you are my sonia: Monica Bellucci

n It?s official now. Italian screen goddess Monica Bellucci will be playing Sonia Gandhi in Jagmohan Mundhra?s biopic that gets underway later this year. Mundhra had told Metro how interested Bellucci was in the project and how she would be making notes every time a new draft of the script was sent to her.

Just after the film festival at Cannes came to a close, which saw the participation of both Bellucci and Mundhra in different capacities, the Irreversible star who played Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson?s The Passion of The Christ, confirmed her presence in the ambitious project from the maker of Bawander.

There?s more good news for Mundhra. Before his Sonia film rolls, he is set to direct Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri in the same movie, tentatively titled Shoot At Sight. Based on the true story of a Scotland Yard cop of Pakistani origin, it will be set in the aftermath of the London tube blasts. Before the shooting starts in August, Mundhra?s Aishwarya Rai-starrer Provoked would have released worldwide.

n Budding film-makers, get your cameras rolling. The newest Hindi movie channel on the block, Filmy, has announced a call for entries for short films. The occasion is the launch of a short film festival which will hit the small screen in July.

Says Shailesh Kapoor, head of marketing and content, Filmy: ?The idea is to tap talent and give them a platform. Television today is the most powerful medium. But ours is not a reality show.?

The film has to be less than 60 minutes in duration. ?It can even be of five minutes,? Kapoor clarifies. Any genre ? documentary, comedy, suspense thriller, silent film, animation? ? is welcome. There is no bar on language either. ?We can show a dubbed version.?

The best news is that the channel is ?not expecting sleek productions?. ?As long as the film is technically fit to run on screen, we do not have a problem,? he says.

The jury does not comprise celebrities, to ensure each film gets viewed with care. ?Since this is an uncharted territory, we have no idea as to how many entries may come,? adds Kapoor.

Once the films are beamed on television over a span of time, viewers will be asked to rate them. The top three will be picked based on equal weightage on viewer votes and judges? choices. ?The winning films will be promoted by us. We can even tie up with a multiplex and host a festival. This will give amateur film-makers their big break in Mumbai,? reveals Kapoor.

What has given Filmy the courage to go ahead with the venture is New Bollywood. ?Over the past two-three years, the face of the mainstream industry is changing,? Kapoor adds. ?Now you even have an hour and 45 minute-long films. Nor are the subjects restricted to romantic stories. We can bring back another edition of the festival in two-three months. By the second year, they should be ready for it.?

As for now, it is time to ready the shorts and shoot ?em across by end-June to the channel.

n Cashing in on the hype surrounding The Da Vinci Code, Excel Home Entertainment has released the DVD of the acclaimed Simon Cox documentary Cracking The Da Vinci Code. The USP of the documentary, of course, is a Dan Brown interview where he states his main intention for writing the book ? to highlight the times that existed thousands of years ago where women were treated with equality, respect and revered in the true sense of the word.

The documentary based on the bestselling novel, features authors of books endorsed as research material by Dan Brown, like Templar Revelation in addition to the views from the church, adding to the authenticity and balance in opinion.

Cracking the Da Vinci Code is one of the first films to cut through the confusion and disclose the amazing facts that underpin the plot. The film goes on to dissect Leonardo Da Vinci?s paintings Madonna of the Rocks and The Last Supper, discussing every little gesture from hidden daggers to raised fingers.