Priyanka Chopra may play Indira Gandhi |
Updated at: 1554 PST, Friday, August 20, 2010 MUMBAI: If rumours are anything to go by, desi girl Priyanka Chopra might soon be essaying the role of India’s first women Prime Minister - Indira Gandhi, in a biopic. Director Krishna Shah opted for Priyanka after Madhuri Dixit declined the offer due to her mother in law’s illness. We hear that the makers have grand plans for the film and have roped in Hollywood technicians and make-up artists like Jenny Shircore (‘Elizabeth’). The movie titled Mother: The Indira Gandhi Story will also incorporate facts from the personal tapes of former US president Richard Nixon on the 1971 Bangladesh War. An industry insider said, “Krishna zeroed in on the lead actress after Jenny pointed out that Priyanka has a face that can be matched with Indira’s after a bit of prosthetic work.” However, director Krishna Shah confirmed that the casting is still on and though Jenny feels Priyanka will be an apt choice, they haven’t approached the actress as yet. The film will also explore the politician’s personal life. Now the question is if Priyanka accepts the role, will the audience be able to relate to her as Indira Gandhi, as both the women have highly distinct personalities. If Piggy Chops comes on board, playing the character will certainly be very challenging for her. |
Google is taking on internet telephone companies like Skype by allowing users to call from its free web-based email service.
For the moment only users in the US will be able to make calls from inside their Gmail account.
Phoning anywhere in the US and Canada will be free until the end of the year, while calls to the UK, France, China and Germany will cost 2 cents a minute.
Until now Google offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services.
"This is a real big deal because now hundreds of millions of Gmail users can make phone calls right from their Gmail page," Craig Walker, product manager for real-time communications told BBC News.
"They don't need to download an additional application or anything to start making really high-quality low-cost calls. For the user it means much more efficient and low-cost communications."
The product link will appear on the left hand of the Gmail page within the "chat" window. A "call phone" option will pop up along with a number pad to let you dial the number of the person you want to talk to.
Google said money raised from international calls will pay for the free US and Canadian calls.
"What surprised me was that they actually said they hope to make money off the calls," said Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of technology blog SearchEngineLand.
"Normally Google is like 'We don't know how we are going to make the money' or 'We will make money down the way, don't worry about it' and this stands out as a big benefit that they get actual revenue early on."
Competition
Skype, which is the most successful internet phone offering, claims to have over 560 million registered users. The firm said 124 million used the service at least one a month while 8.1 million were paying customers.
The company is planning to offer shares to the public later this year. But should it be worried that Google is putting a stake in the same ground as Skype?
"Skype is a well known company in this place and they are almost like a verb in the internet calling world in the way Google is with search. You Skype someone. So I think there is some inertia there to get over and I am interested to see how Gmail users respond," said Tom Krazit, senior writer with technology news site CNET.com.
"But you always have to worry when Google comes after what you do. They don't do things half way and bring a lot of resources to any problem they try to tackle. It doesn't mean you are doomed.
"Google's product won't work on your mobile browser so Skype has an advantage there but I don't think it is a stretch to assume Google will come out with a mobile version pretty soon," said Mr Krazit.
The company plans an eye catching way to get non-Gmail users to give the product a go. It is in negotiations with a number of university campuses and airports to install red telephone boxes around the country to give users the chance to dial and try.