Actress Aishwarya Rai is a regular on the Cannes red carpet. But her visit to the 65th edition of the prestigious film festival is for a cause — the former beauty queen will help raise funds for fight against AIDS at an auction there.

The actress will be in Cannes May 24-25 and attend L’Oréal Paris – amfAR (The American Foundation for AIDS Research) dinner that will help raise funds for the fight against AIDS.

“Eleven glorious years….the journey so far has been remarkable and truly memorable. This year, I am especially privileged as I also get to lend my support to a very important cause at the amfAR dinner, by helping raise funds for the fight against AIDS, at the AMFAR auction,”Aishwarya, who has been attending the Cannes International Film Festival, as the face of L’Oreal Paris, said in a statement.

“It makes me proud that L’Oréal Paris sponsors and supports our fight against AIDS through this special amfAR event at Cannes,” she added.

Apart from Aishwarya, other key celebrities, who would attend the gala dinner are Gwen Stefani, Milla Jovovich, Aimée Mullins, Liya Kebede, Doutzen Kroes, Natasha Poly, Julianna Margulies, Diane Keaton.

The list also includes Alec Baldwin, Kenneth Cole, Milutin Gatsby, Michel Hazanavicius & Bérénice Bejo, Ryan Kavanaugh, Karl Lagerfeld, Hugh Laurie, Carine Roitfeld and Harvey Weinstein.

The 65th Cannes International Film Festival is to take place May 16-27.

Harish Iyer is a name India now knows, and this is a fact, especially after the weekend’s broadcast of Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate on child sexual abuse.

An avid blogger and a self-confessed and irrefutable Twitterati — Harish is as adorable in person as his dimples make you believe him to be.

“I am just amazed. It’s beyond words… and I mean it… the whole experience was electrifying to say the least,” begins Harish.

“The show was really something I had never expected it to be. I’ve been on TV shows before… and I’ve spoken about abuse before too… but the warmth, the involvement and the sheer emotionality of this show overwhelmed me. I am quite surprised I wasn’t a puddle of tears at the end,” Harish shares. “Aamir’s warmth and genuine concern also helped me open up about several things, things even my amma didn’t know about,” Harish adds.

What about the Sridevi surprise? “Well, when I was being readied for the show, I noticed this gorgeous sari being wheeled around and actually asked a volunteer who the sari was for. I was only met with disapproving mumbles about someone random. There was a reference being made to this person several times and much later I realised that this was a code name for Sridevi. I still smile when I think of all the efforts the team went through to keep the surprise genuine for me,” answers Harish.

We prod further… Sridevi and surprised, yes, but aren’t the both of you Tamil? “Yes!” pat comes the reply as Harish adds, “we actually spoke to each other in Tamil, bits that sadly didn’t make it to the final edit. When I saw her, the only words that slipped off my tongue were enakku vishvaasamillai, neenguh nijamaavuh theriyilai (I can’t believe this, you don’t seem to be real) and she replied, aamaam, nijam thaan (Yes, yes, this is real)…”

Meeting the women of your dreams — the root behind your strength and telling the whole country your tale, egged on on by none other than Aamir Khan himself — we’re still left wondering what element of the show caught your attention the most? “I think what Dr Rajat said seemed to make most sense to me — ‘Respect your elders for their attitude, not for their age’. I think a pervert should be called a pervert, irrespective of his age or gender or sexuality,” answers Harish.

And what about the audience? “The audience was amazing. We actually shot this one episode over almost a whole day and the intensity that you saw on screen was only one tenth of what actually transpired on those sets. Aamir Khan was in tears on many occasions and we had to stop for little breaks for the emotionally charged audience,” Harish shares.

Shooting done and weeks later, the show finally airs. So what does Harish decide to do on D-day? “I watched the episode with a few of my gay friends and then spent most of the day with a friend, Deborah, at a mall in Thane. What really surprised me was people approaching me a few hours after the airing… asking me if I could pose with them. I feel like a star already! Like that’s not enough… Aamir Khan actually called me to check on me. He even asked me if I thought the editing was done well and the likes. He’s just far too amazing!” Harish gushes.

But is that all, we enquire? “No! Soon enough emails started flooding my inbox and messages began delivering like crazy. That’s when I realised I needed to ensure that it didn’t all end with this. I wanted to continue the buzz and keep the excitement going. Which is why I’ve announced and invited entries for a repository of material on Sexual Abuse Awareness — I want this to go on and Satyamev Jayate has come forward to help me there too! They’re just amazing people, doing amazing work,” Harish explains.

With hardly any time left to spare, we conclude by asking Harish why he chose to do what he did and he quite brilliantly answers. “We all have ways to deal with these grave wounds. Wounds that will never really fully heal. Cinderella has her music and her belief system, Ganesh had forgiveness and his passion for work. I have the need to spread awareness and will do everything within my capacity to ensure that the word gets around. No child should ever be forced to stay quiet about sexual abuse, ever again,” Harish concludes.

In an initiative to lessen burden of debt-ridden farmers in the Vidarbha region, a local club in Wardha handed over cheques amounting to nearly Rs30 lakh to 114 farmers on behalf of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

The cheques were handed over to farmers by local MP Datta Meghe on May 13, with the help of which the farmers would be able to clear their debts ranging between Rs25,000 and Rs1,50,000, a release issued by an NGO said.

As many as 114 farmers from 20 villages in Wardha district were picked up for the financial assistance, provided on behalf of Bachchan, who was not present on the occasion.

Union Bank of India, State Bank of India, Bank of India and Wardha District Co-operative Bank had provided crop loan to farmers.

Meanwhile, NGO Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti welcomed the gesture made by the megastar.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has expressed shock over the death of child artist Taruni Sachdev, who played his school friend in Paa, in Monday’s plane crash in Nepal.

“Just reading that Taruni Sachdev the girl child artist in Paa, has perished in Nepal plane crash .. please god may this not be true,” Amitabh posted on his Twitter page.

At 14, Tarini had already featured in almost 50 ads and did a cameo in Paa. She was among 13 Indians who were killed when the aircraft crashed into a hill while coming in to land at Jomsom in western Nepal.

Amitabh, 69, has memories of Jomsom.

“Jomsom, where the plane crash in Nepal took place is where we shot Khuda Gawah, a raw airfield and most difficult to land on,” posted Big B.

Abhishek Bachchan was equally saddened

“SHOCKED and very saddened to hear about the Nepal plane crash. Lost one of my cutest co-stars. Little Taruni Sachdev from PAA. Speechless,” Abhishek tweeted.

Actress Madhuri Dixit-Nene is unquestionably one of Bollywood’s most desirable beauties. And though the actor is back in Bollywood, she still prefers to break away from the sho-shaa celebrations associated with it. The actor, who celebrates her birthday today, has apparently chosen to get away from Mumbai, and have a quiet celebration in the US.

After staying in Denver for almost nine years after her marriage, the actormoved back to Mumbai with her family in October last year. But she still seems to prefer the tranquil lifestyle of Denver because as soon as an opportunity for a short break cropped up, La Dixit flew to celebrate her birthday in the United States with her family.

Her manager informs, “She and her family left for the US last week. She’ll be celebrating her birthday with them there. As her children are on vacation around this time of the year, she didn’t want to let go of the time to spend with them before they resumed school. Besides, once she’s back, she too will get busy with her film and Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’s shoots.”

Her manager adds, “Besides spending time with her family, she will also be catching up with close friends there. US has, after all, been home for her for almost nine years. Even though it’s her birthday today, she’s sure to keep it low-key — just celebrating with family rather than a big bash here. She plans to be back to the city by the end of the month.”

Actress Katrina Kaif is all praise for her Dhoom 3 co-actor Aamir Khan’sTV showSatyamev Jayate and says that given a chance she too will attempt a show on small screen provided she can add value to it.

Khan’s debut show deals with sensitive social issues backed by statistics. The first episode was aired on May 6 on Star Plus. In the first two episodes, Aamir touched upon things like female foeticide and child sex abuse, receiving a roaring response from the audience.

“I did not get to see the show…unfortunately I was working. But lot of my friends have seen it and lot of them have tweeted also about the show…saying it is one of the best TV shows in recent times. I have heard about the topics that he has shown..it is amazing. Whatever he does is of high quality and he has lived up to expectations,” Katrina told reporters here last evening, on the sidelines of a ‘Nakshatra’ event.

When asked if she would like to do a show on TV, Katrina said, “I don’t know..it has to be something that should make sense for me and I could do well. Like Aamir has done this show brilliantly so if you can do it brilliantly then why not. I would do a show on which I think I can add something to it…then only I would attempt it.”

Katrina would be seen opposite Aamir in Aditya Chopra’s Dhoom 3, which is scheduled to hit the screens next year.

Actor Matthew Morrison was pleased to meet Cheryl Cole on the set of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and described her as beautiful. “I am usually good with accents, but it did take me a second to understand Cheryl.”

It was actually really refreshing to meet her, because as someone who comes to London a lot, you can’t leave there without hearing about Cheryl Cole – she’s everywhere,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Morrison as saying.”So it was great to have a conversation with her as a human being and to get to know her. She was lovely… and so beautiful,” he said.

While filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is all geared up to attend the 65th Cannes International Film Festival, starting May 16, his actress wife Kalki Koechlin won’t be accompanying him but is hopeful that one day she would attend the gala.

“I won’t be able to attend Cannes festival as I will be busy shooting for my film. I have been begging my director to give me sometime off, but that’s not happening. But doesn’t matter, one day I would go to Cannes with one of my films,” Kalki said.

The actress has begun shooting for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Ek Thi Dayanwith Konkona Sen Sharma and Emraan Hashmi.
Kashyap is ecstatic after three of his films have been selected for the 12-day festiva lto be held in the French
Riviera.

Peddlers, will be showcased along side six other films from countries like Spain, France, Argentina and Germany at the Cannes Critics’Week, a parallel section of the film festival.
Both parts of Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wasseypur,have also been chosen for screening at the fest’s Directors’ Fortnight section.

Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s teleshow Satyamev Jayate, where he deals with sensitive social issues backed by statistics, has surpassed his own popularity, indicates a survey on online Google searches.

The first episode of Satyamev Jayate was aired on May 6 on Star Plus. Its concept was kept under wraps till then, but now it has become a winner thanks to issues like female foeticide and child sex abuse, and the way Aamir conducts the show.

According to Google India, the country’s netizens are searching more for the show as compared to online hits for ‘Aamir Khan’.

In a search through Google Insights, a service to find out about trending issues, it has been found that between the keywords ‘Satyamev Jayate’ and ‘Aamir Khan’, the show is said to have attracted more people over the past seven days.

As per available data, the show’s popularity seems to be capturing Madhya Pradesh the most as it is driving the most number of searches. Rajasthan is next on the list, and Gujarat takes the third spot.

Also, popular search keywords related to the search are “Satyamev Jayate Download” and “Satyamev Jayate song”.

Despite the fact that singer Lady Gaga recently split up from her boyfriend Taylor Kinney, her pal Terry Richardson is claiming that the singer is engaged. The celebrity photographer posted a link to his blog on Twitter, writing “Gaga showing off her new engagement ring!”

It links to a picture of the 26-year-old Bad Romance star brandishing a huge rock on her engagement finger. However, it appears it was all just a big hoax, the Daily Mail reported.

According to TMZ, sources have said that the singer is not engaged to anyone. Meanwhile the fan website gagadaily.com reports the singer is merely wearing a ring which is part of merchandise from her tour. It was reported earlier this month that the Poker Face hitmaker had called time on her relationship with Kinney because she wants to concentrate on her career.

Apparently the pop idol decided it was pointless to string him along as she embarks on her mammoth ‘Born This Way Ball’ tour, so decided to it was time for the couple to “take a break”.