demi-God of Bollywood. Although he never manages to reach the over the top persona Rajnikanth displayed in the original film. The brightly lit CGI laced fight scenes, the 'hey-look-at-me-I'm-a-star' shots never reach the intensity of Om Shanti Om. But given the smaller budget of BILLU BARBER when compared to other films, director Priyadarshan deserves credit for whipping out a glossy product.

The songs are unadulterated masala and the audience goes bonkers during 'Love mera hit hit' and 'Marjaani'. The former, especially is entertaining as Deepika Padukone for the first time displays ample amount of midriff. Although both Kareena and Deepika's dancing skills are questionable, Priyanka Chopra absolutely sizzles in 'You Get Me Rockin & Reeling'.

The cinematography is exquisite! DOP V. Manikandan's camera captures breathtaking shots of the painting-like village. You will lose yourselves in the misty hills and wish you'd bathed with Lara Dutta in the waterfall. Lara Dutta's dialogue delivery has improved greatly in BILLU BARBER, and she is quite convincing as Billu's loving, simple, star struck wife. Irfan Khan is excellent, his expressions in his scene with SRK are particularly brilliant. Shahrukh Khan is serviceable as the uber-Badshah Sahir Khan, although he underplays his character during the first half, and overplays it in the climax.

All in all, BILLU BARBER is timepass family fare. What could have been a super entertainer sadly slips into the average masala category due to the weak third act. 'The Stoneman Murders' is a better watch this weekend.

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Google to offer paid cell applications on google phone

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc will allow developers to sell applications for its Android cell phone operating system beginning next week in the
United States, as the search giant strives to expand in a smartphone arena dominated by Apple Inc.

Google's announcement marked an important step in the search giant's quest to catch up with Apple in the fast-growing market for smartphones.

It signals Google's commitment to expand into a relatively hot mobile market, even as it pulls back on certain other initiatives such as broadcast radio.

Google said in a blog post on Friday its Android Market will initially carry paid applications from developers in the United States and Britain, with plans to allow developers in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and Spain to participate later this quarter.

That could present an outlet for developers such as Electronic Arts Inc that have been anxious to expand sales of their mobile phone games to the Android Market, which has been limited to free applications until now.

Smartphones, which allow consumers to browse the Web, send email, play games and listen to music, in addition to making calls, are one of the few bright spots in a slowing technology and consumer electronics market.

While overall unit sales of cell phones declined 12.6 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, smartphone shipments increased 22.5 percent, according to research firm Gartner.

The T-Mobile G1 phone uses the Android operating system.

The availability of applications that run on a particular smartphone are important to define and distinguish the product, said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.

"It's what's providing that extra value and getting people into the stores," he said. Apple, for instance, enticed a large community of developers to create both paid and free applications for its iPhone.

According to a Google spokeswoman, there are currently 1,000 applications that run on Android smartphones. Consumers will buy the forthcoming paid Android applications via the Google Checkout payment product.

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Sania enters Pattaya Open final

PATTAYA (Thailand): Sania Mirza earned a shot at her second WTA singles title after edging past world number 51 Magdalena Rybarikova in the semi-f
Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza reacts during her semi-final against Magdalena Rybarikova at the PTT Pattaya Women's Open tennis tournament on February 14, 2009. (Reuters Photo)
inals of the $220,000 Pattaya Open on Saturday.

The unseeded Indian, ranked 126th in WTA charts, defeated her eighth seeded Slovakian opponent 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in a two-hour long contest.

The last time Sania reached the singles final of a WTA event was in 2007 when she made the summit clash of the Stanford classic.

This is for the fourth time in her career that Sania has reached the singles final of a WTA tour event.

She had become the first Indian player to win a WTA title when she won the Hyderabad Open in 2005. In the same year, she had reached the finals of the Forest Hill event in United States.

Sania broke Rybarikova in the fourth game of the deciding third set to give herself a 3-1 lead. She converted first of the three breakpoints, which she earned after the Slovakian double faulted.

Sania consolidated the lead after holding her serve in the next game before breaking Rybarikova to make it 5-1. The Indian then served out the match, converting her third match point.

Facebook to tie up with Nokia

Social Networking site Facebook is negotiating a deal with Nokia to integrate its software into the mobile maker's handsets.

The big idea is that contact information stored in Facebook would be integrated with the phone's address book. Users could see if their Facebook 'friends' were logged on, send them messages and post comments on their profile pages.

Talks between the companies have been going on for months, and it is unclear whether an agreement will be reached, these people said. Nokia is deciding whether it wants to team up with an established Web player like Facebook, based in Palo Alto, Calif., or to build a social network from the ground up, said people familiar with the talks.

Another issue for the two companies is how much information Facebook would have access to. Nokia doesn't want the service to provide Facebook with an avenue to compile data about cellphone users, such as their Web browsing or purchasing habits, a person familiar with the talks said.

Facebook is also working with Palm to do something similar and has had a presence on the Iphone 3G from pretty much day one.

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Here are the newbies of Rajasthan Royals

Indian Premier League champions Rajasthan Royals included explosive Australian batsman Rob Quiney in their squad for the second season and also named two other Australians as replacements for Pakistan`s Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal.

Victorian Quiney was named in Australia`s 12-man Twenty20 squad to take on New Zealand. Quiney`s Victorian team-mate fast bowler Shane Harwood and Queensland all-rounder Lee Carseldine will replace Tanvir and Akmal, Rajasthan Royals Director of Coaching Darren Berry said.

"It feels good to have specialists like Quiney, Harwood and Carseldine in our squad this year. Surely we will miss Sohail and Akmal, but having these players in the team is a boon to the squad. Their presence will definitely add more spice and excitement to the matches in which they will be playing," Berry said.

Left-hander Quiney has been a consistent performer at the top of the order in Twenty20 cricket in Australia this year and made 91 in 57 balls for Victoria against New South Wales in the KFC Big Bash final recently.

Right-arm pacer Harwood, nicknamed `Stickers`, has been in the Australian domestic circuit and his match-winning 4-33 against South Australia took Victoria into the Pura Cup finals.

Carseldine, a useful batsman and left-arm medium pacer, was the player of the Twenty20 Series in Australia. Berry said like last year his side has not gone for high profile players but signed those who would be available for the entire tournament.

He said the franchisee has identified three-four local players and an announcement in this regard would be made in a couple of weeks.

On his team`s chances in the IPL this year, Berry said, "We were the underdogs last year but are the top dogs this year. But this a new year and a new group. I have had discussions with skipper Shane Warne in this regard and we have our strategies in place."

Commenting on the franchise`s local players making it to the Indian squad, Berry said, "It comes as no surprise that Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja have got an opportunity.”

“Yusuf is a destructive player who like Andrew Symonds can change the complexion of the match in 2-3 overs."

"Warne has always praised Jadeja, who I am surprised has not made it to India`s one-day team that is heading for New Zealand. Watching Munaf (Patel) get back in the reckoning for a berth in the national team feels great."

Berry said he was disappointed with the cancellation of the Champions League Twenty20 following the 26/11 terror strikes in Mumbai last November.

"We were eagerly waiting for the Champions league, but looking back at the tragedy I feel disappointed and upset for the people of the country," Berry added.

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26/11 accused not arrested: Pak Media

It seems as if is Pakistan has gone back to speaking in two voices over the Mumbai terror attack issue - Pakistani media reports that government sources are saying none of those named by Islamabad in the 26/11 case have been arrested.

The sources say that they are in custody - which in Pakistan's case usually means house arrest. Delhi has repeatedly called all those under house arrest as guests of the state.

This new contradiction will make it difficult for India to figure out what to believe and moreover who to believe. Just 48 hours ago, Pakistan Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik had said, "Whatever we could do on the available information, we have done it. We have arrested a number of the accused. Some are under investigation and some may turn out to be witnesses."

Two months after being in constant denial mode, Pakistan on Thursday had finally admitted that "some part of the conspiracy" behind the Mumbai attacks took place on its soil and a case has been registered against nine people including Ajmal Kasab, the lone captured terrorist.

Islamabad made its first formal response to the Indian dossier on the attacks blamed on terrorists based on its soil at a press conference by Malik who gave details of the probe followed a meeting Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal had with officials.

Malik had said Pakistan wanted the DNA samples of Kasab to establish his identity. Among the things Pakistan wanted from India were Kasab's national identity card, electronic diaries seized and the confessional statement made by him in the Indian court and details of who helped in refuelling of one of the boats used by the terrorists.

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Electronics giant Pioneer slashes 10,000 Jobs

Japanese electronics company Pioneer Corp will cut 10,000 jobs globally to cope with sinking sales of car audio equipment and flat-screen TVs. It will also withdraw from its money-losing plasma display business.

The massive job cuts are the latest from Japanese corporate giants, which are slashing their payrolls worldwide, reducing production and forecasting annual losses amid a global economic slump. Sony Corp. is shedding 8,000 workers while Nissan Motor Co. and NEC Corp. are each cutting 20,000.

Hit by the collapse in demand for car audio equipment and plasma TVs, Pioneer said its net loss in the current fiscal year to March will swell to 130 billion yen ($1.4 billion) from its previous estimate of a 78 billion yen net loss. It would be the fifth straight annual net loss for Pioneer.

The Tokyo-based company said it will slash 6,000 full-time salaried workers at home and abroad, accounting for 16 percent of the company's global work force of 36,900. It will also cut 4,000 contract workers at its Japanese and foreign plants. It did not give a regional breakdown.

Pioneer is also shutting two overseas plasma display assembly plants — one in Pomona, California, and the other in Castleford, Britain — by April. Some 350 employees at the two factories — 130 in the U.S. and 220 in Britain — are part of the 10,000 people subject to job cuts, said company spokeswoman Ema Suzuki.

The factory closures are part of the plan to withdraw completely from the display business by March, 2010, as the company concluded that it would be impossible to turn around the display business.

Pioneer reported a net loss of 26.15 billion yen ($290.52 million) for the October-December quarter, nose-diving from a profit of 1.69 billion ($18.76 million) the previous year. Operating revenue declined 37.8 percent to 131.23 billion yen ($1.46 billion).

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Ponting utterly frustrated with his Bowlers

Australian captain Ricky Ponting demanded more consistency from his bowlers after his team’s narrow escape in rain-curtailed Chappell-Hadlee series decider.

Ponting’s frustration could be gauged by the incident when he was heard to yell "what`s going on?" to a sloppy James Hopes over that had helped Martin Guptill and Brendon Diamanti push New Zealand within sight of victory.

"I was a little bit disappointed in some of the boundaries we let in, particularly late in overs," Ponting said. "I felt that we bowled three or four good balls at the start of the over and then just gave them that boundary they needed in the back-end of our overs. And a lot of them weren`t miraculous shots either, they were bad balls.”

"That`s where a lot of my frustration comes, you set fields and want things to be done in a certain way. Sometimes it does and sometimes my emotions boil over. I`ve always been a person that wears my heart on my sleeve and in a must-win game for us it was no different."

New Zealand needed 33 from 36 balls when the rain came to end the match and Ponting held on to the trophy after the 2-2 result. He will be taking a well-deserved rest from Sunday`s Twenty20 in Sydney on Sunday against same opponents after a long summer of discontent that has included Test defeats to India and South Africa and a one-day loss to South Africa.

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Ram Sene attacks Valentines Day party

Goondagardi = Free publicity

Activists of right wing group Sri Rama Sene on Saturday raided a Valentine's Day party in a software firm here, attacking the participants and ransacking the furnitures.

A group of Sene activists, who had been on the prowl in parts of the city, spotted the Valentine's Day celebrators at the Katwa Infotech, barged into it, assaulted some of those gathered and damaged furnitures, police said.

The police, who were taken aback by the suddenness of the strike coming at the fag end of the day, rushed to the spot.

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