BMC Elections: BJP wants separate manifesto for Civic polls

By Varun Singh – Mid-Day

Promises made ahead of polls by politicians are rarely kept, but the BJP feels it’s important the people know who’s making them. So, its coalition with the Shiv Sena and RPI (A) notwithstanding, the BJP, for the first time, is all set to release a separate manifesto for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. According to party insiders, a joint manifesto often ends up appearing as the mouthpiece of one party while the voice of others in the alliance is lost.

“We have formed a team comprising 12 people, who are currently developing the manifesto. It will highlight all the work done by us in the last five years. We will focus on important points covered from our previous manifesto and will ensure that our achievements are also noticed by the people,” said a BJP insider.

Teamwork

The party has even formed a 12-member team that’s working on the manifesto and their final meeting would be on January 10, where the layout and other details would be discussed.  The committee is being headed by ex-MLA Hemendra Mehta and consists of senior members like Ashish Shelar, Bhalchandra Shirsat, Shailaja Girkar, Atul Bhatkalkar and a few others.

When quizzed, Vivekanand Gupta, secretary, Mumbai BJP, said, “The party is coming out with a vision document for the city of Mumbai — how the city should be and how the party is going to function. We will also have a joint manifesto, but right now there are people in the party who do want a separate one to be there.”

BJP has 28 corporators heading important committees like improvement, tree, education and women & child welfare. For the last five years even the deputy mayor in the BMC has been from the party. Now, BJP is keen on highlighting all these posts and portfolios held by its members and the work done. The party is even planning to get the opinion of the youth on what kind of development and enterprises they want to see happening in the city.

Guarded response

The allies are, naturally, wary. “We will soon have a meeting, where Uddhav Thackeray, Gopinath Munde, Sudhir Mungantiwar and I will be present. Our main motive would be to have a single manifesto for the alliance.  If there are different manifestos, it would lead to confusion amongst the public as the development agenda has to be the same. I am for one manifesto for the whole coalition,” said RPI(A) chief Ramdas Athawale.

“There should only be one manifesto in an alliance. However, what Uddhavji decides would be final,” said Shiv Sena MLA Abhijit Adsul.

 

Source: Mid-Day

BMC Elections 2012: Civic polls to test Uddhav’s leadership

 

Makarand Gadgil, makarand.g@livemint.com

 

The forthcoming municipal elections in Mumbai, the country’s commercial capital, and nine other cities in Maharashtra hold the key to the fortunes of Shiv Sena​ executive president Uddhav Thackeray, under whose leadership the party lost two consecutive assembly elections—in 2004 and 2009.

The Sena, in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party​ (BJP), has controlled the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) since 1985 except during 1991-94.

Control of MCGM is critical since it has a budget of Rs.20,417 crore, much more than that of several smaller states such as Goa, Mizoram and Manipur. Though a little over 50% of the municipal body’s funds are consumed by salaries and other administrative expenses, the ruling combine still controls funds that run into thousands of crores for “developmental work”. Losing control of this can cost Thackeray dearly, according to political observers, who say that a failure to get elected could push many Sena members into shifting their loyalties to estranged and more aggressive cousin Raj Thackeray​’s Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS).

After the last assembly elections in 2009, the Sena was relegated to the fourth position and won fewer seats than its alliance partner BJP. That meant it had to concede the position of leader of the opposition in the state assembly to the BJP. In Mumbai, while the Sena won four assembly segments, the MNS secured six. The MNS won 13 seats in the assembly elections and is estimated to have spoiled the chances of Sena-BJP candidates in at least 35-40 seats.

Much depends on whether the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party​ (NCP), coalition partners at the central and state level, manage to strike an alliance for the local polls. In 2007, both parties contested civic polls separately, helping the Sena-BJP combine win 110 seats in a House of 227. This will also mark the first major electoral test for Prithviraj Chavan, since becoming chief minister in November, 2010. He’s keen to consolidate his position by wresting MCGM from the Sena, as is his deputy Ajit Pawar​, who now virtually controls the NCP in the state.

To counter the splitting of the vote of the “Marathi Manoos” (native of Maharashtra) with the MNS, the Shiv Sena has roped in a third partner—the Ramdas Athavale faction of the Republican Party of India​ (RPI), which represents the neo-Buddhist section of Maharashtra’s Dalit population. Dalits form 18.5% of Maharashtra’s population. Of this, 7.5% are neo-Buddhists.

If the Congress and the NCP form an alliance, the Sena will find it difficult to retain control over MCGM as the party is not only facing anti-incumbency but also a division of its core constituency, said columnist and political commentator Pratap Asbe.

If the Shiv Sena loses control over MCGM, a large section of the party’s cadre and lower-rung functionaries will switch loyalties to MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Asbe said.

Noted Dalit thinker and writer Gangadhar Pantavane said the “Dalit population has historically eyed Hindu supremacist forces with suspicion. Just because Athavale has joined hands with these forces, his followers won’t necessarily vote for the Sena-BJP.”

Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP and spokesman Sanjay Raut dismissed the prospect of defeat. “Because of our track record on the developmental front, we are sure we will manage to secure a simple majority with help from our allies.”

Source: Live Mint

Civic Polls 2012: Election expenses for Maharashtra civic polls hiked

 

 

 

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s state Election Commission on Tuesday significantly enhanced the expense limits for the forthcoming civic, zila parishad and gram panchayat elections.

The decision was announced by state election commissioner Neela Satyanarayan after she announced the schedules for the zila parishad and gram panchayat (Feb 7) and civic bodies poll (Februry 16), across the state.

For the A-grade Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the expense limit has been hiked from Rs 135,000 to Rs 500,000. Each candidate in B-grade corporations like Pune and Nagpur will now be able to spend Rs 400,000 from the existing limit of only Rs 100,000.

For C-grade municipal corporations like Thane, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, the limit has been increased from Rs 100,000 to Rs 400,000.

Similarly, it will be Rs 300,000 (from existing Rs 100,000) in D-grade civic bodies like Ulhasnagar, Solapur, Akola and Amravati.

In the Zila Parishad elections, a new expense limit, from existing Rs 60,000 to Rs 300,000 has been allowed while for Gram Panchayat Samitis, it has been upped from Rs 40,000 to Rs 200,000.

In yet another major relief, the travel expenses of important leaders or star campaigners would not be included in the election expenses of the candidate for whom they campaign during the elections.

All contesting candidates would be required to submit the day’s expense accounts related to polls and campaigning by 2 pm the following day.

 

Source: IBN Live

BMC Elections 2012: The cost of BMC polls: Rs500cr!

Published: Friday, Jan 6, 2012, 8:45 IST
By Shubhangi Khapre | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

The air in Mumbai is abuzz with the battle for the municipal corporation. With the civic polls scheduled for February 16, political parties are busy devising strategies and roping in star campaigners to lure voters and eventually rule the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Conservative estimates by political managers of the Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) suggest that the battle for 227 seats will be a whopping Rs500-crore affair.

The state’s chief election commissioner Neela Satyanarayan said as per laid norms, candidates contesting the civic polls can spend Rs1.5 lakh each. She added that the amount has been increased to Rs5 lakh taking into account the inflation in the past five years. However, the parties are amused with the ceiling and have termed it impractical.

They openly admit that it is impossible for them to adhere to the limit set by the state election commission. Leaders who control the purse strings of major parties admitted that the average funds required per candidate is Rs1 crore.

With the Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI alliance sure to contest all 227 seats and the Congress and NCP likely to do the same (if they form an alliance), there would be 454 serious candidates in the fray. At Rs1 crore per candidate, the poll budget touches Rs454 crore without even considering other players.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, too, has threatened to field 227 candidates. However, even if it concentrates only on its strongholds and fields 15-25 candidates it will still spend crores because of its aggressive style of campaigning. Lesser known players such as the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have smaller stakes but high budgets.

In a tactical move, mainstream parties and their alliances often deploy the services of extras to make a dent into each other’s vote bank. Such candidates spend at least Rs25-30 lakh each.

Estimates show there are at least 125 such candidates in the fray. “Earlier, we would pacify our supporters with a plate of bhel puri or vada pav. Today, they demand a sumptuous lunch and dinner with chicken/mutton biryani and drinks. The changing lifestyle of our leaders and workers has resulted in the poll expenditure shooting up drastically. Also, the cars used during our campaign trails are top models complete with air-condition,” said a sitting corporator on condition of anonymity.

A sitting corporator from the Congress concurs. “We have to reach out to maximum people during the 12 days of campaigning. The amount spent on petrol and diesel itself is Rs25-30 lakh. We also have to manage unlimited number of rallies and meetings. The cost of publicity material for each ward is Rs20 lakh,” he said. “We also seek help from star campaigners/ central ministers/ state ministers who travel only by helicopters. A private plane costs Rs75,000 per hour.”

Senior BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said the election commission’s ceiling is aimed at restricting excessive expenditure during the polls. “The purpose is good, but political parties have to provide additional funds to ensure an effective campaign aimed at luring voters spread across different wards,” he said.

“Mumbai is the country’s financial capital and parties have to come up with various techniques to reach out to voters. The aggressive campaign comes at a price. Almost 50% of the funds are used on transportation and the remaining on publicity material and rallies,” a senior cabinet minister from the NCP told DNA.

Sources in the election commission told DNA that the poll budgets often run into crores and exceed the prescribed limit for individual candidates. This is because the funds released for campaigning under the party banner are not accounted for in the expenditure of a candidate. “A candidate has to provide details of his expenditure which should not exceed Rs5 lakh. But he is not bound to explain the whopping expenditure incurred by his party on star campaigners,” said an election commission official.

With corruption being the buzzword in the country at present, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has asked his ministers and party officials to cut down on their expenditure for the polls. “We have been bluntly told to cut down cost on hiring private planes for our rallies,” said a senior NCP minister.

Wine Making in India: a Rs 3000 crore business?

Thanks to growing consumption of wines in India and a spurt in consumption primarily by women over the last one year, the Wine Making Industry in India is expected to touch Rs 3000 crore by 2013, says a research report by Mumbaiwire.in – a research and content syndication agency.

n earlier wine industry study by Assocham had earlier pegged the turnover toA reach Rs 2700 by 2012. The MumbaiWire.in study is more optimistic and has taken into consideration a recent spurt in consumption of locally made wines and ‘home-made wines’. The other reason for the spurt in demand and consumption are the favourable government policies including taxation, said Flynn Remedios, editor of Mumbaiwire.in.

The Assocham study had listed consumption of wine in the country to grow by 35 per cent from 4.6 million litres in 2008 to 14.7 million litres in 2012. The MumbaiWire.in report pegs this growth to be in the range of 40 per cent with volumes touching almost 17 million litres. Goa has seen an upward growth in the consumption pattern over the last three months. Normally Goa was the third or fourth in terms of consumption in India with Mumbai topping the list of cities consuming the maximum amount of wine in India. Mumbai still retains its top position but Goa and Delhi share the second place.

A lot of wine consumed in markets like Goa and South India is in the ‘home-made category’ and unfortunately does not figure in official sales reports, opined Flynn Remedios. Indians prefer Red Wine to White and sparkling wine though preferences seem to be changing. In 2008 only two percent of India made for the wine consuming population in the country. This figure is expected to rise to 12 per cent by end-2012 and may touch 15 per cent by 2013 thanks to cheaper brands available more freely and easily.

Almost 45 per cent of wine consumption in India is by women and this is growing each year, adds Flynn Remedios, saying that the increase in consumption of Indian wines is much higher than that of international brands.

No nudity for Sunny Leone in India

Though father and daughter duo Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt would love to have Sunny Leone shed her clothes for the opening scene of their forthcoming sequel to the 2003 hit erotic thriller Jism, Sunny Leone privately expressed her displeasure to a few close aides.

The 2003 film starred John and Bipasha, but this time with much fanfare Mahesh Bhatt walked into the Bigg Boss house to “offer” Sunny Leone the role.  The adult porn star though in her heart of hearts is not impressed. Said a source close to Sunny Leone on condition of anonymity, “Privately, Sunny is not very happy with the role. She has had enough of nudity to last not just one lifetime but several lifetimes. Her life in Canada and the US is different. In India, Sunny would like to shed her nude adult porn star image and do main line Bollywood cinema. Sunny wants to try her hand at Hindi movies not nudity and flesh show. She has had enough of all that. Bollywood films has always been Sunny’s dream as a kid growing up in Canada. She always wanted to be some sort of a Madhuri Dixit in Bollywood, but fate took her elsewhere. Now given a chance, she would like to make her dream come true,” a close aide of Sunny Leone told Flynn Remedios, editor of MumbaiWire.in.

Even Sunny Leone was quoted to an Indian friend saying, “If I want to do nude and stuff, there is enough scope for me in Hollywood. As such the Indian Censor Board will not allow any nudity.” Given Indian laws on nudity and obscentity and the long-drawn out judicial and legal system in India, Sunny Leone’s international managers and advisors are skeptical of the adult actress’ foray into Indian cinema. They are worried about her having to spend her time doing the rounds of Indian court rooms instead of studios. An associate of Sunny Leone’s US agent who spoke to Flynn Remedios, said, “It’s nice that Indian producers are offering Sunny Bollywood films, but we hope she is not offered only nude roles. The legal system in India is very tiring and we are worried about Sunny having to make trips to Indian courts, should her images in an Indian film offend the sensibilities of a certain segment of Indian viewers.”

Sunny Leone is a known name in Hollywood and has contracts with some of the top adult entertainment TV channels and adult home video brands. The money that porn stars make abroad is something she will not get in India even for a main lead in a Bollywood film, keeping in mind the time she will have to spend on shooting and promotions.  The reception that an adult porn star would get from the general Indian public is also playing on Sunny’s mind. Right now she is safely esconsed in a 5-star hotel with a lot of security. But shooting outside is an all-together different story. Sunny’s managers are also worried about the moral police in India. “There is a different India that doesn’t ‘like’ Sunny Leone and will try to make trouble for us. We are taking all this into consideration before saying yes or no,” Sunny’s aide said.

Friends of Sunny Leone also opined that the Bhatt’s were casting Sunny only for the ‘automatic and free’ publicity that the project would get due to a high-profile and controversial international actor. A canandian friend who has worked with Sunny felt that “Mahesh Bhatt has offered Sunny Leone the role not because he is particularly thrilled with her acting abilities or because he genuinely wants to give her a foothold in Bollywood. He is doing it only to promote his film for free.”

We tried to contact Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt for their comments but their office phone numbers didn’t seem to work.

FOR MORE PHOTOS AND NEWS ON PORN STAR SUNNY

LEONE CLICK HERE:

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Pesticides in bottled water adding to male infertility and impotence in India.

A MUMBAIWIRE.IN SPECIAL REPORT

A report by watchdog NGO Environment Health News of USA may have starling news for Indian consumers. Many agricultural pesticides which are found in many bottled waters in India – though in very minor quantities – including some previously untested and commonly found in vegetables and fruits, disrupt male hormones, according to new tests conducted by British scientists.

These pesticides when consumed even in very trace or minor quantities over a long period of time can contribute to low sperm count, infertility and affect the male reproductive health leading to impotence. Says Naveen Luthra, CEO, Mulshi Springs and an expert on bottled water in India, “Everyday thousands of Indians consume bottled water from unknown and unheard of brands snug in the belief that they are drinking ‘clean and pure water’. This misconception and false ‘trust’ is slowly but surely ‘killing’ the reproductive systems of the Indian male populace.”

According to Luthra, whose company Mulshi Springs – one of India’s few internationally certified natural spring waters leads and supports research on the pesticide content in Indian drinking water , “The government should make periodic, routine and surprise checking mandatory if it really cares about the reproductive health of the nation. The amount of pesticides Indian consumers imbibe over a period of time is surprising and this is a bigger problem in cities rather than villages.”

The USA-based NGO researchers in their report strongly recommended that all pesticides in use today be screened to check if they block testosterone, which is critical to male reproductive health. Thirty out of 37 pesticides tested by the University of London altered male hormones, including 16 that had no known hormonal activity until now. Most are fungicides applied to fruit and vegetable crops, including strawberries, lettuce, oranges, bananas, etc.

“This study indicates that, not surprisingly, there are many other endocrine disruptors that we have not yet identified or know very little about,” said Emily Barrett, a University of Rochester scientist who was not involved in the study and helped prepare the report.

The findings come as the EPA faces opposition from the pesticide industry after expanding its Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, which requires testing of about 200 chemicals found in food and drinking water to see if they interfere with estrogen, androgens or thyroid hormones.

Many agricultural pesticides – including some previously untested and commonly found in food  – disrupt male hormones, according to new tests conducted by British scientists.

The scientists strongly recommended that all pesticides in use today be screened to check if they block testosterone and other androgens, the hormones critical to a healthy reproductive system for men and boys.

“Our results indicate that systematic testing for anti-androgenic activity of currently used pesticides is urgently required,” wrote the scientists from University of London’s Centre for Toxicology, led by Professor Andreas Kortenkamp. Coincidently most of the pesticides and coloring agents mentioned in the EPA report are widely used in India and are largely unregulated, opines Naveen Luthra, adding that most bottled waters and even soft drinks contain pesticides in India.

Thirty out of 37 widely used pesticides tested by the group blocked or mimicked male hormones. Sixteen of the 30 had no known hormonal activity until now, while there was some previous evidence for the other 14, according to the report, published last Thursday in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Most of the newly discovered hormone disruptors are fungicides applied to fruit and vegetable crops, including strawberries, oranges, sweet limes and even bananas. Traces of the chemicals remain in foods and enter the human digestive system.

The British researchers screened the chemicals using in-vitro assays, which use human cells to check whether the pesticides activate or inhibit hormone receptors in cells that turn genes on and off. They are a widely accepted lab technique. Scientists, however, are uncertain what actually happens in the human body at the concentrations of chemicals that people encounter in fruits and vegetables.

Some research has linked pesticides to abnormal genitals in baby boys, such as cryptorchidism and hypospadias, and decreased sperm counts in men. Male fertility is thought to be declining in many countries and India tops the list. Testicular cancer is also increasing, says the report. Some scientists have dubbed this compilation of male disorders “testicular dysgenesis syndrome,” and suggested that hormone-disrupting environmental contaminants play a role.

Fetuses and infants may be particularly at risk when exposed in the womb or through breast milk because hormones control masculinization of the reproductive tract. R. Thomas  Zoeller, chair of the biology department at the University of Massachusetts.

 “It is telling us that the pesticides most prevalent in the human population have effects on the androgen receptor,” said Zoeller, who directs the university’s Laboratory of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Endocrinology.

“Considering all the evidence that human male reproduction is exhibiting troubling secular trends (sperm count and quality, hypospadias, cryptorchidism, testis cancer), this is highly troubling,” he said.

The researchers noted “a clear disparity” between today’s most widely used pesticides and the current knowledge of their risks, “with the majority of the published literature focused on pesticides that are no longer registered for use in developed countries.”

Of the tested compounds, the most potent in terms of blocking androgens was the insecticide fenitrothion, an organophosphate insecticide used on orchard fruits, grains, rice, vegetables and other crops.

Others with hormonal activity include fludioxonil, fenhexamid, dimethomorph and imazalil, which are all fungicides. Fungicides are often applied close to harvest, so they are frequently found as residue in food. Some are new compounds which have been used for only a few years.

Fungicides “are typically applied as mixtures in order to increase effectiveness and prevent development of resistant strains and therefore, human exposure to mixtures of these in vitro anti-androgens may be considerable,” wrote Kortenkamp and the other study authors, Frances Orton, Erika Rosivatz and Martin Scholze.

Of the tested compounds, the most potent in terms of blocking androgens was the insecticide fenitrothion, an organophosphate insecticide used on orchard fruits, grains, rice, vegetables and other crops. For six of the pesticides that showed hormonal activity for the first time, the authors said they “strongly recommend” the next round of testing, using lab animals. “Due to estimated anti-androgenic potency, current use, estimated exposure, and lack of previous data, we strongly recommend that dimethomorph, fludioxonil, fenhexamid, imazalil, ortho-phenylphenol and pirimiphos-methyl be tested for anti-androgenic effects in vivo.”

“We at Mulshi Springs are committed to provide fine drinking water, spring water and bottled water with absolutely zero pesticide content. Mulshi Springs is the only water available in India which is completely and 100 per cent pesticide free. Unfortunately, the same is not true for thousands of other brands, some of them even well-known and respectable brands,” explains Luthra.

(Adapted from the EPA report and EH News by Flynn Remedios)

Dj Toofan and Dj Jenny D’s Valentine remixes of Kolaveri Di

Mumbai-based Dj Toofan aka Dj Tornado and Dj Jenny D have completed a series of remixes of Dhanush’s popular song Kolaveri Di. They plan to officially release the various remixes on Valentine’s Day at an event at the Vie Lounge at the Pune Golf Club.

Says Dj Toofan aka Dj Tornado, “We are working on several remixes at the same time. Two songs have already been completed and two more are in the pipeline. These include a Bhangra Club remix, a House remix, a Rock and Roll remix, a fast dance remix as well as a Hip Hop remix. We will release these mixes on Valentine’s Day under our own label. The audio CD will have about 6 remix tracks in all. We are also in talks with Sony Music – the Music Label which released the song – to include our remixes as their official versions. We are yet to get a response from Sony Music but we hope that they will appreciate our effort.”

Dj Jenny D who is working on a House version said, “The popularity of Kolaveri Di sung by Dhanush can be judged by the number of remix versions that have made their appearance in the last 40 days. Thrash metal, hard rock, House, etc. We are trying to do something different for now. Let’s hope our fans like it as much as they liked the original song.”

Kolaveri Di was composed by 21-year-old Anirudh Ravichander and sung by Dhanush. It received over 2 crore hits on Youtube since its release, on November 16. The song which is a part of Rajinikanth’s daughter Aishwarya’s directorial debut, 3 was honoured by YouTube with a gold award for its popularity. Dj Toofan is a remix artiste and a whiz on music production software like Abelton and Nuendo. He has studied Western classical music and plays four instruments including the Guitar, Keyboards, drums and Saxophone. “Our remixes will include a live recording component as well and will not be merely produced on computer,” says Dj Toofan.

According to Dj Toofan, the entire proceeds of the sale of CDs will go to a charity for street kids. “We hope to raise about Rs 10 lakh in two months for The Street Kids Project. Special autographed CDs will be auctioned at the high profile event at the Pune Golf Club Vie Lounge in aid of this project.” “Dj Bruno too has been a great help in making this project a reality,” explained Dj Jenny D.

2011 in review – Futuristic Media Network Traffic Stats by WordPress

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

 

 

 

 

Here’s an excerpt:

London Olympic Stadium holds 80,000 people. This blog was viewed about 910,000 times in 2011. If it were competing at London Olympic Stadium, it would take about 11 sold-out events for that many people to see it.

 

Click here to see the complete report.

 

 

Canadian Sikhs protest against ‘nude Sunny Leone’

A group of Canadian Sikhs have voiced their protest over reports of a crossover film inspired by the lives of two women of Indian origin like Canadian porn star and “adult super star” – as her official website describes her – Sunny Leone and Pamela Bordes. Sunny Leone shot to fame in India when she was invited to participate in the Bigg Boss 5 – a reality show on TV channel Colors. Before her stint on Bigg Boss 5 not many people in India had heard about Sunny Leone.

A few Sikhs from various parts of the world protested against a report which stated that the film will portray porn star Sunny Leone as a woman of Indian origin who was raised as a Sikh. They have clarified that Sunny Leone is not a Sikh  by birth and was never raised as a Sikh but instead is a Punjabi Hindu by birth. However, a spokesperson for the producer said that according to research that they have done, including inputs from Wikipedia, “Sunny Leone was raised as a Sikh and attended a Christian school.”

The big budget Canadian production stars a Mumbai-born Bollywood actress who has been signed on for the main lead. It was reported that the bollywood actress would pose in the nude for a certain scene in this film, though this could not be confirmed. The protesters threatened severe action against the Production House and the movie if “incorrect facts” were mentioned.

The report on the film states that the project is inspired by the life of Sunny Leone. Sunny Leone was born Karen Malhotra in Sarnia, Ontario on May 13, 1981. She is an Indo-Canadian pornographic actress, businesswoman and model. She was 2003 Penthouse Pet of the Year and has played roles in independent mainstream films and television shows. She now also holds an American citizenship though she has retained her original Canadian passport as well.

Leone was born to Punjabi parents who migrated from India to Canada. Her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, while her mother was from a small town named Nahan in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh. As a young girl, she was very athletic and played street hockey with the boys, enjoyed ice skating on a nearby frozen lake and drinking hot chocolate in front of a fire after playing in the snow all day.

Apparently Mohit Suri approached Sunny Leone to play the main lead in his film Kalyug, but signed on Deepal Shaw instead as he couldn’t afford her $1 million fee. Several Bollywood directors and producers have had discussions with Leone and have wanted to cast her in their productions, but apparently money has always been a bone of contention. Sunny Leone is herself very keen on doing mainline Bollywood, but no big Bollywood hero would like to be cast opposite a hardcore porn star. Personally Sunny Leone considers Aamir Khan to be her favourite Bollywood actor. Sunny Leone’s initial days in the porn industry will feature prominently in the film – which as the film’s publicist claims will ‘not have any pornography’ in the film.

WHO IS SUNNY LEONE?

We have got hundreds of emails from our readers asking us for ‘more details about Sunny Leone’? Well here is some of the information we could get on Sunny Leone from the internet including Wikipedia:

Sunny Leone was born Karen Malhotra on May 13, 1981 and is an Indo-Canadian pornographic actress, actress, businesswoman and model. She was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003 and was a contract star for Vivid Entertainment. Named by Maxim as one of the 12 top porn stars in 2010, she has also played roles in independent mainstream films and television shows.

Early life

Leone was born Karen Malhotra in Sarnia, Ontario to Sikh Punjabi parents from India. Her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, while her mother (who died in 2008) was from a small town named Nahan in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh. As a young girl, she was very athletic and played street hockey with the boys, enjoyed ice skating on a nearby frozen lake and drinking hot chocolate in front of a fire after playing in the snow all day.

Though she was raised as a Sikh, her parents enrolled her in a Catholic school, as it was felt to be unsafe for her to go to public school. There she had her first kiss at 11, lost her virginity to a basketball player at another school at 16, and discovered that she was bisexual at 18. When she was 13, her family moved to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, then to Lake Forest, California a year later, fulfilling her grandparents’ dream that the family be together in one place. She graduated from high school in 1999 and enrolled in college.

Career

Before working in the porn industry, she first worked at a German bakery, a Jiffy Lube, and later a tax and retirement firm.

While studying to be a pediatric nurse in Orange County, a classmate who was an exotic dancer introduced Leone to John Stevens, an agent who in turn introduced her to Jay Allen, a photographer for Penthouse magazine. When picking a name for her adult career, she has said that Sunny is her real name and Leone was picked by Bob Guccione, former owner of Penthouse magazine. She posed for Penthouse magazine, and was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for the March 2001 issue, followed by a feature in the Holiday 2001 edition of Hustler magazine as a Hustler Honey. She has appeared in other magazines including Cheri, Mystique Magazine, High Society, Swank, AVN Online, Leg World, Club International and Lowrider, while her online credits include ModFX Models, Suze Randall, Ken Marcus and Mac & Bumble. Her pictorial credits also include working with stars like Adriana Sage, Jenna Jameson, Jelena Jensen and Aria Giovanni.

In 2003, she was declared the Penthouse Pet of the Year and also starred in the video Penthouse Pets in Paradise alongside Tera Patrick and Kyla Cole. In 2005 Adam & Eve appointed her as their West Coast Internet Sales Representative.

That same year, Leone signed a three-year contract with Vivid Entertainment with which she transitioned into the world of hardcore pornography, stating that she would only do lesbian scenes. Her first movie released was titled Sunny and was released in December 2005. Her next movie, Virtual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone, was the first interactive title for Leone, who was the first Vivid Girl to make such a movie. Taking only four days to film, the movie won her her first AVN Award (Best Interactive DVD). She followed this with Sunny Loves Cher, which featured her first on-screen squirting,and The Female Gardner co-starring Mikayla Mendez and Daisy Marie.

Leone’s last two movies under her contract with Vivid were It’s Sunny in Brazil, which was filmed in Brazil and The Sunny Experiment also starring Monique Alexander and Brea Lynn. The movies were released in October and December 2007 respectively.

In May 2007, upon re-signing her contract with Vivid for another six films, Leone agreed to perform for the first time with men on camera, but exclusively with her fiancé, Matt Erikson. That summer she also received breast augmentation, and shot her first movie under the new contract titled Sunny Loves Matt. The movie led to her to be nominated for three (out of six) AVN awards in 2009 in addition to being a choice for Female Performer of the Year. She followed up her first boy-girl title with The Other Side of Sunny in October 2008, which would be the last time she would perform with Erikson.

In January 2008, Leone revealed that she was no longer exclusive to Erikson, and had done scenes with other actors, most notably Tommy Gunn, Charles Dera, James Deen and Voodoo. In August of that same year, she announced the launch of her own studio, Sunlust Pictures, with Daniel Weber as her partner. With her new venture Leone plans to write, direct and create her own brand of adult movies with Vivid Entertainment as her distributor. Her first independent production, The Dark Side of the Sun, was released in March 2009, and was debuted at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas. In June 2009, she held a casting call in Las Vegas for her second independent production titled Sunny Slumber Party (released September 2009).

No longer exclusive to Vivid, Leone has started working with other studios and performers since 2009. She has managed to leverage her online popularity by striking deals with firms like PPPcard, AdultPokerParty.com,  Brickhouse,  Flirt4Free, Totemcash and Imlive to sell and distribute her content over the internet and other media.She won the “Web Babe of the Year” at the 2008 Xbiz Awards. Her websites and business interests are run under her banner company Leone L.L.C.

In addition to her film career, Leone has been part of the Vivid Comedy Tour, and has modelled for the Vivid Footwear collection.Leone has also participated in events like the Vivid/ClubJenna Lingerie Bowl and Vivid’s Hot Rod Night.Doc Johnson launched a pocket pal in 2006 moulded to her vagina, and in 2008 released the Sunny Leone Exciter vibrator. Control MFG currently uses Leone’s image along with other Vivid girls to market their line of skateboards. She is paired with Gab Ekoe, one of the Team Control riders. She also indicated that she plans to launch her own line of lingerie and other Sunny-branded products including a diamond jewellery line.

In September 2009, an iPhone application consisting of a collection of non-nude photos, some videos and a porn star-penned blog was approved by Apple for sale in the iTunes store, making it the first officially sanctioned application featuring a porn star. By February 2010, the app had been removed by Apple from the store.

Leone was voted #13 (up from #41 in 2007 on Genesis magazine’s “Top 100 Porn stars” list, #34 on Desiclubs.com’s Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2004, and one of the “40 under 40” ranking on AVN Online magazine. In 2010, she was named by Maxim as one of the 12 top female stars in porn.

Mainstream appearances

Leone’s first mainstream appearance was in 2005, when she was a red carpet reporter for the MTV Awards on MTV India. She has also had a cameo in the film The Girl Next Door, performed in Ja Rule’s video “Livin It Up” and a video for Kidd Skilly. Other credits include E!’s “Wild On!” and the Sundance Film Festival’s ‘After Dark. Leone was a contestant in the second season of the Fox reality show My Bare Lady 2: Open For Business, in which a group of adult actresses were given classes and training on how to pitch investment ideas and competed for success in the business world. In addition to filming her scene for Debbie Does Dallas in 2007, Leone was also part of a Showtime documentary of the same name detailing the production of the movie and the personal lives of its stars.

She has indicated that for the right price she would seriously consider a career in Bollywood. She has been courted by Indian directors in the past but has felt uncomfortable with the roles that she would have played.Director Mohit Suri is rumored to have asked Leone to play the lead role in his movie Kalyug, but instead cast Deepal Shaw as he could not afford her $1 million acting fee. She has mentioned that Aamir Khan is her favorite Bollywood Actor, and that over 60% of her fans are from South Asia.

In 2008, Leone announced that she would be starring in a mainstream action adventure movie titled Pirates Blood, which was shot in Oman. The shooting was completed in two weeks and was to be released in winter 2008.Leone also landed a role in Middle Men, producer Chris Mallick’s indie feature about the birth of the online porn industry set for wide theatrical release in 2009. She has mentioned that she will be appearing in an upcoming Will Ferrell movie scheduled to be released in 2010.

She appeared in the film The Virginity Hit playing a version of herself, where she is hired to take the virginity of the lead character.

Leone has made appearances at events such as the 2002 SEMA International Auto Salon, the 2002 Extreme Autofest Pomona and the 2006 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Sunny has also been the hostess at events in clubs like the Mansion in Miami and the Highlands in Hollywood.

In 2005, she was mentioned in Forbes magazine for a story on Vivid Entertainment. Leone has also been featured in mainstream publications like FHM, Front and Jane magazine. In 2007, along with the other Vivid Girls, she was seen in a 48′ high holiday Billboard in Times Square at W. 48th Street and Seventh Avenue. Leone is also one of the Penthouse Pets who appears in the PlayStation Portable game Pocket Pool. She was also featured in a coffee table book titled Naked Ambition: An R Rated Look at an X Rated Industry by Micheal Grecco.

In 2004, she was part of “No More Bush Girls”, in which she and several other popular adult actresses shaved off their pubic hair in protest of the Bush presidency. In May 2008, she shot a promotional video for Declare Yourself, a nonprofit, nonpartisan voter registration campaign targeting 18-to-29-year-olds.[79] She indicated that Barack Obama would be her choice in the 2008 U.S. election, primarily because she felt he was more business friendly to the adult industry than his opponent John McCain. She also released a public service announcement on behalf of the ASACP, reminding adult webmasters to protect their sites from children by having an RTA label on it.

Leone has a strong interest in health and fitness, and has been featured in several mainstream fitness publications. Leone has modelled fitness clothing for the sports brand Fantasy Fitness and shared that she keeps her body in shape by working out as much as she can despite her busy schedule and as quoted in Men’s Fitness magazine, “I try to eat very healthy – lots of vegetables, drinking my milk every day.”

In 2011, she participated in the Indian reality series Bigg Boss, entering the house on day 49. However she refused to divulge her ‘porn star’ status and replied to a poser from actress, and fellow house-mate, Pooja Bedi that she was a model and a TV star in America for the last ten years or so. It was reported that she has caused a stir in the larger populace with her Twitter feed gaining 8,000 new followers in just 2 days and Google saying searches for her experienced a “breakout”. There have also been complaints lodged with the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting alleging that the Colors TV channel is promoting pornography by having Leone appear on the show; among those who have filed are the Indian Artistes and Actors Forum and Anurag Thakur, member of Lok Sabha and head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing.

During her stay in the Bigg Boss house, Leone was approached by Mahesh Bhatt who entered the house briefly to offer her the lead role in Jism 2 (the seqeal to the 2003 film Jism). She accepted it, which will result in Pooja Bhatt’s production house, Fish Eye Network and Leone’s agent discussing the movie further. Sunny Leone disappointed her male fans by getting ‘married’ in the Bigg Boss house as part of a wedding challenge.

Personal life

In June 2006, Leone became an American citizen, but plans to remain a dual citizen of Canada. Although bisexual, she has stated that she prefers men. In her spare time she enjoys abstract paintings, horse riding, reading, playing World of Warcraft, watching The Simpsons and the Discovery Channel. She used to play on a women’s soccer league team in California. Her favourite holiday destination is Hawaii, and her favourite cuisine is Italian.

In separate interviews, she has stated that in ten years’ time she would like to be married and have started a family, and probably retire from the industry by the time she is 30. Leone was engaged to Matt Erikson, a vice-president of marketing at Playboy Enterprises. She currently resides in Hollywood, California with her cat and drives an Audi A5.

She mentioned in an interview at the start of 2011 that she was married to Daniel Weber. During her stay in the Bigg Boss house later that same year, Leone indicated that the relationship had by revealing that she had been previously married; she had ‘purposely arrived late’ to their first date as she was not impressed with him, but he changed her mind by sending 24 roses to her hotel room.

In 2010, Leone’s father died of cancer, which he had been first diagnosed with in 1999. In 2011, Leone along with Monique Alexander and Keni Styles ran in the Rock n’ Roll Los Angeles Half-Marathon to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

A 2008 Eye Weekly article reported that “Leone does her best to maintain a link to Sikh traditions, even if more in theory than in practice. But she’s unlikely to disavow her career path due to religion.” and that Leone said “Girls will leave the industry claiming that they found God. Well, the fact is, God has always been with them the entire time.” In a 2010 interview, she said “It’s a community-based religion. You walk into a temple and you’re greeted with the utmost respect… But, just like any religion it doesn’t want you to shoot adult material. I mean, I grew up going to temple every Sunday. When my parents found out they knew my personality which was very independent. Even if they tried to stop me or tried to steer me the right way they would have lost their daughter. I’m too headstrong. And it wasn’t a plan. It just happened and my career and everything just kept getting bigger and bigger.”

Here are some of Sunny Leone’s photos from the internet:

(Editors Note: Futuristic Media Network and its Editors are not responsible in any way for these photographs which have been taken from the internet. We have only re-published these photos as are they are freely available on the internet and particularly with a Google Images search. We do not support porn or the pornography industry. Copyrights for the photos below are hereby acknowledged. We would like to present to our readers the REAL SUNNY LEONE which has been very cleverly hidden from them during her stint in Bigg Boss 5. Viewers who may be offended by pornographic or adult images are requested to accept our apologies and close this webpage.)