From left, Amitabh Bachan, Aishwarya Rai, Oprah Winfrey and Abhishek Bachan out and about in Mumbai. AP Photo
From left, Amitabh Bachan, Aishwarya Rai, Oprah Winfrey and Abhishek Bachan out and about in Mumbai. AP Photo
Today's entertainment news: Oprah meets the Bachchans
Plus: Engelbert Humperdinck coming to Dubai; Madonna says new film not fun to make; Beyoncé gets fly with golden bottom named after her; and Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox vie for Elizabeth Taylor role.
Oprah Winfrey arrived in Mumbai on Monday, starting off a five-city, six-day tour around India to shoot her new programme Oprah Winfrey's Next Chapter, as well as to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival.
India Today reported that the US talk show queen stepped out of her hotel sporting an orange sari, silver bangles and other Indian accessories. She went off to meet Bollywood's "royal family", the Bachchans, at their Juhu bungalow. Winfrey is good friends with Abhishek Bachchan's wife Aishwarya Rai, who had appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
This time round Winfrey met the couple, as well as their two-month-old daughter, nicknamed Beti B, and Beti B's grandfather and Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who later turned chauffeur as he himself drove Winfrey to a party thrown by social figure Parmeshwar Godrej at his residence.
"The gracious Oprah Winfrey visits our home, to meet us and bless the baby ... warm hearted, endearing ... drive her to party in her honour. And Oprah in sari ... looking lovely," Amitabh Bachchan posted on Twitter.
At the party, Winfrey was welcomed by more Bollywood celebrities, such as Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor and Imran Khan.
After Mumbai, she is off on a whirlwind tour to Jaipur, Delhi, Agra and Hrishikesh. She is due to meet the writer and thinker Deepak Chopra and shoot at the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort tomorrow.
After walking away from her talk show last May and establishing her network OWN, Winfrey returned with a new series on January 1, featuring the 57-year-old stepping out of the studio and interviewing celebrities around the world.
Engelbert Humperdinck coming to Dubai
It's official: the UAE is a performer hot spot, whoever you are, however much you may be forgotten in the rest of the world. Joining the likes of Tom Jones and Boney M, the 75-year-old British crooner Engelbert Humperdinck will be making his Dubai debut on March 7 at the Johara Ballroom in the Madinat Jumeirah.
Amazingly enough, he wasn't born with that mouthful of a moniker, a homage to the 19th-century Austrian composer. Born Arnold Dorsey in Madras (now Chennai), the singer was raised in the UK and recorded his first hit, Release Me, in 1967. It may be hard to believe, but he was a pretty big deal in the 1960s and 1970s: selling more than 150 million albums and receiving four Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe for Entertainer of the Year, 63 gold and 24 platinum records and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
From a plethora of romantic ballads to a platinum-selling theme song for the latest Beavis and Butthead movie, the Humper has done it all. Most recently, his revival has included an appearance on several MTV programmes.
Tickets start at Dh500.
Madonna says film was not fun to make
Fresh from winning the Best Original Song gong at the recent Golden Globes for her film WE, Madonna told contactmusic.com that working on her directorial debut was "not fun at all".
The 52-year-old music superstar described the filmmaking experience as "all-encompassing and gut-wrenchingly hard and very educational".
"I researched and co-wrote the screenplay and I cast the film and then I produced it because I couldn't find a suitable producer in time before shooting, and then I had to direct it within 52 days," she told the website.
Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox rivals for Taylor role
Two actresses are in talks to play the late Elizabeth Taylor in a biopic: Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox.
Last week, industry insiders speculated about Lohan being the front-runner for the role and she confirmed the news at the Weinstein Company Golden Globes after the party on Sunday night.
But it looks like she faces competition from Fox, named as a candidate by the biopic's producer Larry Thompson. "I've been talking to Lindsay directly and have been in conversations with other actresses, including Megan Fox," he told E! News on Monday. "It's a very serious selection. It's like casting for Hollywood royalty."
Fly with golden bottom named after Beyoncé
A horse fly discovered in Queensland, Australia was so "bootylicious" with its golden-haired backside that there was only one name worthy of its beauty: Beyoncé.
Previously published results from Bryan Lessard, an Australian scientist, were announced last week on the species, named Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae, a specimen of which had been languishing in a collection since 1981 - the year the pop diva Beyoncé was born.
Lessard said Beyoncé would be "in the nature history books forever".
Bootylicious was a song by Beyonce's former group Destiny's Child.
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto On sale: Now Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
GroupA: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Key facilities
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills