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 Mona Lisa's identity revealed (Go To Top)

         Sydney: Art critics have been trying to unravel the identity of Mona Lisa since centuries now and a German art historian Maike Vogt- Luerssen claims to have finally solved the mystery. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the historian believes that the lady in Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece is an Italian duchess, Isabella of Aragon. She explains that the reason behind Mona Lisa's sad smile is the fact that Isabella, the inspiration behind the painting, lost her mother just before Da Vinci painted her and because her husband was an alcoholic, who used to beat her. Luerssen has listed various similarities between the woman in the painting and the duchess, which she has published in her book "Who is Mona Lisa? In Search of Her Identity." Leurssen who researched the book for 17 years has also found records of the Duchess of Milan, which say that she was sad all the time because her husband subjected her to physical abuse. The duchess is also said to have been close to Leonardo da Vinci, who was her court painter. "Why is she looking so sad? . . . She married at the end of 1488 when she came to Milan but she had a big problem. She married her cousin, a beautiful man but he was a drinker, and he had problems with impotence," the report quoted Leurssen as saying. Till now it was believed that Mona Lisa was based on a French lady called La Gioconda, who was the wife of a Florentine silk merchant.

New name marks a new beginning for Madonna (Go To Top)

          New York: With a new name, Madge aka Esther is now trying to give a new dimension to her life. The famous popstar now wants to overcome her ego and lead a more orderly life. According to ratethemusic.com, the singer displayed her philanthropic spirit when she said that she wanted to be "liberated" from her ego. "Once you enter the popularity sweepstakes, which you do when you become famous... you enter the world of 'How am I doing? How's my ratings? Where am I in the 50 most beautiful people poll?" she was quoted as saying. "I thought I was liberating mankind but, like I said, I wasn't really offering an alternative.To a certain extent I was saying 'Look, you know, why do men only get the job of objectifying women in a sexual way? I want to do it too.'It wasn't that altruistic. I can admit that," she added. With the influence of Kabdalah on her life, Maddona now wants to let go of her past experiences and be an active participant in the world order. "I choose to look at myself as a person who's now awake and a person who's now trying to be part of the order, not the chaos, of the world," she added.

Madonna can't get Kelly Brooke to bite the 'Kabbalah' carrot (Go To Top)

        London: Madonna has successfully converted a wide variety of people, including friends, relatives and celebrities, to the Jewish religion 'Kabbalah', but she failed to impress the sexy actress, Kelly Brook, who believes that that the teachings of her parents are sufficient for her to become a generous human- being. "Many people explained Kabbalah to me but my parents taught me to live by its principles. For example, one aspect is about doing things for others without expecting anything in return. I've been brought up to do that anyway," The Mirror quoted Kelly as saying. Celebrities like Demi Moore, Britney Spears, Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Hall, Courtney Love and Roseanne Barr have all adopted the trendiest religion of the present times.

Madonna wins battle for her privacy (Go To Top)

         Washington: Pop star Madonna's attempts to keep trespassers away from her 123 acres country estate in Southwest England, have borne fruit. And on Friday,she won a legal battle to prevent travellers from wandering into her premises. The 'Frozen' star had been anxious to keep hikers away from her estate ever since local authorities planned to construct a pedestrian walk quite close to her mansion and along with husband Guy Ritchie had even appealed to none other than the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Now according to the court's order, no one can infringe upon the couple's privacy.

The Godfather voted the best gangster movie of all time (Go To Top)

         London: That "The Godfather" remains unequalled when it comes to gangster movies is common knowledge, now a poll by Choices Video has made it official after fans voted the movie as the greatest gangster movie of all time. Not only did the survey name the movie, based on Mario Puzo's classic by the same name, as the greatest gangster movie, it also revealed that Robert De Niro, Al Pachino and Marlon Brando were the most popular choices to play gangsters as they were the most featured actors on the list.

          According to The Sun, the top ten gangster movies all time are: 1 The Godfather 2 The Godfather Part 2 3 GoodFellas 4 Scarface 5 Reservoir Dogs 6 The Public Enemy 7 Miller's Crossing 8 Angels With Dirty Faces 9 The Untouchables 10 Carlito's Way

Kate Winslet is Woody Allen's new leading lady (Go To Top)

         London: Kate Winslet, who shot to fame with her portrayal of Rose in the top-grosser Titanic is all set to star in the direcorial debu of actor Woody Allen. According to The Sun, Allen's first UK film stars the 28-year old British beauty along with fellow Brits Emily Mortimer and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. It is probably the first time Allen has made a movie set entirely outside New York.