One Asian World

(photo: jeff vespa/wireimage.com)

Remember when everyone thought Maggie Q was set to become the new Nikita? Well, that’s over before it even started. The Asian-American actress has been cast as the OLD Nikita. Lyndsy Fonseca (How I Met Your Mother), a young, pretty, white female, is the NEW Nikita.

Lyndsy play Alex, a 19-year-old felon who – after being sentenced to 25 years in a federal penitentiary – is recruited by a secret government agency to hunt down the title character (Maggie Q), her predecessor. She’s detailed as an “attractive, young, white female with virtually no personal ties or paper trail,” a profile which is deemed ideal for their kind of work. Aaron Stanford, Melinda Clarke and Shane West also star in the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which Danny Cannon is directing off a script by Craig Silverstein.

Bottom line: America Hollywood sucks when you’re not white.

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(photos: gq/sina)

Pics of actress Shu Qi in the March ‘10 issue of GQ magazine.

(photos: faisalabad/magxone)

Kareena Kapoor is wearing the latest print garments from Pakistan Fashion World’s magazine Faisalabad. Tons more pics of the Bollywood actress when you pick up the Summer 2010 issue.

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Charlene Choi

Sandra Ng

Lu Yi

Chan Wai-Ting

Xie Na

Fan Siu-Wong

Six new movie posters were released today for Charlene Choi’s upcoming romantic comedy Beauty on Duty co-starring Sandra Ng, Lu Yi, Chan Wai-Ting, Xie Na and Fan Sui-Wong. The film releases in theatres on April 1st.

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(photos: liane hentscher/fox)

Television stills from Fox’s Human Target’s upcoming episode Corner Man. Grace Park guest stars. The episode summary below.

HUMAN TARGET “Corner Man” – Chance (Mark Valley) travels to a boxing tournament to outsmart a shrewd gambler in the HUMAN TARGET episode “Corner Man” airing Wednesday, March 24 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

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Variety magazine is reporting Freida Pinto has signed on to star in the upcoming Hollywood film War of Gods (aka Dawn of War). Pinto will portray Phaedra, a priestess who joins forces with Theseus, a warrior from Greek mythology who takes on the Greek gods. The Tudors’ Henry Cavill co-stars.

Frieda recently finished filming her first international movie Miral. Frieda stars as Miral, a girl raised in a Jerusalem orphanage. The film is a chronicle of Hind Husseini’s effort to establish an orphanage in Jerusalem after the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel. Miral is expected to release later this year.

Back in March 2009 I reported Frieda has signed on to star in Woody Allen’s next feature. Well,  filming is completed and fans can soon see the starlet in Allen’s romance drama You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin and Antonio Banderas co-star. The film has a release date of September 23rd.

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(L-R) Actresses Bae Doona, Haruka Ayase and Aoi Miyazaki

Actress Takako Matsu

Actress Haruka Ayase

(L-R) Actors Kimiko Yo, Ken Watanabe, director Daisaku Kimura, Takako Matsu and Teruyuki Kagawa

Actresses Kyoka Suzuki (L) and Miki Nakatani (R)

Actor Eita

Actresses Tae Kimura, Miki Nakatani and Ryoko Hirosue

Actress Tae Kimura (L) and comedian Tsutomu Sekine

Actress Takako Matsu

Actor Ken Watanabe

Actor Tadanobu Asano

Actor Hiro Mizushima

Actress Kimiko Yo

(photos: junko kimura/getty images asiapac)

Stars came out on March 5th to attend the 33rd Japan Academy Awards at Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan. List of winners below.

• Best Picture: The Sun That Doesn’t Set (Setsuro Wakamatsu)

• Best Animated Feature: Summer Wars (Mamoru Hosoda)

• Best Director: Daisaku Kimura (Mt. Tsurugidake)

• Best Screenplay: Miwa Nishikawa (Dear Doctor)

• Best Actor: Ken Watanabe (The Sun That Doesn’t Set)

• Best Actress: Takako Matsu (Villon’s Wife)

• Best Supporting Actor: Teruyuki Kagawa (Mt. Tsurugidake)

• Best Supporting Actress: Kimiko Yo (Dear Doctor)

• Best Music: Shinichiro Ikebe (Mt. Tsurugidake)

• Best Cinematography: Daisaku Kimura (Mt. Tsurugidake)

• Best Lighting Direction: Kawabe Takayuki (Mt. Tsurugidake)

• Best Art Direction: Yohei Taneda & Kyoko Yauchi (Villon’s Wife)

• Best Sound Recording: Teiichi Saito (Mt. Tsurugidake)

• Best Film Editing: Takao Arai (The Sun That Doesn’t Set)

• Best Foreign Language Film: Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood)

(list source)

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Gong Li

Zhang Ziyi

Zhou Xun

Tang Wei

Michelle Yeoh

According to HK media reports, actresses Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, Tang Wei and Michelle Yeoh have all signed on to star in Ronnie Yu’s upcoming film The Lady Generals of the Yang Family. The film follows a group of widows from the Song dynasty who bravely go into battle after learning their warrior husbands were sold out by a traitorous Song official.  Hmm…I guess love will make you do some crazy ish. At any rate, the movie sounds like a winner. Can’t wait until the first stills release!!

*Cues Pat Benatar’s Love Is A Battlefield*

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(photo: aishwaryaweb.com)

New stills from Aish and Akshay’s upcoming film Action Replay. The romantic comedy tells the story of an old man who goes back in time to his younger days in the 1970s.

Action Replay, co-starring Neha Dhupia and Randhir Kapoor, is currently in post-production.

In other Aish news…

Katrina

Aishwarya, 36, is no longer the ‘face’ of Lux soap. The cosmetic company has named younger Bollywood beauty Katrina Kaif, 25, as its new brand ambassador. Katrina’s statement below.

“I feel honored to be chosen by Lux as the face of such an iconic brand. It is with great pride that I join the legendary Lux beauty brigade, and only hope that my association with the brand grows stronger in the years to come. It is the ultimate aspiration of any Bollywood star to be associated with a renowned beauty brand like Lux.”

By the way…

The entire Bachchan clan skipped the 55th Filmfare Awards ceremony over a nasty tabloid story that said Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has infertility problems.

“I felt that the modesty of a lady in my house has been outraged. The topic that was brought up was very, very insensitive. No woman likes her motherhood or her capability of procreation or fertility to be talked about.

I have felt that Aishwarya was slandered by this article and therefore we asked them to apologise, which they didn’t. It is very difficult for me to go to an award function, sing, dance and applaud when that very paper abused a lady of my house.

If you read the constitution of India, you will find that in our Article 21 it is clearly mentioned that if you defame any woman and talk about her motherhood, fertility or process of procreation, it is defamatory.”

At any rate, Amitabh Bachchan won the best actor award for his performance in Paa. The 55th Filmfare Awards winners below.

• Best Film: 3 Idiots

• Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani for 3 Idiots

• Best Actor in Leading Role (Male): Amitabh Bachchan for Paa

• Best Actor in Leading Role (Female): Vidya Balan for Paa

• Best Supporting Actor (Male): Boman Irani for 3 Idiots

• Best Supporting Actor (Female): Kalki Koechlin for Dev D

• Best Debut Director (Male): Ayan Mukherjee for Wake Up Sid

• Best Debut Director (Female): Zoya Akhtar for Luck By Chance

• Best Dialogue: Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra for 3 Idiots

• Best Screenplay: Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra for 3 Idiots

• Best Story: Abhijat Joshi and Raju Hirani for 3 Idiots

• Best Actor (Critic) (Female) : Mahi Gill

• Best Actor (Critic) (Male): Ranbir Kapoor

• Best Music: A R Rahman for Delhi 6

• Best Lyrics: Irshad Kamil for ‘Aaj Din Chaddya’ (Love Aaj Kal)

• Best Film (Critic): Firaaq

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So White Day is right around the corner (March 14th). Looks like Rain and Goo Hye Sun are all set for the big day with Tous Les Jours.

No offense against Bi but I rather have the below for White Day – specifically the gift at 0:46!!!

Clip of LBH and Kim Tae-hee celebrating White Day in IRIS

*faints*

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Actress Erich Gonzales is on the cover of March 2010’s Cosmopolitan (Philippines) magazine.

True Legend star Zhou Xun is on the cover of L’Officiel (China) for March 2010.

Alexa on the cover and inside the pages of Harper’s Bazaar (Korea) March 2010 issue.

Plenty more pics of all the ladies when you pick up the magazines.

Brought to you by Kenny Yap - Read How An Asian Entrepreneur Became Ceo Of A Public-Listed Company With Turnover Of S$91 Million At The Age Of 34.