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More news →After CHANDRAKANTA, it is CHANDRAMUKHI
Sunil Agnihotri, the Master of Costume Dramas, a name which had put the entire nation to a stand still on Sunday Mornings with his 'Chandrakanta' and who changed the concept of afternoon viewing with 'Yug', is back with his latest fantasy 'Chandramukhi'. This is a huge fantasy being shot on outdoor locations like Kulu Manali, Raj Pipla and Mahableshwar. In 'Chandramukhi' every Moonless night, the Hero turns into an animal and kills his own people. He had a curse that whenever there is an eye contact with his father, the father will turn blind which happens. To bring father's eye sight back he has to get the flower from Princess Chandramukhi's Kingdom, a place from where nobody comes back alive. After the success of 'Jai Ganesha' and 'Betaal Pachisi', Sunil did his last serial 'Aa Gale Lag Ja' in 2003. Then Sunil was busy with a film for kids 'Ali Baba Chalis Chor' with Arbaz Khan. "Later I was approached by my producers Applause to do a Fantasy. I thought for sometime and had to make something that was starkly different from Chandrakanta and also more entertaining for the masses. This idea was inspired by an Arabian tale Gul-E-Bakawli. I narrated the line to Applause and they liked it. So my current drama Chandramukhi was born with action, thrills, emotions and comedy. Special FX plays a very important part in the serial," says Sunil. In today's age of computers, are there still takers for such story? "Yes definitely, West has spent millions of dollars on fantasies and are still spending millions to entertain with something new on this genre. Science and technology has definitely a big part to play for films like Star Wars, ET, Jurassic Park" answers the dream weaver. Star cast for Chandramukhi includes Deepak Parashar, Natasha Sinha, Krutika Desai, Mamik, Sachin Khurana, Nishigandha Wad, Amita Nagia, Goga Kapoor, Saadika , Shiva, Sanjiva, Tej Sapru, Raja Chaudhray, Ram Mohan, Vinod Kapoor, Rita Jagtiani, Dinesh Hingoo, Ria Walia, Gunjan Pant, Mahindra Ghule, Manish Shrma, Savi Junja, Yojesh, Anwer Fatehan, Jai Prakesh, Snandar Anrohi with Vindu Dara Singh and newfind Piku Sharma.
India's Chandrayaan helps NASA detect water on Moon
Washington: Using data collected by India's Chandrayaan mission, NASA has detected magmatic water locked under the surface of the Moon. The findings represent the first remote detection of this form of water that originates from deep within the Moon's interior, NASA researchers said. Earlier studies had shown the existence of magmatic water in lunar samples returned during the Apollo programme. NASA said scientists using data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, remotely detected magmatic water, or water that originates from deep within the Moon's interior, on the lunar surface. M3 imaged the lunar impact crater Bullialdus, which lies near the lunar equator. "This rock, which normally resides deep beneath the surface, was excavated from the lunar depths by the impact that formed Bullialdus crater," said Rachel Klima, a planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel. "Compared to its surroundings, we found that the central portion of this crater contains a significant amount of hydroxyl - a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom - which is evidence that the rocks in this crater contain water that originated beneath the lunar surface," Klima said. In 2009, M3 provided the first mineralogical map of the lunar surface and discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon. This water is thought to be a thin layer formed from solar wind hitting the Moon's surface. Bullialdus crater is in a region with an unfavourable environment for solar wind to produce significant amounts of water on the surface, NASA said. "NASA missions like Lunar Prospector and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and instruments like M3 have gathered crucial data that fundamentally changed our understanding of whether water exists on the surface of the moon," said S Pete Worden, centre director at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. The detection of internal water from orbit means scientists can begin to test some of the findings from sample studies in a broader context, including in regions that are far from where the Apollo sites are clustered on the near side of the Moon. For many years, researchers believed that the rocks from the Moon were bone-dry and any water detected in the Apollo samples had to be contamination from Earth, NASA said. "Now that we have detected water that is likely from the interior of the Moon, we can start to compare this water with other characteristics of the lunar surface," said Klima. "This internal magmatic water also provides clues about the moon's volcanic processes and internal composition, which helps us address questions about how the moon formed, and how magmatic processes changed as it cooled," Klima said. The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Eager to know audiences' reaction on 'Visaaranai': M. Chandrakumar
Auto-rickshaw driver turned writer M. Chandrakumar, on whose book "Lock Up" the forthcoming Tamil thriller "Visaaranai" is based, is eager to know how the general public will react to the film that is inspired from events from his life. The film, which had its world premiere at Venice International Film Festival last year, chronicles the harrowing experience of Chandrakumar in a lock up. "The international audiences were moved by the film. I was equally moved by their reaction. However, I'm more interested to know how audiences here will react when the film releases this week in cinemas," Chandrakumar, who is also known as Auto Chandran, told. Last year, the film was screened at Mumbai International Film Festival, leaving audiences in awe. "The events have been recreated very sensitively. So much so that, it will trigger dialogue and discourse on basic human rights," he said. In 1983, in Guntur, Chandran along with his three friends was detained by police and was mercilessly beaten black and blue for 13 days for a crime he never committed. Decades later, at the behest of his close friend, he penned down the agony and pain he suffered in the hands of the police as Tamil novel "Lock Up". "I was in my 20s when the incident happened. I'd fled from my house in Coimbatore, and before doing several odd jobs, I finally landed in Guntur where my fate changed forever. We were booked on a case of doubt," he said. When National Award winning filmmaker Vetrimaaran read the novel, he decided to make it as a film. "The film was shot at the same place where we were held captive. It was a 10X10 ft room without any source of air and light," recalled Chandran, who said Vetrimaaran had done full justice to his story. The film, which is jointly produced by actor Dhanush and Vetrimaaran, features Dinesh, Murugadoss, Samuthirakani, Kishore, Anandi and Ajay Ghosh. Chandran hasn't met the three others who were locked up with him since they were released. He doesn't even know if they're alive. "We parted ways fearing we may be arrested again. I hope when the film releases, they watch it and know it's our story. I wish I could meet them again," he said.