Aishwarya Rai draws thousands at first post-baby event

Plus, Delhi to host first film festival; Anand Kumar names son after Salman Khan; Big B joins Facebook, gets nearly a million likes

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan addresses fans from an outdoor stage at the opening of a jewellery store in Kochi, India. IANS

Aishwarya draws thousands at event

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan drew thousands of fans in the Indian port city of Kochi on Monday at a launch of a jewellery store that she has been tapped to endorse. It was her first official public appearance in the country after having a baby in November last year. Bachchan attended the Cannes film festival in May, but only posed for photographs on the red carpet and avoided questions from the press. Though she was last seen on the big screen in 2010's Guzaarish, the 38-year-old remains to be one of the most popular actresses in Bollywood. At the Kochi event, fans lined up along the roads leading to the store. Bachchan, wearing a white ensemble by the designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, addressed the fans from atop an outdoor stage, before she went inside for the store's launch. She was accompanied by her mother Vrinda Rai and daughter Aaradhya. - IANS

Delhi to host first film festival

The Indian capital is holding its first Delhi International Film Festival from December 21 to 27. Over 150 films from across 70 countries are scheduled to be screened at the event. "The festival will not just be a festival of films. It is run with a vision of bringing the world together," said the filmmaker and festival director Suresh Goswami. "Delhi is rich in terms of culture and heritage, but unfortunately it doesn't have its own platform to showcase creativity. That is the reason why we wanted to have our own festival here." Organised by the non-profit group Social Circle, the festival includes a Delhi Scope section, which will feature films set in the capital. A section called Homage will showcase films by late veteran directors such as Dev Anand and Balraj Sahni. There will also be seminars and workshops. The line-up of films will be released in the coming weeks. Visit www.delhiinternationalfilmfestival.com.

Anand Kumar names son after Salman Khan

The filmmaker Anand Kumar, who had a baby boy on Monday, has named his child Tiger, after Salman Khan's character in Ek Tha Tiger - a film that's currently taking India's box office by storm. "Every year Salman gives us such great films during Eid and this year he took our hearts with this blockbuster. So when I got this very special gift on the occasion of Eid, I decided to give the name Tiger to my newborn," Kumar said in a statement. Kumar is gearing up for the release of his new thriller Zilla Ghaziabad, starring Sanjay Dutt and Vivek Oberoi. - IANS

Big B joins Facebook, gets nearly a million likes

Amitabh Bachchan launched his official Facebook page on Tuesday and within an hour, Facebook.com/AmitabhBachchan had received close to 800,000 "likes" from fans. By Wednesday morning, it had 990,000. "The way the digital world is going is just unbelievable, so I thought I would use this to connect with all my well-wishers," said the 69-year-old actor on a video posted on the page. "Lovely to have you here … You will get to know more about me and my daily activities." Bachchan has been active on the social media front, constantly updating a blog and a Twitter account. - IANS