Entertainment news of 2012

Avengers, Psy Gangnam Style ruled the roost during the year

* Walt Disney buys Lucasfilm: Walt Disney acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in a stock and cash transaction. Lucasfilm, known for its Star Wars franchise is wholly owned by its Chairman and Founder George Lucas. Lucas has donated bulk of the money from the deal to an educational foundation.

* Gangnam Style goes viral: Korean rapper Psy’s Gangnam style, an invisible horse-dance performance, overtook LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem to become the most “liked” video in YouTube history, spawning over 3,500 DIY parodies along the way.

* Rs 150 cr is the new Rs 100 cr for Bollywood: Diwali releases Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son of Sardar got the cash registers ringing. So much so that they rendered the hitherto Rs 100 crore mark a passé. Both movies achieved box-office success to the tune of Rs 150 crore.

* Avengers take the world by storm: The Avengers, a 2012 American superhero film produced by Marvel Studios did the unthinkable: bring the leads of four franchises together in one film and it turned out to be the third-highest grossing film of all time (precisely, $1.5 billion).

* PVR buys majority stake in Cinemax: Gurgaon-based multiplex major PVR bought 69.27% promoters’ stake in rival Cinemax India for Rs 394.98 crore at Rs 203.65 a share. The deal would make PVR the top player in the Indian cinema exhibition space, surpassing Inox Leisure (along with Fame Cinemas) and Big Cinemas.

* Satyamev Jayate form of activism: Aamir Khan’s entry into the small screen did no harm to his “thinking man’s actor” no harm whatsoever. If anything, it only enhanced. His show Satyamev Jayate tackled quite a few subjects that have never been widely discussed in public domain.

* Gabbar Singh roars: Tollywood flick Gabbar Singh, a not-so-faithful remake of Salman Khan’s blockbusting Dabangg brought the monetary might of South Indian cinema to the fore. Directed by Harish Shankar, this Pawan Kalyan and Shruti Hasan starrer has raked in the moolah to the tune of Rs 150 crore.

* Bollywood mourns: Director Yash Chopra, actors Rajesh Khanna, Dara Singh,  child actor Taruni Sachdev have all died during this year.

* Big, fat Bollywood weddings: Three high-profile weddings graced the tinsel town this year. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, Vidya Balan and Siddharth Roy Kapur, Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza consummated their love affairs in typical Bollywood style.