MTV Video Music

With the 32nd VMAs round the corner, we look back at some of the most contentious moments at awards ceremony. Plus, a prediction of who might win

One of the biggest musical extravaganzas of the year, the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) will be aired tonight, and it has already generated quite a buzz.

The first jaw-dropper of the awards night: pop princess and controversy's favourite child, Miley Cyrus, is host. The announcement, made a couple of months ago, was followed by a Twitter duel between fans who nominated Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj as hosts.

And this is the mildest of VMAs controversies. Take a look at some of the most cringe-worthy and iconic moments in the history of this music gala.

Madonna and Britney Spears make out:
It's no secret that Britney considers Madonna her icon. But what happened at the 20th anniversary of the VMAs in 2003 took things to a whole new level. Britney took to the stage in a super-short version of the wedding dress that Madonna donned (none too coyly) for her 1984 song Like a Virgin. As an added incentive to fulfil the paparrazi's dream, Madonna locked lips with not just Britney, but also with Christina Aguilera. We didn't see that coming.

Lady Gaga's meat dress:

Lady Gaga opted to show some flesh for the 2010 VMA's, literally. The singer contributed to substantial eye-rolling and tongue wagging when she strode into the arena in a dress tailored from raw beef. Gaga later explained that her decision to wear the dress was not meant to offend vegetarians but was simply her way of protesting against the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which put restrictions on the rights of gay soldiers. Want to know more? Go to Wikipedia, where the dress has its own page.

Miley Cyrus comes of age:
The "most tweeted" about piece of news, and rightly so, came in the form of Miley Cyrus' provo-cative performance at the 2013 VMAs. The singer teamed up with every feminist's nightmare a.k.a. Robin Thicke, for a performance of his song Blurred Lines. What ensued was a shudder-inducing twerkathon, with generous doses of simulated sex moves with several dancers in the background dressed as bears.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West run-in:

When Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video at the 2009 VMAs, the Shake It Off hitmaker barely had a chance to accept her award before Kanye West jumped on stage, grabbed the microphone from her hand and spoke the supremely popular rant that goes thus, "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you. Imma let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time... One of the best videos of all time!" Needless to say, the infamous words became fodder for many a meme and social media jokes. Kanye later apologised saying he had had a "little sippy sippy" before the event.

Nirvana sings 'Rape me':

The posterboys of grunge music, Nirvana, were all about rage and rebellion, which is exactly what they did in their 1992 VMA performance. Kurt Cobain was far from pleased when the organisers asked him to perform the band's mega hit, Smells Like Teen Spirit. Agreeing to sing Lithium as a compromise, Cobain sang the first few lines of the song Rape Me, despite it being banned, much to the horror of the organisers.

 

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Nandita Das: 'Festival film' label keeps audiences away from good stories

Award winning actress Nandita Das is "uncomfortable" with labels such as 'festival films' that create a divide among audiences. She believes people are keen to watch such films, but are not able to access them.

Nandita Das

"It doesn't have to be a festival versus audience kind of a film. These regional films while they cut across, while they can be the international thing... finally, a filmmaker who makes it would want all audiences to watch it in their own city, state and all over. This divide is where one is uncomfortable," Das said here.

She was a discussant on the topic 'What is regional cinema, what is national cinema' here on Sunday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali".

The "Fire" and "Earth" actress said such labels have affected some really good films, which are human stories, but couldn't reach out to a wider audience.

"When you are making an independent film (for the lack of a better word) and then you are also doing the festival thing and not be labelled as that this is a festival film, this is for the classes, this is not for masses (sic).

"Who is going to decide that the man on the street is not ready to watch it? It's I think our arrogance and the class that we belong to, that we think it is for us and they are not ready to watch it," she said.

The "Firaaq" filmmaker, known for her strong performances in numerous south Indian films, said the common man "wants to watch regional films but will never have access to it".

"That's why we keep coming back to the fact there is too much interference and nexus between the producer, distributor, audience and all of these people, and the director is kind of (caught) between them," she said.

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'Plot thickens': Big B's Twitter account hacked

Amitabh Bachchan's official Twitter account has been hacked. The Big B yesterday tweeted, "WHOA !... My Twitter handle hacked! Sex sites planted as 'following'! Whoever did this, try someone else, buddy, I don't need this!"

Amitabh Bachchan

According to the star, the hackers have planted some sex sites in his 'following' list. This implies that someone may have accessed his account and followed Twitter handles of sex sites.

Later yesterday, the Big B tweeted, "OKAAY .. !! Plot thickens ! Had been getting several really dirty abusive sms for a year... just handed all of them to the POLICE!"

Spotted: Aparna Sen, Nandita Das and Sharmila Tagore

From left: Aparna Sen, Nandita Das and Sharmila Tagore during a seminar on 'Indian cinema: What is national, what is regional' to celebrate 60 years of the release of Satyajit Ray's 'Pather Panchali' at Kala Mandir in Kolkata. Pic/ PTI

Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji is pregnant

Gossip mills were abuzz with rumours of Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji being pregnant, and now, Rani's sister-in-law and TV actress, Jyoti Mukerji, has 'accidentally' confirmed the news.

According to a leading daily, the actress who wed filmmaker Aditya Chopra in April last year, is in her second trimester and the baby is due in January.

Rani Mukerji

On August 10, we had reported that Rani Mukerji is rumoured to be pregnant. A source said, “Rani has been away from media glare for some time now and there are speculations that she is pregnant. She was recently spotted holidaying in London. The actress looked relaxed and was glowing. She was dressed casually and was seen visiting a plush spa for prenatal massage.”

Another source said, “Rani likes to step out for public events only if it is necessary. After Mardaani (2014), she did not sign any film, though there were rumours that she was offered to play the role of Haseena Parkar, Dawood Ibrahim’s sister, role in a biopic. Sonakshi Sinha will be doing it now.”

Rani’s spokesperson expressed her inability to comment on the buzz.

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Kangana Ranaut, Imran Khan's kissing contest plans go for a toss

Makers of a Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan-starrer 'Katti Batti' denied permission to host a kissing contest in Mumbai

As movie promotions become increasingly aggressive, filmmakers are egged on to push the envelope. Like the marketing team of Nikhil Advani's ''Katti Batti'' came up with the idea of a kissing contest in Mumbai. The lead pair Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan has multiple kissing scenes in the film and were supposed to judge real-life couples on the smooch-o-meter. However, the city police have denied permission to host the event.

Video: Watch quirky stop-motion song 'Lip To Lip De Kissiyaan' from ''Katti Batti''

Imran Khan and Kangana Ranaut in a still from 'Katti Batti'

Apparently, the film's team had approached a Bandra college to host the event on its campus and the authorities then approached the police to seek permission. "The contest required real-life couples to come out in the open and kiss in front of the judges. While the contest was not restricted to students of that particular college, the authorities decided to seek police permission," says a source close to the project.

The police, however, did not endorse the idea and supposedly felt that an educational institute wasn't an ideal ground to hold the liplock activity. "We believe that kissing is not a crime and when 50-odd couples were willing to take part, why should we shy away from hosting it? But, the police did not agree. The college then intimated the film's team that they won't be able to organise the event," says the source, adding: "The makers then decided to host it in Bandra Bandstand but the police shot down that idea too."

Also read: Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan to judge a kissing marathon

The producers of 'Katti Batti' have apparently lost a lot of money and time on planning the event. Though disheartened, director Nikhil says, "We have been denied permission by every possible institution for the kissing contest. What's very interesting is the response that we have generated."

My grandmother always wanted me to perform live

Sarkodie’s fourth studio album Mary is scheduled for release on September 12, 2015.

In an interview with MTV Iggy, he disclosed his grandmother’s ‘demand’ for him to perform live is the inspiration behind the content on the album named after his granny.

“She always wanted me to do live music. She liked hip-hop, but she was more into live music, the live drums, live guitars, not too much that’s computerized. I should have done it for her and now she’s gone,”

The Mary album was produced by songwriter/musician Akwaboah, who is the first artiste to be signed to Sarkodie’s Sarkcess Music label.

"Mewu", the first single off the upcoming album was released about a month ago.

Sarkodie adds that there is a lot of highlife influence on the album.

“I took it back to my people, the sounds that we grew up on, and the sounds that I loved growing up. I’m trying to take the indigenous Ghanaian music to the world,” he equivocates. Ultimately, he says he wants to avoid being predictable. This is as vital to rap in Ghana as it is anywhere.”