A story he heard while in 11th grade has given student filmmaker Shubhashish Bhutiani his first taste of stardom. “Kush,” Bhutiani’s film for his graduation project at New York’s School of Visual Arts, won him the Outstanding Film at the school’s annual Dusty Film & Animation Festival and Awards held May 8.

New York-based musician Falguni Shah, better known as Falu, is set to release her upcoming album “Foras Road,” May 28. Produced by Grammy-award winning producer Danny Blume, “Foras Road,” refers to the Mumbai’s oldest red-light district and traverses the musical traditions and cultural history of India's centuries-old brothels, according to a press release.

The gloomy weather on the French Riviera did not dampen Amitabh Bachchan’s spirits. He, along with his “The Great Gatsby” co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, opened the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival May 15. Bachchan plays Meyer Wolfsheim in the $125-million 3-D project, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the same name DiCaprio plays Gatsby.

The Cannes film festival gets underway on Wednesday with Australian director Baz Luhrmann's 3D extravaganza "The Great Gatsby", a lavish production eclipsing more modest launches in recent years that reflected global economic gloom. Already showing in theatres in Canada and the United States, the adaptation of F.

– AURORA, Ill. Renowned dancer-choreographer Leela Samson led a troupe of eight in a Bharata Natyam performance at the Metea Valley High School here May 4. “Spanda” was hosted by Natya Dance Theatre. According to a press release from the organizers, "Spanda" refers not only to external movement but also to the inner vibration (naada) that animates all the rhythms of our universe.

– NEW YORK The ballroom at the New York Consulate reverberated with sounds of the harp, tabla and sitar May 13 as more than 100 music aficionados attended a concert presented by Salon Di Virtuosi as part of the consulate’s “East Meets West” series.  Participating musicians included harpist Sivan Magen who represented the West, while representing the East were Samir Chatterjee on tabla and K.V. Mahabala on sitar.

As India celebrates 100 years of cinema, we asked celebrities to name their favorite Indian film. It was a tough choice. After all, there are tens of thousands of films to choose from. How could they select only one? In the end, all our respondents sent in several choices, unable to pinpoint the one Indian film they thought was the best. Fashion designer Ritu Kumar was closest to the brief, naming just two personal favorites.