Bolly News

Ramu’s ‘Sholay’ is soon to release but, guess who is cashing on the ‘Sholay’ fever? Well, its Himmesh Reshamiya and Mallika Sherawat as they are going to groove on the ‘Mehebooba’ song in ‘Aap Ka Suroor’.

Incidentally Vijay Taneja of ‘Aap ka Suroor’ has bagged the rights to the song ‘Mehebooba’ from Sippys’ and now he wants to make the classic song a part of his movie. Ramu also shot ‘Mehebooba’ for his ‘Sholay’ with Big B, Urmila and Abhishek, in fact, the pictures of the raunchy number were leaked out recently and that didn’t make Ramu too happy.

Mallika’s ‘Mehebooba’ will be shot this week and Saroj Khan is choreographing the bombshell; Mickey Contractor will be doing her look for the number.

Now, each time Urmila and Ramu have come together they have delivered a winner but, this time with Mallika and Himmesh in the twist it seems to be a tough competition.

So who do you think will be sizzling hot, Mallika or Urmila?

Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan have worked in two films in the past -- Saajan and Chal Mere Bhai. Salman and Akshay Kumar have also featured in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Jaan-E-Mann. Sanju and Akki too featured in Amaanat in the past. But the trio hasn't featured in a single film so far.

Reportedly, hot-shot director Priyadarshan is contemplating signing the three actors in his new film, to be produced by Moser Baer. “Moser Baer has signed Priyan, but we haven't decided on the cast yet,” Moser Baer's Harish Dayani tells me, “The project with Priyan will start next year. But we will lock the script in June this year. We have three options, of which one will be finalized. The casting will only follow thereafter.”

Meanwhile, Moser Baer has signed lyricist Javed Akhtar and music composer / singer Adnan Sami for an altogether different project, to be directed by Samar Khan. Rahul Bose and Minissha Lamba will head the cast of this film.

For Shilpa Shetty who got internationally famous post ‘Celebrity Big Brother’, the sky seems to be the limit, even when it comes to her choice of men. The stunner has revealed that she has the hots for as many as five Hollywood hunks.

In a recent interview with the Mirror, when Shilpa was asked who she fancied being stuck with in a lift, she said: ““A lift man. And I quite like, erm, who is the guy in ‘The Holiday’ with Cameron Diaz? Jude Law? Oh, he is hot. And while we’re at it, I wouldn’t mind Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.”

“And if we’re having so many, I’ll also have Colin Firth. Oh, and Russell Crowe. Yes, let’s have them all, why not?” the Mirror quoted Shilpa.

There is serious news doing the rounds about Shilpa’s mom looking for a suitable groom for her. But with a choice list of this stature, it seems her suitors and matchmakers will have to work doubly hard to get close and match up.

When queried about her marriage plans, the Bollywood beauty said, “Well, I’ve had plenty of marriage proposals.

None I’ve wanted to take up though. I’m sure it’ll happen for me eventually, but I need to find the right father. I don’t say husband – I say father, that’s what I’m looking for. But where is the time? I don’t have time to make a cup of tea right now.”

Shilpa who is all set to turn topnotch entrepreneur internationally with her upcoming fragrance launch as well as a chain of Indian curry restaurants in Britain, still holds Bollywood very close to her heart.

“I wouldn’t completely move here. I’m an Indian, I have a lot of work in India, but this is my second home. I feel really elated the minute I step off the plane in the UK. In India, I’ve been a celebrity for a very long time, and I don’t think any Indian has ever become as famous as me here. It’s weird,” she added.

In fact, it was her ‘Indian ness’ which was on display again when she talked once more about forgiving Jade Goody who bullied and insulted on ‘Celebrity Big Brother’. Looks like, this ‘Indian ness’ gives a bit of a chance to all the Indian men out there who are totally in love with the Bollywood diva!

Fashion guru Rohit Bal has said Puja Gupta did not deserve to win the Miss Universe pageant. Bal was one of the judges to select Gupta as Miss India Universe at the Pantaloon Femina Miss India contest held in April.

“Puja was not good. I was not expecting her to win,” Bal told IANS in an interview after Puja lost the Miss Universe crown and managed to make it only to the top 10.



While expressing satisfaction over the training that the Miss India contestants received this year, Bal said, “They were all groomed well. It all depends from individual to individual. Those who have won the pageant have that natural X-factor, finesse and finish, which is missing in Puja.”

“She is pretty but she is short in height. Moreover, this time the standard of contestants of the Miss India pageant was not very high,” he added.

On Monday, Miss Japan, Riyo Mori, bagged the Miss Universe crown in Mexico City. Miss Universe 2006, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico, crowned Mori. This was Japan’s second Miss Universe title after Akiko Kojima’s win in 1959.

While Miss Brazil Natalia Guimaraes was declared the first runner-up, another Latin American, Ly Jonaitis, was the second runner-up. However, Puja failed to make it to the top five.

The 22-year-old Delhi girl had said during the Miss India competition that she had always dreamt of representing the women of India.

However, she could manage her place amongst the top 10 beauties including Miss Angola Micaela Reis, Miss Tanzania Flaviana Matata, Miss Nicaragua Xiomara Blandino and Miss Mexico Rosa Maria Ojeda Cuen.

Bal is not the only person to make a negative remark about Puja’s ability. Sabira Merchant, diction instructor of Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2007, also reiterated the same feelings albeit obliquely.

Hinting at Puja’s shortcomings, Merchant said, “To win an international competition you need a persona and charisma. In fact, a blend of all makes you a winner. However, not everybody has everything.”

Underlining that there are no lacunae in the training programme that the participants undergo, she said, “India has international beauties like Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra. But success depends from individual to individual.”

Fox Production is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to spending for its soap ‘Meri Awaaz Ko Mil Gayi Roshni’.

A Grammy Award set up was created for a dream sequence in which Ashima Bhalla, the protagonist visualizes of making it big in the singing world and wins the Grammy. Ashima was to drive in a limousine along with her boyfriend Karan Grover to collect the Grammy.

Trouble started when the limousine wouldn’t pass through the studio gates. The entire crew brainstormed on the best option but, nothing seemed to work. The three minute scene shoot began at 10 o’clock in the evening and went on until dawn as was quite a process to get the limo through the studio gates.

Hundreds of people were required for the scene as well as it was a Grammy night. The scheduled time for the shoot was two hours but, it took almost eight hours.

Shooting the dream sequence did cost Fox quite dearly besides, the shoot also ended up exhausting the cast and crew of the soap.

So turning a dream into reality does seem to be a ‘Herculean’ task.

Big B is sure making his fans groove on his title song from ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ but, the song has irked Daler Mehndi to such an extent that he has filed a Rs. 1 crore ($250,000) law suit against Yash Chopra. Daler was initially approached for the title track of ‘JBJ’ and the singer did record the number but, he was amazed to learn that the final song is crooned by Shankar.

Yashraj decided to dump Daler’s version of the song without informing the singer and worse, they refused to compensate the singer.

Daler has also demanded an apology from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Shaad Ali as he feels that they cheated him.

Poor Daler Paaji, we are sure his head goes ‘Ghoom’ on hearing, “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.”

Vijay Taneja, producer of Himesh Reshammiya’s debut film Aap Ka Suroor, has finally got the rights of the original sound track Mehbooba Mehbooba from Sholay. The best professionals from the industry have been roped in to work on the song. But this time around the song features Mallika Sherawat.

Saroj Khan will choreograph the dance sequence, Mickey Contractor will do her make-up, stylists Dilshaad and Ashley will be working on her hair and clothes, respectively.

Mehbooba Mehbooba track is a tribute to R D Burman. Prashant Chadha, the director has worked out a mind- blowing concept for the film and the best of people are working on the song to make it memorable. The purity of the tune has been retained; only the arrangement has been modernised, which is done by DJ Akbar Sami.

The essence of the original video will be maintained with tents. Though the entire sequence will be shot in a tent-like structure housing a lavish casino.

Saroj Khan says that choreographing the dance and song sequence is going to be a Herculean task as she will be performing Helen like steps initially but will be seen performing in a Casino Royale kind of a set up later. The steps will be more of a cabaret dance.

Mickey Contracter wants to recreate Helen’s look from the original film. It will be smoky eyes just like Helen’s in the song with the mouth a little darkish.

Ashley Rebello, however, is having a tough time reworking on the costumes as they are not yet appealing. Mallika will wear two different costumes for the song. The first one is an exact copy of what Helen wore i.e. a gypsy skirt and top.

The second will be an almost transparent, but classic black evening gown with diamond earrings and bracelets et al. Mallika will have long hair with curls at par with Shakira and Beyonce.

‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ is based on the Indian movie industry in the 50’s and 60’s, and keeping in sync with the theme of the movie the leading pair Shiney-n-Soha will seen driving in a car from that era for the movie premiere at IIFA.

The fact that ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ will be premiered at IIFA this year, it speaks volumes about the movie. Shiney Ahuja shared that he has driven a lot of vintage cars in the movie like Impala, Volkswagen, Chevrolet and Buick abd he hopes that in UK he gets his hands on a Bentley or a Rolls Royce.

Shiney plans to go with ethnic attire for the movie premiere and with just two weeks left for the IIFA, we are sure Shiney and Soha are all gearing up in their vintage wheels towards IIFA.

After Bobby playing himself in Nanhe, it’s now Bipasha’s turn to do the same. The sensuous actress is all set to act in a socially relevant film named Pankh.

The film which is directed by Sudipto Chattopadhyay is based on a true story of a child actor Ahsaas Channa, who has played key roles in films like Vaastu Shastra. Apparently Ahsaas, a girl by birth was passed of by her mother as a boy only to get her roles in television commercials. Ahsaas was also seen in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna



Director Sudipto will cast a newcomer Maraddona to play Ahsaas’s character in the film. But the real attraction in the movie is going to be Bipasha Basu who is thrilled about her role in the film. She plays a Bollywood actress whom the kid is completely smitten by.

Reportedly, the director also wants Bipasha’s character to be called as Bipasha in the film. But the sultry actress is apprehensive about her name being used for the character and prefers the characters name in the film Nandini.

The news that Hrithik Roshan had been involved in a car accident got his fans worried but his father Rakesh Roshan said he was not hurt during the mishap and was fine.

The accident took place Monday night while Hrithik was on the way to Karjat for the shooting of Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Jodha-Akbar”.

“Yes there was an accident. Nowadays, Hrithik is shooting in Karjat for ‘Jodha-Akbar’. At around 9.30 p.m. Hrithik was in the backseat of his car when the car behind him bumped into it. Before Hrithik and the driver knew what was happening, a truck from behind hit both Hrithik’s car and the other vehicle,” Rakesh Roshan told IANS.

“Fortunately Hrithik was unhurt. Even our car got away with just a few scratches,” he added.

Bollywood’s pin-up boy John Abraham, in the capital Wednesday to promote the spring-summer collection of his signature line ‘John Abraham by Wrangler’, says that he wants youngsters to sport jeans and bare bodies.


“Though biking is my original passion, I think acting and fashion come a close second. The world of design and style has always fascinated me, hence I decided to venture into the world of designing,” John told reporters while addressing the media at Wrangler store at the Westgate Mall.

The collection offers denims and non-denims for both men and women in shades of Brazilian greens, azure blues, grays, pale salmons and white.

The men’s line has jeans, designed the way an avid biker would want, straight leg modeled on low-rise fits teamed with linen shirts in fabrics like yarn-dyed plaids and voiles.

The women’s line slim-fitting shirts, v-necked tees and tail hems, racer backs, halters and hood tees paired with minis, pedal pushers, capris and halter-cut pinafores.

“While the styling of my collection is very international, it retains its own spirit and individuality,” added John.

The collection was launched in association with Wrangler last year on Dec 17 that also happens to be John’s birthday.

Salli Deighton, Wrangler’s international designer, and fashion designer Ramneek Walia are John’s partners in design.

Akshaye has impressed millions with his histrionics and now the actor is all set to leave his fans ecstatic with is Salsa moves in ‘Naqaab’.

Akshaye will be seen grooving on a romantic Melodious track with his co-star Urvashi Sharma, the lady in red in his forthcoming ‘Naqaab’. Akshaye is quite excited as he shared, “I had a blast shooting for ‘Naqaab’; I had never tried salsa before so my choreographer Raju Khan wanted a few rehearsals before the shoot as Urvashi was a newcomer as well but, once we started shooting, it was easy.”

Akshaye, who is rarely seen praises his co-stars, is making an exception with Urvashi as he says, “I didn't expect much from Urvashi because she was a newcomer but, mark my word, she is a big surprise element in the film; she is a true professional.”

Now, looking at the chemistry between Akshaye and Urvashi on ‘Ek Din’ from ‘Naqaab’ we can’t help but, notice the vibes they share.

‘Naqaab’ promises to be the thriller of 2007 and guess what? We have already disclosed the suspense. Well, it’s the romance brewing between Akshaye and Urvashi. So did we just pick the ‘Naqaab’?

After the super-success of Namastey London, Vipul Amrutlal Shah has decided to entrust the directorial reins of his immediate next film to Anees Bazmee. Starring Akshay Kumar in the lead, the film is called Singh The King.

“Oh yes, we are talking to Anees,” Vipul Shah confirms the development, “But Anees has a lot of commitments to fulfill. We cannot start until there’s clarity on working dates. We are definitely trying to work things out and a clearer picture should emerge in a week from now.”

Akshay has agreed in principle to star in Singh The King. In fact, the film will be shot entirely in New York and the dates are being matched currently. “See, everything will fall in place once Anees’ dates are finalized. Anees is going out of town today and has promised to work things out once he returns,” Vipul divulges.

What about his own film? Isn’t he planning to direct after Namstey London? ”I’ve started work on a story, but it’ll take another 3/4 months to complete the writing. One thing is for sure, I am not starting my next directorial assignment this year. That’ll only happen in 2008,” he states.

Sanjay Dutt has been staying strong for all these years of his court trial and family ups and downs. But the actor’s health and tolerance is fading of finally with media in his homeland behaving completely like a pestilence in his life. “Two of the bones in his vertebrae have collapsed suddenly. Sanju had to have them attended to immediately. But yes, Sanju feels stories about him buying a new Ferrari when the car has been in his garage for two years, aren’t helping his cause. The news item had really stressed him out. We had to ask him to calm down. The worst blow was when a section of the media wrote about another bomb accused getting a sentence of rigorous-imprisonment. Sanju felt these reports were unfairly comparing his case to the convicted man’s case. He thought the media’s implied contention that Sanju too should get just as harsh a sentence was too harsh on him.

Sanju has suffered enough. And he needs to settle down in life,” mentions a close associate of the veteran actor. To top these paparazzi things at home are also not favorable to him. His relationship with lady Manyata has been a constant trouble back home. His sisters dislike Manyata and are giving a tough time to Sanjay Dutt. Dutt neither wants to hurt his sisters nor does he wants to abandon his lady-love. I guess the man has had his time of punishment, now the press and also his family should let him leave the way he wants. At least one can lend him that much piece for his contribution in the field of art.

“Arr..ra…raa,” is one tagline that epitomizes Ketaki Dave from ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’, in fact, for a long time she was the only character in the soap, who would help put a smile on your face and now the telly actress is continuing the comedy spree with a comedy reality show titled ‘Comedy Circus’.

Besides Ketaki, the show will feature Mandira Bedi, Varun Badola, Kamal AKA Ali Aagar from ‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’ and many other telly actors and stand up comedians.

Ketaki is all excited about her second brush with Reality TV after her first one with ‘Nach Baliye 2’. The actress shared, “It would be fun to laugh and make others laugh.” Ali Asgar is all pepped up as well for the show as he feels that the show would give the participants an opportunity to create their own gags, write their own script and perform.

Basic premise of ‘Comedy Circus’ is that there would be a teams of actors and comedians, and the stand-up comedians will teach celebrities the do’s and don’t of comedy after which the teams would have to perform a gag or a skit.

Sony TV has big plans with ‘Comedy Circus’ as it is scheduled for the same slot as Indian Idol.

So once singing ends comedy begins on Sony TV, so don’t forge to book you tickets in advance for this crazy ‘Comedy Circus’.

Bhatts sure know how to capitalize on tragedies, first a movie on the life of Parvin Babi and now they are all geared up for their next project based on the death of cricket coach Bob Woolmer.

The movie will revolve around the cause that led to the murder of the coach and match fixing is going to be the highlight of the flick.

Emraan Hashmi has been roped in to play a bookie and the actor shared, “I play this no-so-refined bookie. He has had a very humble upbringing and moves to a big city to earn more money. The film is as controversial as it can get. We have so long spoken about match–fixing being a curse to cricket but here, we take a closer look at the bookies and the controversial people who take a lot of interest in the game.

“The big theory about the hit men responsible for Woolmer’s death will also be a significant part of the film,” added Emraan.

The actor also shared that he was currently bust preparing for his role and interacting and understanding the real life bookies was one of the major milestones.

Looks like our ‘Murder’ star is all set to investigate deep down and uncover the real truth.

National Award winning actor Manoj Bajpai, known for playing unconventional roles, is upbeat about his next release “Swami”, which he says will throw light on the psyche of youngsters and why they ignore their elders.

“Our grandparents, parents and other elder family members become a source of shame for us when we are young. We feel embarrassed while walking with them. We ignore the love, affection and concern they have for us. But when these elders are gone, then we realise their importance and crave for their presence and preaching. And this is what ‘Swami’ is all about,” Manoj told IANS in an interview.

“This film will definitely bring people closer to their family and friends,” he added.

After proving his mettle in films like “Satya”, “Zubeida” and “Pinjar”, Manoj is playing the title role in the film by choreographer-turned-director Ganesh Acharya.

“I am playing a middle class Maharashtrian Brahmin, who doesn’t see life beyond his family. He doesn’t have any wishes and dreams of his own. He just wants to fulfil the dreams of his family.

In short, it’s a completely family film, says the actor.

” ‘Swami’ is a love story of a husband and a wife. It is very much a mainstream story, but different from the formula films. The best thing about it is that you won’t be able to see any emotion that you haven’t seen before. You will get to see the same relations but shown with a different angle. That’s why it’s a unique mainstream film.”

Juhi Chawla plays his wife and Manoj says she is undoubtedly one of the best in the field.

“She is one of the best actresses. There is perfection in the timing of her performance and that is why the filming was completed in 34 days.

“The best thing about her is that she never sits quiet. She always thinks there is something incomplete in her performance and wants it finished to perfection,” Manoj added.

The story covers Swami’s life from his 30s till he’s 60.

Prior to reading the script, Manoj was under the impression that Ganesh’s film would be all about song and dance.

“It was a lovely experience working with Ganesh. Before I heard the script, I thought it would be a film with lot of songs, dances and item numbers. But when I heard the story, I was completely floored.

I realised that Ganesh is actually an emotional person. He has made ‘Swami’ after waiting for four years and exactly the way he wanted to make it. I hope all of you like this film.

“We have lived every scene we shot. It’s a film that I am proud to be a part of.”

Anubhav Sinha’s rise as director from the small time “Tum Bin” to big-scale action flicks like “Dus” and now “Cash” is phenomenal. But his biggest is yet to come - he’s producing and directing a film that will be shot in Rome from July 15.

“My entire film will be situated in Rome. This film will be my last action flick. It’s a $5 million film with huge action launching three new boys who will be signed on for my company. These three boys will have six films each from our production house in the next two years,” Sinha told IANS.

The yet-untitled film will also have a female star from Bollywood and a big Italian actress. The entire technical crew will be from Italy. Sinha plans to wrap up the film by Sep 15 so he can have a Christmas release.

“Aditya Bhattacharya, who’s directing two films for my production house, lives in Italy. He helped me put together this project. It will be my biggest. It cannot get any bigger.”

Sinha says that he has been travelling a lot and has started thinking global.

“Why are there no ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ and ‘No Man’s Land’ from India? That’s because we aren’t making them. I want to make films comparable with international films.”

The director seems surprised by his own success.

“No one seems to notice that I made a big flop between ‘Dus’ and ‘Cash’ called ‘Tathastu’. Lucky me! I worked hard on all my films. It’s paying off now. You reap the dividends of your current film in the next.

“I don’t know whether I’ve a formula. But people liked the styling of ‘Dus’. After ‘Dus’, they labelled me the designer-action maker. I wonder where that came from!

“I was born in Allahabad and brought up in Varanasi. I came to Mumbai at the age of 26. So my formative years were spent in small towns. I don’t know where all this slickness came from!”

But he is honest enough to confess he hasn’t made any film to be extremely proud of.

” ‘Dus’ was written off by my unit in Canada. I was shooting it in the format of a TV serial. And no actor in the team had any faith in what I was doing. But after the first promo Abhishek Bachchan called up Sanjay Dutt to tell him how much he liked it. In 20 minutes it was the talk of the town.”

The expectations from “Cash”, which stars Ajay Devgan, Zayed Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Esha Deol, scare the director.

“Everyone expects a track like ‘Dus bahane’. I think we’ve better music in ‘Cash’ than ‘Dus’.”

The special effects in “Cash” are being compared with “Krrish” and “Dhoom”.

“Please don’t scare me. Those are very big films from brilliant production houses. If I’ve got in half as much of the visual effects, I’d be happy. My F-X in “Cash” are done locally in Mumbai.”

If Karan Johar’s ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ got Saif fame then, it was Kunal Kohli’s ‘Hum Tum’ which got him his first hit as a solo hero, so picking between the two filmmakers sure may have been a tough call.

Saif was offered Karan Johar’s untitled next that is being directed by Tarun Mansukhani which has Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya in the lead, and Saif did agree to do the movie and in fact, even blocked shooting dates on his calendar but then, there seemed to be a change of heart as Saif suddenly decided to opt for Kunal Kohli’s next instead and shared the news with Karan.

Saif is going to be paired opposite his ‘Hum Tum’ hit and ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’ average co-star Rani Mukherjee.

Based on industry insiders, Kunal is planning on casting his ‘Fanaa’ star Kajol in the movie as well. If this turns to be true then, Kunal has roped in the hottest Bollywood trio for his next.

Now wouldn’t we just love to see the ‘Hum Tum’ pair Saif-n-Rani go ‘Fanaa’ with Kajol?

What do you say when a 94-year-old living legend comes together with the 24-year-old scion of very distinguished family?

"Well, first of all you look at them together and wonder who's got more energy," said Sanjay Leela Bhansai.

He brings the tireless Zohra Sehgal and debutant Ranbir Kapoor together in his eagerly awaited love story "Saawariya". The most interesting aspect is the fact that nearly 75 years ago she started her career with Ranbir's great grandfather Prithiviraj Kapoor in Prithvi Theatres.

"She has known four generations of the Kapoors... from Prithviraj Kapoor to Raj Kapoor to Rishi Kapoor and now Ranbir. It's unheard of in showbiz," Bhansali told IANS.

The unanimous verdict on Bhansali's breathtaking set - no one can match Zohra's energy level.

Bhansali, who six years ago directed Zohra in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", could think of no one except her for a particular role in "Sawaariya".

"It had to be Zohraji and no one else. There was a kind of hesitation within me - after all Zohraji is 94. But all our doubts were dispelled once she came on the sets. To call Zohraji a livewire would be an understatement.

"She's the life and soul on the sets. And I dread the day when her shooting would be over. Zohraji has the most amazing memory. She remembers every single incident from her life. On the sets she comes up with the most amazing suggestions. Her enthusiasm gets to all of us."

The industry is worried. They got so used to front page coverage and 24X7 telecasts, thanks to The Wedding, that the whole scene now seems thanda. Some gangster's mother suing Sanjay Gupta (very desperate publicity stunt) or Rakhi Sawant in clown costume dancing at a home for the aged doesn't cut the ice. To put Bollywood back in the limelight, what is needed badly is another star wedding. So a delegation of media and industry people approached a lot of single stars requesting that they get married. And this is what they were told:

Bipasha Basu: John comes home to me every night, why do I need a wedding?

Salman Khan: What's the hurry dude? Abhi to main jawaan hoon. Let Katrina get a little older.

Katrina Kaif: Who's Salman Khan?

Rani Mukerji: I am not allowed to talk about it.

Preity Zinta: Get lost guys, get a life!

Mallika Sherawat: Sure, get Brad Pitt to propose. Ah wanna go to Hollywood.

Priyanka Chopra: What? Now? I have just started grabbing everybody else's roles. Let them get married, na?

Kareena Kapoor: No way! People will say I am getting married because I have no work.

Shahid Kapoor: Whatever she says….

Vivek Oberoi: I am looking….have to look for an imperfect woman, and in these days of plastic perfection, she's hard to find.

Tusshar: Will have to ask sis Ektaa, to ask her various astrologers and tarot readers, then I'll let you guys know.

Ritesh Deshmukh: I don't have a girlfriend, never have and…. well you need a girl to get married to, nahin kaa?

Akshaye Khanna: With my career in this state, who'd marry me?

Rakhi Sawant: All men are *** I don't even want to get married. But here take some of my latest photos- my cleavage they will make it to the front pages.

(The delegation now really frantic, take some wild chances)

Rekha: I am the Chosen One, I can only marry Him and I can wait till I am 80, because true love never dies…. Wait, I haven't finished my lecture on myself!

Nana Patekar: Bhool gaya, am I divorced or not? Will have to check with the wife!

Sanjay Dutt: But I did get married to Maanyata, or didn't I? Did I say that when I was drunk, or didn't I? Bada chemical locha hai, yaar.

Ram Gopal Varma: I don't believe in marriage, but let me prepare a statement on the futility of family films and dictate it to the media.

Karan Johar: But my house is full of clothes, where will I keep a wife!

(The despondent delegation goes to Cannes.. hoping the red carpet will get them the much needed boost!)

Aamir is very choosy and does a maximum of one movie a year. So after a long break after Fanaa, which was last summer, Aamir has started his ‘Kajri’- hindi remake of south Indian hit movie ‘Ghajini’. But the man looks pretty cheesed out because of the non-existent second lady in the film. Well, if you remember we had introduced the first leading lady Asin to you then you will also remember that Priyanka and Kangana were considered for the role of the second lead lady in the movie. Apparently none of the two are being considered now. The offer is hovering over Konkona Sen this time. Aamir and also Konkona seems keen to work with each other. So let us see who is roped in finally.

London has been mesmerized by Shilpa’s beauty and it will be miserably enchanted by her fragrance too. Shilpa Shetty will be launching her own perfume range called S2 on June 12. The markets targeted are UK and Gulf. Manufacturers Fragrance and Beauty are the team behind this perfume launch. And Shilpa sounds all very happy the way the fragrance has shaped up: “I selected the final fragrance and am very happy with it. The perfume lasts really long and has notes of jasmine and citrus to it”.

‘The perfume will be housed in a classic yet modern bottle, designed with a leopard print on a panel inside. It’s to represent the two sides to Shilpa –cool on the outside and deep on the inside. Besides jasmine and musk, there are also fruity flavours to the perfume, which is supposed to reflect her Indian heritage and will appeal to the UK and Gulf markets,’ say the review.

After a long time, a simple story of simple people and their simple desires. Choreographer-turned-director Ganesh Acharya’s “Swami” that releases Friday documents the emotional journey of a man and the importance of family in his life.

Set in a village in South India, the film revolves around Swami (Manoj Bajpai) who understands the meaning of compassion, humility and patience. He lives with his wife Radha (Juhi Chawla).

Swami has a childlike fascination for Rs.5 coins, which he loves to collect and swears never to spend them. He also has a long cherished dream of owning a rocking chair. But he never expresses it because he knows he cannot afford it.

Radha discovers Swami’s secret by chance and asks him to use his collection of Rs.5 coins to buy the chair but he refuses.

On the other hand, Radha’s favourite way of passing time is to watch TV. She is thrilled by the visuals of tall buildings, bridges, cars and roads in the US. Her only dream is that her son Anand gets the best education so he can get a job in the US.

She asks Swami to take up a job in Mumbai. He agrees and the family moves to Mumbai. Anand is a bright young boy and has the determination to fulfil his parents’ dreams.

But life’s unpredictability catches up. Radha falls sick and dies. After her death, Swami devotes all his time to his son who finally manages to get a job in the US but refuses to accept the offer because the company does not provide a visa to his father.

Will Anand go to the US and fulfil his mother’s dream? What will happen to Swami?

The film’s subject is quite touching and Acharya has chosen the right actors to carry the gamut of emotions on screen. Lets see if the film’s emotive content sways the audience.

Suniel Shetty would rather be a producer than an actor. And he proved it by saying no to a plum role in Apoorva Lakhia’s film on international terrorism.

“I can’t be both. I’ll either be a producer or an actor. I’ll never act in a film I produce. Apoorva came to sign me as an actor for a fantastic role in ‘Mission Istanbul’. But when I heard the script, I offered to produce the film for him,” Suniel told IANS.

Suniel, who made his debut in Bollywood with “Balwaan” in 1992 and gave hits like “Hera Pheri”, “Dhadkan” and “Border”, ventured into production with “Khel” in 2003.

Isn’t it very unusual for an actor to relinquish a ravishing role and offer to shell out millions instead on producing the picture?

Suniel laughs, “My company Popcorn Entertainment has to grow and for that I need to sign good writers and directors. I’ll produce Apoorva’s ‘Mission Istanbul’. Earlier, I had said no to a role in Priyadarshan’s ‘Bhagam Bhag’. I wanted Govinda to do the role and offered to produce the film instead.”

As for his opportunities as an actor, Suniel feels “Shootout At Lokhandwala” is a new beginning for him.

“I’m so happy that my role has shaped up well. People like me in toughie’s act and my banter with Arbaaz Khan. I remember Apoorva had called me in the US to step into the role at the eleventh hour when Arjun Rampal had decided to opt out.

“I immediately agreed because I had implicit faith in both Sanjay Gupta and Apoorva. I just told him, ‘I’ve been let down many times. Please don’t let me down again.’ He promised he wouldn’t. And he kept his word. After working with him in ‘Shootout…’ I know he can deliver the goods.”

Rahul Bose will give a sweet challenge to the team of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom with his magical comedy Chain Kulli Ki Main Kulli (CK2MK). JBJ will release on the 15th of June and CK2MK releases a week after that. Debutant director Kituu Salooja says a children’s story which revolves around the relation between Rahul Bose and child actor Adil Badshah with cricket as backdrop.



Bose plays the Captain of the Indian Cricket team and an opening batsman. Now comes the never-thought-of element- Adil, who is barely 13, plays the co-opener in the team who helps the team win a 5 match One Day series against Pakistan. Also look out for some magic in the movie. That sounds a full entertainer for kids.

Anil Ambani has signed a six films deal with Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment. Now sequel to Don and a movie with Hritik Roshan will be part of the same deal.

Ritesh Sidhwani says that with this deal, they will be looking at the value their new partners will at to their business. Reliance Entertainment executives have had a series of meetings with Excel and directors for all six films. The lead actors have been decided.

He also informed that Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Farhan Akhtar have been signed as directors for three movies of the deal. Other three directors whom he doesn’t wish to name have each signed a three-film contract with them. Ritesh has set a target to release more than six films before December 2009.

'Shootout at New York’ was the theme of the dance medley presented by Vivek Oberio and the actor danced on songs from 'Company' to 'Shootout..' to his upcoming 'Fool n Final'.

Vivek’s performance at Bollywood Awards was his debut and keeping that in mind designer Punit Singh created a red jacket for Vivek that looked bright and classy. Bips and her ‘Biddi’ heated up things at the awards nite last weekend.

Kangana Ranaut danced on songs from her movies 'Gangster' and 'Woh Lamhe'; the actress was dressed in a glittery deep red outfit. Arjun Rampal made many hearts skip a beat as he exposed his sexy abs for his fans for a dance performance.

Neha Dhupia was dressed in a white outfit and she sure impressed the audiances with her sexy jig.

Dancing Queen Urmila Matondkar was next to come on the stage and she left the fans craving for more. Mona Singh AKA Jassi performed at the event and we must say that the telly actress has become a confident dancer post 'Jhalak Dhiklaja.

Bollywood awards nite honored Danny Glover of 'Lethal Weapon' fame with a 'Special Awards for Contribution to Global Entertainment'. Bollywood award was also presented to Mira Nair, Bipasha Basu and Raju Hirani to name a few.

Bollywood stars sure left their impact on the Big Apple with their mind-blowing performances.

'Asha Tai’ is giving a tough time not only to the co-judges but, also to the contestants on ‘Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ especially Sarika Singh from Madhya Pradesh.

Asha Bhosle was not impressed with Sarika's performance on Lata Mangeshkar's "Bheega Bheega Mausam" but, Vishal-n-Shekhar wanted her to stay and this led to Tai getting quite defensive as she felt that Vishal and Shekhar were questioning her decision.

Vishal, who is determined on making Sarika stay in the show put up an argument and felt that Asha’s decision was questionable.

So what do you think, who is right Asha or Vishal-n-Shekhar?

The big eyed beauty, the actress known for her beautiful face and curvy figure in the film industry, Diya Mirza, reveals that she has a very positive announcement to make at the end of this year. Before anyone could put forward the speculation about her marriage, Diya says to the Delhi Times that, “no I am neither getting married nor participating in Big Brother! My news is bigger and better than that.”

But her statements make one wonder that is Dia averse to marriage or what? Dia says “absolutely! I think a relationship is too exhausting and I don’t have that kind of time at present. That is because I am the kind of person who would love to commit 100 percent. So, for now, I am happy being a single.”

However Dia still mentions who she feels are the sexiest men in the Bollywood film industry. She says to Delhi Times that “The three sexiest men in Bollywood are Hrithik Roshan, Kunal Kapoor and Arjun Rampal.” On this note the Delhi Times correspondent asked Dia about her being linked to Kunal Kapoor recently. She said “yeah, I heard that too and it did create some awareness between Kunal and me. But lets face the facts, he is an attractive young man and single. I am attractive and single. And I don’t have any problem in being linked with someone who is attractive. So I would say that the media is playing a good matchmaking game.”

Director Aditya Dutt has shown door to Nisha Kothari because she behaved like a selfish brat on the sets of “Good Luck”.

Sources say that she came on the sets for four-five days but never paid attention to her work. All the time she kept talking about her film with mentor Ram Gopal Varma. When it became unbearable, Dutt decided to replace Nisha with another star.

The director, who gave a chance to newcomers like Tanushree Dutta and Geeta Basra, has found a new but yet unnamed girl but finds her too thin for the role. So, Dutt has asked her to put on some weight before he resumes shooting.

Nisha needs to learn the survival tricks or she will soon become a thing of the past.

Looks like the BCCI is not only insisting cricketers to cut down on endorsements but, also want the team to focus on the game and our cricketers are sure going with the flow by removing the element of ‘romance’ from their life, as after Yuvraj-n-Kim break-up, it’s Zaheer Khan, who ended his relationship with actress Isha Sharvani.

Zaheer and Isha were dating for the past two years in fact, he also helped Isha to scout for homes in Mumbai and whenever Zaheer was in town he would prefer to stay with her rather than checking into a hotel.

Based on insiders, it was Zaheer who made the tough call as he felt that with concentrating more on the game he might not have enough time for love.

Poor Isha has been trying to move on and luckily she is busy with the shoot of Ajay Devgan’s Production ‘U Me Aur Hum’ in Lakshwadeep islands.

The actress is not too keen to comment about her recent break-up. Guess, she is still coming to terms with the fact that, “There is ‘U’ and ‘Me’ but, unfortunately there is no ‘Hum’ but, only ‘Gham’.”

It has come out that shooting for ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom‘ was not really a Jhooming experience for Junior Deol as his co-stars, Abhishek Bachchan and Preity Zinta, were so involved in their own private talks and fun that they sidelined Bobby and ingnored him completely. Though Bobby kept his cool and maintained a silent dignity on the sets, he could not hide his sourness completely and recently quoted in an interview,”I don’t remember having any fun on the sets while shooting for ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’.

Well, the rising stars seem to forget their old pal. Abhishek and Bobby are childhood friends and Preity has worked in the early phase of her career with Bobby in ‘Soldier’. We would say this is not done on the part of Preity and Junior Bachchan.

Actress Mahima Chaudhary, who has been hiding her pregnancy for sometime now, was admitted to Lilavati Hospital. Mahima is reported to be 7-months pregnant and based on insiders, she has entered her name as Ritu Chaudhary in the register which happens to be her real name.

Mahima has been secretly dating a prominent Architect Bobby Mukherjee, who lives in Mumbai. Bobby is a divorcee with two kids. It is believed that Mahima has covertly tied a knot with Bobby and the couple prefers to keep their relationship under wraps.

Mahima started getting labor pains and was rushed to Lilavati but, it happened to be a false alarm. Mahima’s Bollywood career is at a standstill as her last two movies ‘Sarhad Paar’ and ‘Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana’ bombed at the box-office and her other two movies ‘Hope and a Little Sugar’ and ‘Chess’ are on hold.

So talking about work, things ain’t moving much but, on the personal front looks like Mahima has a lot of ‘Hope and Sweet Sugar’ in the store.

After doing atypical roles, Kangana Ranaut did the unthinkable at an awards show in New York - she danced to the remix of songs picturised on her male co-stars.

“I danced to a re-mix of songs from my films ‘Gangster - A Love Story’, ‘Woh Lamhe’ and ‘Metro’. Except that these are male numbers. I got them re-recorded into a female voice and danced to them,” Kangana told IANS.

Isn’t she embarrassed to be dancing to songs originally filmed on Emraan Hashmi and Shiney Ahuja?

“Not at all!” asserted Kangana. “Numbers like ‘Kya yehi pyar hai’ might not be filmed on me. But they express my emotions as much as anybody else’s in these films. And who remembers whom ‘Kanta laga’ was originally picturised on?”

Though this was Kangana’s first visit to New York, she was comfortable seeing the city on her own. “I love the feel of strange cities. I can roam for hours on my own.”

Apart from Kangana, Bipasha Basu too danced at the Bollywood Movie Awards 2007 on May 25. She jived on item numbers from “Omkara” as well as other hit songs of the year.

“‘Beedi’ and ‘Namak’ in ‘Omkara’ made me realise how much I enjoy filmy dances. Of course, I danced to my hit numbers. But they wanted me to dance to hit songs of the year from films that I didn’t feature in. I didn’t mind. Nowadays, I just love the outflow of energy when I go on stage,” said Bipasha.

Urmila Matondkar, who’s the most seasoned performer of the trio, danced to her own songs too.

“I danced to a medley of my own songs including ‘Bas Ek Pal’,” said Urmila.

Jai and Veeru are by far the most famous pair on-screen till date, and now their sons are trying carrying on the legacy in ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’.

Bobby and Abhishek are working together for the first time and to make this a memorable one, director Shaad came up with an exciting idea. Shaad created a scene similar to ‘Jai-n-Veeru’ on the bike in ‘Sholay’ but, with Bobby and Abhishek .

From what we hear, when the scene was being shot, the entire unit was quite nostalgic and clapped loud in joy when the scene was, “Okayed”.

Abhishek was however, quite scared while shooting for the scene as he was not quite confident about Bobby Deol’s skills when it came to riding the bike but, he went with the flow and eventually the two had a safe bike ride which made Abhi go ‘Jhoom Barabar’.

Delhi Times got an opportunity to catch hold of the macho and handsome looking Bollywood actor, John Abraham. When asked about being out of picture from a long time John said That was by choice. I would rather be seen than heard. I’ve always believed in working quietly and not making tall claims. I always said roles abroad would happen when they are meant to happen. At the end of the day, Bollywood is my home. I’m damn lucky to be getting all these opportunities.

Regarding his upcoming mainstream Hollywood film ‘Luna’ with the legendry director Deepa Mehta in which he is playing the lead role, John told Delhi Times that “Deepa has shown a lot of faith in me. I’m very delighted that my co-star is Rachel Weisz. What a performance she gave in The Constant Gardner! Mine is a beautifully-etched role in Luna where I play an activist. The heartening thing is that my nationality isn’t even mentioned. And my character’s name isn’t Indian. What’s vital is that the producers of Luna share Deepa’s faith in my abilities.”
about John’s being compared in looks with Antonio Banderas, John had to say that “I come from a completely different cultural space. But you do feel flattered when you’re compared with a good-looking Hollywood icon like Banderas. I’m not even two per cent of what he is!”

John’s problem with Arshad Warsi is another interesting issue nowadays. For this John clarified that “I’m not going to sit here and clarify my non-existent problems. It’s sad when false things are written about me. I want people to know that I’m not a vindictive person. Neither Arshad nor I have spoken against each another. We were shooting for Goal in London when these stories started circulating. So, these stories are coming from somewhere else. I have no clue who’s spreading them. I’ve been out of the country and am pretty much disconnected with what’s being said and spread. About Bipasha being dragged into his supposed fight with Arshad, John replied that “Bipasha is a woman of substance. She tells it like it is. We’re both straight, honest and clean”.

Regarding inaccessibility as a factor behind media gossips, he claimed that “It’s true; I’m inaccessible to the media when I’m shooting abroad. I’m sure the stories come from those who are accessible abroad.”

About his problems with the actor Salman Khan some time ago, John held that “I personally have no problems with anybody. I don’t speak against anyone, because I feel no negativity for anyone. One reason why I’m surviving in the film industry is because I feel no sense of insecurity. I enjoy my space.”

About 10,000 fans from across the United States, Canada and even the Caribbean packed the Nassau Coliseum at Long Island for the Bollywood Movie Awards 2007 where Hollywood actor Danny Glover, director Mira Nair and former actress Asha Parekh were among those honoured.

Bollywood stars who performed at the Saturday night event included Vivek Oberoi, Arjun Rampal, Bipasha Basu, Urmila Matondkar, Neha Dhupia and Soha Ali Khan. Mona Singh of ‘Jassi’ fame was the MC.

Glover, whose film credits include ‘Lethal Weapon’ franchise and whose performance in the title role of HBO movie “Mandela” earned him an Emmy nomination, was given the award for Outstanding Contribution to Global Entertainment. Nair, the maker of crossover films like “The Namesake” and “Monsoon Wedding”, was given the Pride of India Award.

Parekh, who served as the chairperson of the Indian censor board after retiring as an actress, was given Lifetime Achievement Award.

Other awards included: Best film: “Lage Raho Munnabhai”; Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani for “Lage Raho…”; Best Actor: Hrithik Roshan (in absentia) for “Dhoom 2“; Best Actress: Bipasha Basu for “Corporate”, Best Actor in Supporting Role: Vivek Oberoi for “Omkara”; Best Actress in Supporting Role: Kirron Kher for “Rang De Basanti”. .

The audience that packed the Nassau Coliseum had, however, come to be entertained and they were not disappointed. Macho man Arjun Rampal had them on their feet with his chartbusters. Vivek Oberoi had the women swooning with his romantic numbers. Bipasha Basu and Urmila Matondkar performed to a medley of their songs.

An international touch to the event was provided by Canada-born pop star Raghav, who performed his hits ‘Angel Eyes’ and ‘Can’t Get Enough’, Pakistani singer-actress Shahida Mini and Caribbean crooner Rick Ramdehal.

Bollywood Group, an entertainment company headed by Kamal Dandona, organizes the annual awards ceremony.

“NRIs carry and promote our culture, values and tradition in the most meaningful manner. Their love for India’s culture is visible by the success of today’s event,” Dandona said after the event.

He has deliberately chosen to play anti-hero roles, but now Arbaaz Khan dons a funny avatar and promises to make people laugh in “Shootout At Lokhandwala” and “Fool ‘N’ Final”.

“It’s not a consciously funny role. In both ‘Fool ‘N’ Final’ and ‘Shootout At Lokhandwala’ I’ll make people laugh,” Arbaaz told IANS.

After five years of poker-faced spoilsport roles, in Apoorva Lakhia’s “Shootout At Lokhandwala” Arbaaz is finally loosening up. He’s cast as a cop who provides many light moments.

“My character Javed Sheikh is a bit of a linguistic with a master-command over many languages. He keeps correcting everyone’s language. Though he doesn’t mean to be, he’s quite comical.

“Likewise my character in Feroz Nadiadwala’s ‘Fool ‘N’ Final’. I play this gang-lord called Moscow Chikna, who’s always in a rage over goof-ups in his organisation. He isn’t consciously being funny but comes across as such to those around him.”

He shared a great rapport with the whole “Shootout…” team.

“Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty are friends, and actors I’ve looked up to. I’m on the right side of the law with them whereas most of the actors, who played gangsters, were naturally thrown together. I had to chase the gangster played by Rohit Roy. So I can’t say we got a chance to like each other,” said Arbaaz using the funny bones that he has lately discovered.

It was at a dinner with his friends Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapur and director Ahmed Khan that Arbaaz was offered the role of the comic gangster in “Fool ‘N’ Final”.

Recalling the incident, he said: “I was having dinner with Shahid, Bebo and Ahmed when Ahmed said there was a character in his film only I could do. His name was Moscow Chikna. It’s hard to keep a straight face when your character has such a name. But in our films, anything is possible.”

Arbaaz has the disadvantage of being from a family of celebrities but he feels he has carved a distinct place for himself.

“I’ve deliberately chosen to be different from the typical romantic-action heroes that Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and my brother Salman play. I knew I didn’t stand a chance in that slot. So, I started as an anti-hero… a slot that other big heroes subsequently adopted.

“I feel I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. Done roles that has finally done me more harm than good. But I’ve learnt from all my mistakes. Today, I feel more confident. There’re so many kinds of films being made. And I fit in comfortably into various slots.”

Acting, modelling, anchoring and hosting chat shows and award functions - he enjoys playing various roles but making movies remains his first love. Multi-talented director Karan Johar, who turned 35 Friday, plans to take a break from multitasking to work on his fourth film.

He is currently scripting a story about the pain, anguish and suffering of an Indian couple post 9/11 in New York. Karan plans to cast his favourites stars - Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol - for the main roles. But he is not willing to reveal anything right now.

“I am working on the script now so it is too early to talk about the film. I make movies based on stories I believe in,” he said, while in the capital to launch Britain-based luxury brand Alfred Dunhill as its brand ambassador.

Apart from the glitz and glamour, the director has also pitched in to share his knowledge and experience with the world. Last year he spoke at the Wharton India Economic Forum held at the prestigious Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as well as at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi in November 2006.

The same year he became the first Indian filmmaker to be a jury member in the Miss World competition in Warsaw, Poland.

After making an impressive start with “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, starring Shah Rukh and Kajol in 1998, Karan’s popularity soared with his second movie “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham” in 2001. The star-studded family drama was a huge success and it cemented his position in Bollywood.

But he wasn’t so lucky when he made his third film “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna” (KANK) about marital discords. Critics panned it, his fans rejected and the film fell flat at the box office. And he was baffled by the response.

“I didn’t know what went wrong with my film,” he was quoted as saying about KANK on his chat show “Koffee With Karan”.

Though he’s worked with almost all A-list actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Salman Khan and Abhishek Bachchan, he says he is dying to work with Aamir Khan.

“I haven’t worked with him yet. He is absolutely wonderful and I would love to work with him.”

Once an obnoxiously fat child, who never wanted go out of his house fearing people would stare at him, Karan has certainly come a long way. But he says that he never planned anything.

“Things just happen and I enjoy it,” said Karan, who promises to return to the small screen with a chat show for NDTV’s entertainment channel NDTV Imagine.

He will also soon be seen on the cover of fashion magazine L’Officiel as part of its five-year celebrations.

Did Amitabh Bachchan ask for the title track in “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” to be re-recorded in Shankar Mahadevan’s voice after it was done in Daler Mehendi’s voice?

In an interview on the Bollywood website India FM, Ehsaan, one-third of the composing trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, is quoted as saying that the Big B did indeed ask for the change of voice. The superstar wanted to continue with Shankar’s vocals after the success of “Kajra re” in “Bunty Aur Babli” and “Rock ‘n’ roll soniye” in “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.

But Amitabh, who’s currently out of the country, completely denies Ehsaan’s claim.

“This is a load of rubbish. I’m not aware of any change in the title song’s vocals. I performed to what was given to me. Everyone knows that at Yash Raj Films nothing moves without the consent of Aditya Chopra,” Big B told IANS.

He added that he finds such controversies a total waste of time.

As for Aditya’s contribution to the sound and look of “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”, a source revealed that the reclusive Chopra scion devised everything, including the ‘pirate’ look for the Big B.

“Every character in ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ from Big B to Abhishek sports a distinctive look. Aditya personally supervised the complete look of the film,” said the source.

It is Partner- Salman Khan and Govinda starer, which is apparently inspired from the Hollywood flick Hitch. Though inspired it is yet another hilarious comedy which anyone would want to watch and not to mention it the deadly combo- Salman and Govinda. Here is the first look at eh story:

“Salman Khan plays a ‘Love Guru’ kind of a character who specializes in passing on advices related to love to men. One such person is Govinda who learns the tricks of falling in love and making someone one fall in love from Salman Khan. While Salman is shown to be super stud and super cool, Govinda is a super innocent and simple character.”Wondering what is different? Well, I am doing the same…keep coming to us for more on this film!

After wooing the audiences in ‘Sarkar’ on Zee and ‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’ on Star Plus, the dazzling Tisca will be seen yet again on the tube in a show called ‘Main Hoon Na’.

The show will be aired on Star News and it’s about consumer grievances as Tisca will mediate on behalf of the consumers. Tisca shared that she loves the concept of the show as it would be a platform for people to vent out their grievances, be it social, legal or corporate.

‘Main Hoon Na’ will try to reach the common man and put across their problems on National TV. The show will help to keep a check on the brands that are slacking in consumer service.

Tisca is already shooting for this show which is being produced by Applause Entertainment. The first episode goes on air on May 26th, so will you be there to see Tisca express, “Mani Hoon Na?”

Barely months after their dream marriage, producer Bunty Walia and Suman Ranganathan have called it quits. And Walia is accusing the actress of cheating on him.

According to informed sources, Suman has apparently sent Walia a notice through her lawyer, asking for a house in Pali Hill, a car and maintenance money close to Rs.200,000.

“Walia wants to quit,” a source close to the couple said. Walia’s lawyer is working out a counter to Suman’s notice.

This was Walia’s second marriage. He got divorced 10 years ago. The producer refuses to comment beyond a few words of hurt anger.

“My parents were dreaming of a family for me. My 81-year-old father is shattered. I can’t say anything right now. My lawyer is currently looking at the matter,” Walia told IANS.

“I was looking at a life together, including kids. She’s 35 and I’m 41. Both our biological clocks are ticking. I won’t ever get married again. Suman is definitely not coming back in my life,” he added.

We all have savored Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Omakara” and now it is time to saor the making of Omkara. It was easily one of the best movies in 2006 and probably the best movie to be written a book on. Stephen Alter, the author known for his nostalgia-filled writing, is the author of this memorable description. He is also Tom Alter’s First Cousin.

Steve refers that Hindi Cinema is not new to him, “Earlier Govind Nihalani gave me the opportunity to write the English dialogues of Tamas. This was different. Here I got to see how an idea is mounted on celluloid. I really liked Vishal’s pursuit for perfection. Look the way he managed to mould the regular Bollywood stars to give once in the lifetime kind of performances. To make the book even more interesting I have included interviews of some of my favourites in the industry like Mahesh Bhatt, Shekhar Kapur, Javed Akhtar, M.F. Hussain and Prahlad Kakkar talking about how Bollywood has shaped up over the years. I wanted to include Karan Johar as well, but could not catch hold of him.” The book will also have 16 Black and White stills from the film. So you movie buffs over there catch hold of the book before the stock ends.

It’s ironic that not even one Bollywood movie is competing at Cannes this year but, that didn’t stop our Bollywood stars from lining up at the Mecca of the movie fest. Preity Zinta, who visited Cannes last year to promote her movie KANK, is back at Cannes this year as well. Although she has no movie to speak about she sure has a pair of diamond danglers to flaunt.

Chopard has flown down Preity to Cannes to promote their new line of diamond jewellery and Miss Zinta is more than happy to enjoy the limelite. Preity attended the premiere of ‘Chacun Son Cinema’ and was also a part of the ‘My Blueberry Nights’ premiere.

On being asked if she met her good friends Abhi-Ash, Preity shared that she saw them from a distance but, didn’t get a chance to meet them. Preity does not have Ness by her side but, she sure has good company of Aarti and Kailash Sundernath, who are there for their ‘..Mighty Heart’.

Preity feels that Cannes is so buzzing that you can never be lonely. Now, you definitely can’t be alone if you have your best friends ‘diamond’ around.

Talent unlimited… that’s perhaps the apt way to describe the critically acclaimed Irrfan Khan. He is the first Indian actor to receive ‘the much wanted’ attention while walking the red carpet with Hollywood celebrities Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.

Having regaled Indian audience with his powerful performances in “Maqbool”, “Yun Hota To Kya Hota” and “Metro”, the actor tried to explore new terrain with directed Michael Winterbottoms’ docu-drama “A Mighty Heart”.

And he succeeded in making an impact on the cream of the crop attending the festival with his acting, which opened to an overwhelming response.

If Jolie, who plays Daniel’s wife in the film, got rave reviews for her performance, Irrfan’s too has managed to please all and sundry and the scribes gave him full marks for etching out the role of the head of a Pakistani counter-terrorism unit with perfection.

James Rocchi of cinematical.com wrote in his review - a special praise has to go to Irrfan Khan. His character is the head of the new Pakistani anti-terrorism unit, and he’s a man torn between the public pronouncements of support for the West’s initiatives and the labyrinthine power-struggles of his government and massive public support for radical Islamic action. He is the face of a new kind of power in Pakistan, and his every line, every motion has the coiled power of a punch about to land, even in stillness.

Indeed “A Mighty Heart” is a triumph for Irrfan.

In the past veterans like Naseeruddin Shah and Om puri tried their luck in Hollywood with “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman”, “City of Joy” and “Mistress of Spices” respectively. But none could accomplish what Irrfan has achieved - for the first time an Indian actor is being praised in the same breath as Hollywood stars.

However, Irrfan is not an unfamiliar name in the global film circuit. In 2001 his “The Warrior”, a historical film made by Landon based director Asif Kapadia, stormed in international film festivals and made people take notice of him.

His colleagues feel that Irrfan’s grounded personality is the key to his success.

“There is a thing about Irrfan which will take him to very far in life is his talent and his down to earth nature. No amount of success goes to his head. He is a very grounded person,” Anurag Basu, who worked with him in “Metro”, told IANS.

He has one more international project called “Partition” in his kitty. Directed by Canadian director Vic Sarin, the film stars Jimi Mistry and Neve Campbell.

Recently, Irrfan won accolades for his yet another powerful performance in US-based Indian filmmaker Mira Nair’s “The Namesake”, based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s best-selling novel.

Next on his wish list is to find a foothold in Bollywood masala films.

“For me it’s important to be commercially viable. The distributors should be willing to pay for my space. I still have very limited choice… So what’s the point of being known as a good actor when you need to be recognised as commercially saleable? I want a better deal,” said Irrfan.

But at the same time he is looking forward to churn out more milestones like “Maqbool”, “Warrior”, “Haasil” and “Namesake”.

He said: “It’s been a long journey. But I’ve a long way to go. I’m happy with life. My wife is writing for Rituparno Ghosh and Bela Bhansali. I’ve two kids, aged eight and three. I’m enjoying watching them grow. No experience can match that.”

Goldie Behl’s ‘Drona’ has always been in troubled waters. And this time the movie has be postponed by a year. The movie is supposed to be Abhishek’s answer to Hrithik’s superhuman qualities in Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. The producers say special effects take time and therefore the movie is slated only to next year start.

Well, it isn’t they didn’t have an idea about the special effects earlier when they supposedly fixed the releasing date for November this year. So is it competition that has the producers take a back seat. With movies like Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha Akbar, Pradeep Sarkar’s Laga Chunari Mein Daag and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariyan, who would like to risk their prospects.

Tabu is 34 and Big B is 64 and the irony is that Big B is older than Tabu’s dad Paresh Rawal by six years in the movie, that’s ‘Cheeni Kum’ for you.

Big B is seen playing the role a chef in the movie, who takes pride in his profession. Tabu plays an Indian tourist, who invites his wrath by daring to criticize his ‘Jaffrani Pulao’ which leads to a big showdown. Big B and Tabu fall in love over food, long walks and coffee.

Big B woos her not with flowers or chocolates but, a lip smacking chicken dish. The twist in he movie however unfolds when Big B pops the question. Big B flies down to India to meet his girl’s dad played by Paresh Rawal and that’s when the drama kicks in.

Unfortunately, the second half does not live up to the mark as the movie digresses from fun to melodrama as Paresh Rawal’s character of an irritated father sets the movie onto a bizarre track. Paresh starts fasting to prevent his daughter from getting married to the chef. Big B at 64 is awesome as he looks cool in the ponytail and his clothes are impressive as well, the jackets make him looks suave.

Talking about performances, yet another memorable one delivered by Big B. Tabu looks completely rejuvenated in the movie as she looks beautiful and is in complete control of her character.

Zohra Sehgal is funny in the role of Big B’s mom and the 90-plus actress still manages to give an energetic performance. Paresh Rawal is good but, his character is too boring.

Cheeni Kum is a good attempt by debutante director R Balki. We think, the movie might good well only in metros and multiplexes.

Looks like Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai have taken the phrase “start a colorful life’ quite literally.

The couple will be seen painting together on a canvas under Cousin Namrita Bachchan’s guidance. Namrita is planning to sell the painting by the couple for charity purposes. Initially the idea was to make each Ash and Abhishek draw a portrait, but Ash insisted on striking the brush with hubby sweetheart. Looking at the popularity the couple has banked on after marriage it is higly likely that the painting would go for a great bid. Good for the charity!

Some 300 odd policemen with over 1500 rounds for fire of the course of six hours, is what it took to kill gangster Maya Dolas and his gang of four in 1991 and this is the basic premise of ‘Shootout At Lokhandwala.

Apoorva Lakhia has compiled an ensemble cast of Big B, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, Dia Mirza, Arbaaz Khan and many more for the bloodbath. Maya Dolas a character played by Vivek Oberoi, created an extortion wave in the 1990’s as he demanded money from businessmen and big names from the Bollywood industry.

Maya become a threat not only to Mumbai but, also to the underworld based in Dubai as he dared to disobey the ‘Bhai’. Vivek Oberoi is exceptional in the movie, the actor is back with a big bang and has delivered a complete shootout performance.

Amrita Singh plays Vivek’s mom and she is terrific as well. Dia Mirza is playing a journo, who covered the encounter story and the actress has delivered a matured performance. Tushar Kapoor has moved to a different genre with ‘Shootout At Lokhandwala’ as he has shed his good boy image to play a contract killer.

Aarti Chhabria impressed us with her hard-hitting performance especially in the climax scene. Of the vast star cast, the performances that standout are of Arbaaz Khan, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty.

Apoorva Lakhia has managed to steal the show this time. Although his first two movies bombed at the box-office, he sure struck gold the third time.

Shootout at Lokhandwala is eye opener as it uncovers the games that the cops played with the mafia prior to the media expansion.

‘Shootout At Lokhandwala’ is a must watch especially for Vivek Oberoi, who has got his groove back.

After reigning as the queen of Bollywood playback singing for more than 60 years, Lata Mangeshkar may finally make her international debut.

Composer Aadesh Shrivastava is persuading the singing legend to take the plunge.

“I want Lata didi to contribute to the album that I’ve just done with hip-hop artiste Wyclef Jean. Only she can bring that sense of melodious grace and harmony to that album,” Shrivastava told IANS.

“I’ve contributed extensively to the percussion section of the album especially on the ‘dhol’ (drum). But without Lata didi’s voice my first international album would be incomplete,” he added.

Lata, currently putting finishing touches to her first ghazal album in two decades, is considering the offer.

“She has to do it. While Ashaji has gone international so many times, Lata didi hasn’t done an international album yet. I’ll convince her,” said Shrivastava.

Ekta Kappor also the co-producer of ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’ sure knows how to kill two birds with one stone.

This week ‘Shootout..’ is all set to release and the movie promotions are in full fledge. ‘Kyunki’s’ creative team came up with a plot in which Tulsi gets to meet the ‘Shootout..’ team, who will also be seen grooving in the soap.

Apparently, based on what we learnt about the plot, Viranis feels that Tulsi has lost her mind and is being sent to an asylum and just when Tulsi is being taken to the institution, the van comes to a halt at a signal.

Vivek, Tushar, Shabbir and Rohit Roy are dancing on ‘Ganpat’ and the asylum team gets carried away with their performance thus, giving Tulsi a chance to escape.

Now, ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’ is about the famous encounter that took place in the 90’s and ‘Kyunki..’ is about today, so we don’t know how the crossover happened but, we are just excited to see Vivek and the team go ‘Ganpat’ in ‘Kyunki…’

It’s hard to win the heart of the 5 meticulous judges, Bappi da, Himmesh, Vishal-Shekhar and Ismail Darbar but, Mauli is the only contestant that made the judges groove to her voice on “Maiya Maiya” and “Rasiya man Basiya”. She was awesome though on “Maiya Maiya” in fact, her performance has increased the viewership of the show five folds.

The singer, who was discovered by Bappi Da, made her mentor very proud and he hosted a special dinner in her honor which was attended by many Mauli fans Neetu Kapoor, Rakesh Roshan and Randhir Kapoor to name a few.

Neetu complimented Mauli by saying that she started watching the show only after hearing her performance on “Maiya, Maiya”.

Asha Bhosle is however, not too happy with Mauli as she thinks that a singer should be versatile and Mauli is just singing in one genre. So Ashaji has suggested Mauli to break the mould and attempt more of romantic or sad numbers.

John Abraham quit smoking long ago, but is putting himself into the smokers’ zone again for a role. He has been smoking extensively for his role in Anurag Kashyap’s´ “No Smoking”.

Coughing intermittently, the dedicated actor said, “Oh man, I’ve just been smoking and smoking for every shot. And one has to inhale the smoke. I can’t just pretend to be smoking. If I had to fake it I’d not be doing this role. I’m turning into a smoker for an anti-smoking film.”

“Ironically, while we’re making an anti-smoking film all of us are smokers on the sets. After a shot we huddle together like college students in the locker room for a smoke,” he added.

“No Smoking” is one more endeavour by John to go against the grain. “People look at me as if I’ve gone crazy - at a time when the world is doing big-budget actions why are you doing ‘Kabul Express’ and ‘No Smoking’, have you lost it? - but that’s me. More than driving a car, I love riding a bike, I love the thought of sitting on the edge. I’m very secure about my career choices.”

Matthew Robbins, who wrote many of Steven Spielberg’s earlier films, had a lot to say about “No Smoking” to John. “He came home the other day and said it’s the best thing to have happened to Indian cinema. He told me to be grateful that I was in a film like this. Do you know no other leading man wanted to do this film? And when Anurag came to me he narrated another script, a very commercial typical thriller that he thought I’d be more interested in,” said John.

“Then he suddenly offered me ‘No Smoking’. I loved it and asked him why he hadn’t offered me this first. Then he confessed he had made up the other commercial subject on the way to meet me. He made it up in half an hour and gave me an hour-long narration just to see how I reacted. Then he offered me ‘No Smoking.”

John’s ‘No Smoking’ co-star is Ayesha Takia. “She’s a very sweet girl, and very sincere about her work.”

Gun-and-gals guy Sanjay Gupta is turning over a new leaf with poetry penned for his autobiographical film “Alibaug”. The inspiration behind the lyrics is his estranged wife Anu.

“The only way I can express myself is through poetry. I’ve written quite a lot of poems for her, something I wouldn’t do for any one else in the world. So if people find my poetic efforts in Alibaug bad, they would know whom to blame,” jokes Gupta.

That the two have been separated for some years now is no secret. Although Gupta’s wife was by his side when he had a near-fatal road accident a few years ago, their marriage was already on the rocks by then.

But now there’s every sign of the couple getting back together. Anu accompanied Gupta on a trip to Pune Saturday to promote their film “Shootout At Lokhandwala”.

“Yes, she’s with me. And I’d love to have her back. As I grow older I do feel the need to find my roots again. And Anu is very much part of my roots. I can’t say I haven’t made mistakes. And she had every right to leave me. But now I’ve every right to want her back. My footloose days are over,” said Gupta.

After playing the love interest of 64 year Amitabh Bachchan in Cheeni Kum, Tabu feels she will be better off marrying an older man in real life too!

Tabu is one Bollywood actress who has not given in to the temptation of doing 'dance around the trees' kind of commercial roles to rake in the moolah and has still made a name for herself as an actor par excellence.

With the release of director Balki's Cheeni Kum this week, the actor is in the news for her views on romance with an elder man.

"If I am with a younger guy, I know he will be crushed under my personality," she told Bombay Times. "I won't be able to get along with a guy my age because he will compete with me. I have no patience and tolerance for all that. I am a free spirited person. Only an older man can control my free spirit. He'll pamper me and let me do what I want. I can flourish with him."

BT says Tabu may be looking for a father figure in her life because of the many failed relationships she has seen in life. Her parents' break up and her sister Farah's divorce could be the reason why she does not settle down. But an older man seems to be Tabu's dream husband and she has realized this dream at least in the movie Cheeni Kum with Big B whom she describes as 'a special man whose presence comforts her'.

Thrity-six-year-old Tabu is reported to be in a relationship with Telugu superstar Nagarjuna and has built a beautiful home in Hyderabad, her home city, to be near him.

Recently, on Karan Johar's Koffee With Karan show, to publicize the film The Namesake with Mira Nair, she said, "I have many regrets in life – particularly in personal life. I wish I hadn't met a few people that I met. I can't say anything about my relationship but Nagarjuna is a special person in my life and while boyfriends may come and go, he remains!"

Cheeni Kum is awaited eagerly across the world as a fun movie that may succeed hugely in its genre!

Amitabh Bachchan made his first appearance at Cannes Tuesday (22 May 2007) to promote Eros International's new film, Cheeni Kum at the 60th Annual Film Festival.

The 65-year-old iconic star who has acted in over 160 films in a career spanning 36 years said, "I feel great to be here. The buzz being generated by our cinema is palpable."

In the romantic comedy Cheeni Kum, Amitabh acts as an acerbic 64-year-old chef of London's top Indian restaurant, who falls in love with a simple 34-year-old unmarried woman (Tabu) whose father is younger than him.

The credited cast for the film includes Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal and Annie Vanders.

Amitabh attended the premier of the film Tuesday evening and received a standing ovation. The film struck a chord with an audience made up of mixed nationalities.

Amitabh was pleasantly surprised that immigration and security officials at the airport in the France recognized him and talked about his films, an indication, he said, that Bollywood is making inroads in the country.

"Cannes is internationally famous for marketing films all over the world. It is wonderful to find Indian cinema here as well," said Bachchan.

He is known to be reclusive but, Aamir finally chose to speak on the topic that the media has been speculating for over a month over his rocky marriage with Kiran Rao.

Commenting on his divorce rumors, Aamir outraged by expressing that the rumors were all utter crap and such rumors have forced him to comment on the topic. Aamir further shared his concern by sharing that the national media has become more of a film media and they are not acting responsible. The actor said that talks about his marriage being over were a figment of someone’s imagination.

Aamir is all geared up for the release of his next ‘Taare Zameen Pe’ and the actor has already started shooting for ‘Ghajni’.

Aamir also added that his work keeps him going and he pays no heed to any gossips. We were hoping that Aamir-n-Kiran would stay together forever and that seems to be the case and we are sure all the gossip monger journos are so dizzy after reading this news that they can literally see ‘Taare Zameen Pe’.

IndiaFm, UTV is at its peak with a series of ambitious projects. It has been spreading its international presence by co-producing “the Namesake”. The coming up ventures includes two new projects with Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan. As for Indian movies, UTV has this massive plan to dub the 2006 hit Rang De Basanti in English.

The movie will be re-launched worldwide in its new avatar. The international version will be crisply edited and will be a 2.10 hours movie. Any guess what will the title? Well it is –“Colour Of Sacrifice”.

The prolific Abbas-Mustan admit their new film “Race” has the biggest star cast they’ve ever worked with. “It has Saif and Akshaye Khanna as brothers who are trying to outdo each other.”

Saif is thrilled to have finally signed a film that gives him a chance to dance with a new co-star. “I’m absolutely enjoying working with Akshaye Khanna. A new co-star is always fun. Akshaye, Abbas-Mustan and I seem to come from different worlds. It is an interesting mix of different sensibilities. I’m sure the results will be rewarding.”

Abbas admits he signed them because they’ve never worked together. “Saif has never been seen in a role like the one he’ll play in ‘Race’. And Akshaye Khanna too has been cast like never before. But what interests us as filmmakers is how the combination will excite the audience.”

There is a growing belief in the film industry that every star on his or her own spells little magic at the box office. It is the combination that works. Priyadarshan’s comedy “Bhagam Bhaag” held the interest of the audience, mainly because of the never seen before combination of Govinda and Akshay Kumar.

” ‘Race’ also has other stars who have never worked with each other before. Bipasha and Katrina have never worked together or with Saif and Akshaye. Or for that matter Anil Kapoor with Sameera Reddy,” said Abbas.

Apparently, Mallika Sherawat was to be cast opposite Anil. But the pair has already been seen and rejected in Ram Gopal Varma’s “Darna Zaroori Hai”. So it is Sameera Reddy now.

Abbas-Mustan seem to have gotten the formula right in “Race”. “We want to continue doing work that will excite audiences. Of course, people want us to make suspense thrillers. We’ll continue to do the needful. But we need to spice up proceedings within our comfort zone. One way of doing so is to bring stars together like never before,” they said.

“While ‘Race’ features an array of stars in combinations and looks never seen before, the new Bobby Deol-Akshaye Khanna starrer we’ve just shot presents our antagonists from ‘Humraaz’ in totally different roles. Then we have ‘Mr Fraud’ where Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan cross swords while Bipasha Basu joins in,” they added.

Many other filmmakers are following Abbas-Mustan’s formula. Nikhil Advani’s “Salaam-e-Ishq” had unusual combinations like Salman Khan-Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham-Vidya Balan.

In “Happy Birthday”, producer Gaurang Doshi has gone to great lengths to get the hitherto untried combination of John Abraham and Aishwarya Rai. Doshi agrees the two stars individually spell much less magic than in a combination.

In Mani Ratnam’s “Lajjo”, Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor come together for the first time.

“It’s not just for the audience. The thrill of working with big stars in new combination also extends to the director,” says Abbas.

There is no denying that Saroj Khan has played a vital role in Madhuri Dixit’s success; Sarojji’s “Ek Do Teen”, “Dhak Dhak” and “Choli Ke Peeche” are landmarks in Madhuri’s career.

In fact, “Ek Do Teen” was the song responsible to bring Madhuri in the main league and was also one the main factors behind the success of ‘Tezaab’. So when Saroj Khan is ready to take her plunge as a director, everyone was almost sure that she would opt for Madhuri in the lead especially now that Madz is back in Bollywood but, to everyone’s surprise Saroj is planning to cast Priyanka Chopra instead and that made us dig a little more to get the real scoop.

‘Aaja Naachley’ is Madhuri’s comeback movie and Saroj Khan was all excited to choreograph Madhuri for her comeback project especially because the movie is all about dance but, Yash Chopra opted for Vaibhavi Merchant over Saroj Khan and surprisingly Madhuri didn’t insist on Saroj Khan either and settled for Vaibhavi.

This news was quite a shock for Saroj Khan and to settle scores with Madz, she decided to cast Priyanka Chopra in her directorial debut and showed the door to Madz as she asked her to go “Ek Do Teen.”

An emotionally distraught Salman Khan vented his exasperation over delays in the Chinkara poaching case that has dragged since 1998 telling Chief Judicial Magistrate BK Jain, "Hang me if I'm guilty!"

After recording his statement, along with 5 others, in the case relating to poaching of Chinkara in Ghoda farms on October 11, 1998, Salman told the court, "Main pareshan ho gaya hoon. Mujhe phansi par chada do agar doshi hoon to aur mukadme ka phaisla jaldi se kar do" (I am fed up. Hang me if I'm guilty but pronounce a judgment on the case.)

According to Public Prosecutor Jeevan Ram Choudhary Salman's plea was not in the court records as he "made the gesture after recording the statement in the form of a request."

According to Salman's counsel Hastimal Sarswat the Bollywood star told the judge that he was innocent and was being "falsely implicated in the poaching cases".

Salman is a co-accused in another case involving Chinkara poaching in Bhavad on the same day along with actor-comedian Satish Shah, final hearings for which have also started.

Media reports that SRK would get a dream opportunity to work with his screen idols Dilip Kumar and Saira Bano in the film Dulha Mil Gaya have proved to be wrong.

Mumbai Mirror says that this news was spawned by Saira Bano's remark some years ago at an awards function that if she and her husband had a son, he'd probably look like Shah Rukh Khan!

The idea of casting the two as father and son must have been born then.

"But SRK has only a guest appearance in this comedy," says the report, "If at all they are to work together, they would do a different film."

A friend of Dilip Kumar adds, "It is unlikely that Dilip Kumar will face a camera again. He does not keep well and cannot move without his wife by his side."

Subhash Ghai had offered him a role in Homeland last year but the actor declined it. J P Dutta also wanted him to play Abhishek Bachchan's father in Aakhri Mughal. But these roles did not materialize.

Shah Rukh Khan and Dilip Kumar are both Pathans and share a common passion for films.

Do you remember John waiting for a co-star for Deepa Mehta’s ‘Luna?

Well the lady opposite John is finalized. She is the Constant Gardner…I mean the lead lady in Constant Gardner, The Mummy and Constantine. Yes, Rachel Weisz is going to play the protagonist in Luna. Hear more on it from Deepa, “John, who plays an environmentalist in Luna, is not an Indian, nor an American in the film. His culture origins aren’t specified. Unlike in Water, in this film, he won’t be a man in a dhoti playing the basuri. This makes him Bollywood’s first actor to crack the West without playing an NRI or some exotic creature. And guess who gave approval for John, “The true-life inspiration for the film, Julia Hill, just loved John. Her approval was very important. She thought he looked like Antonio Banderas!” He has a full-fledged role opposite Rachel.” Script for the movie will be written by two time Oscar winner David Ward.

Presently John is finishing Anurag Kashyap’s “No Smoking”. And why such off-beat movies: “At a time when the world is doing big-budget actions why are you doing Kabul Express and No Smoking? Have you lost it?’ But that’s me. More than driving a car, I love riding a bike, I love the thought of sitting on the edge. I’m very secure about my career choices.” Believe me, we love you in whatever movie you come!

Eros International, the integrated media company within the Indian entertainment sector, announced that it has launched an official channel on YouTube.

The Eros channel can be accessed at www.youtube.com/erosentertainment, a release issued here said.

Movie trailers, music videos and other exclusive footage from Eros International’s rich catalogue of 1300 films are now available to YouTube users around the world. This is the first partnership between YouTube and a major content owner from the Indian film industry.

The new channel will be featured in YouTube’s ‘Partner Channels’ section and will feature film trailers from recent and upcoming movies including Aishwarya Rai’s Provoked, Namastey London and Cheeni Kum. Additional footage from exclusive film premieres and star interviews will be showcased on the channel.

The deal will allow Eros to monetise the channel from a share of advertising revenues generated by YouTube.

Eros International Chairman & CEO Kishore Lulla said in a statement, ”The partnership with YouTube allows us to not only promote our content but also monetise it through advertising revenues. Legal online distribution of compelling content is an integral part of our new media strategy.” As previously announced, Eros also recently concluded a deal with OnCommand Video Corporation (www.oncommand.com) which is a leading provider of in-room entertainment technology to the lodging and cruise ship industries to supply its current and catalogue films for video-on-demand access within hotel chains across USA. On Command is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation.

Eros International is actively pursuing the digital distribution business. Eros Music audio titles are already available on iTunes and Real Rhapsody. Eros also has strategic distribution deals in place with Comcast, Intel Viiv, Mauj Telecom, Rogers Cable, Movielink, Tiscally Homechoice and RTL Holland, the release added.

UTV has ambitious plans up its sleeve. Besides spreading its wings in the international arena [co-producing THE NAMESAKE and planning international co-productions with Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan], the corporate house is dubbing its 2006 hit RANG DE BASANTI in English.

In fact, UTV will re-launch RANG DE BASANTI as a crossover release in the international market. The original Hindi version was of 2.50 hours duration, while the international version will be of 2.10 hours duration -- 40 minutes shorter. Also, the title will be changed to COLOUR OF SACRIFICE.

The international version for global audiences will have a limited theatrical release in the next few months.

He is one of the biggest Hollywood stars and he is all praise for our very own Salman Khan.

When Karan asked Richard which all Bollywood stars have been helping him with his cause on AIDS Awareness he replied, “Shabana Azmi, Bipasha Basu”. In fact, Richard also added that he finds Bips hot but, one person he was all praises for was Salman Khan.

During the event of World AIDS day, Salman walked up to the stage and all his fans cheered for him loud, the sexy Khan asked them, “Do you love me?” to which obviously, all the fans went, “Yes” then, he pointed out a person next to him and asked, “He has HIV AIDS, do you love him?” The crowd had no response.

Salman then, said “How would you feel if I had HIV AIDS, would you still continue loving me?”, he pointed out to the man and said “I love him and If you don’t love him no need to come for my movies to the theatres.”

Richard was amazed to see Salman do this as he felt that one really needs to have the guts to do that especially when you are a commercially successful hero.

Richard also felt that Salman Khan has a lot of passion for the ‘cause’. We totally agree with that as when it comes to passion, don’t we all know how passionate Sallu bhai is?

So viewers, get ready to bid adieu to Neha, the leading lady of ‘Mamta’ and to welcome Narayani Shastri as the Producers of ‘Mamta’ are ready to replace the protagonist of the show.

Narayani has done ‘Piya Ka Ghar’ for the same production house so when they approached her, the actress jumped on the opportunity besides, she loves the show as it is not the run-of-the-mills ‘Saas-Bahu’ drama but, it’s about surrogacy and now it has evolved into a love story.

The Producers of the show wanted an age leap and this didn’t go well with Neha, who refused to play a 40-something role so they approached Narayani, who seemed quite comfy with the generation-next plot.

Narayani shared, “I have enjoyed a long break and there could not be a better way to end it as it’s like homecoming with my favorite unit of ‘Piya ka Ghar’.”

Ashutosh Gowariker and his latest epic JODHAA-AKBAR made their presence felt at the 60th Cannes Film Festival. Ashutosh Gowariker made it to Variety's list of the 60 most important people to watch out at Cannes '07, while JODHAA-AKBAR's first visual was showcased amidst international buyers and media.

Sunita Gowariker, Executive Producer, who represented the JODHAA-AKBAR team, just got back from Cannes where she got an overwhelming response to the 2-minute promo, which was showcased for the first time.

Says Sunita Gowariker, "The reactions were amazing. Buyers for Germany, France and South Africa were very excited. Representatives from Venice and Rome were keen that JODHAA-AKBAR be showcased at their festivals."

Produced by UTV and Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, the film is slated for 12th October release.

After much speculation that Madhuri was back to her neck-of-the-woods, Mumbai for good, looks like Mrs. Nene has sure proved many wrong as after her 5-month long holiday-n-work trip to India, Madhuri Dixit will be bidding goodbye to Mumbai May 22nd.

Madz, who was in Mumbai to shoot for Yash Chopra’s ‘Aaja Naachley’, will be winding up the shoot on May 21st. Her hubby is already in town and they are all packing up to head to Denver.

Madhuri described her stay in Mumbai as splendid and shared that she did not accept any more offers as it was time that returns back to her new home with her husband and kids. “My kids Arin and Ryan had a blast in Mumbai, in fact, my older son Arin has also picked up some Hindi which is good as besides English and Marathi he knows Hindi now,” Madhuri added.

Madhuri will be back in Mumbai around Diwali to promote her movie before its grand release, so until then it’s, “Bye-Bye Mumbai” and, “Hello Denver.”

LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI is still winning hearts across the globe. A screening of the film was held at Cannes on 19th May and the reactions were overwhelming. Director Rajkumar Hirani was present at the screening, but producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had to return just before the screening as his mother took ill.

The screening of the movie at the Festival saw people sitting on the aisles as the theatre was completely packed. The film was screened in the 'Les Cinemas du Monde' section, which screened the best of world cinema on 19th May. The 200-seater theatre was packed to capacity and had 80% White audience. There was also a big group of French students that clapped till the credits were finished.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's EKLAVYA will be showcased at Cannes in the same section on 24th May.

It was at a dinner with his friends Kareena, Shahid and director Ahmed Khan that Arbaaz Khan was offered the role of the comic gangster in Fool 'n' Final.

"It's not a consciously funny role. In both Fool 'n' Final and Shoot-out At Lokhandwala I'll make people laugh," promises Arbaaz.

After five years of poker-faced spoil-sport roles, in Apoorva Lakhia's Shoot-out At LokhandwalaArbaaz is finally loosening up. He's cast as a cop who provides many light moments. "My character Javed Sheikh is a bit of a linguistic with a master-command over many languages. He keeps correcting everyone's language. Though he doesn't mean to be, he's quite comical likewise my character in Feroz Naidiadwala's Fool 'n' Final. I play this gang lord called Moscow Chikna who's always in a rage over goof-ups in his organization. He isn't consciously being funny but comes across as such to those around him."

He shared a great rapport with the whole Shootout team. "Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty are friends, and actors I've looked up to. I'm on the right side of the law with them whereas most of the actors who played gangsters were naturally thrown together. I had to chase the gangster played by Rohit Roy. So I can't say we got a chance to like each other," says Arbaaz using the funny bones that he has lately discovered.

Arbaaz laughs recalling how he got the role in Fool and Final. "I was having dinner with Shahid, Bebo (Kareena) and Ahmed Khan when Ahmed said there was a character in his film only I could do... and his name was Moscow Chikna. It's hard to keep a straight face when your character has such a name. But in our films, anything is possible."

Arbaaz who has the disadvantage of being from a family of celebrities feels he has carved a distinct place for himself. "I've deliberately chosen to be different from the typical romantic-action heroes that Shah Rukh, Aamir and my brother Salman play. I knew I didn't stand a chance in that slot. So I started as an anti-hero a slot that other big heroes subsequently adopted. I feel I've made a lot of mistakes in my career and done roles that have finally done me more harm than good. But I've learnt from all my mistakes. Today I feel more confident. There're so many kinds of films being made. And I fit in comfortably into various slots."

History is witness that new the generation takes their family legacy ahead but, Kareena and Karisma did not do much for their home banner RK, so hopefully it’s time that Ranbir Kapoor that’s on the helm.

Dad Rishi and uncles Randhir and Rajeev are busy working on a new project, a movie that would revive the RK banner which has been in slumber for a good couple of years. Ranbir Kapoor, who is making his debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya’, also has a couple of Yash Chopra projects under his belt.

Ranbir is pronounced as the next superstar and the debutante wants to leverage his stardom to revive his home banner.

The Kapoor Bros were last week on ‘Koffee with Karan’ and they were terrific and now with the trio putting in all their energies in the making of the next big RK movie with Ranbir, we are sure that audiences can expect an ‘Awara’ or probably ‘Bobby’.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is sure marking the great entry of Bobby Deol into the Yash Raj Camp but the atmosphere during the shoot wasn’t quite favorable for Bobby. Recently in his interview Bobby said, “I don’t remember having any fun on the sets while shooting for ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’.”



And why didn’t the Deol Jr. have any fun is all because of his co-star Abhishek Bachchan and Preity Zinta. A source from the film unit said “Abhishek and Preity sidelined and ignored Bobby completely, so caught up were they in their own private masti.”
Wonder what went wrong- Abhishek knew Bobby since childhood and Pretiy co-stared Deol in Soldier and were heard to be quite a team. So all that remains to decipher for this indifference is, I Guess, the new found fame that has gotten into the stars’ head. But Bobby was well behaved and maintained a quiet dignity. Well, that is not right on Preity and Abhishek’s part! Let us who walks out with all the fame when JBJ releases on the 15th June.

On Saturday afternoon the cast and crew of Apoorva Lakhia's Shootout At Lokhandwala left for a road trip to Pune to press-promote the film.

"All of us barring Mr Bachchan and Abhishek are on the way. I couldn't put Abhishek and Viviek Oberoi in the same bus, could I?" jokes Gupta.

The crew of a TV channel (Aaj Tak) is also accompanying the Shootout team and would be shooting all the events from Mumbai to Pune.

Says Gupta, "We plan a premiere on Thursday at the InOrbit Mall. We've booked the entire mall. And at the center of the Mall we're putting up a stage, landing and all. And we've got all the musicians who've contributed to the film -Strings, Euphoria, Anand Raj Anand - plus the entire cast, performing live in the mall from 8 pm to 9 pm. This event would be thrown open to everyone in the mall. Even the film's screening after the live performance won't be elitist but more fun-filled, then post the premiere we'll have a party with dinner and drinks.'

"And," adds Gupta, "We've taken official permission to party till 4 am. There have been other premiers at InOrbit, but never this kind of a full-on event."

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who has been convicted under the Arms Act in the 1993 serial blasts case, did not appear before the designated TADA court which commenced pronouncing the quantum of sentences upon the convicts from today.

Dutt did not appear before the court on the ground that he was unwell.

His counsel, Farhana Shah, told the court that Dutt was unwell and, so, could not appear before the court. The Bollywood actor, however, has been directed to appear before the court on Monday.

Meanwhile, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam informed reporters that he had submitted the list of probation officers in the state to the court and it was now the discretion of the court to call for reports of the convicts.

As many as 93 convicts have moved applications seeking relief under the Probation of Offenders Act.

After series of film awards events witnessing many a heartthrob from the big screen scorch the stage with their glittering presence, it’s time for the stars from the small screen to dazzle viewers with their charisma.

And, what better an occasion to do so than the ‘Star Parivaar Awards’, the most awaited television awards nite, one that brings together the entire television industry on one platform.

Celebrating and felicitating some remarkable contributions by Star Parivar’s own family members over the past 5 years from ‘Tusi’ to ‘Parvati’ to ‘Prerna’ to ‘Kumkum’ to ‘Pammi’ to ‘Om’ to ‘Mihir’, ‘Kavya’, ‘Sumeet’, ‘Bajaj’ to ‘Dev’ will be the Star Parivaar Awards 2007, to be aired on Star Plus on May 20, which will laud the memorable and remarkable performances by those associated with the serials on Star Plus over the past 5 years.

A one of its kind awards night where characters of the serials rather than the actors themselves are honoured for their performances, the Star Parivaar Awards, 2007 will be aired on Star Plus at 8 pm on May 20, the channel said.

The show will be aired in two parts, with its half hour special on the grand Red Carpet welcome of its celebrated TV artists to be aired tomorrow at 7.30 pm and the main event, the awards night to be aired on Sunday from 8.00 pm onwards.

The awards evening will witness some enthralling stage acts and performances by some of televisions most popular, leading names like Rucha Gujrati-Bhanujeet (‘Bhaabi’), Gaurav-Megha (‘Kumkum’), Naryani Shastri, Manav Gohil, Shweta Tiwari (‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’), Yash Tonk, Palli Subhash (‘Karam Apna Apna’), Neena Gupta, Ketki Dave, Akashdeep Sehgal, Jay Bhanushali, Hiten, Gauri Pradhan, Sangeeta Ghosh, Shabbir Ahluwalia and Varun Badola.

Further, three new members of the Star parivaar this year -Ashima Bhalla, Karan Grover and Soumya Tandon (from ‘Meri Awaz Ko Mil Gayi Roshni’) will perform on the title track of the show.

While Narayani Shastri and Ali Asgar with fellow artist Manav Gohil will set the stage ablaze with their performances on foot-tapping tracks of ‘Hey Babu’ and ‘Signal Pyar Ka’ from the hit entertainer of the year- ‘Bhagam Bhaag’, Shweta Tewari (Prerna of ‘Kasauti Zindagi Kay’ will jive on ‘Saiyan Re...’ from ‘Salaam-e-ishq’.

Also to be featured in the show will be high voltage performances by Yash Tonk and Pallavi Subhashin on ‘Chali Chali’, ‘Shava Shava’ and ‘Gori Gori’, while Mouni Roy (KT from Kyunki....) unleashes her dancing talent with the track ‘Barso Re Megha’ (Guru).

The show will also have the three celebrity hosts - Sangeeta, Shabbir and Varun - perform to a parody of songs from ‘Laawaris’, ‘Lagaan’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Pyar Ki Side Effects’ and finally roll it all into the title track of Star Parivaar Awards.

This year, the ‘Star Parivaar Awards’ will be awarding those members of its family that have won the hearts of the viewers over the past 5 years. The awards have been divided into the ‘Hall of Fame’ and ‘Popular’ categories.

The Hall of Fame categories will comprise of those faces that have been a part of the channel in the past like Neena Gupta, Renuka Shahane. And like always, the audiences will get a chance to choose their best and favorite characters who are nominated from amongst the 23 different categories including Best ‘buzurg’ (elder of the family), ‘chhota bachcha’, ‘naya sadasya’, ‘maa-pita’, ‘beti-beta’, ‘bhai-behen’, ‘bhabhi-devar’, ‘devrani-jethani’, ‘pati-patni’, ‘saas-bahu’, ‘saut'.

The uniqueness of the award is that it acknowledges not just the actor, but more so the character. This award thus measures the popularity an actor brings to a character.

Among the nominees for award for the favourite ‘jodi’(best on screen pair) are Kavya and Anjali (‘Kavyaanjali’), Dev and Pammi (‘Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand’), Karan and Nandini (‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu thi’), Sumeet and Kumkum (‘Kum Kum), Bajaj and Prerna (‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’), Om and Parvati (‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’), Mihir and Tulsi (‘Kyunki Saas bhi..’) and Gautam and Priya.

Looks like Ram Gopal Varma is taking Bollywood by the storm of his movies this year but not all his women are happy by his moves. Jiah’s apparently held the post of being Ramu’s favorite for quite sometime now and it is not going too well with Nisha Kothari who was termed as Ramu’s latest muse.



Being extremely fond of Jiah Ramu has been considering gifting her a flat and a few of Ramu’s meaty roles are already in Jiah’s Bag. Oh well all that is obvious and very Ramu kind. He is the typical Bollywood movie director who is capable of making and breaking careers. What does it matter to us until we get some nice movies to see but otherwise all this is just junk for us!

Mithoon gets his big break finally with "The Train" and he's done quite an impressive job for a newcomer. The movie sees the sensual Shilpa Rao making a mark for herself. With every song being either average or good, the soundtrack should do great with the audience.

KK does it again. With the emotional and sentimental track "Beete lamhein", he re-establishes his hold on great singing. Kshitij Tarey, who's a new name to reckon with, joins him.

The poetic lyrics by Sayeed Qadri teamed with Mithoon's music makes for some nice sentimental music. Slow in its pace, the number also has continuous light guitar strumming that makes it pleasurable to hear.

"Mausam" is one track that cannot be missed. Especially since the composer renders his own voice to the track. Who would have known he has such a great voice!

Again, with melodic lyrics, this track has an array of musical arrangements that add to the feel of the number. Sentiments are packed in this track too, making it a great romantic piece.

"Teri tamanna", with the duo of KK and Zubin Garg, is next on the list of 'worth-it' songs, though its popularity could be termed doubtful. It sounds nice with electric guitars strumming their way through the song, but there's something lacking that might prevent it from reaching the top.

Shilpa Rao and Mithoon once again make "Woh ajnabee" worth a hear. Rao's sensual and seductive voice sounds amazing and makes the track enjoyable.

To end the album, Mithoon brings forward "The Train (An Inspiration)". The composer decides to go absolutely literal with the number, as throughout the song one gets to hear various sounds associated with the train. There's the chugging of the train, the cooing, and Qadri's lyrics too lend support. A job well done!

Mithoon is going to have his hands full after this album and, hopefully, the likes of Reshammiya will take a back seat. Not only does Mithoon prove his mettle as a composer, his voice makes a mark and will be noticed. Way to go Mithoon!

Yashpal Sharma, brilliant as a villain in "Lagaan" and "Gangaajal", is all set to play the good guy, but says he is tired of being ill-treated and underused in Bollywood.

An actor par excellence, Yashpal will play the lead in Shayam Benegal's "Chamki". "I play the protagonist's husband. Kamaal ki script hai! Apart from Prakash Jha and a few directors I'm not happy with the way Bollywood treats me. I'm given neither proper money nor the kind of roles I deserve," he said.

"In fact for Prakash's 'Apaharan', both Nana Patekar and I have been nominated in the same category for a popular award. That felt good. But I feel ill-treated and underused. Maybe it's time for me to be taken more seriously now," added Yashpal.

He admits he hasn't been chasing roles too hard. "The good roles come my way, but mostly in the offbeat circuit. I've the main villain's role with Rahul Dev in Anees Bazmi's Benaam. This is the kind of film and role one gets noticed for."

But now Yashpal is happy. He has played the lead in the new Hindi films by Jhanu Barua and Paresh Kamdar. "In Jhanu Barua's 'Chasing Butterflies' I play the main lead. I play a reformed terrorist who has lost his limb. It's the story of my relationship with a child. I keep remembering what happened to Balraj Sahni in 'Kabulliwallah' and Pran in 'Nanha Farishta' where they shared screen space with a child actor. I hope something similar happens to me."

However, the film that Yashpal hopes would do the turning trick for him is Paresh Kamdar's "Johnny Johnny Yes Papa". "I share the main lead with a small child. I can't tell you how beautiful the film is. It'll remind audiences of films like Vittorio de Sica's 'Bicycle Thief' and Roberto Benigni's 'Life Is Beautiful'. I'm hoping to make the switchover to more substantial role and image with this film."

Yashpal shares the limelight with little Amit Pandit (the precocious sardar child in Koi Mil Gaya). "It's the kind of film that will make or break me. I'm very proud to be associated with it. I'm sick of playing the villain. But what to do? I can only do what I'm offered."

In Sushen Bhatnagar's "Trisha", Yashpal plays the lead opposite Divya Dutta.

Who could forget the Showman Subhash Ghai and King Khan’s combination in Pardes?

Well the jodi is going to repeat itself again. But this time the duo will be seen making a film within a film. Confused? Well Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om features King Khan being cast as the Showman’s hero and that too in the memorable film ‘Karz’ in Rishi Kapoor’s role. The scene is also shot in the same location that was erected in Film City.

Producer Sanjay Gupta was in for a real surprise when his upcoming cops-and-gangster drama "Shootout At Lokhandwala" was cleared by the censor board without any cuts.

And what's more, people of all ages can see the flick that has got a U certificate.

An overjoyed Gupta said: "We expected a lot of opposition and requests for cuts considering the violent nature of the content. To my director Apoorva Lakhia and my surprise, the censor board members loved the film and thought any cut would impede the fast narrative flow. They also told me not to go for a UA but a straight U certificate. I'm in a state of pleasant shock."

With the censor board's clearance, the film, based on a true incident in Mumbai in 1991, releases May 25.

After years as a director, Vikram Bhatt has finally turned producer too and hopes to carry forward his grandfather Vijay Bhatt's legacy.

"That's right! I'm joining hands with some corporate friends to form a production company called ASA Films. My partners are good people," Bhatt said.

Bhatt, who has directed popular films like "Ghulam" and "Raaz", said this would give him more choice and space to make the kind of films he would like to.

"If I've a home company I don't have to make so many films a year. And also, I can make the films I want to without compromise. I can be creatively involved and yet I don't have to implement those ideas personally all the time."

Bhatt's grandfather, renowned filmmaker Vijay Bhatt, was the last one in the family to have a production house - Prakash Pictures.

"My grandfather used to have a production house. He produced and directed evergreens like 'Baiju Bawra', 'Hariyali Aur Raasta' and 'Goonj Uthi Shehnai'. After my grandfather, my father and uncle couldn't produce any films.

"So in a way I'm carrying forward my grandfather's legacy. That makes me very emotional. He would have been 100-years-old if he were alive now."

Patch up between Kareena and Karan Johar was evident from Karan’s Koffee Show and rumors say that Karan is casting Bebo opposite his and Bebo’s all time favorite ShahRukh Khan. Not to mentioned the story is set in New York (Karan can’t do without new York).

The story is termed as an unusual love story directed by Siddharth Malhotra who assisted Johar in Kal Ho Na Ho. Karan Johar, however, refuses to spill the beans. But he confirms that his next production will be a one guy-one girl romantic film.

The big cultural movie gap between India's vast film market and the rest of the world acts inhibits the nation's films from conquering new territory in global markets, a forum at the Cannes Film Festival was told Sunday.

"There is a huge rupture in tone, style and taste between Indian films and winners at international film festivals," Cameron Bailey, a representative of the Toronto Film Festival told the forum on Indian filmmaking.

"Indian filmmakers could do more to educate audience about how to watch Indian films," he said.

The forum, hosted by Indian filmmaker and Cannes veteran Krishna Shah as well as Hollywood film producer Bhuvan Lall, sought answers to the lack of global box office acclaim for Indian film productions.

Bailey went on to point out that films by Indian directors like Deepa Mehta's "Water" and Mira Nair's "The Namesake" had enjoyed international success because "their filmmaking sensibilities do not come from India, but from other cultures."

The Indian movie business' lack of success in international markets compares to the recent accomplishments chalked up by South Korean, Iranian or Chinese filmmakers. No Indian film has yet earned $100 million globally or won a top film award.

This is despite the recent popularity of Bollywood movies, which some Indian filmmakers see as undercutting their attempts to forge a new global reputation for their country's industry.

"Bollywood is stifling," Indian filmmaker Piyush Jha said.

Jha, a director whose films include "Chalo America" and "The King of Bollywood", added, "Every time I go to a distributor and say I'm Indian, they say 'Oh, Bollywood' and the accompanying label of song and dance routines attached to that, have to be overcome yet again."

This year's Cannes is marking the co-anniversaries of 60 years of Indian independence and 60 years of the festival with a two-day mini-festival focusing on Indian cinema, which is being mounted as part of Cannes' Tous les Cinemas du Monde (Cinema of the world) section.

Altogether, seven Indian films will be screened to reflect the linguistic, historical and creative depth of the nation's moviemaking and the growth of Bollywood.

The Indian film business also has a big presence at the festival, as a consequence helping to compensate for the lack of entries in the competition this year.

But Hannah Fisher, a representative of the Bangkok Film Festival, said dealing with the Indian film business was extremely confusing as there were so many states on the sub-continent, making it a very bureaucratic and slow-moving process.

Fischer went on to say she also "would like to tone down the melodramatics" in Indian films.

Villages in an Indian film appear "glossy and not realistic" as in a Chinese film, said Mira Advari, a representative of the Hollywood Reporter. She also stressed that audiences have to be able to relate to the manner in which a story is told.

Apart from these factors, Derek Malcolm, film reviewer for London's daily Evening Standard, said one problem facing many Indian films was that they were very long and that the quality of their print was very poor.

The subtitles are awful and done by bureaucrats in India, Malcolm said.

Canadian movie producer David Hamilton believes that while film-making skills are available in India, the business side of the nation's movie sector needs to step up the pressure on the country's filmmakers.

In particular, he suggested increased DVD sales may help global exposure of Indian directors.

Singer-composer Himesh Reshammiya is in trouble…again!

This time it’s over objections to the words “asalaam walequm” in a song in his debut film “Aap Ka Suroor”.

“I’m here to entertain people. I’m starring in my first film and hopefully it will be liked. I’m not here to hurt any community or religion’s sentiments,” Himesh told IANS.

“The words ‘Dua karoon sajda karoon, yehi main kahoon, ‘asalaam walequm’, are sung by my character at a music concert. It’s his way of saying ‘god bless you’. There’re no negative connotations at all. ‘Asalaam walequm’ has been used in a very positive spirit. I’m the film’s main lead, the singer and the composer. So it’s my responsibility to make sure I offend nobody.”

A section of people have objected to the words being used in places of pleasure.

“I am being asked how I can stop the song from being played at discotheques. All I can say is, the destiny of a song and the places it’s taken to is in nobody’s hands.

“For the rest, all I can say is I can never be guilty of insulting anybody. How do I keep getting into these controversies, you tell me! If my song ‘Jhalak dikhla ja’ can be accused of inciting ghosts, then anything can happen.”

There’s also the matter with Asha Bhosle. He was seen crossing swords with her on Zee’s “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” programme.

“No. Only the promos have been cut to make it seem like we’re fighting. I’ve made peace with her. She has also sung a duet with me for my film.”

Tough the title calls for less ‘cheeni’, the music surely has lots of it. Prepare to get swayed off your feet with a composition that stays loyal to all the Illaiyaraaja music in this industry.

Illaiyaraaja proves himself to be the best choice for ‘Cheeni Kum’ music and kudos to Balakrishna for bringing back the ace music composer to the forefront. Not to mention the excellent vocals rendered by Shreya Ghoshal for the title track and also for the track ‘Baaten Hawa’. The album doesn’t have much in quantity but has a lot to offer you in quality. Just go get it!

Item girl Sambhavna Seth’s career finally takes off. The starlet, who came into limelight with her item numbers in “36 China Town”, “Sauda” and “Pagalpan”, has been signed to play the female lead in a comedy titled “Oh God! Sare Hain Fraud”.

It is produced and written by Rishi Prakash Mishra and directed by Sunil Tiwari, who earlier directed “2 October”.

The male lead of the film is not finalised yet, but other star cast is decided and it includes Johny Lever, Nirmal Pandey, Pradip Mahendru, Akhilesh Pandey, Ehsan Qureshi and Vijay Raj of “Monsoon Wedding” fame.

Television actor Zakir Hussein, who challenged Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma’s “Sarkar“, returns to the small screen with “Upnishad Ganga”.

Produced by a Calcutta based Chinmaya Institute and directed by Chandra Prakash Dewivedi, “Upnishad Ganga” is based on stories from the “Vedas”, “Purans” and mythological and historical books.

This serial will depict the life of some great personalities and Zakir is roped in to play Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shahajahan, and Maharishi Valmiki - a dacoit who had transformed into a great monk and wrote the epic “Ramayana”.

The actor also has quite a few films lined up for release such as “Johnny Gaddaar”, “Fauj Mein Mauj”, “Fool ‘N’ Final” and Varma’s “Darling” & “Sholay”.

Her Bollywood career was very short but after a gap of many years the long-forgotten actress Priya Gill surfaces in a Bhojpuri film called “Piya Tohese Naina Lage”. It is releasing May 18.

The “Tere Mere Sapne” fame actress is paired up with Akhilesh Pandey in the movie about a city educated boy who wants to bring changes in his village.

Produced by Rishi Prakash Mishra and directed by Balakrishna, it is shot in Gorakhpur to bring the authentic flavour of Bhojpuri culture.

While shooting for Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘Goal’ at South Hall in London, Bipasha Basu and Arshad Warsi faced a humiliating incident at a traffic signal. Two whites started singing a rap which had words insulting the Indians. Though Bipasha and Arshad were shocked to hear such offending comments, they kept their cool showing their true Indian colours.

Later Bipasha said that she has traveled abroad a lot but never has she faced such humiliation and insult. Got to say, our Indian beauties do know how to keep their head high keeping their cool against racist remarks.

UTV, the producer of films like “Rang De Basanti”, has terminated all commercial relations with Palador for its world cinema business with immediate effect.

The partnership came to an end due to material breach of terms of agreement by Palador and its co-promoters Gautam Shiknis and Mohan Polamarasetty, said a press release.

From now on, UTV will operate the world cinema business under the brand name Olive. The production house’s plans include rolling out a DVD label under the new brand name and the launch of its television channel on world cinema by year-end.

Hazel, the English model who is carried away by her love for Indian and Indian cinema is now making her debut with the director Robby Grewal’s film, ‘Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar’. Talking about herself and India Hazel tells Delhi Times that “Modeling was just something that happened along the way,” she says. So, what brought her to India, if not modeling? “I love travelling and India was always on the top of my list. Also, it was always my dream to become an actress in Bollywood.” Linda who plays the role of an NRI in her film says that “Robby saw my ads and called me for an audition. My mixed look of innocence and naivete is what I guess worked for me.”

It is surprising for a British to speak Hindi. For this Linda tells that “I have been learning Hindi for the last two years.” Hazel has also learnt the classical Indian dance, Bharatnatyam. “I’m fond of various dances and I’ve been dancing for the last seven years,” says Hazel who also loves reading. She claims that “While in England, I did some extra work on TV and then it was a gradual progression as my interest grew.” According to Hazel her modeling and working as a model in advertisements has helped her gain experience and get used to facing the camera.

On the question that will she be able to survive in the industry without a godfather, Hazel replies that “Yes, maybe even better, since I don’t have one. Being out there on your own makes you tougher and more resilient.” Besides this Hazel also reveals that she would love to work with the macho actor-painter Salman Khan.

Kalpana Lajmi has gotten over the dismal performance of her Sushmita Sen starrer “Chingaari” at the box office and is simultaneously planning two films.

One is a full-on comedy with an ensemble cast while the other is a period drama. Lajmi is extremely excited about the period film.

“My first film to go back in time, and therefore rather expensive,” Lajmi told IANS. “It’s the love story of a courtesan during the reign of King Asoka. The central male character is a sanyasi (monk).”

The storyline sounds unusual. “But when have I done the usual?” reasoned Lajmi. “I want to address the dichotomy of how a courtesan is revered and worshipped in those times, while the queen, who’s married to the emperor is almost a doormat.”

She has roped in Isha Koppiker to essay the role of the courtesan while Rituparna Sengupta will play the queen. The male actors are yet to be decided.

Mallika Sherawat is soaring high these days. Her cameo in Himesh Reshammiya’s debut film has become the talk of the town. The reason is not that Mallika is playing a vamp in the movie but that she has charged an exuberant amount of money for that. Mallika who does not mind doing negative roles, has become the most expensive Bollywood actress so far. For her 10 minutes role in the movie she has been paid rs. 1.5 crore. It’s like 15 lakhs/minute. Mallika sherawat has been paid more than any actress of bollywood.

Well this will certainly make the other actresses, who are jealous of Mallika, call her a vamp in their lives!

Rumours of Producer Gaurang Doshi allegedly beating his wife Flora had gone around. Due to this Aishwarya bachchan has refused to do Gaurang Doshi’s ‘Happy Birthday’. Ash says she doesn’t want to work with someone who has no respect for women. Ash had John Abraham as her co-star in the movie.

Ash has done ‘Deewar’ with Gaurang Doshi which also starred her father-in-law, Big B and reportedly Doshi shares good relations with Bachchan family. Still Aishwarya opted out of the movie.

Seems Doshi beating his wife has resurfaced some old wounds in Aishwarya. Remember Salman Khan?

The Supreme Court Friday ruled that Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty can travel abroad on work despite a police alert against her.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan stayed a ‘look-out notice’ issued by the police superintendent of Mundawar in Rajasthan - which prohibited her from leaving India without court permission.

The police notice came after a Mundawar court issued an arrest warrant against Hollywood actor Richard Gere for his controversial on-stage kisses on Shilpa’s cheek during an AIDS awareness show here. The court had ordered an investigation into the incident in response to a private complaint.

The Mundawar police notice had directed all international airport authorities and police officials to apprehend Shilpa and restrain her from going abroad, but Shilpa’s counsel Anand Grover said the notice was “illegal and infructuous.”

Few days back, when Pooja Bedi was relishing the nature’s beauty in the balcony of her Versova house with her latest lover Hanif Hilal, she spotted a big whale who had lost her way and had come to the beach.

Immediatley, Pooja went to the beach with her lover Hanif and informed the members of PETA, who along with some fishermen managed to send the whale into the sea.

Phew! What a life-saving expedition!

Be it a soldier, a flamboyant father or a 60 plus photographer in love with a teenager - Amitabh Bachchan comfortably slips into roles that are as different as chalk and cheese. And he dons a new avatar yet again in “Cheeni Kum”, a comic love story.

Amitabh plays a 64-year-old arrogant, acerbic chef of London’s top restaurant who falls in love and wants to marry a simple 34-year-old woman visiting London, played by Tabu.

Ad guru R. Balakrishnan, who makes his directorial debut with this film, says he scripted it with the one and only Big B and Tabu in mind.

“The idea came to me when I was shooting an ad film for Lifebuoy soap. I met Bachchan and told him about it. He liked it and after that I scripted the story. From the very first day I wanted to make this film with him and Tabu. I don’t know what they are in their personal lives, but they were absolutely perfect to play the characters in my film,” Balakrishnan told IANS.

The director is not the only one who is in awe of the superstar. Despite the fact that his face is splashed everywhere, his fans across the country are eagerly waiting to see him in “Cheeni Kum”.

“Just when you get tired of seeing Amitabh in yet another ad or film, he manages to bounce right back by experimenting with a new character or genre. And at his age too! I Am waiting to see ‘Cheeni Kum’,” said Ritika Ganguly, a college student.

Well-known film critic Anupama Chopra expressed the same sentiments saying: “It looks like a real fun film. I would love to see Big B with Tabu.”

Earlier, Ram Gopal Varma made a film on a similar subject titled “Nishabd” - which shows a man falling for a girl as old as his daughter - with Amitabh in the lead. But audiences rejected the film.

This may not be the case with “Cheeni Kum” though as the Amitabh-Tabu pairing looks exciting.

“I would love to see ‘Cheeni Kum’ because I love the way Amitabh woos Tabu, who is eons younger to him. He does it very convincingly and does not look out of place and his scenes with Paresh Rawal (shown in the promos) look hilarious,” said Anupama, who works with a publishing house.

“Amitabh’s new look ponytail doesn’t look bad either!” she adds.

Balakrishnan believes the audiences never reject a subject. “They reject the film in totality. It’s all about communication. You have to have every shot in place to build a proper communication with your audience,” he said.

At the same time, he denies any similarity between “Nishabd” and “Cheeni Kum”.

“I really liked Ram Gopal Varma’s film. I cant’ comment on why it didn’t work. But there is no similarity between the two films. Mine is out and out comedy.”

The current lot of young directors are vying with each other to cast the Big B in their films. They are scripting stories for him. In fact, he seems to have left younger stars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan far behind in this race.

“He is a terrific actor. His talent has withstood time. And it’s a dream to direct him. I can imagine all these new directors, who grew up with his films, dying to direct him,” said film critic Chopra.

Commenting on the Big B craze, Balakrishnan said: “He is a star actor that the country has ever seen before. He is much more than an actor. Even if he comes on screen and just stands there without saying a single word, people would like to see him like that again and again,” said.

The actor has quite a few interesting releases lined up, including Shaad Ali’s “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”.

The darling Bebo of Bollywood, the beautiful and ravishing Kareena Kapoor has recently done something worth noticing. She has gifted the director Ahmed Khan a gift worth Rs. 2.5 lakh. Can you guess the reason for it?? No, you cannot because one can hardly think that the seemingly intelligent Bebo would react so impulsively.

Actually Bebo had seen her beloved Shahid Kapoor’s performance in the film ‘Fool and Final’ and she was so impressed by his acting that she gifte the director of the film such an expensive gift. The director had roagnized a special trial show for Bebo and Shahid before they left for Manali to shoot for a new film. Ahmed tells timesofindia that ,“Kareena wanted to watch the film before they leave as after that they will be busy shooting for a couple of projects, when the film will hit the theatres. So I asked my producer Firoz Nadiadwala to organise a private screening of the film for the two of them.”

When asked about the gift, Ahmed said ,“It was a pleasant surprise for me. I am extremely fond of branded watches and I already had the same model which Kareena has gifted me. But I appreciate the gesture, probably Shahid had told Kareena that I collect watches.”

Well, it can only be said that Kareena’s expression of happiness is far too costly!

After sorting out his misquoted reservations about John being misfit for Bhootnath in Pritish Nandy Communications ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam’, Rituparno Ghosh now wants John Abraham to play Arjun in his Mahabharat where Bipasha will play Draupadi.

Ritu describes his Draupadi as a mixture of B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat and Peter Brooks’ take on the Hindu epic. “Draupadi has a huge canvas.We can’t possibly show her whole life. It’s the Mahabharat seen from Draupadi’s point of view. It would be very intimate, womanist and minimalist…”, says Ghosh.

Rituparno chose Bipasha because of her skin complexion since Draupadi was dark. The film will be made at an estimated budget of Rs 8 crores. Ritu wants regional actors to play the Pandavas. For Dhritirashtra and Kunti Ritu wants Naseer and Shabana where Shabana has already agreed.

From director Anurag Basu’s “Metro” last week to Anurag Singh’s “Raqeeb” this week - what a gigantic leap in terms of vision, intent and impact!

Outwardly both “Metro” and “Raqeeb” are contemporary in content. They make more than whispering mentions of sex, sexuality, cyber-sleaze and other supposedly scandalous and hitherto-taboo subjects.

In one of the initial sequences, the benign Rahul Khanna shouts, “I’m not gay!” to Tanushree Dutta across an eatery and then proceeds to smooch her to prove so.Well Mr Director, tongues do lie, you know!

“Raqeeb” is so busy trying to shock us with its high-voltage wantonness, it forgets to pause for refuelling its creative motors.

The narrative moves at a breakneck speed creating a highly charged sexually-defiant version of Abbas-Mustan’s “Humraaz” about the benevolent husband, the adulterous wife and her amoral lover. Jimmy Shergil sports theatrical rhetorics, and flowing henna-coloured hair that really doesn’t suit him.

There are three heroes, one heroine, two item songs, three romantic songs, three attempted murders and a couple of funerals. There’s also a rather vulgar item song by starlet Sherlyn Chopra.

Even the film’s only main female lead, Tanushree, dresses and acts like an item-girl. And to impress the naïve millionaire Rahul Khanna, she also claims to enjoy Shakespeare.

Sure, we believe you. As much as we believe in the fast-paced film’s perverse quadrangle, featuring three besotted men and one girl. Tanushree does have potential… if only she would stop doing such inconsistent roles.

Director Anurag Singh cuts his material with the relish of a chef carving turkey for a thanks-giving dinner.

Alas, there isn’t much to be thankful for in “Raqeeb”. Unless you’re looking at the scenic locations where the songs are shot - the pristine-blue waters and pure-white sands.

Pritam’s soundtrack goes by the crass requirements of the narrative.

Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty has invited Pakistan’s comic virtuoso Omar Sharif to write the screenplay for a wacky comic thriller.

“We haven’t given it a title. But what Omar bhai has come up with isn’t short of brilliance. It’s brilliant and it’s sassy,” Suniel told IANS.

“Yusuf Khan, whom I launched as a director, in ‘Khel’, will direct me in Omar bhai’s film later this year,” he added.

Omar is currently directing a love story entitled “Tum Mere Ho” for Chicago-based producer Masood Ali.

Would there be a problem getting our Pakistani visitor into India?

“Not at all,” said Suniel. “We’ve never had a problem with guests from any part of the world. In fact, some of these guests from across the border have come to India and found great success.

“Omar bhai won’t just write this film, he’ll be supervising the dialogues, scenes etc.”

Suniel is planning to shoot the films at foreign location. “It could be Malaysia or Bali.”

As for his director, “I’ve great faith in him. And so what if ‘Khel’ didn’t work? Together with Omar bhai I’m sure we’ll create a dhamaka.”

Sharmila Tagore’s daughter and Saif Ali Khan’s sis, Soha Ali Khan is so dedicated to her work that she places her commitment to the work above everything else.

Recently, she was shooting for a song sequence of Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’. The shooting went on for six days and Soha worked continuously with heavy costumes and jewellary. As a result, her legs went sore and started bleeding. However, Soha did not complain to anyone. On the sixth day, when Cinematographer Sachin Krishna tried to take a close up of Soha’s legs for the song, then the unit got to know about Soha’s dedication for her work. Kudos for the young lady from our team too!

Bollywood is besotted with ‘Bombay’ as yet again we have a movie that revolves around the city of dreams, and this time the life line of Bombay ‘the trains’ forms the central theme as the movie titled ‘1:40 Ki Local’ AKA 'Ek Chalis Ki Local'.

Abhay Deol and Neha Dhupia both miss the last local and have to wait for the next train which is scheduled for 4:00 am. The two are stranded at the train station as there is also, an auto rickshaw strike.

So in the next two and half hour follows is a dangerous adventure that involves an encounter specialist, a mafia don and a prostitute. Abhay Deol is impressive yet again as he injects life in his performance. The talented actor just needs a big break and there’s no doubt that ‘1:40 Ki Local’ is yet another honest performance from the humble actor.

Neha Dhupia has done a good job especially during the end of the movie as she actress leaves the audiences stunned with her histrionics. Debutante Sanjay Khanduri has also managed to put up a good show.

The biggest asset of the film though, is the hilarious dialogues and the catchy one-liners written by Raghuveer Shekhawat.

‘1:40 Ki Local’ is a unique attempt and we think that once you board the train you will for sure have a good ride.

When it comes to Bollywood, we often talk about Amitabh, Madhuri, Kareena, Aishwarya, Shahrukh, Hrithik roshan and Abhishek. Now-a-days, Bollywood has become synonymous with Aishwarya – Salman –Vivek triangle or the grand wedding of Ash-Abhishek. We hardly recall any movie whenever we talk about Bollywood. However, there are some classics that are much bigger than these stars and the spicy stories. We have come up with the 10 top biggest Bollywood movies that have left great impressions on the viewers forever. These movies will always remain in our memory.

1. Devdas



Who can forget Director Bimal Roy’s emotional flick ‘Devdas’, a vivid picture of flaws and emotions in human characters? Released in 1955, rich in imagery and desperation, this cinematic jewel is known for Dilip Kumar’s understated performance as the drunken protagonist blinking hopelessly and painfully love-struck, and some brilliant and poised acting performances by its heroines, Vyjayanthimala Bali and Suchitra Sen.

Devdas (Dilip Kumar) and Paro (Suchitra Sen) are childhood friends who share a love-hate relationship. Each is highly egoistic. These childhood friends grow up to be ardent lovers who are calculated to marry. But Devdas’ father turns down the proposal. Paro gets married to another and Devdas flees to Kolkata falling into bad company and taking to drinking. His friend Chunibabu takes him to the kotha [brothel] where he meets Chandramukhi (Vyjayanthimala). Chandramukhi is touched by the fact that he gives money without wanting anything in return. She falls in love with him. Chandramukhi leaves her profession and changes her life. Though Devdas acknowledges Chandramukhi’s place in his life, he cannot offer her any more. He embarks on a train journey around India in a despairing bid to escape from his demons, from his own self.

Dilip already was an established tragedy king when ‘Devdas’ was released, but Vyjayanthimala was still struggling to strengthen her foothold in the industry. It was Bengali cinema’s foremost female star Suchitra Sen’s first Hindi film. The film proved to be a milestone for all the stars. It won Dilip Kumar the Best Actor trophy and a Best Supporting Actress award for Vyjayanthimala. Suchitra Sen got wide acclaim for her performance. Composer S D Burman and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi gave excellent and still remembered musical notes for the film. The simple, austere, penetrating, candid and passionately electrifying depiction of subtle human values and sentiments is the hallmark of Bimal Roy’s DEVDAS.

2. Mother India



Released in 1957, Director Mehboob Khan’s classic ‘Mother India’ is a moving story of human struggle and one of the masterpieces of Bollywood cinema. The film was a total blockbuster and first major success for Raj Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar.

As for Nargis (who was only 28 when Mother India was released) it was the performance of a lifetime, a role which any other actress would give an arm for, and sure enough Nargis pulled it off marvelously — from a shy, young bride with painted eyebrows to a mother who turns out to be an epitome of strength – she exudes a moving display of varied emotions.

Raj Kumar leaves a lasting impact in a brief but pathos-laden role of Radha’s husband, Shamu. Rajendra Kumar fits in flawlessly to the role of a robust Indian farmer and a quiet, sturdy and supportive son. Dutt is pure, unharnessed energy as the rebel and gave in an excellent performance in the role of a mischievous outlaw.

Set in the backdrop of rural India, the film focuses around a mother Radha’s (Nargis) relationship with her two sons Ramu and Birju (Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar). Her husband (Raaj Kumar), who is a farmer, loses his arms after an accident and leaves the house as he doesn’t want anybody’s pity. His wife then has to look after her three sons and tend to the fields. Floods destroy the village and one son falls prey to the calamity. The strong-willed woman shows no signs of giving up. Birju turns into an outlaw but she doesn’t give in even then. She and Ramu fight the circumstances and come out of each trouble. Radha’s test of life reaches its climax when He kidnaps Lala’s daughter. And Radha is forced to replicate Mother Earth’s response to those who violate her laws.

Naushad scored in excellent music for this blockbuster.

3. Mughal-E-Azam



Incredible nine years in the making, 16 in the planning, released in 1960 amid much fanfare and a rapturous reception, a tribute to love and struggle……Yes, the movie being talked about is K. Asif’s “Mughal-E-Azam“, a glittering icon of Indian cinema. Along with lavish sets, spectacular dance sequences, breathtaking battle scenes, and pure unadulterated romance, ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ sports a dramatic story as well, weaving conflicts between father and son, love and duty into a gripping tale of thwarted romance. The grandeur of the movie is a visual treat. And not just visual, the film had a fervent musical charm too. Musician Naushad’s tunes on Shakeel Badayuni’s lyrics are immortal.

Emperor Akbar [Prithviraj Kapoor] and Queen Jodha [Durga Khote] give birth to a son, Salim, after years of prayer. When Akbar realizes his son is turning into a spoiled, dissolute adolescent by his indulgent mother, the emperor puts him into armor and sends him off to war for the next 14 years. Upon his return Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar), now a handsome war hero falls for the lush-looking yet demure courtesan Anarkali [Madhubala]. Initially wary of his affections because of the difference in their positions, she soon reciprocates his love. Akbar finds out about the affair and that creates a rift between the father and son. The film thus reaches the heart of its matter, the eternal struggle between love and duty, which pits father against son — the Mughal throne cannot be “wasted on a mere slave girl” — and the father against himself — “I am not an enemy of love but a slave to principle.” Not even a military revolt by the son against his father ends the conflict.

Breathtaking performance by Dilip Kumar, the raw beauty and innocence exuded by Madhubala, the wide expanse of Asif’s vision, Naushad’s haunting and still remembered musical scores, and above all the grandeur of the film itself- all have gone in to make this movie a real blockbuster.

When the color films were introduced in India around 1957, Asif wanted to reshoot everything, but the prohibitive costs of reshooting permitted him to film only three reels of his two-part, three-hour epic in color. As it is, the film cost $3 million, an astronomical sum at that time. (Even today the average Bollywood production costs only $1.3 million). So, only one song - ‘Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya‘ - is in color in the original film.

Widely considered one of Bollywood’s most iconic films, K Asif’s Mughal-E-Azam makes a welcome return to the silver screen 45 years after its initial release. The movie again hit the screens with candy colours and an upgraded Dolby Digital sound, thus becoming the first film in world cinema history to be colourised specifically for a theatrical release. Retaining all its original charm, Mughal-E-Azam’s themes of love, loyalty and sacrifice remain as relevant as ever - a true testament to director K Asif’s vision and commitment.

4. Deewar



“Aaj mere paas building hai, gaadi hai, bank balance hai. Tumhare pas kya hai. Kya hai tumhare pas. ……………. Mere pas … Maa Hai.”

Hardly is there any India movie lover who has not heard this famous dialogue from ‘Deewar’.
Released in the year 1975, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor & Nirupa Roy, written by Salim Javed, and directed by none other than Yash Chopra, ‘Deewar’ was a masterpiece which bagged almost all the awards of 1975 Filmfare Awards.

Deewaar is probably one of the most memorable Hindi films of all time. The film uses the tried and tested formula of the good brother v/s the bad brother, a mother facing all sorts of hardships to bring up her sons on her own and religious sentiments. What makes the film rise above all others is the tight script and thunderous dialogues from Salim-Javed and above all a powerhouse performance by Amitabh Bachchan as the son driven to crime - perhaps his best ever! The film is one of a series in which he plays the ’angry young man’- the lone rebel, the man seeking personal vengeance and social justice, operating outside and more efficiently than the law.

The film also exploits popular religious sentiment and the scene where he submits himself to Goddess in his own egoistic way – “Aaj khush to bahut hoge tum…”, has become a bookmark in our film industry.

As for the storyline, let us flip through our memories once again. Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) are two brothers who were raised amidst much hardship by their strong-hearted mother (Nirupa Roy) after their father abandons them. Vijay turns out to be more hot-headed in contrast to soft spoken and polite Ravi. Ravi meets his girlfriend’s (Neetu Singh) father who is a police commissioner and after meeting him he decides to join the police force and leaves for training.

On the other hand, Vijay works in a shipping dock where he comes into contact with the underworld and is driven into the world of crime in order to gain quick money for his mother. The two brothers are separated by their duties as one protects the law while the other breaks it. Their mother has to make a choice now, between the two sons. Being an idealist, she chooses to support Ravi. Finally Ravi shoots down Vijay who dies in his mother’s arms.

The film was a superhit when it was released. Amitabh gives a powerhouse performance playing the very serious and disturbed angry man. Shashi Kapoor was impressive as the confused brother. However, his polite and soft performance is overshadowed by Amitabh’s enigmatic persona. Nirupa Roy is just perfect as Amitabh’s Mother who displays enough strength facing all odds. Not to forget the lovely ladies, Neetu Singh and Parveen Bobby who ornate the movie in their own charismatic way.

5. Sholay



Sholay is one of the biggest blockbusters in the history of Bollywood. It is the highest grossing film of all time in India. It ran for 286 weeks straight in one Minerva theatre of Mumbai. Sholay racked up a still record 60 golden jubilees across India, and doubled its original gross over reruns during the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, BBC India declared it the “Film of the Millennium” In 2005, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare awards called it the best film of the last 50 years. Ironically, when it was first released, Sholay won only one Filmfare award (film editor M. S. Shinde won for Best editing).

The plot runs as : A retired police officer, Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) gets two convicts, Jaidev and Veeru (Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra), to capture Gabbar Singh ( The timeless villain of Bollywood), a bandit chief who massacred Thakur’s entire family and cut Thakur’s hands off. Once in the village Ramgarh, both Veeru and Jai fall in love. Veeru is attracted to Basanti (played by Hema Malini), a feisty young woman who makes her living driving a tanga, or a horse-cart. Jai is drawn to Radha (Jaya Bhaduri), the reclusive widowed daughter-in-law. Bloody clashes between Jai, Veeru, and the bandits follow. In the end, the village is freed from the terror of the bandits.

The film was produced by G.P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It was written by scriptwriters Salim-Javed. R. D. Burman contributed the music. Anand Bakshi was the lyricist. The film was a lavish production for its time. It took two and a half years to make and went Rs. 300,000 over budget. Much of the film was set in the rocky terrain of Ramanagaram, a village near Bangalore. In fact, one part of Ramanagaram town was renamed “Sippynagar” after the director of the movie. Even to this day, a visit to the “Sholay rocks” is offered to tourists travelling through Ramanagaram.

The songs from Sholay attract less attention than the dialogues — a rarity for Bollywood. In fact, many movie lovers had got all its dialogues by heart. This prompted the producers to release audio-cassettes with only dialogues. Now, Ramgopal Verma is all set to cash in this blockbuster with his ‘Ramu Ke Sholay’.

6. Silsila



Released in 1981 and made under the crisp direction of Yash Chopra, ‘Silsila’ is still one of the most cherished movies of Bollywood. This movie was billed as a true story when it came out and bears resemblances to the life story of the leading ladies and the hero, Amitabh Bachchan. In real life Amitabh had an affair with Rekha while married to Jaya Bhaduri. The movie created stirs because it dared to handle the subject of extramarital romance when such topics were a taboo in Bollywood. Amitabh and Rekha make a perfect and gripping screen presence each giving a powerhouse performance. Jaya and Sanjeev Kumar steal the applauses by their subtle and mature performances.

Amit (Of course Amitabh Bachchan) and Chandni (Lovely Rekha) are badly in love which is grooming fast. Amit is a Poet, Shayaar and writer. Shekhar (Shashi Kapoor), Amit’s elder brother is in love with Shobha (Jaya Bhaduri) and both are about to marry. Shekhar dies in an air crash and leaves behind his pregnant fiancé Shobha. Amit sacrifices his love and decided to give hand to Shobha for her unborn child. Both marry, but fate once more brings Amit face to face with Chandni, who is now married to Dr. Anand (Sanjeev Kapoor). The love that was forgotten and suppressed with time again blossoms up. Both again start meeting and both start forgetting they are now married… Dr. Anand and Shobha both get to know what is happening, but they handle the situated with perfect maturity. Ultimately Amit returns back in the arms of his wife who is pregnant. Dr. Anand and Chandni also live happily thereafter.

The duo of Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hari Prasad Chaurasia has given some excellent compositions including ‘Neela Asman’, ‘Dekha Ek Khwab’ and others. The holi song ‘Rang Barse’ of the movie is still a must holi number in our country. This song was sung by Amitabh Bachchan and composed by his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan and Lata Mangeshkar recorded their portions of “Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum” separately. Years later, when they were on friendly terms, they expressed their regret at having to do so when they could have gotten to know each other.

7. Maine Pyar Kiya



Released in 1989, directed by Sooraj Barjatya, this breezy teenage romance attained high acclaim as a melodious, faultless portrayal of innocent first love. ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ was one of the most successful Bollywood movies of the 1980s and made Salman Khan a major star. The film was a departure from the gritty and violent films that were so popular in the 1970s and early 80s. The debutant Bhagyashree set the screen a fire and captured the attention of every youth. Reema Lagoo redefined the look and character of a mother in Hindi films. She was gorgeous, wore bright colors, dressed glamorously and was yet an affectionate, large-hearted mom.
This film had all the ingredients to click with the Indian milieu by and large. There was an obedient boy, a docile and domesticated girl, some funny and free-spirited souls and the innocent first love blooming in two hearts.

The story revolves around Prem(Salman Khan) and Suman (Bhagyashree). HE the son of a multimillionaire, Kishen (Rajeev Verma)… and SHE the daughter of an ordinary motor mechanic, Karan (Alok Nath)… run into each other and cultivate mutual liking which culminates into a call of love….! The blossoming love between Prem and Suman is not taken kindly to by Kishen in whose custody Karan had left Suman when he was going to Dubai to make money. Karan returns to find Suman insulted by Krishen. Severing all past relations, he returns to the village with Suman. How Prem revolts against his father, reaches the village and gets back his love, Suman forms the rest of the story. Finally, it is the integrity of their children’s love that unites the long-lost friends.

The soundtrack of the movie was a huge hit with Lata Mangeshkar and S.P Balasubramaniam lending their voice for Suman and Prem. The immensely popular opening track, ‘Aate Jaate’, is said to have been inspired by Stevie Wonder’s 1984 single, ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’. Also, the track, ‘Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali’ is supposedly inspired by ‘The Final Countdown’. The sequence of ‘Antakshari’ was a new experiment and was immnesely popular.

Maine Pyar Kiya won four Filmfare awards in 1990. It was dubbed into English as ‘When Love Calls’ ( This 125 minute English version of the film was the biggest hit in the Caribbean market at Guyana) and in Spanish as ‘Te Amo’. The movie was a super hit in Telugu as ‘Prema Paavuraalu’.

8. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge



‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ is in many ways a typical Bollywood film, with songs, dance numbers, comic interludes and lovers cavorting in scenic locations. However, what sets the film apart is the touching and marvellous performance by Shahrukh Khan as Raj, the real-as-life and effortless acting by Kajol and above all, the duo’s on-screen chemistry which sets the romance afire.

Released in 1995, DDLJ has created history. As of June 2006, the film had made the record books by completing 570 weeks of continuous play in Maratha Mandir, a Mumbai cinema.
The movie bagged in numerous awards at the filmfare - Best Movie Award (Yash Chopra), Best Director Award (Aditya Chopra), Best Actor Award (Shahrukh Khan), Best Actress Award (Kajol), Best Supporting Actress Award (Farida Jalal) , Best Comedian Award (Anupam Kher) and Best Lyricist Award (Anand Bakshi for the song Tujhe dekha) and Best Male Playback Award (Udit Narayan for the song Mehndi lagake).

As like any mega blockbuster of all times, music played a major role in DDLJ’s success. While late Anand Bakshi who wrote the lyrics was a veteran, composers Jatin Lalit were a surprise package as they had just got a foothold in the industry. With Aditya Chopra making his debut as a director and Yash Chopra handling the production reins, DDLJ was designed as a unique musical love story that was equally shot in Europe and India and was billed as the first film portraying the life of Indians residing in foreign countries.

The film was included in the Cinema India showcase, “The Changing Face of Indian Cinema”, which toured the United States in July and August 2004.

The storyline of the movie goes as follws: Simran meets Raj on a graduation trip and they eventually fall in love. Her father, played by Amrish Puri, wants her to marry his best friend’s son, to whom she has been promised since she was born. After much tear-shedding, Simran finally agrees to the marriage and her family returns to Punjab. Raj, however, does not give up so easily. He follows Simran to the Punjab, but refuses to elope with Simran and wants to marry her with the consent of her father. Raj pretends to be a friend of the family, helping with the wedding preparations and gaining everyone’s friendship including Simran’s father. However everything comes crashing down when Raj’s true identity is revealed. Then, as Raj is preparing to leave, the father realizes that Raj truly and sincerely loves Simran. He allows Simran to leave with Raj, and all ends happily.

9. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai



Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is another blockbuster love-triangle story, produced under the Dharma Productions banner and Karan Johar doing superbly as a debutant director.

Shahrukh adds new dimensions to his acting by playing a fatherly role for the first time, Rani Mukherjee has a short and sweet role which she plays flawlessly, and what tops this all is Kajol’s versatile performance which leaves you amazed and fascinated at the same time. The child actress Sana playing Anjali manages to combine the best qualities of a child actress and many of the emotions of an adult.

This movie opens with a woman named Tina (Rani Mukherjee) who is dying from a complicated birth. She asks her husband Rahul (SRK) befor dying to name their newborn daughter Anjali (Sana Saeed). On Anjali’s eighth birthday she received the letter written by her long gone dead mother. In this letter, Anjali’s mother Tina explained how she came into her father’s life back in college and they fell in love. This love complicated a friendship between her father Rahul, and his best friend at college, a tomboy girl named Anjali (Kajol). So Anjali left the college so that Tina and Rahul could be together. What little Anjali’s mother wants her daughter to do is find the first Anjali and bring her back together with her father. Anjali, with the help of her grandmother sets out to this goal and achieves it by the end of the movie. This movie is a roller coaster of emotions. You will laugh and you will cry.

The music is infectious and choreographer Farah Khan has performed an excellent job. Her comfort level with the three superstars is apparent with the chemistry displayed in each song sequence.

The award list for the movie is long with the best movie, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actress, best art direction and best screenplay in 1998 Filmfare awards. Shah Rukh also received the best actor award at Zee Cine Awards 1998, Sansui Viewer’s Choice Awards 1998 and Z Gold Bollywood Award 1998.

10. Lage raho MunnaBhai



A movie to watch with your whole family, as seldom do we come across a film which makes us laugh, cry and also makes us feel good as a human being. Thanks to Raj Kumar Hirani, “Gandhigiri” is In and “Dadagiri” is Out. LRM is an experiment in hindi cinema which generates deep message through light-hearted comedy.

Munna and Circuit, arguably compared to Laurel and Hardy, go about the business of generating humour out of the pathos of human conditions in a sequel to Munnabhai MBBS. Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani exhibit marvelous performances. The interaction between Munna and Gandhi are just brilliant and both Sanjay Dutt and Dilip Prabhavalkar dazzle in their role. Fans of Abhishek Bachchan were pleased to see him in a cameo towards the end of the movie.

Lage Raho MunnaBhai was praised by Manmohan Singh, who stated that the movie “captures Bapu’s message about the power of truth and humanism. Lage Raho Munna Bhai was the recipient of the prestigious 2006 Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie. It also won the Filmfare Best Story Award (Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Rajkumar Hirani), the Filmfare Best Dialogue Award (Rajkumar Hirani & Abhijat Joshi) and the Filmfare Best Comedian Award (Arshad Warsi).

It was awarded Best Film, Best Story, and the Critics Choice/Best Actor (Sanjay Dutt) by both the Star Screen Awards and the Global Indian Film Awards (where it also won the award for Best Dialogue).
Lage Raho Munna Bhai revolves around the comic adventures of Munna Bhai, a Tapori in the Mumbai underworld and his sidekick Circuit. Munna is in love with the voice of Jhanvi (Vidya Balan), a radio jockey and presents himself to her as a professor of history and a Gandhi specialist. To keep up with his lie, Munna engages in a period of intense study of the life and works of Gandhi. It is during this period that the image of Mahatma Gandhi appears offering help and advice to Munna. Indeed, Gandhi continues to appear each time Munna sings Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram.

Lucky Singh (Boman Irani), an unscrupulous businessman, wants to seize the ‘Second Innings house’. Turning to Gandhi for help, Munna encourages the residents of Second Innings to use Gandhigiri in an attempt to regain their home.

As Gandhi guides Munna Bhai in the cultivation of a new life based upon Gandhism, anyone who comes into contact with Munna is transformed. When Munna saves Lucky Singh’s daughter Simran (Diya Mirza)’s marriage, in gratitude, Lucky Singh returns Second Innings to its residents.
Jhanvi’s opening line for her radio show, “Gooooooood Moooooooorninnnng Mumbai!“, is an homage to Robin Williams’ opening for his radio show (”Gooooooooood morning, Vietnaaaaaaaaammm!“) in the 1987 film, Good Morning, Vietnam.

Abhishek Bachchan is over with his honeymoon with Ash and his first movie assignment post- marriage is for Yash Raj Films ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’. The film, based on a female-centric theme, has Rani Mukherjee, Konkona Sen Sharma and Jaya Bachchan in main roles.

So, after romancing with Ash, Abhi now be romancing with Rani Mukherjee for the shooting of a romantic song for which the shooting unit will be flying to Spain. The song, titled ‘Zara Muskura Ke Chalo’, has been composed by Shantanu Moitra and written by Swanand Kirkire. It is a lilting romantic track with a dash of Spanish flavour to its melody.

It will be interesting to see how Abhishek and Rani manage to ooze warmth and on-screen chemistry after the much talked about cold war between the Bachchans and Rani Mukherjee.

India’s largest private airline Jet Airways has launched a novel contest for children, with 10 winners getting an opportunity spend an evening with none other than Bollywood’s King Khan.

“Jet Airways will offer any kid flying with the airline till June 30, 2007 to enter a contest by answering simple questions in a form available inside the JetKids pack on board,” a Jet Airways spokesperson said here Thursday.

“This contest promises an opportunity for 10 lucky JetKid winners to meet Shah Rukh Khan in person. The contest will run on domestic flights only. The winner along with a parent or a family member will be permitted for the meeting with Shah Rukh Khan at a studio or at a venue selected by Jet Airways.”

For its little customers, the carrier has also created a comic book, in association with Excel Entertainment, based on the Bollywood icon’s hit movie “Don”.

She’s barely one item number old and already model-turned-Bollywood-debutante Mrinalini Sharma, 27, has struck gold. After a seductive number in Prakash Jha’s ‘Apaharan’, Sharma is all set to wow with a three-film contract, including ‘Awarapan’ and ‘Showbiz’, with Mahesh Bhatt’s Vishesh Films.

“It’s been a very enlightening experience,” says the sultry babe best remembered from Lucky Ali’s ‘Gori Teri Aankhen’ video. With the ‘fearless and inspiring’ Bhatt backing her, looks like Sharma’s all ready to shine.

The unofficial brand ambassador of Cannes Film Festival Aishwarya Rai has taken a break from her honeymoon as she is going to be at the Cannes for a day.

Ash, who is glowing in happiness, shared with the media that she had to be at the Cannes festival as she is part of the jury. Talking about her married life, Ash said, “It’s all good. It's a blessing. And it's a wonderful family.”

Ash described Abhishek as a superlative and a fantastic husband. Ashutosh Gowariker, who is waiting for Ash to come down to Karjat to finish the final schedule, has permitted the actress to be at the Cannes festival for just a day.

Ash further shared that she would be walking down the red carpet with her hubby Abhishek, so look for this space for more of Abhi-Ash Pics at Cannes.

The versatile Amitabh Bachchan has sported a new look for his movie ‘Cheeni Kum’. The character which he plays in the movie is that of an arrogant chef who is passionate about his work. The makers wanted a cool dude look for the actor and Bachchan readily agreed to his hair stylist’s suggestion.

Tabu, who is his co-star is the film, says that she loved his ponytail and repeatedly had an urge to pull his ponytail. She actually got a chance when they did a photo shoot of ‘Cheeni Kum’ together.

“Throughout the film I wanted to pull Amitji’s cute ponytail but I just didn’t dare to! I loved it. But before I could do anything he would turn towards me and then I just didn’t dare to,” says the actress with a grin.

The popular name in the Bollywood, Koena Mitra, the actress known for her skin show and some of her acting, is a quite bold girl. Koena loves alone in the ‘bhai’ city, Mumbai but still she is managing quite well. Koena feels that the actress who wishes to make a career in Bollywood should know how to take care of herself.

Koena tells Times of India that “though I wasn’t quite the tomboy, I could always take care of myself.” She adds “My parents knew that and they weren’t worried about whether I could make it on my own in Mumbai. Touchwood, they have always been very supportive and understanding towards me. Frankly speaking, when I became an actress I never had any godfather to guide me on my path to stardom. I have gone through hard times and sometimes I even had to make my own decisions. I am not saying a star son or daughter has it easier — they too are weighed down by expectations, but at least they are lucky and fortunate that they have someone to guide them and show them the right path in this industry. It has all been the hard way and I had to start everything from scratch.”

Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan could be in trouble as the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh is set to expedite a probe into alleged irregularities in the land allotted to him by the government.

Refuting reports of a fresh probe being ordered in the case, an official spokesman told IANS Thursday: “We have not ordered any new probe. The inquiry initiated on account of a judicial intervention is only being expedited now.”

The actor was allotted some three and a half bighas (about 90,000 sq feet) of land at a prime site in Barabanki, 35 km from this state capital.

Bachchan is a close friend of Amar Singh, the high-profile general secretary of the Samajwadi Party that lost to Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state assembly elections this month.

Documentation put forth by Bachchan raised the suspicion that the allotment was done in a clandestine manner.

According to informed sources, Bachchan has mentioned his name only as “Amitabh” and dropped “Bachchan” also from his father Harvansh Rai Bachchan’s name in an obvious bid to avoid identification.

“The objective behind the allotment was to not only get prime land for a song but also to entitle himself for acquisition of an agricultural plot of land in Maharashtra, where none other than a farmer could acquire agricultural land,” a source pointed out.

A complaint is pending before the Election Commission against Bachchan’s wife, Jaya Bachchan, for having concealed the ownership of the Barabanki plot as a part of her family assets that were declared when she filed her nomination for Rajya Sabha as a Samajwadi Party candidate.

‘It wasn’t me,” is something that Tanushree has been busy expressing to the media. Tanu, who plays a negative character in the movie, says that she is shocked to find lovemaking and kissing scenes in the movie. The actress claims that the filmmaker used a body double without her knowledge.

Tanu shared that she has written a letter to Producer Raj Kanwar asking him to stall the release of ‘Raqeeb’. Producer Raj Kanwar on the other hand, argues that Tanushree was reluctant before doing the bold scenes but, she finally shot them and now she is embarrassed which, has lead her to create all this drama.

Raj Kanwar claims that he is a reputed filmmaker and also challenged Tanushree by saying that he is ready to lose anything if she proves that it’s her body double.

‘Raqeeb’ means ‘Rivals in love’ but, seeing this scenario, Tanu and Raj seem to be ‘Rivals in revulsion’. We are sure this controversy is a win-win for Tanu-n-Raj as it will ensure that the curious audiences makes it to the big screen to checkout the real ‘Raqeeb’.

This is one act that would get even the most confident Bollywood star feel nervous but, guess what our very own Irrfan Khan has to share, “I am not panicky that I would be walking the carpet at Cannes besides Angelina Jolie.”

Irrfan Khan is already at Cannes with Kailash and Aarti Sundernath, the Indian production team of ‘A Mighty Heart’. The actor has seen the rushes of the movie and is very happy about the face time that he has been given. Irrfan said that he was surprised to see that the director of the movie Michael Winterbottom has focused so much on him and this in fact has raised Irrfan’s expectations from the movie.

Post ‘The Namesake’ Irrfan Khan has become a big name in Hollywood. In fact, Angelina Jolie claims that he is one of the best actors she has worked with, a comment which Irrfan shrugs off shyly by saying, “Angelina has a Mighty Heart.”

“Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” marks a new high in the career of music director trio Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. Here they experiment with a new type of synthesis by composing a genre of music having Indian essence and an amalgamated crust. Perhaps that comes naturally to this team of composers consisting of a singer, a guitarist and a drummer-keyboard player.

The album has seven tracks, including an instrumental piece. Four tracks revolve around the “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” theme. Almost quadruplets, these tracks vie for the position of the title track.

In this race, “Jhoom” crooned by Shankar, nearly makes the mark. The song features Amitabh Bachchan in his new getup. Perhaps there is some deeper meaning inherent in the word “Jhoom” which instantly touches a chord with your heart. Gulzar’s lyrics are predominantly Punjabi, while Shankar tries to touch some raga(s) in between.

Neeraj Shridhar begins “Ticket to Hollywood” by giving a poetic title to her ladylove. Soon English rap by Loy takes over. Alisha Chinai brings to the track what Neeraj lacks, which is chirpiness. This is a rather slow paced track with constant heavy bass in the background.

“JBJ” is a close contender for the title track. Zubeen, Shankar and Sunidhi Chauhan presumably give voice to the leading pairs of the movie. “Jhoom barabar jhoom” can be heard constantly behind the main vocals along with the rap by Blaaze and Shantanu. It is a peppy track. It gives you a flavour of traditional music while not rendering discotheque environs anachronistic.

“Jhoom jam” is the instrumental rendition. A synthesis of all the other tracks, it partakes from other tracks with a little extra programming.

Rendered melodiously by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Mahalaxmi Iyer, “Bol na halke halke” is a slow paced lovey-dovey track. And intensely poetic lyrics come as a mellifluous break after the previous bouncy tracks - though the compressed vocals towards the end turn out to be a bad experiment.

“Kiss of love” is a zingy one crooned in loud power puffed vocals by Vishal Dadlani, and Vasundhara Das joins in with her deep voice. It begins with a warning to stay away from the kiss of love. You would surely want to move a leg or two with this track. Truly rocking.

“Jhoom barabar jhoom” sung by KK, Sukhvinder Singh, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Shankar is the last clone. Its background score bears resemblances to “Jhoom”. Here Mahalaxmi leaves her nightingale posture of “Bol na halke halke” to match with the vigour of her co-singers.

All of them infuse a lot of energy into this track. Its lyrics are laden with meaning with roots going back to “sadda Punjab”. The track picks pace towards the end. It concludes with cheering sounds in the background, lending it a concert feel.

The underpinning of “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” is our Punjabi folk. The poetic soul of the lyrics and their ready rhythmic mix with the music is the strength of this album. However, it suffers from the preponderance of a single theme i.e. jhoom barabar jhoom.

When a journalist decides to make a film, it has to be different, close to reality and an eye opener. That’s exactly what scribe-turned-director Bhavna Talwar tries to achieve with her debut movie “Dharm” which will be premiered at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.

Bhavana said she has explored religious undercurrents through her camera and aimed to prove that humanity is the prime religion. The film will be showcased as the closing film of the ‘Cinemas of the World’ section at the festival, which is celebrating 60 years of its existence.

“I chose this subject because religion affects all of us today. Riots are happening on the basis of religion. The fact is that none of the religions send out such messages,” Bhavana told IANS.

The film stars the versatile Pankaj Kapur and his talented wife Supriya Pathak. The first-time director says it wasn’t so difficult to convince the veteran actor to do the role.

“I met him and told him about the story idea. He said that he would like to read the script first. So, I gave him the script and he liked it and gave it a go,” said Talwar.

Set in Varanasi, the film follows a staunch Brahmin couple, played by Pankaj and Supriya, who give shelter to a Muslim boy.

“Dharm” is credited as India’s first high-definition (HD) movie.

“We were looking at the various advantages of shooting with HD. It is cheaper and gives you lot of liberties in post-production. When S. Nallamuthu, the cinematographer, told me that he can handle it, I jumped at the idea,” said Bhavana.

Asked about the expectations from the film, she said: “I don’t have any expectations. I have done my best and I have made a film that I believe in.”

Bhavana doesn’t like this distinction between commercial and non-commercial films.

She says: “The whole idea is to make a good film. And every filmmaker wants his or her film to be commercial success and there is no harm in it.”

It’s more than a decade that any Indian film has made it to the competition section at Cannes.

“The moment we will come back to our culture and ethos we will get recognised. If you see films from France or Poland, they give you insight into their culture but a majority of our cinema is missing that.”

After Preity Zinta and Kareena Kapoor, it is Bipasha Basu’s turn to play a Pakistani girl in new film “Goal” in which the Bengali beauty also gets to share screen space with real-life beau John Abraham after a long time.

“What makes it special is the fact that John and I are coming together after three years. The last film we did together was ‘Madhoshi’. After that I was determined to do only a good film with him,” Bipasha told IANS.

“Also, in ‘Goal’ I play a Pakistani girl. I wanted to make sure that whenever we come together again our chemistry mustn’t be a repeat of ‘Jism’. In ‘Goal’ our chemistry is completely different.”

She has played a Muslim girl before but not a girl from the other side of the border.

“This is my first role as a Pakistani. But I’ve played a Muslim girl in ‘Ishq Hai Tumse’. I got to play a very sweet girl in that.

“I’ve never played anything like this. Though the focus of the plot is the game of football, I do have a substantial role to play. I’m excited about ‘Goal’ not only because it’s got John in it, but also because my character stands out.”

The US-India Business Council (USIBC) has asked the Indian arm of Ernst & Young to study how entertainment and media piracy hurts India as part of its “Bollywood-Hollywood” anti-piracy initiative.

Announcing the move, USIBC President Ron Somers said since the business advocacy organisation rolled out this initiative with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), it has been deluged with interest in how the US and India can work together to stop piracy in the entertainment and media industry.

“The contract with Ernst & Young in India is the logical next step. Ernst & Young will produce a professional study showing just how harmful entertainment and media piracy is to India, focusing on the harm to Indian employment and tax revenue, as well as the Indian citizens who work in this worldwide industry,” he said.

“USIBC pledges to work in the near-term to halt piracy of Indian films right here in our backyard. How can we credibly hope to shine the torchlight on piracy in India if we ignore piracy of Indian films here at home?” he asked.

USIBC will provide responsible leadership of this initiative against all piracy of Indian entertainment, whether in India or North America,” he said.

Greg Kalbaugh, director of intellectual property for the USIBC, will oversee the study.

Kalbaugh said, “We are delighted to work with Ernst & Young. Showing just how much India is hurt by entertainment and media piracy will set the stage for cooperation in anti-piracy public service advertising, passage of optical disc legislation, and US-India cooperation in stopping cross-border piracy.”

The USIBC comprises 250 of the largest US companies investing in India and two dozen of India’s largest global companies seeking to strengthen US-India commercial ties.

Another setback for Kareena Kapoor as her soon to be shot ‘Lajjo’ has been shelved. Bebo was all excited about this project as she was gearing up to work for the very first time with Aamir Khan.

Mani Ratnam, who has delivered 2007’s so far biggest hit ‘Guru’, has decided to postpone the shoot of the movie and based on insiders the reason is creative differences with actor Aamir Khan. Now, we all know about the oh-so perfectionist Aamir, who always likes to take charge of things but, this didn’t work quite well with Mani Ratnam, who put his foot down and decided not to go ahead with the movie.

Aamir, who had committed shooting schedule dates from September onwards to Mani, has gone ahead and started shooting for ‘Ghajni’. Poor Bebo is in a shock, as she has not signed any other project and kept her calendar open for ‘Lajjo’.

The actress however, has something to hope for as Karan is most likely to sign her for his project as Kajol is not keen on working with Karan.

So Bebo may not have ‘Lajjo’ but she could get lucky with ‘KJo’.

Aamir Khan goes on Floor as the Producer-Actor in his next flick which is the remake of the greatest south hit “Ghajini” featuring Surya. The movie was formally launched in Mumbai on the 7th of May with actors Surya and Chiranjeevi.

The movie will be directed by Murugadoss (South Indian Director) and the music is by none other than A.R Rahman. Art-Director Samir Chaddha has erected a grand set in Chenai Film City for the shoot. Cinematography will be done by Ravi K Chandran and is planned to shoot with live sounds. The movie will be majorly shot in Malaysia and Singapore. So who stars opposite the perfectionist Aamir Khan? It is none other than the lead lady in the Tamil and Telegu version- Asin. Wondering who she is?

Bollywood playback singer Udit Narayan, who left his village home in southern Nepal almost three decades ago to carve out a flourishing career in neighbouring India, plans to return to his roots with a film in Nepali.

Udit Narayan Jha comes from Bhardah village in Saptari district in Nepal's Terai plains that have become the most trouble-prone region in the Himalayan nation currently.

Though Nepal is proud of the success of its boy in the mega-billion Indian entertainment industry and has often honoured him along with actress Manisha Koirala - another Nepali talent who made a name for herself in Bollywood -, the last visit to Nepal by Udit Narayan had ended in controversy.

His first wife Ranjana, who also comes from the plains, created a furore saying the singer had abandoned her and married again.

Udit Narayan first denied having married Ranjana but letter reportedly admitted in a letter written to a women's commission in Nepal that she indeed was his first wife.

However, now with the dust having settled down, Udit Narayan's film production company UD Movie Productions plans to shoot a film in Nepali from September.

The singer's second wife Deepa, who was in Kathmandu on a three- day visit to shoot music videos, told a local daily that the film will be directed by Anand D. Gahataraj while the music will be by Alok Shree, who is credited with bringing ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh's songs to the Nepali audience.

The shooting will start after a much-hyped Bhojpuri film made under the banner of UD Movie Productions, releases next month.

The film, "Kab Kahava Tu I love You", stars Amar Upadhyay, known to watchers of Indian soap operas for playing Mihir in "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi". However, it is better known for roping in Miss World 1999 Yukta Mookhey to perform in a song and dance sequence, known as item number, in Bollywood parlance.

The sequence has been heavily panned by the Indian media, even before the release of the film, as "sleazy".

Besides the new film, the Jhas also plan to launch in a big way their son Aditya, who has already acted and sung in Hindi films as a child artiste.

Aditya left Bollywood in 2001 after his voice started breaking. Later, he was sent for vocal training in a London school.

"You will be seeing him soon," his mother told the Kathmandu Post daily.

In life you win some and lose some, and the last three days have been quite had for ‘Tulsi’.

Smriti Irani, who was expecting her third baby unfortunately, had a miscarriage in Dahanu. This is not the first time that Smriti had problems carrying a baby. Doctor advised Smriti to rest for a couple of days but, as that would lead to delaying her ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ shoot, the actress wanted to complete the bank before quitting the show.

Smriti reported to shoot yesterday and Ekta Kapoor was so impressed with Smriti’s sincerity that she has asked Smriti to stay on with the soap.

Ekta and Smriti have been best of buddies in the past so this was the least that Ekta could do to cheer up her depressed friend.

So after speculations of Gautami or Padmini Kolaphuri being the next ‘Tulsi’, the truth is that Smriti continues to be in the show, and all you fans out there can sing in joy, “Kyunki ‘Smriti’ hi ‘Tulsi’ hai.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya is here to bring back the happening on-screen chemistry between Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee. The story is inspired from the short story titled “White Nights” written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The movie is yet another musical by Bhansali which is set in the British Raj in India. Shot extensively in Simla, the movie has been in news for one more reason- star kids, Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor.

Rani Plays the role of a prostitute named Gulab and Salman plays a young dreamer. “In the short story, the protagonist is young 26 year old man who is a dreamer. He comes across a young lady at St. Petersburg and their story begins. The story is named White Nights as it is actually a weather phenomenon in St. Petersburg when days are as bright as night. The short story is based on four nights that the protagonists spend together.”

So Let us see how Bhansali packages the western story in a Indian manner. The movie is going to be the diwali release for Indians. Hopefully it will have a ninternational release too.

What’s Ramgopal Varma’s protégé Prawaal Raman up to these days? Director of GAYAB and DARNA MANA HAI, Prawaal was directing a Karan Nath – Nisha Kothari film for RGV. “I am not doing the film anymore. I shot the film for 10 days, but I realized that it was turning out to be a run of the mill fare that we’ve witnessed time and again. That’s when I decided to call it quits,” Prawaal explains.

Please elaborate. “I wasn’t happy with the script and told Ramu-ji about it. He understood the predicament. There were no bitter feelings, no arguments, no tiffs, no fights. In fact, I am writing another script for him. I respect him tremendously,” Prawaal clarifies.

Meanwhile, Prawaal is already getting offers from various production houses. “I don’t know why people felt that I wasn’t keen to look beyond Factory. I am open to working with outside banners. Why not? Ramu-ji had never stopped me, nor did I ever say something to that effect,” he says.

She may be one of the best actresses in Bollywood but, when it comes to grooving with the dancing queen-Madhuri Dixit, Konkona has a tough time.

During the shoot of ‘Laga Chunari Main Daag’, Konkona faced a similar situation, in fact one of her moves even led to an accident on the sets, so this time around Koko was being extra cautious. Finally, the moment had arrived and Konkona was to dance with Madhuri Dixit.

The actress was so nervous that the director could not get a perfect shot which lead to multiple retakes. Madhuri then, approached Konkona and gave her a few words of encouragement, and finally the bong gathered courage and furrowed in style.

Konkona admits that she has two left feet and it was really hard as she had to dance besides Bollywood’s Best- Madhuri Dixit but, the experience has helped her evolve as a better dancer.

So don’t be surprised the next time if you see Koko scream in joy, “Aaja Naachley.”

He is considered a celebrity actor and a humanitarian, he is none other than Richard Gere and Karan Johar gets him on to his show to talk about him, his work in India and also about the latest Shilpa Shetty controversy.

Karan: Alright so sexiest man really. My mother goes weak in her knees every time she sees you on television.

Richard: I have this bizarre thing happen. I was making a movie recently and there was a little press conference so that everybody would know what we are doing . and there was this young reporter there . so shy and she came up to me and said, Mr. Gere, “Three generations of women in my family love you.. my grandmother, my mother and me”, . and I started blushing..

Karan: You have actually been very consistent in this, working with your heart and soul for a while (cause of HIV Aids), but a lot of other celebrities come in initially what do I call it, it’s considered fashionable to fight a cause or do something.

Richard: It’s not something that everyone does and maybe their interests are elsewhere or their voyage is elsewhere and there are other things they are working on. I don’t blame them for that, but I am thankful to the ones to whom it does touch them and they continue. For the first time, I came here and started working on HIV Aids which was a year ago, I thought that if we did two events, one in Delhi, one in Mumbai. it will change everything and I was very naïve and obviously for a moment there were newspapers, talks and photographers, basically a lot of attention to this subject. so it meant really building this up from ground zero. how to build an organization. how to build the network of friends, who are equally committed.

Karan: You feel they need to be?

Richard: Ya. I think. they can and they will be. you know, we did an event with 15000 sex workers, which was pretty extra ordinary. A whole lot of actors and actresses volunteered for it. we didn’t have to chase them down.

Karan: Is there any one particular actor that you have been interacting with. that you feel has been very supportive.

Richard: Well. Shabana Azmi is one.

Karan: She has actually been fighting for the cause since many years.

Richard: And not just this cause but many causes. and there was. I forget the name . she was wonderful.

Karan: Bipasha?

Richard: Yes. Bipasha

Karan: Yes. she is a lovely girl. and is also considered very sexy

Richard: I can tell you she is very sexy and hot. ya. she is terrific and very bright too.

Karan: Do you think, in India, AIDS is considered to be a homosexual disease? There is a lot of ignorance?

Richard: People just think. yes, it is primarily sexually transmitted. sex workers and truckers. they are the ones who are in this culture, labeled the ones, ‘That it is ok, if they die’ .

Karan: Oh God..

Richard: Yes . But that’s basically that has happened here. and of course this disease has gone into the middle class community.

Also do not miss the rapid fire question. Be sure that it is going to flare up some hot flames that might burn media’s hands. Catch Richard Gere on ‘Koffee With Karan’ at 9 on May 20th in Star World.

Certain films run out of steam despite an interesting storyline, partly due to difficult-to-comprehend screenplay and also due to the abstract nature of narrating the story. YATRA is one of those films.

The story of YATRA could've developed into a fascinating screenplay, but writer/editor/director Goutam Ghose interprets it in an offbeat manner, which makes the goings-on difficult to decipher for an average moviegoer.

Dasrath Joglekar [Nana Patekar], a celebrated writer, travels to Delhi to receive the prestigious Literary Award. During the journey he meets a young film-maker Mohan [Nakul Vaid], an ardent fan of Dasrath's writing and the encounter brings back memories from the past.

Both of them travel back in time, remembering characters from Dasrath's celebrated novel 'Janaza', reconstructing the true story of the novel protagonist, Lajvanti [Rekha], from their own perspective. After the gala award ceremony in New Delhi, Dasrath disappears from his hotel. Tension mounts in his family [comprising of wife Deepti Naval and two kids].

Memories from the past and passion bring Dasrath to Mehendi Galli, where people flock to listen to mujras. But everything has changed with time. Lajvanti has become Lisa, presenting popular film songs to entertain a new clientele. Dasrath's sudden appearance is a great surprise for Lajvanti. The character of his novel 'Janaza' comes alive in an unexpected juncture.

On paper, the plotline sounds interesting, but when translated on celluloid, it lacks the power to enchant you. The screenplay doesn't work because it seems unfinished and also, Ghose's execution is abstract.

From the writing point of view, the relationship between Nana and Rekha hasn't been carefully developed. Nana is shown meeting Rekha at a very crucial stage of the story [she has been raped]. An unexplainable bond develops between the two that makes you conclude that they have feelings for each other. Ideally, the writer/director should've shown a sequence or two to support this theory, so that when Nana suddenly lands up at Rekha's doorstep after winning the award, it looks believable.

The second hour goes haywire. Nana's sudden demise and Rekha's idea to get rid of the body by hiding it in her closet and packing it off to an undisclosed destination, looks bizarre. Nana's wife [Deepti Naval] drops in at that moment and a few minutes later, the movie ends. What kind of a climax was that?

In between, there are sequences that flummox the viewer. Nana imagines his daughter in a call centre, his bruised son is being interviewed by a TV reporter and his associate in Delhi is getting intimate with a guy, who in turn is capturing the 'action' on his cell phone… What was that? Slightly earlier, Deepti Naval was shown as a farmer's wife, who looks shocked to see her husband [Nana, a farmer] commit suicide… Sorry, didn't understand that either!

Music [Khayyam and Goutam Ghose] is equally uninteresting. Cinematography is of standard, although the color tones tend to get dark at times. Dialogues are wonderful and are sure to be appreciated.

It's a different Nana Patekar you get to watch in YATRA. Devoid of his usual mannerisms, Nana is natural to the core. The problem with Rekha is that she has enacted similar roles in the past and no matter how hard she tries, it doesn't work. But, yes, the sequence when Nana meets her for the first time [the cry of anguish] is splendid. Deepti Naval is appropriate. Nakul Vaid gets minimal scope. Romit Raaj [Nana's son] is hardly there. The veteran actress enacting the role of Nana's mother is lovable.

On the whole, YATRA is a poor fare. It has precious little for connoisseurs of art house cinema, but nothing for the masses. The low-key promotion coupled with a mighty opposition [SPIDER-MAN 3] will make YATRA's yatra at the box-office very tough.

They are Bollywood’s hottest couple and they are sure in no mood to spare anyone. Last month on ‘Koffee with Karan’ (KWK) Kareena was asked, what comes to her mind first when she hears, “John.” Bebo just took a second to say, “Expressionless”.

When Bips and John were on KWK, Karan posed the same question to Bips as to what comes to her mind when she hears the name Kareena, revengeful moment seemed to finally arrive for Bips who said, “too many expressions”

Then, on the sets of ‘Goal’, Bips had to wait two hours for Arshad Warsi to arrive so they could start the shoot. The actress was so irritated that she refused to shoot when Arshad finally showed up. Bips was quite upset as she felt insulted.

Now, how could our Johnny boy let Arshad get away with his inconsiderate act? So when for the finale of the movie, John was asked to hug Arshad, John refused and asked the Director to change the scene.

Arshad was so embarrassed that this time it was his turn to walk away from the sets.

Bips and John finally seem to have scored their ‘Goal’.

Saif Ali Khan walked the ramp for the first time at Provogue’s Fashion Show. Being a brand ambassador of Provogue, Saif walked on the ramp in style and surely impressed the guests at the event held in Mumbai last night.

The crowd got to see Bollywood’s two stylish heart throbs Saif Ali Khan and Upen Patel as they strutted on the ramp along with Esha Deol. This star studded show was choreographed by none other than Arjun Rampal’s wife and former model Mehr Jessia.

“Hats of to Provogue for bringing us a night to remember” said Upen who was very pleased with the show.

You have seen him bat splendidly and now Brian Lara is ready to start his inning in Bollywood with SRK’s ‘Dulha Mil Gaya’. Sushmita Sen plays the female lead in the movie and she is currently, shooting for the movie with Fardeen Khan in Trinidad and Tobago.

Lara will be joining the team and would shoot a cameo for the movie. Brian is doing a special guest appearance and based on inside sources the star has charged a bomb for the appearance.

Besides Brian Lara, SRK is also in talks with Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu to play his parents in ‘Dulha Mil Gaya’. Saira Banu in her recent interviews mentioned that if she and Dilip had a son then, he would be exactly like Shahrukh.

These words seem to have touched SRK’s heart and he wants to fulfill this dream by having Saira Banu play his on-screen mom at least.

The 60th Cannes Film Festival in the land of Sun, Sand and Cinema is going to be a refreshing spot for Indian Movies. The festival started yesterday and will continue till the 27th of May. Several Indian movies are making their presence felt at Cannes this year.

Seven of them in different Indian languages will feature in the “Cinema of the World” section on May 19 and 20. The seven include, Malayalam film Saira, Tamil film Veyil, Bengali film Dosar, English film Missed Call, art-house Hindi film Dharm and popular Bollywood hits Lage Raho Munnabhai and Guru.

For small time filmmakers who can not afford huge marketing campaigns, Cannes is a yielding platform to get international buyers. More than 100 Indian Films along with their Indian entertainment companies take this opportunity to promote their movies.

The marketing section will also have Ashutosh Gowarikar’s “Jodha-Akbar”, Anurag Basu’s “Metro”, R.Balakrishnan’s “Cheeni Kum” and also John Abraham starring movie “Goal”.

iDream Productions will act as sales agent for the Indo-US film Karma, Confessions and Holi starring Sushmita Sen and Naomi Campbell. Kaleidoscope Entertainment is expected to unveil plans for their ambitious Mahabharata trilogy which Mani Ratnam is likely to direct.

Apart from the films actors from Bollywood- Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Irfan Khan and Paresh Rawal will sizzle on the red carpet. Let us hope that soon we will have a nomination and an award won at Cannes.

The Supreme Court Tuesday halted all criminal proceedings against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty initiated by various courts in the country for the controversial on-stage pecks Hollywood star Richard Gere planted on her cheek during a public show here.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan suspended the proceedings on a petition filed by Shilpa Monday seeking either annulment or transfer to a Mumbai court of all the proceedings initiated in three subordinate courts at Jaipur and Mundwar in Rajasthan and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.

The bench, with Justice R.V. Raveendran also on it, issued notices to various private complainants seeking their replies on Shilpa’s plea.

In her plea, the actress submitted that three lower courts had initiated criminal proceedings against her for the same incident - the on-stage kisses by Gere during an AIDS awareness programme in the capital April 15.

The Gere kisses had triggered strong protests in several cities across the country.

In her petition, Shilpa said the Gere Foundation was working on a programme to create awareness about the dreaded Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) crisis in Asia. She said the foundation had also started the `Heroes Project’ in India to mobilise various celebrities to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

The actress said she had been invited at the behest of the Heroes Project to address a meeting at Delhi on April 15 to create awareness among truck drivers about HIV/AIDS.

At the function, Gere, while reliving a moment from his Hollywood movie “Shall We Dance” (released in 2005) hugged and kissed her on the cheek, she said adding that this was meant to be a spoof from the said movie.

This was, however, repeatedly telecast on various television channels, triggering a controversy and leading people to file private complaints at lower courts in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

She said the Mundawar court in Rajasthan on April 20 ordered investigation into the episode and barred Gere from leaving the country.

On April 26, the Jaipur court issued summons to her and an arrest warrant against Richard Gere, while the Ghaziabad court issued summons to her on May 1, Shilpa had said in her petition to the court.

She contended that the complaints were an abuse of the legal process and had been filed only to harass and make her run from pillar to post and damage her career and reputation.

The nightingale of India is a title conferred on Lata Mangeshkar, who was born on September 28th 1929 in a lower middle class Maharashtrian family. Her father Dinanath Mangeshkar owned a theatrical company and was also a trained vocalist. From a very young age, Lata started receiving training from her father. In 1942, when her father fell terribly ill, Lata had the entire responsibility of running the house on her shoulders as she was the oldest kid. Lata was the sole bread earner and had to take care of all her siblings.

Lata decided to sing in movies and made her debut as a playback singer in ‘Kiti Haasal’, but the song was dropped as her father raised objection to her singing in movies. In a couple of months, when her father passed away she was forced to act in movies to meet ends meet. When Lata tried to make a foray into Hindi Film Industry she was rejected; In times when Noorjehan Shamshad Begum and Zohrabai Ambalewali ruled the Industry, Lata’s voice was considered to be very thin. Lata struggled for years for the right break. 1949 was her year as four of her movies ‘Andaz’, ‘Barsaat’, ‘Dulari’ and ‘Mahal’ were declared musical hits, which made Lata the latest rising star of the Indian music industry.

Lata Mangeshkar was enjoying her newly acquired success and promoted younger sister Asha, but she called off her relationship with Asha when she eloped to get married. In 1962, Lata sang “Aae Mere Watan Ke Logo” at a performance, which bought tears to the eyes of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

For almost 40 years, Lata ruled the Hindi music world and it was only in 1983 that she decided to cut down on her work in order to give opportunities to new singers. She also stopped accepting awards as a gesture to promote new talent. Lata continued working for selective banners and Yashraj Productions was one of them. She sang for ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ and even their latest ‘Veer-Zaara’.

Lata also patched up with her sister Asha Bhosle and the two even vacationed together in London. Lata has a room full of Awards in her house in Peddar Road, but the highest honor that she has been bestowed with is the Bharat Ratna. Age has not been able to steal away the magic in Lata’s voice as her songs are mesmerizing as ever and she truly deserves to be called the ‘Nightingale’.

Yet another magical team has emerged in the world of Hindi film music.

Gulzar’s lilting lyrics transformed into melodious music by composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for Amol Palekar’s yet untitled Hindi film is indeed an irresistible combo.

” ‘Paheli’ music is unforgettable. We just loved it! Amolji’s musical ‘Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaaye’ had also offered a vivacious track. So when Amolji briefed us about the songs, we were very charged. The song situations are so hilarious that we had to conceive electrifying tunes,” said Shankar.

The trio has just recorded two songs. Om Puri with his rock-solid base voice also tuned in for a stirring rap number.

Palekar can’t stop praising Gulzar.

“Gulzar’s exceptional imagery, brilliant sense of beats, and precise choice of apt words have been offering a striking treat for the last 50 years,” said Palekar.

The film is scheduled to go on floors later this month. While refusing to reveal any further details, he said: “The music is going to blaze the charts all the way.”

For those who've been wondering why Lata Mangeshkar has been lying low, here's some news: the legendry singer was busy working on her first ghazal album in 17 years, scheduled for a May release.

The last time she ventured into the territory was with Jagjit Singh in "Sajda". Her new ghazal album will have numbers composed by Mayuresh Pai, a promising young Lata fan.

"Mayuresh earlier composed an album of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's poetry, which I sang. I was very impressed by his ability to put music into the toughest of Atalji's verses," Lata told IANS.

The album took almost two years to complete. Her frail health and her determination to make the intricacies of the ghazal sound flawless forced a slow pace of recording. But now the album is almost ready and to be released under the T-Series label.

Lata returns to T-Series after many years.

"But there never was any fight. In fact I sang for Adnan Sami in 'Lucky' for T-Series. I also did a bhajan album for T-Series many years ago," said Lata.

As for the ghazal, it has always been a special challenge for the singer.

"Singing the ghazals of Madan Mohan in the films in the past was always very challenging and satisfying. My most challenging non-film album was the one on ghazals by Mirza Ghalib that my brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar composed for me.

"These days you don't hear too many ghazals. The trend has moved to fast numbers and mainly re-mix albums."

Lata loved going back to the form, especially with a composer who is just starting out.

"I love working with new talent. In recent times I've sung the first compositions of Vishal Bharadwaj, Rahul Sharma and now Mayuresh," she said.

Interestingly, Javed Akhtar was invited to write one ghazal for the album. He offered to do a bunch of lyrics.

"There's no singer in this universe who can intonate words the way Lataji can. From the time she sang my first film lyric in 'Silsila' to this new ghazal album, it's always an honour to have her sing to my words. Even if you don't know the meaning of a word, you know through her expression what she means. That's what a lyricist craves for," said Akhtar.

Lethal things come in small packages, a saying that Aryan Vaid will definitely agree with. The model turned actor was out of action for quite a few days as he was down with malaria.

“It is such an irritating thing. To be forced to take days off, but I was back in action within 10 days,” said Aryan.

“I have even started my gym otherwise I had started feeling so lazy and tired all the time. Malaria literally does leave a bitter taste in mouth,” he added.

In between his fashion shows, Aryan is currently busy concluding shooting for his forthcoming films.

Celina Jaitley is going international. She has recently signed an international film titled “Love Has No Language” and will portray the character of an NRI born and brought up in New Zealand.

She is paired with Australian actor Ben Mitchell in the film. It’s a New Zealand-Australian co-production, which has created a sensation by making the trilogy “Lord Of The Rings”. Ken Kahn, technical advisor of that trilogy, will be directing the film.

She is not only excited about working in an international project but also about the role she will be playing. Here she hopes to get a chance to prove her mettle as an actress without doing the regular singing and dancing sequences. The shooting is expected to start later this month.

In the film, Celina’s character will be glamorous but totally Indian. She has Indian values but her viewpoint of looking towards life is different from her parents.

Celina hopes people will notice her acting talent in “Love Has No Language”.

Composer A.R. Rahman has just fulfilled a long-cherished dream by launching his own music label, K.M. Music.

"For a long time now I wanted to float my own label K.M. Music. My label won't market the music. It'll just distribute music recorded in my studio in Chennai to large music companies like Sony," Rahman told IANS.

K.M. are the initials of a Sufi name from the south that Rahman wants to honour through his music.

"Basically, the creative aspects and vision of the music we produce will be our lookout, not the marketing. I've no idea of the non-creative and fiscal side of the music business.

"Digital downloads are easy for me. But to go into the nitty-gritty of music marketing is difficult for a creative person like me. Better to restrict myself to what I know. So I'd rather keep out of the marketing."

He clarifies that none oh his film projects will be on his K.M. label.

"My label will be devoted to putting out alternate music - the kind of sound I don't have the freedom to create in movies. This idea of a music label was with me for sometime now. But I didn't want to announce it until I had some of the music ready."

Now Rahman is all set to put out a bunch of albums on his label.

"There's an artiste from Britain, another will feature a mix of artistes from India and the US, another is a Tamil poetry project - it's all experimental and eclectic. Let's see how it goes.

"Though I won't be directly involved in the production of all the music on my label, I'll certainly be involved in all my projects. In fact, the reason I built this large studio in Chennai was to finally start this label. No one can use the facilities in this studio as well as me."

Currently Rahman is basking in the success of his new album "Sivaji" which stars Tamil superstar Rajnikanth.

Star TV hired Zee TV’s most popular musical team of singer Shaan and Producer Gajendra Singh to launch ‘Star Voice of India’ but, the pros are apparently, not getting things right this time.

A fiasco was created in the capital as the auditions in Delhi were cancelled at the last minute and then, they even changed the venue. While the auditions in Delhi were a mess, the Producers were hoping that they would be able to fix things when auditioning in Mumbai. But the auditions turned out to be a dud in Mumbai as only a few hundred contestants turned out at Bhavan’s college in Andheri which was way below the 5000 contestants expected by the organizers.

Worst was still to come, as on Saturday, the short listed contestants, who were to perform for the judges were made to wait for hours along with the judges as the shoot got delayed due to faulty arrangement.

Celebrity judges Alka Yagnik and Abhijeet were so irritated that they left the venue in rage. ‘Star Voice of India’ already has tough competition from Zee TV’s ‘Sa Re Gama Pa’ and Sony TV’s ‘Indian Idol’.

Despite such an aggressive environment, it’s strange to see the VOI team be so reckless. Buck up guyz, it’s the question of TV.

Himesh Reshammiya’s debut film as an actor, AAP KAA SURROOR, is set to create a record of sorts.

T-Series, the company that holds the music rights of AAP KAA SURROOR, will launch the movie’s audio CDs with as many as 21 songs, which will include remixes, songs by Asha Bhosle, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal. It even has a song that pays tribute to Pancham-da. The songs, which come in a pack of 2 CDs, are due for release on 27th April.

Meanwhile, T-Series has acquired the music rights of APNE, directed by Anil Sharma. Starring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty and Katrina Kaif, it has music by Himesh Reshammiya. The music release is scheduled for Mid May.

The ‘Nach Baliye’ contest’s most popular couple Hiten-n-Gauri may be busy shooting for soaps round the clock but, the couple keeps the romance alive by surprising each other with their new looks.

Hiten, who was wearing his hair black during the ‘Nach Baliye’ season, has completely changed his look as now the actor is seen in a goatee flashing his new bright colored hair. Gauri on the other hand, has gone short on her hair as she is seen in her new 80’s popular hairstyle, a blunt cut.

Hiten joked that when he returned home after the long day shoot, he was initially shocked to see Gauri, as she thought it was some college kid in his house. We must that our smooth Hiten is one husband, who really knows how to compliment his blunt ‘Baliye’.

Sikandar Kher, son of actress Kirron Kher, was on the radar of top Bollywood producers who wanted to launch him. But Sanjay Gupta pipped them and the newcomer is all set to make his debut in “Woodstock Villa”.

According to sources, even Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to sign Sikandar for “Saawariyan”, but Gupta stuck luck to launch him in “Woodstock Villa”.

The director was so impressed by the youngster that he told his mother Kirron, “Your son is a star, nothing can stop him.”

Sikander is said to be in the mould of actors like Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra and Sanjay Dutt who possessed ‘Animal magnetism’ and even before his debut release, he’s got the biggest fan following among girls.

Sikandar has already signed two other big banner films.

“Till differences do us apart,” is the new mantra for the old saying, “Till death do us apart” and the latest one to bite the dust are Producer Bunty Walia and Actress Suman Ranganthan.

In 2006, Bunty and Suman had a lavish wedding reception which was attended by close friends, the Dutt clan and many other celebs from the Bollywood fraternity. Suman, who was earlier married to model Gautam Kapoor, went through divorce in 2005. She then, met Bunty and was apparently quite impressed with his charm.

Bunty on the other hand, was busy dating Payal Rohtag after divorcing his first wife. He however, called it off with Payal to tie the knot with Suman. Suman and Bunty did enjoy martial bliss for a couple of months but then, as they say, ‘the honeymoon was over’ as the couple started having major differences.

Suman was not happy with the fact that Bunty spent most of his time with his friends instead of investing time in their relationship. Bunty’s closeness to Sanjay Dutt also caused trouble between the couple as Bunty forced Suman to give company to Sanjay Dutt’s illegitimate wife Manyata.

Suman finally decided to bring her relationship with Bunty to an end and walked out on him. It was the second time for both Suman and Bunty, so our advice to this Bollywood couple is, “marriage is great, maybe you might get lucky the third time, until then, keep trying.”

You may see Esha in some dare devil stunts in her forthcoming ‘Cash’ but, in real life Esha is quite different. Esha, who acted in Ram Gopal Verma’s horror movie ‘Darling’, is so horror struck that she has decided never to a work in a spooky film again.

‘Darling’ has Esha and Fardeen Khan in the lead and Esha will be seen playing a ghost. The actress, who has recently moved to her new villa at Goregoan in Mumbai with her mom Hema and sister Ahana, is too scared to be alone in her new home.

Esha shared that for her role in ‘Darling’ she had to do a lot of reading on spirits and ghosts and now she constantly has eerie thoughts when she is by herself in her home. On the other hand, Ramu is so excited after making the movie that he plans to direct the movie in Tamil as well and has already signed Madhvan for the remake.

Ramu has offered the female lead to Esha but, guess what the Deol girl’s response was? Well, “No ways Darling.”

Tanushree Dutta is looking for an image makeover and after playing glam girl in films like “Aashiq Banaya Aapne”, she now wants people to see her negative side.

In “Raqeeb”, which is a musical thriller, she plays a negative character with three different shades. In fact, she played a ‘bad’ girl in her recent release “Good Boy Bad Boy” too.

She is also not accepting roles that don’t have much scope to show her acting talent. It seems moviegoers and critics will get to see an all-new Tanushree Dutta!

When last week 19-year old Aditya Narayan finally stood on stage to host Zee's music-talent show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, it was a moment of huge reckoning for him. The inimitable Asha Bhosle was watching him closely.

Says Aditya, "I'm 19, and I agree I'm from a musical family. Also, I've had considerable experience on stage with my father. But to have stalwarts like Ghulam Ali and Asha Bhosle watching me as I got a hang of my first full-fledged job as an anchor was an unsettling experience."

"Ashaji and I go back a long way," chuckles the affable Aditya. "I've been lucky enough to sing with her for A. R. Rahman in Rangeela and Taal as a child. Tell me, which kid has had this privilege. And now there she was in person smiling and observing me carefully."

Ashaji found Aditya cute. That made the debutant anchor's day and year. "When I had sung with Ashaji I was too young to know what it meant. But now, to have occupied the same space as her and to have her encourage me so warmly I couldn't have hoped for a more auspicious start to my career as an anchor."

To make Aditya even more nervous there was his father dropping in unannounced to check out how sunny-boy was doing. "If Papa had told me he was coming I'd have asked him not to. I knew I'd feel so self conscious in front of him! So he quietly finished recording his TV show Indian Idol and dropped in on our Sa Re Ga Ma Pa set to watch me from a hidden corner."

Aditya feels blessed. "Ghulam Ali Saab, Ashaji and my father (Udit Narayan), it was as though the heavens were blessing me. Yeah, I think I'll do okay as an anchor."

Miss England winner Eleanor Glynn has been selected to play a role in the musical "India Rocks", a movie directed by Aditya Raj Kapoor.

Glynn, 21, from Sandford-on-Thames, said she was delighted to have won one of the lead roles in the movie. Filming is due to start in London later this month, shortly before she hands over her Miss England crown.

She will star alongside Mimoh Chakraborty, son of popular actor Mithun Chakraborty. Glynn told the Oxford Mail that she was thrilled to get the lead role in the film.

In January, Glynn was put on standby to take part in "Celebrity Big Brother", but had second thoughts following Shilpa Shetty's bullying by housemate Jade Goody.

Last year, Glynn took part in a Bollywood dancing exhibition, then met a series of Bollywood film directors to discuss the possibility of appearing in a movie.

She said at the time: "I think there is definitely a gap in the market for a British girl meeting an Asian guy in one of these films and we'll see what happens."

Miss England organiser Angie Beasley said: "I think this could be the start of a great career for Eleanor. She loves Bollywood dancing and will be performing a Bollywood dance at the national final of Miss England in Leicester on June 30, when she hands over her crown.

"Eleanor is not a prima donna - she fits in with people from all walks of life. I wish we could give her a special award because she has been the best Miss England we have ever had."

Earlier this year, Glynn, who has appeared in the Miss World and Miss Europe competitions, told how she was rejected by three top model agencies - because she was "too large" at size 10.

Glynn - who is 5-feet, 9 inches and weighs eight-and-a-half stone - gave a talk at the Oxford Union about her experience and urged young models not to go on crash diets.

“Good Boy Bad Boy” or “Dhoop Chaon…” - last I remember Ashwini Chowdhary had made a lovely sun-kissed film called “Dhoop”.

So what did we miss here?

“Good Boy Bad Boy” is like a prescription to eternal cine-phobia. There’s no reason why this film should’ve been made in the first place. And if it has been made, there’s no valid reason for us to sit through the ordeal of good boy Tusshar Kapoor with oiled hair, button-up shirt taking on bad boy Emraan in scruffy jeans, stubble, sundry sunglasses.

For a while the twosome frolic in the campus to Himesh Reshammiya’s ‘young’, noisy and breathy tracks. Then they decide to join up and have fun. They do. We don’t! Simple.

The campus is a textbook of idiocy. The teachers, flirty and buxom Sushmita Mukherjee and sundry clowns, are balanced out by principal Paresh Rawal who comes up with arguably his most unaccomplished performance in five years.

It’s not that Paresh doesn’t try to lend credibility to his role of a principal. He tries to bring a sense of order to a campus infested by punks and other street-vile types who don’t seem to know how to hold a book right. And the only test they seem capable of passing is the HIV-positive one.

It’s tough to tell what director Chaudhary hoped to achieve through this classroom of compulsive craziness. Maybe he wanted to make a “Main Hoon Na” of the punk generation. Maybe he wanted to build a pyramid of laughter out of youthful angst. Maybe he wanted us to forget he made “Dhoop” not too long ago.

The director fails on all counts, but one. It’s easy to forget that this director had not too long ago displayed enough sensitivity to make us hopeful for his future.

What works is the principal casting. Tusshar and Hashmi are good and bad without trying too hard. But their efforts to remain true to ‘tripe’ defeats their very purpose of being in the film. The two leading ladies try to be glamorous and sassy.

Isha has lost a lot of weight, even on her face. Gone with the avoirdupois is her ability to emote that we saw in Subhash Ghai’s “Kisna”. Tanushree Dutta is so badly styled you wonder what keeps her from toppling under the weight of her clumsiness.

Ditto the film.

Tackily produced and clumsily packaged “Good Boy, etc is an embarrassment to producer Subhash Ghai.

Actor Mohit Ahlawat seems to have rediscovered his place in Bollywood after leaving mentor Ram Gopal Varma’s camp. He’s gone ahead and signed a film with leading star Aamir Khan.

The film, which is yet to be titled, is a Hindi remake of Tamil blockbuster Gajini that starred actors Surya and Asin.

While Asin will play her role from the original in Hindi, Aamir will play Surya’s character. Mohit has been signed on to play the pivotal role of a cop.

Ironically, he played a police officer in Varma’s “Shiva”, the film that saw the end of his association with Varma’s company.

Mohit told IANS: “Yes, I’ve been signed for the Hindi remake of ‘Gajini’. A.R. Murugadas, who directed the Tamil original, will direct it. For me the biggest thrill of doing this film is that I’ll be working with Aamir.”

The upcoming actor hopes the new film will end the dry spell in his career.

“I could’ve signed a dozen films after I left Ramuji. But I didn’t want to make any wrong moves. Now I think I’m making all the right moves,” Mohit said.

This is for the first time that the music of an Indian film has been released in Pakistan. Himesh Reshammiya’s debut film Aap Ka Surroor, is the first Indian film that has released in Pakistan and is doing extremely well overseas.

Says an elated Himesh, “This will be first Hindi film album that has been permitted for release across the border. The album is my tribute to RD Burman, and boasts names like Asha Bhosle, Sunidhi Chauhan, and Shreya Ghosal."

T-Series were responsible for organizing the audio launch in Pakistan.

Remake of 'Sholay' by Ram Gopal Verma has planned to use alman Khan's love interest Katrina Kaif.

Highly appealing Katrina who performed a small role in Ramu's 'Sarkaar' would be playing the Jaya Bachchan's role in this remake.

Ramu has also signed the 'Rangeela' girl Urmila Matondkar to dance on the remix version of "Mahbooba Mahbboba".

Seven years ago ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’ hit the Indian screens and Shweta was portrayed in the character of a college girl but, in less than seven years, she has progressed from being a wife to a mom and now a grand-mom.

Obviously, Shweta is not very happy about this sudden generation leap and she has constantly shared her concerns with Ekta Kapoor. To make Shweta happy, Ekta asked designers to give her a complete makeover and design Parsi saris and pearl and diamond jewellery.

We were a little baffled when we saw Shweta missing from the ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’ press conference event held last week but, now it all makes sense as our ‘Prerna; decided to pass on the event.

The PRO’s apparently kept calling Shweta but, she refused to take their calls and showed up on the sets five hours late.

First it was Tulsi and now it’s Prerna, who are giving Ekta a tough time. Guess, the producer is going through a tough ‘Kasauti’ of her ‘zindagi’.

Vidya Balan laughs off allegations that she opted out of Pradeep Sarkar’s “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” because she didn’t want to play second lead in a Rani Mukerji starrer.

“I actually can’t believe I’m not doing dada’s (Sarkar) film. There’s no way I could’ve let this happen. But dada wanted to complete the film within a certain period and those dates were committed to Sajid Khan’s ‘Hey Baby’ a year back,” Vidya explains.

She says that Sarkar is like family to her.

“Not being in his film was inconceivable to me. I can’t believe the film is being made without me. The ads and the film (’Parineeta’) that I’ve done with dada are very precious to me,” Vidya told IANS.

In “Hey Baby”, she had to coordinate her dates with co-stars Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan and Kunal Kapoor.

“In dada’s film my dates had to be coordinated with Jayaji (Bachchan), Rani, Abhishek (Bachchan) and Kunal. Both projects needed chunk dates.

“Not doing dada’s film wasn’t an easy call to take. When people say it’s shocking to hear that I’m not in dada’s film, do they realise how shocking it is for me? You can’t believe how awful I felt to not be in it. Inshallah, I’ll be in his next. They tell me they miss me there. To even talk about it makes me emotional.”

As for rumours about why she didn’t do the project, Vidya has only one thing to say, “As long as dada and I know the truth it doesn’t matter. Gossip is a full-time vocation.”

After “Lage Raho Munna Bhai“, Vidya has almost completed another socially relevant film. She’s excited about Raj Kumar Santoshi’s “Halla Bol”.

“Santoshi’s films have always had a very high level of social relevance. I’m so happy to be working with him. I was fully aware that it’s the story of the male protagonist’s journey from real to reel hero. It’s Ajay Devgan’s film. I’m the wife but my character is integral to the film.

“Like I always say, the true barometer of a role is not its length but how much of a difference it makes to the plot. And if you take away my role from ‘Halla Bol’, it makes a difference. I don’t mind doing one scene as long as that scene makes an impact.”

On the anvil is Anurradha Prasad’s film to be directed by Sourabh Narang.

“Yes, but that was supposed to be in August 2005. But it’s a lovely subject. And Narang is someone I respect. I’d still love to do it.”

Come May 15th and Shiney turns a year older or shall we say sexier and the actor is all pepped up for his birthday this year as he has a big birthday gift, a third hit to his credit.

‘Metro’ has won Shiney rave reviews and nothing tastes as sweet as success and shines brighter than Shiney.

So All Shiney fans don't forget to drop a line and wish the future superstar and see him shine even brighter.

The first look of ‘Jodha Akbar’ was to premiere at the Cannes film festival and the entire Bachchan family including Big B, Jaya and Abhishek had plans to fly down to Cannes to cheer Ash.

Ashutosh Gowarikar and his ‘Akbar’ Hrithik were apparently not quite convinced with the idea as they felt that the newly weds Abhi-n-Ash would hog all the limelight and ‘Jodha Akbar’ might not get the well-deserved attention.

Ashutosh decided to throw a twist in the tale. The sharp-minded director shared that they would have to pass on the Cannes trip as he has the movie shoot scheduled at Karjat during that week. Ashutosh reasoned it out by saying that rains are around the corner and his million dollar sets would be damaged if the monsoons arrive any earlier than expected.

Ash’s wedding and honeymoon have already caused delays with the movie shoot and the actress sure was guilty enough to upset director Ashutosh yet again.

So ‘Akbar’ and his ‘Jodha’ will be busy shooting in Karjat and as for Ashutosh the Abhi-Ash wedding ‘mithai’ just got sweeter.

Shilpa Shetty Monday moved the Supreme Court for annulment of criminal proceedings initiated against her in various police stations for the controversial on-stage pecks Hollywood star Richard Gere planted on her cheek during a public show here.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan listed Shilpa’s plea for hearing Tuesday.

In her plea, the actress sought annulment of criminal cases registered against her at Jodhpur, Ghaziabad and Munawar (Halwar) police stations.

The Gere kiss during an AIDS awareness programme in the capital last month had triggered strong protests in several cities across the country.

A beauty to reckon, virtuoso performer and excellent dancer, that’s how actress Madhuri Dixit, who turns 40 Tuesday, will always be remembered by millions of her fans.

Her admirers are now eagerly awaiting her comeback film “Aaja Nachle”. After a five-year hiatus, she steps under the arc lights to portray the role of a theatre artiste. Though she had many offers, she chose to work in the Yash Raj Films’ project, directed by Anil Mehta.

Set in the theatre world, the film depicts the journey of an aging actress.Though she has played a dancer in films like “Tezaab” and “Dil To Paagal Hai”, this is the first time she’s playing a theatre artiste. The film is in its completion stage and may b screened at cinema halls in November.

The ‘dhak dhak girl’, as she is fondly called, danced her way into millions of hearts with the evergreen number “Ek do teen…” in “Tezaab” in 1988. Both the film and the song were smash hits.

“I hope I’m not sounding presumptuous or vain. I think like Sridevi, I was another heroine who could break the barriers between the classes and the masses,” she was quoted as saying earlier.

Madhuri started her acting career with Kranthi Kumar’s “Swati” in 1986 but then featured in dam squibs like “Abodh”. It was “Tezaab” that launched her into the star league. Madhuri’s career witnessed a meteoric rise after the film’s phenomenal success.

Movie buffs remember her performances in songs like “Bada dukh dina (”Ram Lakhan”), “Dhak dhak” (”Beta”), “Chane ke kheth mein (”Anjaam”), “Choli ke peechche” (”Khalnayak”), and “Maar dala” (”Devdas”).

“She is a wonderfully graceful dancer and never looks unbecoming, no matter how cheap the movements are,” director Sanjay Leela Bhansali was quoted as saying in an interview while he was making “Devdas” with her.

He is a huge fan of Madhuri and claims she is the best dancer in Bollywood.

Apart from being a great dancer, Madhuri proved her acting skills in films like “Ram Lakhan”, “Dil”, “Parinda”, “Khalnayak”. She starred opposite Salman Khan in “Hum Aapke Hain Koun”, which is often called the crowning glory of her career.

Madhuri also found a fan in renowned painter M.F. Husain, who later made a movie called “Gaja Gamini” - a tribute to the actress’ beauty and talent. The two continue to be in touch.

She has won four Filmfare awards for Best Actress and was also honoured with the Best National Citizens Award in 2001.

Her career suffered a slide after “Anjaam”, which was followed by a series of flops like “Raja” and “Rajkumar”. She, however, did regain some ground with her performance in “Dil To Pagal Hai”.

Bhansali’s magnum opus “Devdas” became her swan song after which she joined her husband in the US and is now the proud mother of two sons.

“Aaja Nachle” will hopefully bring her more awards and accolades.

Sushmita is in ‘Don-2’ and Priyanka is out has been the rumor that has been doing the rounds of Bollywood but, we thought of getting the final world from the horse’s mouth himself so we clarified the facts with ‘Don-2’ director Farhan Akhtar.

So Priyanka fans can now be happy as the director has confirmed if the sequel will be made, Priyanka would sure be a part of the project.

On the other hand, while speaking on ‘Krrish-2’ Hrithik Roshan mentioned that Priyanka would be paired opposite him in the Krrish sequel as well. In ‘Krrish-2’, Priyanka and Hrithik will be busy romancing and as for the villain, well, Hrithik will be playing both the hero and the villain in ‘Krrish-2’.

Viveik Oberoi is certainly enjoying his new innings in Bollywood. While on one end his Shootout At Lokhandwala is becoming the hottest film of May, a week later arrives his Fool N Final, which has all the ingredients of a hit film. And he goes solo in one of the song sequences in Fool N Final.

All this while, the focus on promotion of Fool N Final was either on song and dance sequences of Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia or the comic track of Paresh Rawal and Johnny Lever. Now a twist in the story has come with Vivek Oberoi becoming the most prominent in the film promotion.

He has a song all to himself in the film, which is titled "Ek Kalsa". Though the lyrics of the song may not make much sense, what has worked in the song's favour is the vision of producer Firoz Nadiadwala and director Ahmed Khan that has elevated the song to a different level altogether.

A tune by Himesh Reshammiya, it now boasts of superb visuals with the song's setting on the desert dunes of Dubai amongst many other outdoor locations. Bearing an up market look throughout, what also stands out in the song is Viveik's new look that takes his dude image forward with the casual dance moves suiting his personality.

Firoz Nadiadwala has always been known for making 'item films' and with this latest 'item song' being choreographed on Viveik Oberoi, one only expects further elevation to film's box office prospects.

Leading music company Saregama HMV has announced its foray into film production business. Substantial investments are being made in this area. Eminent names like Aparna Sen and BR Sharan have been included in its leadership team, said Subroto Chattopadhayay, President and CEO, Entertainment Sector-RPG Enterprises and MD of Saregama here today.

To start with, Saregama's first venture, a new Hindi film titled 'Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii', is slated for release on June 22.The film will be on the floor in June and is a venture with Ken Ghosh's Shadow Films. It is directed by Kitu Saluja and stars Rahul Bose in the lead. The movie is a story which starts off in an orphanage where Zain Khan longs to be adopted, but very soon he comes across Rahul Bose, and from there it transforms into a film about fun, fantasy and friendship.

Talking about Saregama's plans for film production, Mr Chattopadhyay said, ''We are building an entertainment company which will create and market music, cinema, television and radio content. The best in class minds like Aparna Sen will help strategies film content and set up production processes. We are exploring cutting-edge technologies in filmmaking and bringing in best practices in the way films are made.'' ''We have been in the entertainment business for a very long time.

Our entry into film production business was a logical step looking at the scope in the Hindi entertainment market. 'Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii' is aimed at the urban multiplex going audience,'' he added.

Following its successful entry into the domestic distribution business with films like Guru, Black Friday, Bheja Fry and more recently Spider-Man 3, Adlabs has announced the worldwide release of Anubhav Sinha's CASH on July 13 .

CASH is a high octane heist thriller set in Cape Town, South Africa and features top stars like Ajay Devgan, Suneil Shetty, Esha Deol, Dia Mirza, Zayed Khan, Shamita Shetty and Riteish Deshmukh in pivotal roles.

CASH is about an ace con artist, played by Ajay Devgan who hires a set of top notch robbers ( Esha Deol, Zayed Khan, Dia Mirza and Riteish Deshmukh) to steal a set of priceless diamonds in South Africa. The group also faces a threat from underworld don Suniel Shetty who is after the same diamonds and Head of Security Shamita Shetty. How these three groups manage to thwart each other forms the rest of the story and makes it a nonstop adventure caper!

CASH is one of the first films to be shot exclusively in the breathtaking locales of Cape Town in South Africa . Looking at the trendy and stylish promos which are already making waves in Cinema Halls, audiences can expect never seen before action packed sequences like sky diving, kite surfing, skate boarding and fight scenes in the film.

Director Anubhav Sinha's last film "DUS" generated rave reviews for its action sequences, cinematography and fabulous music. CASH is expected to further Anubhav's brand of sophisticated film making. Says the Director, "CASH is the first ever comic thriller of a film…I'm sure it will appeal to our audiences."

Says Sunir Kheterpal, COO – Adlabs Films Distribution, "We are extremely happy with the way CASH has turned up and are fully geared to give a wide release to one of this year's most anticipated films. Adlabs shall be extensively leveraging Group's presence across other distribution platforms in order to build highly effective marketing campaign as well as to facilitate optimal exploitation of distribution rights of CASH."

Adlabs is gradually building a strong pipeline of releases in the current year. CASH will be followed by Willard Carol's Marigold, Priyadarshan's " Dhol", Indra Kumar's "Dhamaal" and Mudassar Aziz's " Dulha Mil Gaya".

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta's latest offering Shootout At Lokhandwala has become the cynosure of all eyes with one news after another hitting the headlines. First, it was said that actor Viveik Oberoi was not comfortable with one of the songs of the film which contains his ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai's name in the lyrics. However, this piece of news has done wonders to the film. Now, it's audio album has become hot like never before.

Sanjay Gupta is known for his good musical taste besides filmmaking. All his films have great music, be it Kaante, Musafir or Zinda. Yet again, the music of his latest production venture Shootout At Lokhandwala has done the trick. Reliable sources revealed that distributor G D Mehta is impressed by its audio and slick promos so much so that he has bought its Delhi and U.P rights for a whooping price, which is believed to be more than Rs.3 crore.

The audio album of the film has soundtracks composed by Pakistani leading band Strings, Indian leading bands Indian Ocean and Euphoria, songwriter Biddu Appaiah and playback singers Shibani Kashyap and Mika Mehndi. It also boasts of a huge star cast with actors like Sanjay Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Viveik Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Suniel Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, Diya Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Rakhi Sawant and Aarti Chhabria playing various important roles. Sanjay Gupta produces it jointly with Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor and Apoorva Lakhia is directing it.

After Aishwarya Rai, another actress of Bollywood is going international. Celina Jaitley, Miss India Universe, has recently signed an international film. It's a New Zealand - Australian co-production, "Love Has No Language".

This production house has already created a sensation making the trilogy "Lord Of The Rings". Not only this, the technical advisor of that trilogy - Mr. Ken Kahn - will be directing the film.

Celina will be portraying the character of a NRI girl who is born and brought up in New Zealand opposite Australian actor Ben Mitchell. She is not only excited about working in an international project but about the role she will be playing.

Here she has a chance to prove her mettle as an actress without doing only the dancing and singing sequences. The shooting will be starting in the middle of this month.

May it be a glamorous or non glamorous role Celina does it beautifully. In this project she will be playing a character that is glamorous but totally Indian. She has that Indian values but her view point of looking towards life is different from her parents.

According to Celina she is very happy because the international door has opened for Bollywood and every actor will be getting the chance to do an international project. We are also hopeful with this New Zealand- Australian venture "Love Has No Language" where people will get to notice Celina's acting talent.

After a long gap of 15 years Nana Patekar is ready to direct his second film. Nana's first film as a director was Prahaar in 1991. It was about an Army officer (played by Nana) who trains a number of cadets and later goes to help the family of one of the cadets who dies in an encounter.

Now, Nana's second film will be a sensitive love story between a 45-year-old man and a young woman. The man is a loner who avoids any type of relationships because he fears that the woman he gets attached to eventually dies.

While Nana himself will play the role of the lonely man in his forties, he wants Rani Mukherjee to play the young woman who stirs his emotions in the film. Nana reveals that the movie will be a simple, touching love story about meetings between two people for over two-three weeks.

Nana is also confident that Rani will give her nod to the project after she hears the script. Let's wait and see if Nana's optimism will finally be realized.

After number of superhit albums like ‘Kashish Mix’, Kash Aazma Le’, ‘Yadein’ and many more, R-Vision is coming out with its new venture that is a feature film “Kabhi Kahin”.

"Kabhi Kahin’ is being directed by Amol Shetge who has directed 'Gunaah', 'Rain' and lots of Marathi Films for which he has received awards also. The main starcast of the film comprises of Ashmit Patel, Tulip Joshi, Sachin Khedekar, Sanjay Narvekar and Anubhav Anand.

Presently the shooting of the film is going on at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan in the debris of Kuldhara and Khaba.

When asked about the film, Amol Shetge says, “The film has a very unique and interesting storyline. Despite a complete romantic film it’s a story of some friends with thrill, action and suspense as well. Based on the concept of reincarnation the treatment of the film is like it will maintain the curiosity and interest of the audience and they will eagerly wait for the next scene”.

When asked about the location of the film in the debris of the Jaisalmer Amol responds, “India is full of art, nature, elegance and there are lots of beautiful sights here. Even though many directors choose foreign locations for their film. This tradition is not good for our country. And when I got the location for my film in Jaisalmer, then what is the need to go outside?"

He added, "I believe that to bring reality in our films we should choose the locations near to nature. It was my dream to shoot in the exotic locations of Rajasthan. And when R-Vision’s proposal of ‘Kabhi Kahin’ came to me, I immediately decided to shoot this film in Rajasthan.”

On the importance of beauty of actress in the film with the striking location, which one is more important for the success of the film, producer Ravindra Singh says, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the person. In any film beauty has its own role to play either it’s in the way of beautiful actress or beautiful location. Both the things are equally important for the success of the film.”

As Kabhi Kahin is a romantic film, Ravindra Singh is not in the mood for any kind of compromise for the music. According to Ravindra Singh, “With the story, we are giving much importance on the music also. We have done a lot of hard work on the melody of the songs. Moksh Group and Raes Bartiya have done a marvelous job on the lyrics written by Anwar Sagar. The songs of the film are easy on ear, as music is the USP of the film. With the melodious voice of Shreya Ghoshal and Madhushri, I have also given my voice in the songs.”

T Rajeevnath, a national award winning filmmaker, is all set for a daunting task of remaking Casablanca, one of the cult classics of Hollywood, in Hindi. He wants to make a Hindi movie inspired from the 1942 flick Casablanca that starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

The Hindi remake is said to be tentatively titled Sangam, and Rajeevnath has himself written the script. He believes Casablanca is one of the most outstanding movies of the last century.

Interestingly, Rajeevnath is hoping to sign none other than Shah Rukh Khan to play the role essayed by Bogart in the Hollywood classic. According to Rajeevnath, SRK has the charm and flamboyance to carry the role with conviction. Rajeevnath is looking forward to approach SRK in the coming days.

As for the movie's heroine, Rajeevnath hasn't decided yet. But he wants an actress of big stature. For the time being, the filmmaker has signed A R Rahman to compose the film's music and songs.

The Oscar-winning film had Humphrey Bogart in the role of an expatriate American named Rick Blaine, who owns and runs a casino in Casablanca. Ingrid Bergman played Rick's ex-lover Ilsa Lund, who is married to another man.

The film is about the inner conflict of Rick as he finds himself torn between his feelings for Ilsa and his duty to do the right thing by helping her husband, who is a resistance hero fighting against the Nazis. The Hindi remake of Casablanca will be shot in Andaman Islands and Shimla. The film's shooting will begin by the end of this year.

Actress Amrita Rao says she enjoys a special bond with sister-brother duo Farah and Sajid Khan and had a great time shooting a special song for them in “Hey Baby”.

“It seems just the other day when Farah and I had loads of fun doing ‘Main Hoon Na’. When her brother Sajid called me, I was so happy. I share a special relationship with both of them. Sajid wanted all the heroines who are his friends to be part of the song. Sajid says I’m his younger sister,” Amrita told IANS.

The song is filmed in a pub.

“We all have our own little scenes, our few minutes of fame, ha ha, with Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan and Riteish Deshmukh. I’ve about 10 seconds with each.”

Amrita’s “Vivah” was a super-duper hit. She says she had no difficulty in playing the homely, cultured, middleclass character.

“Fortunately, just before the shooting, I visited Mathura and Vrindavan. I saw the girls there. So I knew how girls dress, talk and behave in culturally rich small towns of India.

“I don’t find such unspoilt gentleness unnatural. Those who do are perhaps de-linked from the real India. It wasn’t difficult for me to envision what Sooraj-ji (Sooraj Barjatya) narrated to me.”

What next?

“Good films with good makers. As for my next release, E. Niwas’ ‘My Name Is Anthony Gonzalves’, I play a Catholic girl who is an assistant director. That’s my only assignment at the moment.”

She thinks highly of Niwas. “How many directors have boasted of a National Award at such a young age. I’m impressed by Niwas’ clarity of thought.”

Post “Vivah”, there are excellent offers.

“I’ve a responsibility towards myself and my audience. I’ll have to respect that responsibility.”

According to sources, Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to sign Sikandar Kher for 'Saawariyan', but Sanjay Gupta stuck lucky to launch him in 'Woodstock Villa'.

Sikandar Kher, who would soon be making his Bollywood debut, was on the radar of the topmost Bollywood producer who wanted to launch him. But Sanjay Gupta made first strike and Sikandar is all set to make his debut in 'Woodstock Villa'.

Sources reveals on how Sanjay Gupta was so impressed by the youngster that he told Kiron Kher, "Your son is a star, nothing can stop him."

Sikander is in the mould of Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra who possessed the 'animal magnetism'. Even before his debut release, Sikandar has got the biggest fan following amongst the girls.

But since he has started concentrating on his work, Sikandar has decreased the 'Social Night bird' outings.

Even before the release of the film, Sikandar is creating waves in the industry. The best of the best are considering him for their banners. Everyone vouches for his potential, since he also comes with a special pedigree.

Meanwhile, Sikandar has already signed 2 other big banner films!!

After 50 years of its first theatrical release, B R Chopra's evergreen classic Naya Daur (1957) will now be released all over India on June 22 in its colour version with (re-mastered 5:1) Dolby digital surround sound. "This is a tribute to my father in the fiftieth year," said son Ravi Chopra. "There is an emotional attachment with the film. We have such splendid films in Black & White and I want today's audiences to watch them too," he added.

The entire procedure of change in colorization was executed using a host of processes and skilled technicians by West Wing Studios in USA and background score of the film was done over a period of two-and-a-half years and on a budget of Rs.35 million (Rs.3.5 crore) in a studio in Goa. The restoration of this film was completed in four months by Prasad EFX, Chennai with technicians working 24 hours a day and 7days a week. The only surviving composite dupe negative had to be physically restored from mis-handling, dirt, dust particles and repaired of frame perforation tears and more. Produced and directed by B R Chopra under the banner of B R Films, the film features Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Ajit, Chand Usmani, Johnny Walker, Jeevan and Nazir Hussain with lilting music by O P Nayyar.

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty is all set to launch her own perfume.

When the 'Celebrity Big Brother' race row erupted Jade's perfume Ssh... was removed from the shelves by many high street chains, and now Shilpa has created S2 (S squared) to take its place.

Perfume creator Mark Earnshaw said: "It's called S2 because her initials are S.S.

"Shilpa worked with us on the perfume and it contains all the notes that she's grown up loving.

"She chose the final fragrance and she was very happy with it. Not as happy as Richard Gere was though!

"The box is going to be like Shilpa. It is very classic and modern on the outside and the inside is leopard print. Because there are two sides to Shilpa, on the outside she is very cool but she also has a very different, deeper side.

"It's got jasmine and musk but also fruit scents in it so it reflects her Indian heritage and will also appeal to the modern European market."

Shilpa wore the perfume to the premiere of her latest movie Metro on Tuesday night in London.

She said: "I love it, I'm very pleased."

The Metro-centric Kangana is very clear in her head about her likes and dislikes. So when Rakesh Roshan approached her for a role in the comedy Krazy 4 that he's producing, she declined politely arguing that there was little scope for her to perform in a film that featured four male stars in the lead.

Gracious as ever, Rakesh Roshan first tried to reason with the young actress, saying that a big banner at this juncture of her career would do her a world of good. When she seemed unconvinced, they shook hands and Rakesh Roshan assured her they'd work together again.

Kangana confirms she was indeed offered the comedy. "I won't say I wasn't tempted. Who doesn't want to work with Mr Rakesh Roshan? I'd have been happy to be part of Krazy 4 because I am dying to do a comedy. Sadly there was little scope for me to perform. When I expressed my misgivings Mr Roshan was very nice. Very different from some other filmmakers who turn nasty when you decline to do their films." The role has now gone to Diya Mirza.

Two of Hindi filmdom’s best known actors, Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, have come together after 19 years for the film “Rice Plate”, which is the directorial debut of TV star Rohit Roy.

“Rohit doesn’t know how lucky he is. In all these years I’ve waited to direct Naseer and Shabana, and never got the chance,” Sanjay Gupta, the producer of the film, told IANS.

“I started my career as an assistant to Pankuj Parasher in ‘Jalwa’ where Naseer was the hero. Today, I’m producing a film where he stars. Wow!”

The 10-minute-long film will be part of a series entitled “Dus Kahaniyan”. It goes into the touchy topic of the communal divide in Mumbai.

Shabana, who plays an orthodox Tamil Brahmin in “Rice Plate”, has been preparing for the past two weeks, visiting Tamil women, getting her accent, tone and gait right.

This isn’t the first time she plays a Tamilian, having played such a role in Mahesh Dattani’s “Morning Raga”.

Naseer plays a Muslim man. To be shot on the Bandra railway station, the film is about a life-changing chance encounter between these two strangers from totally different cultural zones.

“What’s truly remarkable about this short film is that neither Naseer nor Shabana will speak a word,” added Gupta.

Together, the two actors changed the face, quality, content and ramifications of Hindi cinema in the 1970s with an endless outpouring of masterpieces like “Paar”, “Sparsh” and “Masoom”.

But after giving memorable performances, the two stalwarts drifted apart, especially after Naseer, in one of his humorously unguarded moments, said Shabana was completely in love with herself.

The last film the dynamic duo did together was Gulzar’s unreleased “Libaas” in 1988. While Shabana never stopped craving to be in another film with her favourite co-star, Naseer was far more cautious.

“I can’t do just any film with Shabana just because she’s keen to work with me. The vehicle is to justify our collective presence,” said Naseer.

Flamboyant Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishen will go hammer and tongs at corrupt politicians and Maoists in the Bhojpuri adaptation of Hollywood blockbuster “Spider-Man”.

Titled “Bajarangi: The Bhojpuria Makad Manav”, the film goes on the floor in September.

Ravi, who plays the title role in the film, says the idea of doing a Bhojpuri Spider-Man came to him while dubbing for Toby Maguire in “Spider-Man 3″.

“My Spider-Man is a physically disabled hero. With the blessings of Hanumanji he gets superpowers. He becomes the guardian custodian and vigilante on behalf of his Bihari fellow-men,” Ravi told IANS.

“My Spider-Man will take on the Naxalites (Maoists) and evil politicians, and teach all of them a lesson and bring peace to Bihar,” he added.

And guess who plays our desi Spidey’s love interest? None other than Rambha - she has replaced Nagma as Ravi’s favourite co-star in Bhojpuri films.

If you haven’t seen Dilip Kumar’s classic ‘Ram Aur Shyam’ then, you might enjoy watching ‘Good Boy Bad Boy’. As the name explains it all, there is a ‘Good Boy’ Tushar Kappor, a studious and sober guy, and then, there is a ‘Bad Boy’ Emraan Hashmi, who attends college not for studies but, to have fun.

Life changes when the two get swapped as their initials are the same ‘RM’, the boys initially don’t like the change but, later they start enjoying the experience and learn from it.

Tushar starts going around with the tacky Tanushree, who is a wannabe in the movie while Emraan’s switch from a bad to good boy image helps him to win over his longtime love, the studious Isha Shravani.

‘Good Boy Bad Boy’ starts with a good pace but, it comes to a halt as the story goes nowhere, luckily for the audiences Tushar and Emraan come as saviors as they have really acted well.

Tanushree Dutta needs to hit the treadmill and loose some of those pounds and even her makeup is too loud.

Isha Shravani looks splendid in the movie but, she hardly has any meat in her role.

Just like the name goes, ‘Good Boy Bad Boy’ has some ‘good’ portions and some ‘bad’ ones too.

“Metro” rode on the newfound fame of Shilpa Shetty in Britain to become the first Indian film to be premiered at London’s Leicester Square where Hollywood hits like “Casino Royale” and “Harry Potter” have had their first screenings, say its happy distributors.

“Shilpa’s presence in ‘Metro’ has certainly helped. The profile of the film is higher than it was earlier,” said Siddharth Roy Kapoor, executive vice president marketing and distribution UTV.

“Since she has won ‘Celebrity Big Brother’, Shilpa has become very popular in Britain. People are interested in knowing about her work because they haven’t seen her films. They wanted to see her work and we thought it would be great to premiere the film in London,” Kapoor told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

Although Bollywood producers are not exactly lining up to sign her, Shilpa seems to have hit the jackpot after winning “Big Brother”. And she knows how to capitalise on her success.

“Metro”, directed by the acclaimed Anurag Basu of “Gangster: A Love Story” fame, is Shilpa’s first release after the British reality show. With the film being premiered at the Leicester Square, the actress has set a tall order for her A-list contemporaries such as Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta.

Shilpa plays a bored housewife in the film looking for some way to spice up her boring routine. The film portrays life in a big city by drawing from the stories of three couples that dwell in it. It is described as an intertwined story of the emotional journeys of the six protagonists.

The cast also includes Shiney Ahuja, Kay Kay Menon, Konkana Sen Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Kangna Ranaut and Sharman Joshi.

With its global storyline and release strategy - the film was also premièred in Sydney, Melbourne and Dubai - “Metro” managed full houses on the first day of its India release.

While the film will be shown in India with an interval, it will run without a break for its 2.09 hours in the rest of the world.

“In the first week, we have released approximately 190 prints. We didn’t want a wider release because we are not aiming for maximum revenue in the first week. It’s a small film and we want to create a market for it,” said Kapoor.

In the second week, 40 more prints will be added.

“The response is quite good except in the south, which is picking up. It will do well in urban India. ‘Metro’ is like a novel where every character is etched out properly and you go through the problems of each and feel closer to them,” said Saurabh Varma, vice president, programming & distribution at Inox Leisure Ltd.

Some star or the other invariably ends up in a foot-in-the-mouth situation after every episode of “Koffee With Karan”. Last time it was Bipasha Basu’s turn.

Eyebrows have been going up ever since she commented that Kareena Kapoor had “too many expressions” on her face when she performed on screen. This, the industry folks have presumed, was in retaliation to Kareena’s comment some weeks ago that John was “expressionless”.

But Bipasha is horrified by the tit-for-tat suggestion and told IANS: “I’m not that kind of a person. I certainly don’t believe in tit for tat. And my episode of ‘Koffee With Karan’ was recorded in the first week of December when I had no clue what Kareena had to say about John.

“In any case, everyone is entitled to her opinion. If Kareena thinks John is expressionless then so be it. He’s a grown up man. He can fight his own battles. I certainly won’t jump in the fray for anyone else, not even my boyfriend. I don’t wish to start a war of words with Kareena or anyone else.”

The seeming retaliation has reactivated the whole Kareena-Bipasha war that goes back to the days of Abbas-Mustan’s “Ajnabee” when, during a stint in Switzerland, the two actresses had exchanged harsh words over Kareena’s costume designer lending his talents to the Bengali beauty without her consent.

As for Bipasha’s opinion on Kareena, “I was asked what I felt about her acting. And I gave my opinion. I also made comments on Tanushree Dutta and Sunny Deol. And they weren’t meant to be offensive.”

Bipasha has just returned from a long stint in Dubai for Abbas-Mustan’s “Race” to do a shampoo ad in Mumbai.

“It’s strange. But on the show I was asked who’s my favourite and I said Saif Ali Khan. When I said it, I hadn’t even worked with him. If comments on the show are strategised in a particular way the interviewee can’t help it.”

In a tribute to his father B.R. Chopra, filmmaker Ravi Chopra will release the coloured version of the evergreen black and white classic “Naya Daur” (1957) all over India June 22.

After 50 years of its theatrical release, the film starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala and made by B.R. Chopra has been given a makeover to suit the taste of the younger generation and will be screened with Dolby digital surround sound.

“This is a tribute to my father in the 50th year,” said Ravi Chopra. “There is an emotional attachment with the film. We have such splendid films in black and white and I want today’s audiences to watch them too.”

The entire process has been a time-consuming and expensive affair costing Rs.35 million. Technicians worked for two-and-a-half years on the colouring and background score of “Naya Daur”.

US-based Westwing Studios coloured the 180-minute Indian classic. And Chennai-based Prasad EFX worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week and completed the colour restoration process in four months.

The only surviving composite dupe negative was physically restored from mishandling, dirt, dust particles and repaired of frame perforation tears and more.

Set in post-independence India, “Naya Daur”, a phenomenal box office hit, highlights the impact of industrialisation in rural India.

The focus is on tangawallahs who earn their living by transporting people on tangas (horse carts). When the son of a rich landlord (Jeevan) begins operating a bus service in the town, their livelihood is threatened and how they fight this problem is what the film is all about.

The film is also remembered for its everlasting, soulful melodies composed by none other than O.P. Nayyar. “Ude jab jab zulfen teri”, “Maang ke saath tumhara” and “Yeh desh hai veer jawaano ka” are some of the popular numbers from the movie.

The successful colouring of legendary filmmaker K. Asif’s magnum opus “Mughal-e-Azam” has certainly kick-started a new movement in filmdom. Recently Guru Dutt’s son announced that he is also going to fill colours in his father’s all time classic “Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam”.

The indomitable talent of music maestro Pyarelal, one-half of the imperishable Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo, is about to find a new level in Farah Khan’s second directorial undertaking “Om Shanti Om“.

Vishal-Shekhar, who stepped into “Om Shanti Om” after A.R. Rahman opted out, have invited Pyarelal to do one song as a tribute to the golden 1970s when the duo reigned supreme.

“It was Vishal-Shekhar’s idea. And I loved it,” Farah told IANS. “Pyarelalji is a musical icon from the 1960s and 70s. The first half of my film is set in the 1970s. So what better artiste to recreate that era in song form?”

This historic recording bringing together the classic and the contemporary was done with a commodious live orchestra.

“That’s the way songs were recorded before this new-age fad for instant satisfaction. Nowadays, studios are kerchief-sized with all the sounds coming from one tiny box. The problem was, there was no recording studio large enough to accommodate Pyarelalji’s huge orchestra.”

Farah said they wanted to bring live feel and didn’t want to use computer-produced sounds.

“But I did want the feel of those zingy Kishore Kumar-Laxmikant-Pyarelal numbers in the 1970s like ‘Om shanti om’ in ‘Karz’, ‘Jaan-e-man kissika naam nahin’ in the old ‘Jaan-e-Man’ and ‘Main aaya hoon’ in ‘Amir Garib’.”

Interestingly, Farah’s second film gets its title from a hit Laxmikant-Pyarelal tune from Subhash Ghai’s “Karz”.

Walt Disney Television India has got a new chief in Antoine Villeneuve who has been named senior vice president and managing director.

Villeneuve will now oversee Disney Channel, Toon Disney/Jetix and the newly acquired Hungama kids’ television channels in India, according to an announcement Thursday by Rich Ross, president of Disney Channel Worldwide.

Villeneuve will relocate to Mumbai and assume his new role June 1.

Ross said: “Antoine brings a wealth of media experience and knowledge of the company to his new position and will increase our strong television channel business in India, helping to marshal the many opportunities our channels and content offer to other businesses in The Walt Disney Company.”

Director Ram Gopal Varma is shocked to see pictures of the secretly-shot song “Mehbooba”, featuring both Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan with Urmila, leaked out on the net.

“I haven’t given out any pictures. In fact, I don’t intend to show the song in my promos. So it has to be images taken on a mobile camera during the shoot (at Karjat),” Varma told IANS.

At the same time, the director is falling off his chair with mirth at a report that Aishwarya Rai was supposed to do the “Mehbooba” song before Urmila Matondkar in his much-talked about film “Sholay”.

He said: “This is news to me. As far as I’m concerned Urmila was always the first and the last choice for ‘Mehbooba’ song. I don’t know where Aishwarya came into the picture.”

The film starring Amitabh, Ajay Devgan and Sushmita Sen, is a remake of Ramesh Sippy’s film of the same name.

Music director Pritam Chakbraborty, who rocked the charts with “Dhoom-2, formed a rock group for Anurag Basu’s intriguing film “Metro” that released Friday.

“The entire music score in ‘Metro’ is heavily rock-oriented. I needed to form a rock band that would be an integral part of the narrative, besides performing the songs. I auditioned a number of new singers and musicians,” Pritam told IANS.

Pritam included?

“With Anurag Basu, you can never say,” he laughed uncomfortably. “Even in ‘Gangster - A Love Story’ I had no intention of being a part of the musical set-up on screen. But Basu forced me to be in the song ‘Bheegi bheegi’. Likewise, I ended up being part of my rock band in ‘Metro’.”

Pritam didn’t use tried and tested voices for the film about life in big cities.

“It couldn’t be Sunidhi Chauhan and KK. It had to be voices never heard before. ‘Metro’ isn’t your conventional film music.”

In fact, Pritam isn’t into conventional voices these days. In “Dhoom 2” he used the voice of Vishal Dadlani of the composing duo Vishal-Shekhar.

“That was completely Aditya Chopra’s idea. Also, you must remember Vishal was a singer in a rock band before he became a composer.

“I personally wanted Jay Shawn to do the English version of the ‘Dhoom’ song. But once Vishal came in, I was convinced he was the best man for the job. He never played composer during the recording and obeyed my instructions completely.”

The “Dhoom 2 soundtrack was greeted with some amount of disappointment.

“I was prepared for that. ‘Dhoom’ came with no expectations. But ‘Dhoom 2 came with a baggage of expectations. I expected it to start in the charts at No.1 and I expected the worst criticism ever this time, and I got both. But I was confident once people saw the visuals they’d take to the songs.”

Answering charges of plagiarism, Pritam said: “Yes, there have been times when I’ve adapted from outside sources. Often I’ve been persuaded to so do by producers or directors. But I can’t only blame others. I’ve also adapted songs on my own initiative. But the endeavour is to always make the adaptation different from and better than the original.

“I’m glad my music is under scrutiny. It means my music makes a difference. I work very hard on a so-called ‘lift’ to make it interesting. I add my own melody and sound to it. So the credit can’t be taken entirely away from me. The origin of a tune is just a part of my job as a music director and an entertainer.”

As for the Internet watchdogs, Pritam said: “They keep the creative process alive and progressive. As for my controversial hit songs, aren’t they opening new avenues of business?”

John Abraham was in London shooting for Vivek Agnihotri’s Goal. The movie is about Football and John plays a player. John Abraham hurt his shin and had to undergo acupressure treatment and also see a physiotherapist. Vivek Agnihotri says, “John hurt himself while we were in London. It happened while we were filming the climax scene of Goal. It is the most important match in the film.

John was on the field with all the other actors and that’s when he felt this sudden pain in his shin and fell down. Since we were working on this football scene for many days, he had gradually, though unknowingly, injured himself seriously. He had to do a lot of running around and it was very cold in London. We immediately called a doctor and a physiotherapist. John was in a lot of pain.” The shoot happened at the Manchester United Stadium and a team of trainers were flown down to train the actors in Mumbai for the game.

This week ‘Koffee with Karan’ promises to be a terrific one as the Kapoor brothers-Randhir, Rishi and Rajeev will be seen for the first time together on small screen.

Now for all those how wondering how the Kapoor brothers got their nick names? Well, here is some scoop; Randhir disclosed that he was named after a white dog the family had when he was born, and he named Rishi ‘Chintoo’ after a monkey.

Randhir is a man with an amazing sense of humor as he joked about his family being on the healthier side and their passion for food as he shared that while having breakfast they discuss what they are going to have for lunch and during lunch they talk about dinner.

Karan asked Rishi Kapoor’s wife and yesteryears star Neetu on how come she is the only slim-n-trim Kapoor, to which Randhir said that she is the ‘Baba Ramdev’ of their family.

Kapoors are so entertaining on ‘Koffee with Karan’ that we won’t be surprised if the family is approached for a reality show probably named ‘Kapoor ka Khana Khazana’ or ‘Kapoor Khana-daan’.

Post ‘The Namesake’ Irrfan Khan has become an International star and if you ask the famous star on whom accordingly to him is his dream co-star? He would modestly reply, “Konkona.”

Irrfan got a chance to work with Konkona in a thriller ‘24- Sirf 24 Ghante’ in which he played a kidnapper, who abducts Konkona’s daughter.

Also, after Rani rejected ‘The Namesake’, the movie was in Konkona’s court but, unfortunately her dates clashed with ‘15 Park Avenue’ and Konkona couldn’t work for ‘The Namesake’. Finally, Irrfan says he got lucky when he was offered ‘Metro’ and on hearing that his character in the movie has a romantic relationship with Konkona, he jumped on the chance as he claims to be ecstatic to be paired opposite the talented Konkona.

Irrfan also shared that his wife is Bengali and he loves the culture and Konkona is so ‘Bong’ that he is fascinated by her.

Actor-turned-Govinda is trying to learn salsa and jive dance to regain his lost image of a good dancer in the past. The actor knows that dance lessons and their regular practice will certainly help him revive his acting career by turning him slim and look young. Though he has come back to movies yet he hasn't succeeded in carrying the audience with him. His acting skill in his recently released 'Salam-e-ishq' has failed him miserably at the box office.

Vivek Agnihotri, director of 'Goal' was stunned to find two policemen asking him to accompany them to the police station on the charge that the 'Goal's heroine Nadia of Afghanistan had been seized with drugs. This shocked Vivek who was completely shaken and didn't know what to do at that juncture . So, he called his actors' team to apprise them of the situation . After finding Vivek extremely tense, the actors couldn't control themselves and began smiling. Vivek didn't know that his unit had played a big prank on him. After all, this was April one.

Later, Vivek found out that his star team comprising Bipasha Basu , Arshad Warsi and John Abraham had ganged up to play this prank on him during the shooting of 'Goal' in London. The star cast had asked two junior artistes to dress up as policemen and hold up Vivek as part of a rehearsal. So, they obeyed the seniors and held up the director.

Amrita Arora is excitedly looking forward about her next movie of Samir Karnik titled 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' starring Sohail Khan, Salman Khan and Preity Zinta, besides herself. When asked as to what's the film all about, she said, "The film revolves around students who are learning film-making in an institute. They are given a project to make a documentary that requires them to go on this road journey to explore new avenues. Meanwhile, the students find that the journey has changed their lives completely."

What prompted you to take up this offer? Amrita quips, "I found the concept unique and said yes to it." To a further query about the genre of the movie, she adds, "This is an adventure movie."

Hrishita Bhatt is back on the celluloid though after a long hibernation. Since her movies hadn't seen the light of the day even after their completion, she had meanwhile got busy in her graduation, she says. "Now, I am back in my next 'My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves'.

What's her role in it? She gladly declares, " I am doing an item number in the movie." Has she revised her opinion about item numbers? "Yes, you are right. In the past, I didn't like doing item numbers . I have now realized that item numbers are vital not only for an actor, but also for the promotion of a movie." What about skin exposure? She quips, " There is no harm in exposure if it's done beautifully. However, this depends on how it is shot and with whom one is working."

Model-turned-actor Himanshu Malik, who did those infamous kisses with Mallika Sherawat in “Khwahish”, turned down Sajid Khan’s offer to cast his infant daughter in his film “Hey Baby”.

Himanshu had gone to Sajid for a role. “But I ended up getting an offer for daughter Athena (just a seven-month-old baby then) to play a role,” Himanshu told IANS.

The actor had known Sajid and his sister Farah for a long time.

“Sajid and I are gym buddies. So when I heard he was directing a film, I met him. He said he had no role for me. But when he heard I was married with a seven-month daughter he immediately wanted to meet my daughter Athena.”

Matters were quickly finalised.

“Almost,” corrected Himanshu. “Sajid’s assistants came to video-test Athena on my birthday. Athena was at her pouty preening best. She was on. They were willing to offer my baby girl more money than I’ve seen in my entire career as an actor,” laughed the proud papa.

Then the deal fell through.

“My wife Komal couldn’t get away for the dates Sajid wanted my daughter to be in Sydney. Sajid was so keen that he was even willing to re-adjust the dates when Athena was required.

“But Komal, who works with L’Oreal, just couldn’t get away. And she was unwilling to let Athena go with the maidservants and me. Naturally so! How was Athena expected to be a star without her amma?”

Himanshu looks back at the experience with much pride and humour.

“Athena must be the youngest actor in the world to be offered a film, that too the title role. I’m sorry it didn’t happen. But at least no one can accuse me of nepotism, ha ha!”

After entertaining the viewers for three years Star One’s comedy show ‘Ha...Ha..Haa’ is ready to give a final bow. The show which went on air in October 2004, featured Ranvir Shourey, Vinay Pathak, Gaurav Gera, Rakesh Paul, Suresh Menon, and Purbi Joshi and many more talented actors.

The show has been responsible for shaping up many dying careers especially that of Ranvir Shourey and Vinay Pathak, who were offered a good platform to display their witty side. Ranvir and Vinay however, got busy with their Bollywood career and were barely seen on the show which led to a decline in the viewership.

The main reason for the withdrawal of the show is the TRP ratings which have been falling for quite sometime now. Hence, Star One has decided to withdraw the show with a final bye expressing, “Comedy show Ja…Ja..Jaa.”

Work pressure, controversies, personal problems - recently Kangana Ranaut had been through a rough patch and to combat all the problems she has taken to meditation in a big way.

“Meditation is the best way to overcome all stress,” Kangana told IANS. “Suddenly I feel so much lighter. I’m able to focus on conversations better.

“So many times the person in front of us doesn’t get our attention because we’re too busy elsewhere in our own minds. Even in my shots I’m able to focus better. I recommend meditation for all actors.”

Kangana will be seen in “Metro” and she says she had a whale of a time shooting for Anurag Basu’s film, which is releasing Friday.

“When I did ‘Gangster’ with him, we both had a point to prove. Anurag was just out of a terrible illness and craving to go. I was raw and new. I didn’t even know what I was doing. Now in ‘Metro’ I’m far more aware of camera angles, etc.”

There was this story about her bare back being visible to the public during the shooting of “Metro”.

“I was shooting on the 14th floor in a very low-cut dress. That’s it. Please tell me how onlookers 14 floors below could see my back. I seem to be a part of some rumour or another without even trying.”

Her second release “Woh Lamhe” bombed. But Kangana is very proud of the film.

“I wish it had done better. My director Mohit Suri and I worked really hard. We wanted to bring out the poignancy and terror of schizophrenia, as shown in ‘A Beautiful Mind’. But somewhere that got lost. I’ll always be proud of ‘Woh Lamhe’, but ‘Gangster’ will remain more special because a first film is like your first love. You never forget it.”

She says that she cherishes her association with Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt.

“Without them I’d be nowhere. I played a far less troubled character in Suneel Darshan’s ‘Shakalaka Boom Boom’ and the same is true of ‘Metro’.”

‘The Great India Laughter Challenge III’ promises to be bigger and better than before and what could be a better way than to have two anchors co-host the show.

Shonali was in West Indies for the show ‘Extra Innings’ in which she was the roving reporter. The anchor has barely touched the Indian grounds and she already has a meaty project in hand.

Pankaj, the director of ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ admits that Shonali has been roped in to spice up the hosting segment as Perizaad was getting monotonous. Besides, Shonali’s face will add more freshness to the show.

Shonali is equally excited about her new project and is gearing up to be a part of the comedy madness this summer.

Human trafficking has taken an ugly shape following the recent arrests of members of Indian parliament involved in it. This was under discussion in the past too as international migration has been a very sensitive issue. Hundreds of years ago a large number of Indians went to foreign lands as indentured labor and suffered for decades. Since they had emigrated legally, they stayed there and have now turned citizens of those countries and have made an exemplary progress in respective fields through their hard work. The subject of illegal emigration as on today is a very sensitive issue. Lok Bhalai Party President and former Indian minister for labor and welfare Balwant Singh Ramoowalia says that in the last couple of years around 20,000 to 25,000 Indian nationals, mostly Punjabis, have been lured by dubious travel agents to go abroad as illegal entrants. Globally, two and a half to four million people migrate illegally across borders each year. In helping they do so, touts and travel agents make a lot of money, charging anywhere between Rs five hundred thousand to three million per person depending on the country they want to settle in. Vylar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs says, "Illegal migration is happening because migrating licenses are easily available. We can tackle the problem of human smuggling primarily by raising public awareness about it."

In spite of this, an Indian filmmaker has undertaken this onerous task of making a film on this subject though he doesn't find it economical. For example, the recently released 'Afghan Express' didn't hit the box office though the movie had excellent location shots and adventurous as well as courageous acting. However, Aamitoj Mann has just completed a movie on this subject and titled it 'Kaafila' (Caravan). Aamitoj is known for making movies on such problematic issues. He had in the past filmed 'Hawaein' on Sikhs' plights after 1984 riots in India in the wake of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's murder by her own guards who happened to be Sikhs.

While talking to the media, Maan says that 'Hawaien' was the expression of his emotions on the subject, which was national. The movie earned fame in foreign countries like Canada, the UK and the USA. However, 'Kafla' is an international issue in which he has tried to depict the plights of emigrants who look at foreign pastures for their prosperity but fail miserably and suffer badly. They are expelled from foreign lands on several pretexts. Mann has completely acquainted himself with the subject by talking with emigrants and personally watching their conditions in foreign countries. The movie centers on Sameer who has a mission to persuade illegal emigrants to return to their original countries; he helps them in this task. On way back emigrants face trouble at the hands of traitors and the mafia. The latter try to create hurdles in the way of emigrants Mann has chosen his cast from several countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Europe. The film was shot at a utensils market earlier and later and at a police station. The fortnight-long schedule was shot at Qadian, the headquarters of Ahmeddiyas.

Besides Sunny Deol of "Gadar" and "Betaab" and Maan, Pakistani actress Sana Nawaz and that country's TV actress Monalisa are doing an item number. Bulgaria's model-cum-actor Paolina will be there too in a pivotal role. Actor Rana Jang Bahadur is playing the role of Shera Khan, a Pakistani police inspector, while the character of travel agent is being played by Sardar Sohi, who hails from Sangrur. Sukhvinder has given the music to the film. Mann is very optimistic about his movie's prospects. The movie will hit theaters in India very soon, according to Mann.

The affair story between Bollywood actress Kim Sharma and cricketer Yuvraj Singh hadn't ended when another one began about intense love scenes between Kim and actor Viveik Oberoi during a domestic flight. The basis was a report from a cabin crew of an airline operating between Delhi and Mumbai. The angry actress has denied it completely and described it mere confusion . She has nothing more to say than that she doesn't know Viveik more than saying hi to him and that the report about her air flight between Delhi and Mumbai has been alleged at a time when she is busy shooting for her movie titled 'Boomerang' in Cyprus far away from India. Did she ever act with Viveik? She says no except that once she was supposed to do a song with him for a film.

However, that never happened. She wonders if the cabin crew was confused about her and thus gave a wrong version. Does she continue to love Yuvraj Singh ? She wouldn't break her silence about it, though. She elaborates , ' I am very happy during my rigorous training here ( Cyprus ) in skating and kickboxing for the movie based on theme of Charlie's Angels. Bollywood circles wonder if the same has been planted by some vested interests close to Viveik who is too desperate following the failure of his love for Aishwarya Rai and the latter's recent marriage with Abhishek Bachchan. The recluse that Viveik is has now turned a religious person in worshipping of deities as never before.

All that hullabaloo caused by the enthusiastic kiss he placed on her cheek hasn’t stopped heartthrob Richard Gere from keeping in touch with Shilpa Shetty.

The actor has raised hackles among conservatives in India when he, during an AIDS awareness event in Delhi last month, he enthusiastically embraced Shetty.

Things came to such a heated head that a warrant was also issued for Gere’s arrest.

And though he has since apologised for the kiss, the actor couldn’t help but being very concerned for the Bollywood beauty.

So concerned was he, Shetty reveals, that he kept calling her at least once a day to make sure that she was ok.

“He was so worried about me, he called me every day - sometimes twice! It was mortifying for him to have hit the headlines over something like this, but he was so generous about it all and kept calling me to make sure I was alright,” Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

“He was genuinely very concerned about me. That is the kind of man he is,” she added.

After directing the stylish ‘Dus’ and now the action-packed ‘Cash’, looks like Anubhav Sinha is steering towards a more political issue, the assassination of India’s ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Anubhav is still deciding on whom he would cast for the role of Rajiv Gandhi as he has short listed two names- Sanjay Dutt and Abhishek Bachchan. While speaking on the movie, Anurag expressed, “It will be celluloid investigation, the movie will tackle issues that have never been asked, forget tackled.”

Anubhav plans to meet the Gandhi family before he commences shooting for the movie so he can get more insite and he also would like to get an approval on the script from the family.

Anubhav, who is currently working on the script, hopes to release the movie sometime in the end of 2008.

Rajiv Gandhi has so far been the most admired Prime Minster of India, who set the Computer Age in the country and a movie on him will sure have the ‘Cash’ registers tingling.

Actress and social activist Shabana Azmi has a reason to rejoice. She has managed to find proper homes for hundreds of homeless slum dwellers in Mumbai.

“Nivara Hakk, the slum organisation that I head, has just been given 4,184 tenements for free to slum dwellers evicted from Borivili National Park. We’ll be getting 12,000 flats by December, making this the largest rehabilitation project in Asia,” Shabana told IANS.

This is a personal triumph for the veteran actress, who was accused of publicity gimmickry when she sat down on a hunger strike for slum-dwellers 20 years ago.

“It’s been an eight-year struggle for me to acquire these homes for the evicted. I regard this as my biggest achievement,” said the actress.

“For 20 years, starting with my hunger strike in 1986, I’ve struggled with my organisation. Nivara Hakk and I have grown together. I even received the Gandhi International Peace Prize for this in the House Of Commons… It’s been a long struggle, and there’s a long struggle ahead.”

Dharamendra and Hema Malini’s younger daughter is ready to take her first step in the glamour world but, the Deol gal prefers to stay in the limelite from behind the camera.

Ahana, who is studying the art of making films at Whistling Woods, has scripted her directorial debut which is a story about a man and his struggles. Ahana has worked on various stage performances with her mom and she feels that acting is not her scene as she is not quite comfortable with being ‘dolled up’ all the time.

The debutante director shared that her movie would not be a usual run-of-the-mill but, it is the story of a man, who faces many problems in his life but, still comes out triumphant in the end.

Sister Esha has been roped in to play the lead in the movie and Ahana is still working on finalizing the male lead.

Dad Dharam is very happy and his words of wisdom to his little princess were, “Strive to be a good human and success will follow,” and the actor apparently had tears in his eyes. Now, who says tough men don’t cry?

Tabu made a rare public appearance for the first trial show of Anurag Basu’s “Metro”, which was premiered at the Leicester Square theatre in London Tuesday. But there was a very special reason why the recluse was there.

Shilpa, who’s holding her breath for the film to carry forward her international appeal, is one of Tabu’s closest friends.

“In fact, I introduced Tabu to the gym some years ago. Since then we’ve remained friends,” Shilpa told IANS.

There was an added reason for Tabu’s presence at the “Metro” screening Saturday. Tabu had originally been offered Shilpa’s role.

“But Tabu had money issues. In fact, monetary sizing down has always been a problem for her. She has lost count of the films that she finally said no to in spite of outstanding author-backed roles because she felt she was being exploited monetarily. Money is a touchy issue for Tabu. And why not? Her home in Hyderabad is a pricey passion,” said a source.

Though Tabu seemed to love Shilpa’s performance, others, who saw the film, felt otherwise.

“The general verdict in this performance-oriented film is that Irrfan Khan steals the show completely from the entire cast. He’s the best, followed by Kay Kay Menon, Konkona Sen Sharma and Kangana Ranaut, in that order,” said the source.

The film, set in a metropolitan city, touches upon sensitive issues and revolves around the lives of people who live in high-rise buildings. It had its Dubai premiere Wednesday.

She might have been the queen of the marquee. But somehow Tabu has chosen to be a recluse, lately accepting roles randomly rather than by any design.

“Tabu doesn’t really care about stardom. She has lived her life the way she wanted to. And now she isn’t running after roles. Her current obsession is her home in Hyderabad, which she’s putting together brick by brick,” informed the source.

He wears a multi-coloured patchwork long coat, his hair is beaded, head covered with a hat decorated with ribbons, flowers and feathers. He plays the bugle and sings and dances on the streets - that’s how Shaad Ali is presenting Amitabh Bachchan in his third directorial venture “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”.

Going by the promos, the film has all the trappings of an interesting drama. But what really catches one’s attention is Big B’s incredible new look, seemingly inspired by Johny Depp’s character in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, with shades of Pied Piper added on.

As an actor, Amitabh has been setting high standards by experimenting with new roles. Now he’s trying out different looks for his films as well. Trade pundits say the superstar, who has worked up a strange but interesting get up for this character, is the film’s USP.

“Whether he plays the main lead or does a cameo, Amitabh’s presence in the any movie becomes its USP. The same goes for ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’. Filmmakers are vying with each other to cash in on Amtiabh’s success,” Geeta Shree, a Delhi-based film critic told IANS.

“The promos are generating huge interest and the audiences will surely go to the theatres to watch the film - more so because a huge chunk of them loves watching masala movies. This is a Yash Raj Films’ product - they excel in making time-pass masala movies, so this film should surely have great box office prospects. Also, people love watching Amitabh with his son Abhishek together,” said Shree.

Interestingly, even Abhishek Bachchan is sporting a new look - his regular stubble has been replaced by a tweaked moustache. Abhishek’s female counterpart Lara Dutta comes in a new avtaar as well.

In another first, Abhishek and Bobby Deol are sharing screen space together. Their fathers Amitabh and Dharmendra did a couple of movies together too and their biggest hit was - yes, you know it - “Sholay”.

“Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” also has Preity Zinta, who is paired with Bobby. Last time round they were seen together in the successful thriller “Soldier” released in 1998.

For his second film “Bunty Aur Babli”, Shaad Ali had roped in Aishwarya Rai for an item number “Kajra re” and the song turned out to be the chartbuster of the year. It bagged all the popular awards that year.

This time, Ali has brought in Shah Rukh Khan to do an item number with Big B.

Going back to AB’s experimentation with looks, he is currently hogging the limelight for his ponytail in “Cheeni Kum”.

He plays a 60-plus bachelor with a passion for cooking who falls in love with an independent, savvy 30-plus Tabu. Unlike “Nishabd”, the film appears fresh and interesting and the lead pair strike the right kind of chemistry.

“He looks interesting and intriguing in both ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ and ‘Cheeni Kum’ and people are going to like him,” said Shailesh Giri, a film expert.

Compared to last year, 2007 hasn’t been as fruitful for Bollywood. So all eyes are set on Amitabh to bring some respite.

“He was the superstar of the 1970s and 1980s and even today he is considered the same. Roles are specially written for him. In fact he is the only actor who holds this position in filmdom at this age,” said Shree.

Priyanka may be wearing a smile for a couple of weeks now but, deep down the actress has been in distress as her dad Dr. Ashok Chopra was battling against cancer.

Priyanka and her family were based in Boston before they moved to India and as her dad was a practicing doctor in the state of Massachusetts, he thought it would be best to get treated in Boston as well. So while Dr. Chopra was in the US, Priyanka would make frequent trips to Boston but, the actress remained tight lipped about her dad’s illness.

Finally, all is well as Priyanka’s dad has returned home and inside sources has confirmed that he is feeling great. In fact, he is all charged up to pursue singing. Priyanka had organized a musical show for Papa dear in March where he was to sing old tunes from the 60’s and 70’s and Priyanka was to dance but, the show got cancelled due to his ill health.

We heard Priyanka croon in ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and she was just awesome, so we can’t wait to see the Baap-Beti combo perform on ‘Aaj Ki Raat’.

Amrita Arora is excited about her next film which is Samir Karnik’s Mera Bharat Mahaan. It also stars Sohail Khan, Salman Khan and Preity Zinta. Amrita is looking forward to the road trip that will be required for the film. “The film revolves around students who are studying film-making in an institute. They have been given a project to make a documentary that requires them to go on this road trip to explore new avenues.

However, what they discover changes their lives completely.” Amrita says that the concept sounded unique and that’s the reason why she said yes to it. “Mera Bharat Mahaan is an adventure that I am looking forward to. I am also eagerly looking forward to working with Samir Karnik.” Meanwhile Amrita has practically finished shooting for Atul Agnihotri’s Hello based on Chetan Bhagat’s One Night At A Call Centre. “We will soon finish shooting the last schedule of the film. It was an experience to shoot at a call centre. It made me realise the hard work that is put in and the stress that call centre employees go through.

After an amazing run in 2006, Bollywood proved a damp squib in its first quarter show for 2007, with not a single film making a significant mark on the box office.

While Guru, Namaste London and Bheja Fry have managed to rake in decent money, none of these can be called a blockbuster. Interestingly, in 2006, every film that was released set new collection benchmarks at the box-office.

Trade analysts point out that the bad run can only be attributed to the fact that producers have been banking on big stars, and not focusing on content.

“In 2006, filmmakers realised that content was what would drive a movie to make it a blockbuster, which is why you saw each film doing better than the previous one. The year 2007 seems to be following the same trend witnessed in 2005 — making average films with great stars,” trade analyst Komal Nahta said.

While one cannot rule out the World Cup also impacting box office revenues, the fact is that even a Yashraj banner film which has a lot of hope riding on it, Ta Ra Rum Pum, has failed to make the cash registers jingle. With the first three months witnessing close to 95% flops, multiplexes, and producers are hoping that the summer would buck the trend with vacations setting in and the occupancy, therefore, showing a rise.

The spate of flops have cost the industry close to a Rs 100-crore loss, with collections being below average. Look at some of the movies that released in the first quarter of 2007 and the fate they met. Despite popular music, the much-hyped Kya Love Story Hai opened to a lukewarm response in the range of 20% occupancy.

The promos of Big Brother were designed for moviegoers who prefer raw action, while Life Mein Kabhie Kabhie was more for the urban viewer. The promotion of Bheja Fry gathered momentum a few days prior to its release. The release strategy adopted by the distributors of the three films was sensible.

In fact, the distributors were in no mood to flood the market with as many prints as possible, but open their films at outlets that matched the genre of the film. Big Brother was released at single screens mainly while Life Mein Kabhie Kabhie and Bheja Fry obviously chose multiplexes.

Big Brother started on a decent note with 50% occupancy in the North, but stumbled as days progressed. Provoked, on the other hand, had a good opening weekend, but the film only managed to rake in Rs 1.75 crore and is expected to fold up once the total crosses Rs 2-crore mark. Mira Nair’s Namesake managed to cross the Rs 4-crore mark, tagging the film as a semi-hit.

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, winner of the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother", has denied all reports of her participating in the "Big Brother" house in Australia.

"She won't be a part of another reality show," said Shilpa's spokesperson and publicist Dale Bhagwagar.

"Shilpa participated in the UK 'Big Brother' as she wanted to do something new in her career and take one step ahead in life. It threw challenges untold and she emerged a stronger and more confident person. Since then, she has moved on in life," he was quoted as saying by Bollywood Trade.

The actress is now looking forward to her upcoming film "Metro" with talented actor Shiney Ahuja and powerhouse performer Kay Kay Menon. The film is going to get a grand international release in a fortnight.

Around the same time, Shilpa will also launch a perfume in her name, mainly targeting the British market. Well, Brand Shilpa shows no signs of stopping.

Inspired by brand name Bachchan, the Deols are now planning their own collective strategy.

If Anil Sharma's "Apne", which features Dharmendra and his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol, is a success the family intends to come together in other films as well.

"It all depends on how 'Apne' does," says Bobby. "But we do want to come together. And why not? We're a formidable force...we need to find the right scripts."

Bobby feels the long wait for a film featuring the family has been worth it.

"My father, my brother and I waited all these years to come together. That's because we didn't want to do a script that didn't excite us. I think 'Apne' is the right vehicle for us."

Though the Deols haven't produced the film, the actor says it's a big event for the family.

"I feel 'Apne' is our own film. Everyone who has seen it says the movie has turned out to be an ideal vehicle for the Deol family."

Bobby has six releases scheduled for release in 2007.

"I've never had more than two releases in a year. So I'm naturally excited. My first release will be the small budget 'Nanhe Jaisalmer' where I play myself. Contrary to rumours, I don't have a guest appearance in the film. I'm there throughout. All my scenes are with a kid who's brilliant. It's a very real film."

He smiles and adds: "While I'm the baby in 'Apne', I'm all grown up in 'Nanhe Jaisalmer'."

Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan claims he is the "top" tax payer in the country with Rs.15.59 crore (Rs.155.9 million), and with Aishwarya Rai joining the family, the Bachchan family's total tax would be around Rs.25.3 crore (Rs.253 million).

He was reacting to a newspaper report that said Hrithik Roshan was the highest tax payer with Rs.15.10 crore (Rs.151 million) for 2006-2007 and Shah Rukh paid Rs.14 crore (Rs.140 million) tax.

"I'm surprised by the report and I've serious doubts about its authenticity. Because my name isn't mentioned anywhere among the top most taxpayers of the entertainment business. This gives the utterly false impression that I make pots of money and don't pay up enough taxes," Amitabh told IANS.

Clarifying that he tops among the tax-payers of the country, the Big B said: "If you look at the figures for the year 2006-2007, you'll see Amitabh, that's yours truly, has paid Rs.14.15 crore and from our company AB Corp Ltd. where all the earnings are mine, we've paid Rs.1.44 crore.

"Abhishek Bachchan has paid Rs.4.75 crore. And now that Aishwarya Rai is a part of the family, approximately Rs.5 crore tax money has come from her. This makes it a total of Rs.25.3 crore (Rs.253 million).

"And yet they've put Hrithik as the top most taxpayer! Even if you take my tax figures individually I still top."

Aishwarya Rai has decided to use her name as "Aishwarya Bachchan" and not "Aishwarya Rai Bachchan". In an article in a leading Mumbai daily three prominent numerologists namely Niraj Mancchanda, Sanjay Jumani and Anupam Kapil were asked to advise what name Aishwarya Rai should use after marriage.

IndiaFM Numerologist Niraj Mancchanda had suggested Aishwarya Bachchan because her name would come to number 46 and as she is number 1 (born on Nov 1) she should use her own number as it is always better to use you own number. Whereas Sanjay Jumani and Anupam Kapil had suggested Aishwarya Rai Bachchan so that she uses number 5 (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan comes to number 50)."

Even Amitabh Bachchan recently quoted "Ash desires to use the Bachchan surname. She signed her first autograph in Tirupati as Aishwarya Bachchan".

Niraj Mancchanda comments "Not only Aishwarya Rai but any girl in the world who continues to write her maiden name before the husband's surname will always give more priority to her maiden family and the importance to the husband's family will be secondary after marriage. This is because the maiden surname is written before the husband's surname. To give more importance to the husband's family is only possible if the maiden surname is dropped. As Aishwarya has decided to use the name Aishwarya Bachchan, she will value the Bachchan family and will also use her own number 46 which is the number of immortality.

Gulshan Grover has modeled his character in choreographer Saroj Khan's son Raju Khan's showbiz-expose Showbiz on Ekta Kapoor. The TV tycoon is far from flattered. Producer Mahesh Bhatt known to cannibalize his friends' lives, and his own in at least four films (Arth, Phir Teri Kahani Yaag Aayi, Zakhm and Woh Lamhe) is as usual, candid on the matter.

"It was my director Raju Khan and Gullu (Grover) who decided to incorporate the personality of an excessively religious media into Gullu's character. They claim this character is sourced to the lady (Ekta). If Gullu hadn't revealed this for obvious reasons no one would've known about it. All art plagiarizes from life. But here the 'credit' must go entirely to Gulshan Grover. Because it was he who thought of this touch of realism".

Ekta Kapoor is none too pleased with this 'tribute'. “All I've to say is… why? Why is Mr Gulshan Grover playing me? This is the first time I'm hearing about this. And I really don't want to say much. I've too much happening in my office to worry about who's playing me in a movie."

Currently she's neck-deep in issues involving the change of the main cast in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. "I can't deny there're some important changes happening in the serial. I'll soon be in a position to reveal those changes.”

Conquering new peaks has become a bit of a habit for Amitabh Bachchan. He did it yet again on the sets of his English-language film "Last Lear" when he penned down some on-the-spot Hindi dialogues for a scene with Preity Zinta and Bengali superstar Prosenjeet.

Director Rituparno Ghosh, reluctant to reveal details, admits that Bachchan has indeed penned the Hindi dialogues for a scene in "Last Lear".

Ghosh told IANS: "Since the film is almost in English, 'Last Lear' has been my easiest film to date. But this is a film-within-a-film plot. There was a scene where Preity and Prosenjeet are supposed to be enacting a tense dramatic scene in a Hindi film.

"I casually asked the Big B to help me out, not even thinking he'd take me seriously. Before I knew it he went into a corner and asked everyone, including me, to leave him alone. In no time at all the dialogues were ready!"

Hence, in "Last Lear" we would be hearing for the first time dialogues written by the Big B.

"That isn't the only first for Amitda in 'Last Lear'. This is his first full- length English-language film and also the first film where he plays an actor doing a film within the film."

Is Shilpa Shetty quitting Hindi movies? That's the talk going on within the industry. What could've prompted people to believe that Shilpa is quitting Bollywood? Shilpa hasn't signed any new film since the past few months. That, in turn, may've aggravated the talk. Also, there're all kinds of rumors about Shilpa shifting to London to pursue an international career.

We catch up before she's ready to board the flight to Australia for the pre-release promotions of her new film METRO. “I am not quitting movies. But, yes, I am not doing as many films right now. I've completed METRO and APNE [Anil Sharma]. There's no film on hand at the moment, but these two films should keep me in public memory for a year at least,” Shilpa tells me.

What prompted the go-slow attitude? “I've always operated that way. There're offers aplenty, but I am in no mood to do mediocre films. The only film I've signed is a British production. You need to enjoy your work. Like METRO. I've pleasant memories of this film,” Shilpa smiles.

Is METRO special? “Yes, it is. Even if BIG BROTHER wouldn't have happened to me, I'd still maintain that a film like METRO would put me on a different pedestal. It's one of those unpretentious movies that come rarely to an actor. Like PHIR MILENGE. The sad part is that PHIR MILENGE didn't work, but METRO will. I'm very, very confident of its success,” she states, adding that METRO will be a landmark film in her career.

The industry grapevine is abuzz with speculation that Madhur Bhandarkar is considering casting Priyanka Chopra or Ayesha Takia for his new movie FASHION. Reportedly, Madhur has had meetings with the two actors, but is yet to arrive at a decision as far as the casting is concerned.

“Don't believe these rumors,” Madhur laughs, but gets serious immediately, “I haven't completed writing the script yet, so the question of approaching any actor at this juncture just doesn't arise. All I know is that I am starting the film in July/August.”

Didn't he meet the two actors separately? “Trust me, I didn't. I haven't met either Priyanka or Ayesha. See, it all depends on the script. If it demands someone, I'd approach her right away, but I am not in a position to finalize anyone at this crucial juncture of scripting,” he clarifies.

Hollywood Legend and the star of 'Dreamgirls and Shooter' Danny Glover has been named one of the winners of the ninth annual Bollywood Awards, which would be held May 26 here.

Grover would be honoured with the prestigious International award for his outstanding contribution to global cinema. One of the most talented actors in the Hollywood, Glover has confirmed his participation in the award ceremonies.

The actor, who earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the HBO movie Mandela, has been a commanding presence on screen, stage and television for more than 25 years.

As an actor, his film credits range from the Blockbuster Lethal Weapon franchise to smaller independent features, some of which he also produced.

"It is truly an honour and a matter of great pride that Danny Glover will receive this revered award which he so very richly deserves. He has promoted various meaningful causes for the betterment of mankind," Kamal Dandona organizer and the chairman of the Bollywood Group said.

"We are delighted that he will now be conferred with of one of our celebrated honours," he added.

According to Dandona many celebrities from India and Pakistan will perform this year's magnum opus including - Bipasha Basu, Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Urmilla Matondkar, Soha Ali Khan, Neha Dhupia, Kangana Ranaut, Mona Singh, Raghav, Shahida Mini, Ricki Ramdehal and Waris Beg.

While the other stars confirmed to attend are Mira Nair, Anupam Kher, Kirron Kher, Upen Patel, Raj Kumar Hirani and Anuj Saxena.

The Bollywood Group is a South Asian entertainment company. The Group hosts three marquee events annually - the Bollywood Movie, Music and Fashion Awards - honouring the finest Indian actors, actresses, film-makers, technicians, musicians, designers and models.

The epitome of Bollywood panache graces the sofa of one of the most captivating celebrity talk shows on TV, as the sexiest sister act in the film industry, Shilpa and Shamita Shetty, is invited on stage, to indulge in Koffee With Karan, exclusively on STAR One, Sunday 13th May at 9pm.



Expect far more than coffee beans to be spilled on the revealing show, as Shilpa and Shamita recall childhood anecdotes, dish the dirt and disclose diary entries to their cheeky host.

The glamorous girls indulge in gossip and good-hearted banter, but things also get serious, as Shilpa talks, with Diary Room frankness, about her experiences inside the Big Brother House, her feelings about the alleged racism she suffered from her housemates, and what life has been like since winning Celebrity Big Brother 2007.

On a lighter note, Shilpa and Shamita fondly recall childhood experiences, teen crushes and sibling rivalry during adolescence. Love, leading men and hostility from colleagues in the film fraternity also comes up in conversation. They discuss the possibilities of working together, after the 2005 release, Fareb, as well as upcoming film projects they both have in the pipeline.

And never one to miss a trick, their quick-witted host engages his guests in the quick-fire rapid round, as the smart siblings battle it out for the prized hamper. Which Shetty sister steals off with the goods? Be sure not to miss this week’s captivating episode of Koffee With Karan.

A ‘rose’ with any other name will still smell sweet. No, I am not getting philosophical but, I am talking about Saif’s ex-girlfriend Rosa, who has a new name, ‘Rozza’.

Superstar’s ex-girl is all determined to find a new independent identity as ‘Rozza’ has signed a fashion and lifestyle show. An exited ‘Rozza’ revealed, “I have shot a couple of episodes but, we are still deciding the name also the detail on what channel the show would be aired is being worked on.”

‘Rozza’ said that she is excited that she is finally earning and is no longer dependent apparently on her ex. The debutante anchor also shared that she is quite heart broken but, is practicing Yoga for peace and doing kick-boxing to regain confidence.

We have to admit that Italian girls are full of zest, first we had our ‘Sonia’ and now it’s ‘Rozza’.

Well, the actress has not lost her mind after her last two movies ‘KANK’ and now ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’ have failed to impress the audiances but, the slap was part of a scene for her forthcoming ‘Laga Chunari Main Daag’.

Harsh Chayya was completely enthused about working with Rani Mukherjee. One of the scenes required Rani to slap Harsh really hard and a ‘cheat shot’ was taken for the same but, director Pradeep Sarkar was too happy with the oucome so Rani suggested that she could actually slap Harsh rather than pretending to give the scene a more reaslistic feel as long as it was acceptable to Harsh.

Harsh is a theatre actor and he decided to go with Rani’s idea. The minute Pradeep yelled, “Action,” Rani slapped Harsh so hard that the poor guy’s spectacles went seen flying in the air so of course the shot had to be cancelled.

The same thing also happened in the second retake. Harsh was slapped by Rani a couple of time till the scene was finally, “Okay”. After the shot, Harsh ran to the mirror and was shocked to see that his face had turned red.

The actor claims that Rani may be petite but, she sure is very strong. The slap impression lasted on Harsh’s cheeks for quite a while.

Now this seems to me more like ‘Laga Cheeks Pe Daag’.

Raj Kumar Santoshi’s “Halla Bol” is almost done and the man is busy finalizing the name for his next film which stars Ajay Devgan. And as usual Ajay again gets a unique role to play- the character of King Asoka.

After King Khan’s version of Asoka, Ajay will flesh the character of the Great King Ashoka. The film is expected to roll in August this year and completed in one schedule by December 2007. A huge budget has been planned to cover the story and life of the king. Ajay is all very excited about the project and says that it has the best script he has heard in all these years.

Ashoka came to Santoshi’s mind when he was researching for his planned film Ramayana, which will release next year. Hopefully this attempt to picturize The Maurya King Ashoka will be better than what Santosh Sivan.

Actress Celina Jaitley has a new thing to flaunt as she has been chosen as the brand ambassadress for Egypt. It’s hard to believe it, right? Well, we asked the sexy Celina to share more about this new project to which she replied, “It’s an honor that Egypt has such a rich heritage and I thank the Egypt Tourism Board for choosing me to represent the land of the Pharaoh of the brand ambassador in India.”

Celina is excited about her new role and she would be promoting Egypt in Bollywood as a shooting destination besides, she will also endorse Egypt as a tourist paradise as the place has it all, the river Nile to the Pyramids.

With Celina endorsing Egypt to Indians, we are sure the city of Cairo will be inundated with ‘Desi’ crowd this summer.

South Indian superstar Rajnikant rules millions of hearts in Japan with his machismo and flamboyance.

Popularly known as “Odori Maharaja” (the dancing king), the icon is hugely popular, particularly among the young Japanese, reports News India Times, an ethnic newspaper.

Rajnikant’s popularity can be gauged by the fact that a Japanese fan recently married a Tamil just because she wanted to meet Rajnikant, who later blessed the couple.

Rajnikant, who exploded onto Japanese screens when his blockbuster “Muthu” ran to packed houses here a few years ago, is a brand ambassador for various products sold in the country.

A snack firm even has his photos on their wrappers, says News India Times.

In an address to the Japanese parliament earlier this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said: “I am delighted to hear about the popularity of Odori Maharaja among young people here.”

The moment he said the magic words ‘Odori Maharaja’, Japanese MPs had burst into a deafening applause.

If you thought Saif Ali Khan had crossed enough bridges to last him a lifetime, here’s more on the guy who can use expletives in “Omkara” as effortlessly as drive race cars in “Ta Ra Rum Pum”. On Wednesday he walks the ramp for the first time for Provogue.

“Yes, it’s my first walk on the ramp. It’s actually for the brand that I endorse,” Saif told IANS.

“They’ve asked me to walk the ramp. I’m supposed to be the closing act for their fashion show and I’m nervous as hell,” added the audacious actor who has just returned to Mumbai from a lengthy schedule of Abbas-Mustan’s “Race”.

Why did Saif agree to do something so sartorially inclined?

“Why not?” he counters. “It shouldn’t be too tough, really. I agreed because I always like to do something different. It could be playing the guitar or playing an uncouth hit man from UP… I like to surprise myself. And very honestly it can’t be harder than performing live and dancing on stage, can it?”

In his typical Saif-and-sound manner he immediately looks at the situation from both ends.

“Actually, you know what? It’ll be fun. Mehr Jessia (who coordinates the show) plans to make it look visually stunning. And Provogue people are doing their best to make it a huge event. Let’s see. I’ve got my fingers crossed.”

First it was Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan in “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”. Now Irrfan Khan’s three-and-a-half-year-old son Ayaan makes an appearance as his dad’s son in Anurag Basu’s “Life In A… Metro”, releasing Friday.

“Ayaan was never meant to be in ‘Metro’. But then, look at destiny. The boy who was supposed to play Konkona Sen and my son began to cry during the shot. I decided on an impulse to call my son,” Irrfan told IANS.

There was a special reason why the versatile actor consented to let his son make such an early screen debut.

“The scene had Konkona and me on a motorbike with the child. My son had been pestering me for a bike ride. Since I don’t own a bike, this was my opportunity to make one of Ayaan’s little wishes come true.

“It’s just a shot and only because Ayaan is as passionate about bikes as John Abraham. Our director really made it easy for us.”

The film dealing with the complexities of lives in a metropolitan city also stars Kay Kay Menon, Shiney Ahuja, Shilpa Shetty, Sharman Joshi and Kangana Ranaut.

They might be the cutest couple but Shahid-Kareena couple is no less determined about their chemistry than the hot John-Bipasha. They are also determined to keep their career at the upfront at least for five years.

Kareena says, “We’re not getting married for the next five years, at least. I want Shahid to concentrate on his career. His time will come and he will rock. He has age on his side and is a great performer. Shahid has a great line-up of films. I want to give him time and space for his work.” So let’s see if the couple will be able to translate their off-screen chemistry onscreen.

Bollywood’s serial kisser Emraan Hashmi has stretched his wings beyond the family fold with his second outside film “Good Boy Bad Boy” that releases Friday.

Talking about his new move, Emraan told IANS: “When you work with a name like Mahesh Bhatt it has its pros and cons. The Bhatts do make a dark, dramatic, high-concept emotional kind of cinema. And it’s wonderful to be part of that cinema. But I do need to explore another lighter facet of my personality as an actor.”

Also, one may add, the pay cheque would be family-based and hence nominal.

“Money has never been an issue with the Bhatts. Vishesh Films is a family concern. And I’m doing as many films now outside the Bhatt camp as I do inside. If I’ve two films with the Bhatts, I now have at least two outside films including one with Shayam Bajaj with whom I did ‘Aksar’.”

What about the inseparable team with Himesh Reshammiya?

“What about it?” Emran shots back. “For my own selfish reasons I wouldn’t like to go on depending on Himesh’s tracks. It then becomes like a crutch. I don’t want any handicaps in my career. Yes, I’d like to believe good music adds as much to a film’s success quotient as a good director.

“I’ve had a good run of films with Mohit Suri, Anurag Basu and Anant Mahadevan. It’s good to learn from them and then experiment with other directorial talents. I’d rather move forward without any external support,” Emraan said, referring to his move away from the Bhatts and Himesh.

The actor admits that Himesh played an important role in shaping up his career.

“We (Himesh and Emraan) are not husband-wife to be inseparable. He is a very talented man and he has played his cards right. He has played a big hand in my career. He has given me great tracks like ‘Aashiq banaya’ and ‘Jhalak dikhla jaa’. Music is today very important for the success of a star.”

Now he wants to play variety of roles.

“I just want to do good and diverse films. I believe the box office is important. For my kitchen to function it’s important for the producer to profit. I’d like to work with more like-minded people. It doesn’t matter who is making the film. For me acting is an expression of my personality.

“I started right after college assisting Bhatt saab and Vikram Bhatt. I never felt I could make anything of my life. Mahesh Bhatt instilled a lot of confidence in me. He virtually held my hand and took me through the whole process of performing. I can never thank him enough.”

Marriage has brought no outward changes in Emraan’s life.

“My wife Parveen knows my life inside out. She recognises my space. She knows how important my career is. She loves kids. She was teaching at a play school. She’ll probably continue to do so.

“Somewhere I need to do films that will position my career on another level. Let’s see it goes. I think this will be a very good year.”

Star’s latest talent hunt for singers Star Voice of India, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa has met a cold response after the candidate turn out in Mumbai at the Bhavan’s College, Andheri turned out to be very low. Just a few hundred contestants were seen at the venue. The team was expecting thousands and had planned to telecast the auditions as in Indian idol but every fell flat with the cold response.

On the other hand auditions for Indian Idol on Sony and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in Zee had a good response. The fault lies with the lack of publicity for the auditions. Hopefully by the time the next cities have their auditions enough publicity will be done to let the ambitious ones know about the time and date and venue of auditions.

Gajendra Singh, however, is unperturbed “This is all false information. I think it’s an attempt to malign my show,” he said. “There were at least 6000 people who came for the audition on Friday and the selection was done by our in-house judges. I admit that there were some technical difficulties on Saturday and we could not shoot it properly. So, we will shoot it again on Monday,” he added. “The show will go on air from May 18. So, I guess, the publicity will start next week. We are just keeping our fingers crossed.” Sure he needs some luck with all the talent hunts going on at the same time.

The International Indian Film Award (IIFA), which started as a celebration of Indian cinema abroad, has brought cultures and countries together, superstar Amitabh Bachchan, brand ambassador of IIFA, said here Tuesday.

“What started as a mere celebration of Indian cinema beyond Indian shores, has culminated in bringing many things together - cultures, countries and things that are important to us and to the host countries,” Amitabh told reporters at a press conference.

“What has impressed me this year about IIFA is that it has recognised the importance of global warming and has tied up with Global Cool, an organisation working towards making our planet a better place to live,” he added.

Actor Anil Kapoor, who also attended the conference, echoed his sentiments. “I feel it’s getting better, multifaceted and adding more dimensions to the entire activity. It is not just an awards function, its becoming bigger and bigger.”

The IIFA is in its eighth year and will be held in Yorkshire, Britain, June 7-10 this year. Apart from the gala awards night June 9, the four-day extravaganza will hold a global business forum that will address issues concerning trade and highlight the issue of global warming.

The forum will be attended by Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel and Habib Khorakiwala, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) amongst others.

“I’m sure that the event in Yorkshire will prove that it has been a very fruitful coming together,” Amitabh remarked.

The 10 lucky nominees of the ‘Idea IIFA Star Ki Talaash’ were also announced at the conference. Amitabh and Anil Kapoor announced the names of the five men and women who will be groomed by designers Anna Singh and Manish Malhotra for the grand finale. The winner of the contest will get a chance to work in Bollywood.

On the contest, Anil said: “This is a platform I wish I had when I started my career.”

A dazzling performance by Shilpa Shetty will be one of the highlights of the IIFA weekend. Lara Dutta will host the awards night along with comedy kings Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani.

Amitabh added some light moments to conference.

Taking a pot shot at Anil, who said he hadn’t won any award since he associated himself to IIFA, the Big B said: “I sympathise with my dear friend Anil for not having won an award ever since he became associated with IIFA. I cannot say the same for myself Anil as I have won couple of them after joining IIFA. I have a piece of advice to you … you may want to consider changing the colour of your French beard!”

The four-day event will also see a celeb cricket match between India and Yorkshire. Saif Ali Khan will captain the Indian team, which has big names like Kapil Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Sunny and Bobby Deol and Sohail Khan.

Sabbas Joseph (director, Wizcraft), Judith Donovan (chairman, Yorkshire Tourism Board, YTB), Sanjeev Aga (managing director, Idea), and Adam Purser (marketing director, Yorkshire Forward) also attended the conference.

Ram Gopal Varma’s Sholay is finally out of the back burner and ready to see the day’s light on Friday the 13th of July. Yes you heard it right- Friday the 13. Anything that is considered inauspicious in general can easily fall into the auspicious category for Ramu. That is what RGV stands for. So when you tell him that the day is not good he says: “But not by my calendar. I like to do the unthinkable. That’s what I did by doing my own take on Sholay, didn’t I?”


Not a surprise in RGV’s case. There are more surprises to come when the movie releases. After all the ‘n’ number of controversies that hovered around the movie it is finally set to release. The movie has lot many deviations from the original Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay. Starting from the duration of the movie to the scenes, characters and the relationship between each of the characters, everything is new. Good for the viewers and Ramu also says that he won’t use the Urmila-Abhishek Mehbooba song in the promos. Brave decision to avoid a famous number done differently as we all know what Farhan Akhtar had to face for featuring Yeh Mera Dil in the promos. Smart anyway!

Mumbai, May 8 (IANS) Stories that she squabbled with her co-star Arshad Warsi on the set of “Goal” in London have Bipasha Basu baffled.

“Look, I can’t say Arshad is a friend. But we were cordial co-stars. He’s a fantastic actor. The story of our supposed fight was definitely leaked from someone from the unit. Not me. I didn’t speak to anyone from the media at all. I’ve no issues with him. Arshad plays my brother in ‘Goal’. We had great bonding on screen,” Bipasha told IANS.

The entire unit knew about the fight, except Bipasha.

“I was in the dark until Boman Irani spilled the beans,” said Bipasha who is still reeling under that story.

“It was so bizarre. But no one told me. It said I stormed out of the set. I’d never do that. I’m too professional for that. Whether another actor comes on time or not is none of my concern. I’ll sit on the set for the number of hours that I’m paid for. I don’t react to unpleasant situations with tantrums at all.

“Why would I walk out of the set because of Arshad? I’m not being politically correct. I was proper with Arshad. We didn’t become buddies. So what? He kept to himself. That was his choice. And we didn’t have a chance to get along. But no, I didn’t carry a friendship with Arshad back home.”

It’s said the problems between Arshad and Bipasha can be sourced to his cold war with John Abraham.

She retaliates: “If people say we had a problem because my boyfriend was on sets and I was aloof, then that’s rubbish because I wasn’t aloof. Boman and the other boys can vouch for that.

“John and I mix around on the sets. We like to work as a team.” She falls into thought. “Arshad was the only person aloof on the sets. Maybe he was stressed or tired. But that doesn’t mean we had a problem.”

The actress claims she bonded with all her male co-stars in the film.

“I specially liked bonding with the Bangladeshi football players. Since I play a doctor, I was on the bench most of the time. These Bangladeshi players and I had a blast every day.

“The weather got freezing at times. Sometimes it felt like we’d freeze to death. But we survived. The character I play is completely different from anything I’ve done so far.

Speculations are being made as the news that Farhan Akhtar has planned the sequel to his DON. One rumor says that Don 2 will feature both Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan and the other sensational news is that Farhan might opt Priyanka out of the movie and will bring in Sushmita Sen instead.


While neither Suhmita Sen nor the producer Ritesh Sidwani show any sign of the changes being made, it is sure that the movie will start where Farhan left the his Don in the first one and that SRk will have two female leads opposite him in this one too. Hmm…we hope the best will be penned down for SRK. Sushmita is not a bad idea for an action film, not because Priyanka was bad but because Sush has more screen presence than the Miss World. But one thing is clear that SRK is surely not pushing for Priyanka being in the film. So all those people who were speculating that SRK promotes Priyanka can sit back and think. SRK must have recommended her as an ambassador for Tag Heur and for a role opposite Aamir but that doesn’t make him her promoter. He has an eye for detail. He would have recommended any talent for that matter.

Saif Ali Khan having fully recovered from his illness and he would first complete Abbas Mustan's RACE in Dubai. Well that is exactly how it is happening!

Now here is a big one about the actor. Saif Ali Khan is now a part of Karan Johar's next project, under his banner Dharma Productions, to be directed by his assistant Tarun Mansukhani. The film now has a stellar cast comprising of Saif, Abhishek and Aishwarya.

Before we leave, a word about Kunal Kohli's next that Saif has now signed officially. Kunal as usual kept denying it till the eleventh hour, maybe to cover up for the fact that Saif was his only choice after it was turned down by both Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.

This summer, get set to hear a familiar tune that goes TA RA RUM PUM! Yashraj Films movie packs a punch in all departments of movie-making – content, performance, dialogues, lyrics, location, music, background score, cinematography… and what have you. But yes, for a movie which banks on speed, it goes slow because of the time-factor — a little over two-and-a-half hours is a bit much these days. But no one’s complaining!

Saif Ali Khan carries off the film with a maturity that can be associated only with someone who understands cinema. Here is a man who only keeps bettering his last performance. This Khan is truly in business and I’m sure he has amassed a huge fan-following. As a husband and a doting father, Saif performs with aplomb. His comic timing, too, is something to write home about. Clearly, you can safely bracket him in the big league of actors and business-wise, I’m sure producers know that this dude can rope in the audience and help them break even in the first week of a film’s release. In short, an actor you can bank on commercially as well as talent-wise.

Javed Jafferi is coming into his own, as well. Paired last with Saif in SALAAM NAMASTEY, which, incidentally was also directed by Siddharth Anand, Javed provides good laugh moments in the company of Saif. “My brother from another mother”, and “when anyone fails in life in the US they become taxi drivers,” elicits rounds of applause from the audience. Every time he comes on screen, there is an air of anticipation for another round of laughter.

Rani Mukherjee. What can you say about her? She is top notch. Dances with grace, and emotes with ease. At the drop of a hat she can take you from rooting for a win along with her, to shedding tears. Watch out for the scene where she fills her hand-bag with food from the buffet table to take home for her kids. Also watch out for the scene where her son attacks the dustbin for food. Moving. And yes, very real!

It’s difficult to film cars on a race track. In fact it’s difficult to shoot any sport for a movie. And mention here must be made of Binod Pradhan’s cinematography. One word. Superb. On the race track as well as his low camera angles which brings to life New York’s high-rises.

You have speed, drama, plenty of emotions and good music. And a pair that rocks. Remember HUM TUM??? What more can one want from a movie?

Go sing, TA RA RUM PUM!

Himesh Reshammiya's AAP KA SUROOR, is in news right from the word go, and it is getting bigger and bigger. The latest Big news about the film is literally Bigger. Mallika Sherawat is said to be doing a cameo. What is important is that for a cameo of about 10 minutes Ms Sherawat will be paid a fat amount a la Marlon Brando. If one can recall, for his ten-minute role in SUPERMAN in 1978, Marlon Brando was paid $14 million or $1.4 million per minute making him the highest paid actor per minute, and now our Bollywood babe Mallika Sherawat, for her 10 minute cameo in AAP KA SUROOR has been paid 1.5 crores, making her the highest paid actress per minute. At 15 lakhs per minute, Mallika has been paid more than any actress in the history of Bollywood.

Popular choreographer Ganesh Acharya has completed his debut film as a director, SWAMI, and is looking for a June/July release for the film.

Though many people, both within and outside the industry, still feel that Ganesh being a choreographer would have made a film on songs and dances, it is far from true. Instead he has made a film that takes a slice from life approach and has followed a sensitive route while belonging to the 'social' genre.

The promotion of the film very much reflects the same as it has taken an abstract approach instead of following the normal routine of showing the songs or scenes from the film. This is the reason why the first phase of promos on satellite channels shows shots of nature at its best while the cast is still being kept under the wraps.

For those who are yet to catch on the starcast of SWAMI, the film stars Juhi Chawla and Manoj Bajpai along with Mithun Chakraborty.

First promo of AWARAPAN is out and in one word is STUNNING!

Directed by Mohit Suri, who has hat trick of successes behind him in the form of ZEHER, KALYUG and WOH LAMHE, the film comes from the house of VIHESH FILMS and stars Emraan Hashmi in the lead.

The film captures various shades of Hashmi, which come due to the journey he takes, circumstances he goes through and the people he meets in the way. Playing a role with extremely complex shades, the film is touted to be the most challenging ever for Hashmi.

Mohit Suri, who has excelled in getting very good performances from his actors while enacting sensitive subjects, seems to have yet another hard hitting film up his sleeves which should set the cash registers ringing once the film arrives on June 29th.

Leading ladies in the film are Shreya Saran and Mrinalini Sharma while Ashutosh Rana and Rehan Khan enact other key roles. The film has been extensively shot in Hong Kong and promises yet another path breaking music by Pritam.

The film was in news when launched a few months back due to its extensive budget. As per producer Mukesh Bhatt, AWARAPAN is their costliest ever with a budget running in the tune of Rs. 18 crores. Now that's indeed huge because majority of Bhatt films in the past have been priced low with a budget ranging between Rs. 3-6 crores.

Being a true story, this movie might find a lot many takers. Just for the curiosity factor on how Kiranjit Alhuwalia managed to live with an abusive husband for 10 years. How she endured the pain and humiliation and the final decision she made to teach her husband a lesson by deciding to burn his legs. But things went horribly wrong and her husband died in the bargain. Her cellmates tell her that she should have done it ages ago!

But there’s just that – the curiosity factor. Director Jagmohan Mundhra has an ace up his sleeve but fails to deliver it, thanks to the casting which is found wanting. Unlike Deepa Mehta’s WATER and Mira Nair’s NAMESAKE, where the directors have penciled in their cast who have performed to the T, the same cannot be said about Mundhra’s PROVOKED.

Having said that, Naveen Andrews as Deepak Alhuwalia, the psychopath husband is first rate. He gives inkling on what type of a man Deepak was, his foul language, terrible temper and excessive use of hands at the drop of a hat. I’m sure Kiranjit might have gone through a gamut of emotions those 10 horrible years. Aishwarya Rai, in that respect is found wanting. Had the director guided her to be forceful, the movie would have got the required impetus.

Also, surprisingly, Nandita Das, is a few notches lower, performance wise, than her usual self. Not convincing.

But what is convincing are the prison scenes and the selection of the inmates which again is first rate. The director, it appears, put in his energies in making the prison scenes as real as possible.

If at all this film makes it, it will be because it sends across a strong message on how one should not live with an abusive spouse. In India, there are many women who live under the thumb of their husbands, and suffer in silence. If this movie can stir those women to get out of their ‘prison’ and provoke them into standing up for what is right, then Mundhra would have had his bouquets.

This movie is a tribute to the grit of Kiranjit Alhuwalia, who triumphed against terrible odds. A role model for women. Being a man, I salute her. Not for what she did, it was an accident, but for the way she fought to keep her marriage alive. That she lost her husband in the fight is what the story is all about!!

If you are thinking that we made a typo when spelling ‘Maaninee’ then let me confirm that the television actress has added a couple of alphabets to her name hoping that would change her luck for the good and looks like it is working for Maaninee as after doing a cameo in ‘Krrish’, Maaninee is ready for her second brush with the big screen in Ken Ghosh’s ‘Chain Kulli Ki Main Kulli’; the movie being made keeping kids as the primary audience in mind.

Maaninee will be playing a character that is very similar to Mandira Bedi, coz she plays a high profile Sports Anchor. The name of the character is also quite similar to Mandira as it’s named ‘Nadira’.

Ken, who is good friends with Maaninee, thought that she would be apt for the role as she is funny and she is also good with imitating people without offending them.

Among the industry's most prolific producers, Mukesh Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt (Vishesh Films) have tied up with Studio 18 for the international release of the Bhatts' most ambitious and costly venture to date, Awarapan.

Directed by Mohit Suri of Zeher and Woh Lamhe fame, Awarapan features Emraan Hashmi (pictured above), south superstar Shreya Saran (who will soon be seen opposite Rajnikanth in the mega Tamil blockbuster, Sivaji) and the Apaharan bombshell, Mrinalini Sharma (last seen in the sensational item number opposite Ajay Devgan.) In true Bhatt tradition, the romantic thriller, shot in Hong Kong, will boast of chartbusting music by Pritam, on Sa Re Ga Ma.

Awarapan will also be the Bhatts' and Emraan Hashmi's first principal theatrical outing in the overseas market. The International Division of Studio 18 has become synonymous with promoting and making a success of films with new names ( Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Kya Love Story Hai) internationally, and Awarapan will be their next from the 2007 line-up.

Remarked Ashoka Holla, Senior Vice President - International Business at Studio 18, "It is a known fact that the Bhatts are extremely passionate producers and work hard in promoting their films. It is unfortunate that many of their recent works have not made it overseas despite the enormous success of their music. Studio 18 is happy to initiate an association with them on Awarapan and work jointly towards giving it due visibility and a credible theatrical release internationally."

Stated Mukesh Bhatt, "We are proud to be associated with the Raghav Bahl-promoted TV 18 group. It is one of the best corporate houses in the business and the International Distribution team at Studio 18 comprises young, experienced and dynamic members who have repeatedly proven their credentials. We look forward to working with them on Awarapan."

Awarapan is due to release worldwide on June 29.

A new movie map, which celebrates the range of locations across the capital to feature in Bollywood films, was launched by Film London and Visit London.

As well as featuring numerous venues in central London including museums, shopping centres and well-known landmarks, the map also covers locations across the breadth of the capital from Osterley Park(Kabhi Khushie Kabhie Gham) in the west, through to Stratford Station (Mujhse Dosti Karoge) and Canary Wharf (I…Proud to be an Indian) in the east.

The capital is proving an increasingly popular destination for Indian crews, with over 40 Bollywood productions filmed in London last year, including Salaam-E-Ishq and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Film London plays a vital role in supporting Indian productions, providing crews with assistance, support and advice and liaising with different venues, agencies and local authorities to ensure filming is as seamless as possible.

Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London said: “This map demonstrates Bollywood’s real contribution to London’s economy, its cultural vibrancy, and status as an international centre for film production. Bollywood films also offer a unique take on some of London’s iconic landmarks, giving Londoners the opportunity to see them in a new light and showcasing the capital on cinema screens across the globe.”

James Bidwell, CEO Visit London said: “London continues to be an inspirational setting for many Bollywood films with a mixture of traditional, modern and diverse locations available. The Bollywood Movie Map will give fans of Indian cinema the chance to visit the locations and landmarks immortalised on screen from over 20 top Bollywood films and follow in the footsteps of their favourite stars.”

This is the eighth in a series of movie maps which are designed to encourage tourists, Londoners and film-lovers alike to discover the capital through films shot in the city.

Maps are currently available in tourist information centres around the UK and overseas, Cineworld cinemas and hundreds of restaurants, bars, cafes and cinemas in London’s West End.

The launch of the map coincides with the unveiling of a waxwork of Shah Rukh Khan, an A-list Bollywood star at Madame Tussauds. Two of Shah Rukh Khan’s most popular films Kabhi Khushie Kabhie Gham and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge are featured in the Bollywood Movie Map.

Londoners and visitors to the capital will also be able to sample the richness of India's culture, when the capital stages India Now, a spectacular three-month season celebrating Indian culture and including business events, backed by the Mayor of London. This will culminate in an India-themed Regent Street Festival at the beginning of September, which is expected to attract up to 500,000 people. India will also be the theme of the annual cultural arts festival that takes place in Trafalgar Square each August. These activities complement the annual celebrations for Diwali, Eid and Vaisakhi and the London Mela.

India Now will take place in advance of a planned visit to Mumbai and Delhi towards the end of the year by the Mayor, aimed at strengthening links between London and India.

ESHA Deol will surprise her fans with some breath-taking stunts in her forthcoming film. Director Anubhav Sinha's movie CASH has Esha doing many action sequences. The actress refused to use a duplicate and insisted on doing her own stunts.

Though Esha is not allowed to reveal much about her role in the film, she does spill a few beans. She will be seen delivering high-flying kicks and doing a high-speed car chase. Even though she is adept in driving, Esha had to undergo training under an expert in Cape Town, South Africa, before shooting her action scenes.

Esha says she likes action movies like KILL BILL and wishes Bollywood would make more girlie action flicks.

On Tuesday 8th May, Shilpa Shetty and director Anurag Basu will be on the red carpet in London’s Leicester Square for the first of three premieres to take place around the world.


This world premiere of Life in a… METRO not only sees Shilpa Shetty in her first film since making a global impact as the winner of Celebrity Big Brother, but also marks the first official world premiere of an Indian film outside of Mumbai. The after-show party will be hosted by Indian food group Tiffinbites at the new flagship restaurant in St Pauls.

From the euphoria of a fast paced life, to the breakdown of a short-lived relationship…it’s a journey everybody staying in metros across the world undertake daily. UTV’s film Life in a… Metro depicts this aspect, in director Anurag Basu’s signature style.

The very aptly named Life in a… Metro, releases worldwide on Friday 11th May with a 3 continent premiere that includes metros like London, Dubai, Melbourne and Mumbai – the first time for an Indian film. Starring Shilpa Shetty, Shiney Ahuja, Kay Kay Menon, Konkana Sen Sharma, Sharman Joshi, Kangna Ranaut, and Irrfan Khan the film is about the thrills and shrills of being a metro citizen.

Life in a… METRO is a collection of tales set in one of the world’s busiest cities – Mumbai; a bored housewife (Shilpa Shetty) who embarks on an illicit friendship, a 30 year old virgin (Konkona Sharma) who tries to find love through dating websites, a young man (Sharman Joshi) who desperately tries to make his way in the business world and a husband (Kay Kay Menon) who cheats on his wife… Their everyday lives are thrown into turmoil in their pursuit of love and happiness.

The Life in a…Metro after-show party is being hosted by Indian food group Tiffinbites, at its brand-new £1million flagship store near St Paul’s, London. Party-goers will get an exclusive look at the new state-of-the art restaurant, a week ahead of the doors opening to the public on 14 May. Tiffinbites offers Real Indian Food served the Real Indian Way – healthier and more traditional than the usual British curry fare – and is inspired by authentic Indian ‘tiffin boxes’ used to transport home-cooked lunches to workers across Mumbai. The new restaurant will also feature a cinema-size movie screen which will show classic Bollywood movies throughout the day.

Life in a… METRO will be released across the UK by UTV Motion Pictures on Friday 11th May 2007

Have you heard about ‘Dharm’? We bet you haven’t but, the movie is selected to end this year’s Cannes Festival in style. ‘Dharm’ has no big stars in it but, has talented one for sure as there is Pankaj Kapoor and his wife Supriya Pathak.

The movie is directed by debutante Bhavna Talwar. Bhavna worked in an ad agency and one day she quit her job to make a movie. She decided to make a movie in Benaras and showcase Indian Traditions.

Pankaj Kapur plays a Pundit in the movie and he has lived his life by the books and Vedas he resides in Benaras with his wife Supriya. A change comes in the life of the couple when a situation arises and they adopt a kid.

It’s great to know that finally an Indian movie gets selected on the basis of credit and not star value and it’s the true victory of ‘Dharm’.

Shatrughan Sinha is fondly called ‘Shotgun Sinha’ and guess now we all know the reason. Well, because the actor is a straight shoot.

Big B, who is sending a letter of apology with ‘shaadi ki mithai’ particularly to the top names in the Mumbai circuit, was in a shock when Shotgun returned the gesture with a label, “not accepted.”

Shotgun retorted that he was not invited to the wedding and Big B should have been courteous enough atleast drop-in personally to give the weeding sweets.

Thespian Dilip Kumar was also felt offended as Big B was not respectful enough to call the legend for the wedding. the emotional actor also returned the mithai box.

The big surprise however, is that Suresh Oberoi accepted the sweet wedding gesture sent to the family by the Bachchans. He even sent a ‘thank you’ note to the Bachchans.

Poor Vivek, we are sure ‘Abhi-Ash ke Shaadi ka Ladoo’ won’t be sweet for him.

We all know that John Abraham is crazy about his bikes, so the witty Karan asked John to give three reasons why he thinks that bikes are better than girlfriends? John humorously replied, “You know when your bike is running out of fuel,” to which Bips said “I will bash you.”

John however, continued and said that you know that your bike will not strand you in middle of the road to which Bips whispered, “Go and do your bike.” Karan’s controversial questions continued as he asked John on how he was getting along with everyone in the industry especially Salman Khan to which John replied, “I knew that the question would come my way on the show and the last time I got into trouble with my innocent answer about Kareena and I got into trouble but, this time I want to be more cautious.”

Bipasha on the other hand followed the ‘Mallika act’ and claimed that she is in the industry to work and not to make friends.

Karan also questioned Bollywood’s sexiest pair on when they plan to settle down? To which Bips replied that she has high regards for the institution of marriage but, she is still young and wants to work a couple of years. John nodded in agreement with his Bips and added that it’s only work for him at the moment as well.

John-n-Bips did make ‘Karan’s Koffee’ quite steamy hot and sweet at same time.

Music Maestro AR Rehman is nowadays on a hunt and his mission is to find India’s most talented musical band. AR Rehman launched the competition titled ‘Ooh La La’ in Chennai and his accomplice in the mission is signer-n-actress Vasundhara Das.

AR Rahman expressed that technology is wholly driving music as people go on the net and download sounds and no one is into really playing the instruments and he things that his initiative would encourage the people to go back to the basics.

So what do the winners have in store? They get to cut an album with the biggest name in music AR Rahman in his studio, and if they manage to impress the master he is ready to absorb them in his team as music apprentice.

“Do you have music in you?” is the question AR Rahman is posing with ‘Ooh La La’. So all the bands out there get ready with your drums and guitars as the Indian music God is definitely gonna come calling.

If the latest cover of Cine Blitz is anything to go by, Shilpa Shetty and Shiney Ahuja sure seem to share great chemistry. They will be seen together in Anurag Basu’s “Metro”.

While Shiney has done his first bare-chested shot, Shilpa has worn a bare all backless dress for the first time. Their vibes are apparent from the interviews in Cine Blitz. With such comfort levels, one can surely expect fireworks from their performances in “Metro”.

“Shilpa has matured into a versatile actress over the years. But it’s only now that people are sitting up and noticing her. As for Shiney, he’s been a powerhouse performer right from ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’ to ‘Gangster’. The combination could be quite interesting to watch,” said Shilpa’s spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar.

“Metro” is due for a worldwide premiere May 11.

It’s time to rejoice for singer Mahalakshmi Iyer. Every child seems to be humming and dancing to the “Ta ra rum pum” tune.

Mahalakshmi’s rendition of this perky animated number not just gets heartthrob Saif Ali Khan and the bubbly Rani Mukerji to boogie along with their on-screen kids but also gets Ma bear, Pa bear and baby bears to dance to her jingle.

This young multitalented singer seems to have become the latest favourite with the Yash Raj Films team. She’s sung chartbusters in “Salaam Namaste”, “Bunty Aur Babli”, “Fanaa”, “Dhoom 2″ - and now this.

Is she their lucky mascot?

Though most of us have conveniently forgot Ketan Mehta’s “Mangal Pandey- The Rising” but the director is hell bent on proving that he can make people think about him as a good period film maker. And this time his subject is the brave and the valiant Rani of Jhansi- Lakshmi Bai. Any wild guesses? Well, I remember a rumor that Miss Universe Sushmita Sen has taken the pledge to portray the Rani of Jhansi in a film on the Rani which she decided to produce. But unfortunately Ketan Mehta took the rights for the film and signed Aishwarya Rai for the role. Ash will be doing the role of Rani in Mehta’s “Jhansi Ki Rani” and will be undergoing rigorous training for the sword-fights on horses. Mehta is completing the script for the film and he has planned his cast which includes the British actors too. After doing Last Legion and Jodha-Akbar, it wouldn’t be difficult for Ash to ride on a horse and hopefully the sword would look more than jewel in her hands.

The all time favorite Indian version of American Idol is back with the same punch and the same host. Indian Idol 3 is again being hosted by Mini Mathur (she sure looks pretty) and our very own Hussain. Indian Idol has grown since the first time it appeared and this time it covered almost 12 places including London and Dubai. After a long wait and a lot of anticipation, the Third Season of Indian Idol kick started with numerous changes. So let’s get on with the Curtain Raiser! Anu Malik stays in the judge’s panel and joining him are Alisha Chinai, Udit Narayan and Javed Akhtar sahib. So the everyone’s favorite show takes off its third season.

Former Miss India Celina Jaitely has been signed as the brand ambassador of Egypt in India. The actress will now be promoting the exotic land of the Nile, pharaohs and pyramids.

“It’s a great honour to be associated with Egypt, the land with a glorious past. It has such a rich heritage. It’s wonderful to represent the land of pharaohs as their brand ambassador,” said Celina.

She was chosen because her vivacious personality complemented the vibrant and mystic beauty of Egypt. According to Egyptian officials, Celina’s natural beauty represented the spirit of their tag line - ‘Nothing Compares’.

“Egypt is home to the world’s last remaining ancient wonders of the world - The Pyramids of Giza. I invite everyone to experience the magic and charm of Egypt,” added Celina.

Looks like the Indian beauty is going to spread her charms like the mystical Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

It looks like literature and cinema have become best friends. While shooting for his Hindi film “Yatra”, Bengali filmmaker Gautam Ghose has quietly shot a film based on the work of Bengali litterateur Samaresh Majumdar.

Says Ghose: “How did you know? I’ve been so tied up with the release of ‘Yatra’ that I’ve barely had time to shoot and complete my other films. I’ve lately been busy with a 10-part series of short stories for Doordarshan.”

“I’ve rendered a Sahitya Akademi-winning novel ‘Kalbela’ by Samaresh Majumdar. I was very excited by this novel because it is a love story set in the troubled Kolkata of the 1960s and 70s. That’s when I was a student in the city. So ‘Kalbela’ gives me a chance to go back to my youth,” adds the filmmaker.

“A lot of my colleagues including Mrinal Sen suggested a big-screen version for the theatres. So the film will be released in theatres May 27,” he says.

With his Hindi and Bengali films released neck and neck, the acclaimed filmmaker says he feels “disoriented” running from one place to another.

“Just imagine! My Hindi film and my Bengali film are being released neck and neck. I feel completely disoriented running from Kolkata to Delhi to Hyderabad and back to Kolkata.”

“I stay in Kolkata. So I can never be your Bollywood-wallah. To make matters even more complicated for ‘Yatra’, ‘Kalbela’ too needed my urgent attention.”

After a deluge of TV soaps based on ’saas-bahus’ it is now the turn of ‘betis’(daughters).

Cashing in on this trend is none other than Aroona Irani, who is coming up with a new serial ‘Doli Saja ke Rakhna’ on SaharaOne.

”It is the story of a daughter who struggles to gain the love of her father, after her mother dies during her birth as a result of which he starts blaming the newborn for his wife’s death and subsequently starts treating her as unlucky,” Ms Irani said.

”The purpose of the serial is not just entertainment, it is an attempt to change the orthodox mindset of people as even today daughters are considered a bad omen,” the producer told UNI.

”I feel very lucky that I got the oppourtunity to work with Aruna Ji in ‘Doli…’, she is the guiding force behind this serial,” Barkha Bisht, who plays the protagonist in the soap said.

”We have put in the hardiwork but whether it pays dividends or not would be decided by the audience,” she added.

Amit Sareen, who plays the male lead in the show seconded Barkha and said viewers will surely enjoy it.

The cast of ‘Doli…’ also includes, Anuj Saxena, Jaya Mathur among others.

The serial, which will go on air from May 7, will initially have around 206 episodes.

It’s slick, neat and clean. Above all, it lives up to its name — BHEJA FRY. As in you don’t come out of the theatre with your brains in a mess, but rather grinning at a comedy well made. There is a plot and a sub-plot and the scenes are woven, one into another with finesse, which highlights the vision of the director.

Vinay Pathak carries off this film on his stocky shoulders with aplomb. The actor, who made his mark, first as a veejay and then in the Great Indian Comedy Show, has come of age. If his role in SAY


SALAAM INDIA was small, here, he hogs the limelight as well as screen space. It must have been a brave decision for director Shyam Bellary to put the spotlight on Vinay, who as Bharat Bhushan brings the house down.

Right from the time he boards the bus to Pune to when he walks in to Rajat Kapoor (Ranjeet’s house), till the last phone call, Vinay is in his elements. His facial expressions and comic timing is unbelievable. So are his conversations on the phone as he tries to help Ranjeet find out where his wife is. And when he does convince Sarika (Rajat’s wife) of her husband’s love for her, he goes back to square one in the last shot! “IDIOT,” shouts Rajat just a minute after Vinay makes him promise never to call anyone that!! Such an irony. Full marks to Bellary for his conviction in his cast.

Vinay without Ranvir Shorey is like dosa without sambar. The two make a great pair when it comes to comedy. As the IT inspector, who is fond of cricket, Ranvir entertains in his short act. The scene when he drops in at Rajat’s home on Vinay’s insistence and learns that his wife is out with another man is brilliantly funny.

Rajat Kapoor as the bored music company owner, who is in search of idiots for his weekly Friday night parties, too puts in a stellar performance. So does Sarika and Milind Soman.

The dialogues are dazzling and right from the word “Action” to “Cut” the movie rolls on without a blemish. Go on, BHEJA FRY is worth many trips to the multiplex!

The age of ‘leave-your-brain-behind’ movies are long gone and forgotten, then why are you bent on reliving the past Indian cinema wants to forget? We have younger directors with fresh ideas and even younger actors, some of who have untapped potential. Moreover, in the recent past, Bollywood has seen movies that far surpass Indian standards. And after watching movies like WATER, EKLAVYA – The Royal Guard, BLACK FRIDAY and THE NAMESAKE, to name a few, did you really think his movie of yours had a ghost of a chance? Or were you thinking at all when filming this movie in scenic South Africa? That reminds me, was there a need to shoot the film there? It could have been shot at Currey Road!

And just what are you trying to portray with those two buffoons who go after anything in a skirt? I mean, girls are not that dumb, you see. And those two blokes cannot even act. This sort of humour is best enjoyed in school, not in a theatre. And those two Africans??? Man, get real!

Jeetendra hung his white shoes a decade ago, and I don’t think anyone can fit in those shoes, let alone dance in them. Not even his son Tushhar. He simply does not have half the rhythm in his body his father had. So save those white shoes. If you have a role for Jeetu in the future, try getting him to put them on!! I’m sure even he will refuse.

And Pritam, is that music really yours? I mean, aren’t you the guy who gave us that monster hit, from DHOOM, Dhoom Macha Le??? Then why is your music like a constant hammering on the brain, with no rhyme (read lyrics) nor rhythm?

Ayesha, you have progressed with DOR, isn’t it? Then why go back in time?? I’m sure you will like to forget this movie in a hurry. Or was the paid holiday to Robin Island too good to turn down???

And you dear reader, I’m sure you get the drift. Don’ let anyone spoil your Lovely day!

Rajeev is a name for anything that is adventurous and now the superstar of the tube is going to be a part of one of India’s most daring car rally, ‘Nautica Navigator 2007’.

Sharing his passion for rallies, Rajeev expressed, “I have always been sporty. This is indeed a great opportunity that has come my way. I will be participating in a rally for the first time. There are 80 people participating in the competition and I am one of the few people participating from Mumbai.”

Rajeev will be zooming in his Tata 2007, an adventure car which he recently purchased for the Jim Corbett National Park escapade and has modified his ride for better performance.

Rajeev, who has been rated as the most popular male star of 2006, has also won the Most Stylish actor on TV award from M TV and we are sure his popularity clubbed with style will get him ahead in the rally.

“Truth will prevail,” is what Madhuri Dixit had to say when we asked the actress about the separation rumors doing rounds of Bollywood.

The rumors about Madhuri leaving her hubby Nene cropped up when Madhuri initiated her kids admission in a Mumbai school. Lastly, when we spoke to Madz, she said that she was yearning to go back to Denver so this came to us as a big surprise.

However, Madhuri justified her act by saying that the kids were getting bored on the sets with her and hence, she thought of enrolling them in a school and she was happy about it as the kids love the school and Mumbai.

Madhuri said that she extended her trip as the kids’ love Mumbai and they think it’s a fun place to live as it’s more social and comfortable. In fact, she added that they are not excited by the thought of going back to the US.

Art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai has a lot to answer for - specially to filmmaker Mira Nair.

Ever since he opened his sprawling hi-tech film studio in Karjat on the outskirts of Mumbai, the chopper has become the favourite medium of transport for the time-challenged film industry.

Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan were constantly flying in and out of Karjat and Mumbai while shooting for “Ram Gopal Varma’s Sholay”. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai flew almost daily for Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Jodha-Akbar”.

But Mira Nair’s experience gives you the jitters.

“Nitin is a very dear friend. So when he invited me to Karjat to see his studio during my last visit, I gladly agreed. People suggested I take a chopper to save time and I agreed. The ride was smooth enough till we reached Karjat. That’s when things got choppy,” said Nair with a shiver.

“The pilot didn’t know where to land. He kept circling over Karjat for an hour. I kept getting calls from Nitin saying, ‘Come down, we can see you’. But our pilot had no clue. Finally, in a very irritated voice, he announced, ‘Madame, we’re running out of fuel.’ So we headed back to Mumbai while I prayed to all my gods for a safe landing.”

Looking back, Nair can afford to laugh about the incident. The larger question is: Is it safe for people from the film industry to take chopper flights to places where there are no proper landing facilities?

Miss England winner Eleanor Glynn has been selected to play a role in the musical “India Rocks”, a movie directed by Aditya Raj Kapoor.

Glynn, 21, from Sandford-on-Thames, said she was delighted to have won one of the lead roles in the movie. Filming is due to start in London later this month, shortly before she hands over her Miss England crown.

She will star alongside Mimoh Chakraborty, son of popular actor Mithun Chakraborty. Glynn told the Oxford Mail that she was thrilled to get the lead role in the film.

In January, Glynn was put on standby to take part in “Celebrity Big Brother”, but had second thoughts following Shilpa Shetty’s bullying by housemate Jade Goody.

Last year, Glynn took part in a Bollywood dancing exhibition, then met a series of Bollywood film directors to discuss the possibility of appearing in a movie.

She said at the time: “I think there is definitely a gap in the market for a British girl meeting an Asian guy in one of these films and we’ll see what happens.”

Miss England organiser Angie Beasley said: “I think this could be the start of a great career for Eleanor. She loves Bollywood dancing and will be performing a Bollywood dance at the national final of Miss England in Leicester on June 30, when she hands over her crown.

“Eleanor is not a prima donna - she fits in with people from all walks of life. I wish we could give her a special award because she has been the best Miss England we have ever had.”

Earlier this year, Glynn, who has appeared in the Miss World and Miss Europe competitions, told how she was rejected by three top model agencies - because she was “too large” at size 10.

Glynn - who is 5-feet, 9 inches and weighs eight-and-a-half stone - gave a talk at the Oxford Union about her experience and urged young models not to go on crash diets.

He made his debut in playback singing as a ten-year-old with veteran Asha Bhosale in 1995 in the blockbuster movie ‘Rangeela’ about tension of going to school and drinking milk.

Child singer Aditya Narayan, son of well-known playback singer Udit Narayan, later went on to act in films like ‘Pardes’ and ‘Jab Pyar Kissi Se Hota Hai’ as a child artist.

The 20-year-old singer now will host the Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, which goes on air from tonight.

In an interview to UNI, Aditya says he has followed the programme which has been synonmous with Zee TV’s programming for more than a decade when playback singers Sonu Nigam and Shaan hosted it in two different seasons.

”I believe in being myself. Even Sonuji and Shaanji followed this concept when they hosted the show. I would like to continue that legacy,” the youngster said.

After having shot four episodes and bonding well with the participants so far, Aditya says it is challenging for him to anchor the show which includes panel of judges like music composers Himesh Reshamiya, Vishal-Shekhar, Bappi Lahiri and Ismail Durbar.

”I was a little nervous on the first day,” he admitted.

”I began shooting since last week. Producers of the programme approached my father asking how old I was. They said they were looking for a new and young face. After discussions with my father, I signed the dotted line as the anchor,” he said.

Aditya has just completed a diploma in English Contemporary Music from London and earlier learnt classical music from pandit Satyanarayan Mishra. When asked about the clash of Indian Idol on Sony TV which also goes on air from tonight where his father is one of the judges, Aditya said ”My father is very happy with my decision to be the anchor for the show. My father had come to wish me on the second day of the shoot.” Aditya’s young, fresh look and clothes have been designed by Narendra Kumar. For the first time jeans and cargos are being worn by a Sa Re Ga Ma Pa anchor.

Aditya says he loves to eat, sleep and work out. ”I am a fitness freak and am passionate about video games. I like to play the latest games. I also enjoy watching TV and films and would like to work with Jiah Khan,” he said.

”I have been signed for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa for a year,” he added.

The controversial Marathi film “Mumbai Amchich”, which targets non-Maharashtrians, has been held up by the Censor Board because certain portions are inflammatory, says its chief Sharmila Tagore.

The film by director Sarad Bandsode tells Marathis that outsiders, particularly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, have no place in the city of Mumbai. And if they still choose to stay on, they do so at their own peril.

“Let’s get this straight. ‘Mumbai Amchich’ came to us for certification. It was refused clearance by the examining committee. Then it went to the revision committee. There was a difference of opinion,” Censor Board chief Sharmila told IANS in an interview.

“According to rules, there has to be another viewing of the film under these circumstances. Under no way were we going to certify the film without deleting the objectionable parts,” added Sharmila.

Commenting on the content of the film, Sharmila said: “We couldn’t allow certain portions because they went against our guidelines. India is a democracy with a large number of states, cultures and people. We can’t allow anyone’s sentiments to be hurt.

“Also, there is a lot of violence against a certain group of people in the film. Worse still, the violence is justified by a police officer (played by the director). How can we allow a film to say it’s okay to kill? It’s totally against censor guidelines. However, I was a little preoccupied and the producer, understandably, was in a hurry. We suggested to him go to the courts to quicken the process.”

The director decided to take the film to court for release orders. And he has apparently been told to refer the film back to the censor board.

However, a TV channel reported that the court has passed the film.

“No,” Sharmila clarified. “As a matter of fact they’ve referred the film back to us to see the film within four weeks. That date expires May 15. We’ll be seeing it around May 14. He can go to the higher courts thereafter. We’ve given our reasons in writing for rejecting the film.”

Sharmila says that there’s nothing personal here. “Our guidelines clearly state we cannot encourage sectarian ideas.”

She admits she’s not enamoured of the guiding principles behind “Mumbai Amchich”.

“As a citizen of India and the chairperson of the Censor Board I am against any film that legitimises hatred. There’re lots of non-Maharashtrians in Mumbai and they are paying taxes like everyone else. This kind of idea is harmful to the entire social structure.”

She refuses to comment on the film’s political intentions.

“I wouldn’t comment on that because it’d reflect on my personal ideology. Of course, I’ve my political viewpoint. But that shouldn’t interfere with my duties in the censor board. Even when I view my own and my children’s films, I follow censor guidelines.”

It can never be that any of Karan Johar’s show would go unnoticed not just because of the way Karan makes his guests feel special but also because celebrities themselves can never resist giving any information to Karan. He is special and therefore it becomes entertaining for the audience as they get the best out of the celebrities.


John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, the hottest pair in Bollywood are no different with Karan. Do not miss the bombshell episode with the two favorite hotties setting the studio on Fire. You don’t trust me? What about some piece of conversation:

Karan: Tell me this sex symbol tag you are fed up of or you love it still?
Bipasha Basu: Well I always say it, I hope I remain sexy till the age of 100 if I live that long. I love living. I love a life. There a lot of people who say that I want to die young you know why to live old I like every aspect of life that is like every year I enjoy it a little more. So I want to be sexy at 100. I want to be a sexy grandmother.

Karan Johar: Well that’s a wonderful approach to have .. Dhoom of course is know for the very sexy Bipasha Basu … everyone all over the world just said how hot you looked In the film….
Bipasha Basu: I am very happy with Dhoom 2 .. Its done me good …I really worked hard for it ..I really had to work hard for it .. and especially that bikini .. you really have to slog it out .. Eat less ..

Karan Johar: You almost became like your boy friend when you shot for that scene.. Well you looked superb and that’s what matters…

Karan Johar: We were talking about how hot she looked In Dhoom… what do you have to say about it?

John Abraham: She was superb. She looked beautiful…and a special mention about the way she carried the bikini shot off…I don’t think many people can do that and still u know.. It could look worse or classy but I think she was in amazing shape because of all my training…
Bipasha Basu: Don’t lie on television…

Karan Johar : But when you have such a hot girlfriend.. and like all kinds of people compliment her… think she’s so sexy… has it ever bothered you? Any kind of like irritation at times?
John Abraham: Well I think Its great.. Its a compliment… ya… and she’s got such long legs…

Karan Johar: So she can defend herself… and what about you Bipasha…women think of all kinds of obscene things when they think of him… does that bother you?
Bipasha Basu: I think its the business that we are in and the kind of personalities that we are.. and the kind of image that we keep… I think if that is not the reaction then there is something wrong…. I look at it very intelligently… the reason we are together was because at one point of time we must have found each other really attractive…that’s why we firstly must’ve got hitched…It doesn’t bother me.. I pretty think of myself very highly…

Karan Johar: I like that….that’s very important..
Bipasha Basu: Ya.. There could be other women but there’s no one like me

Karan Johar: And you agree with her John?
John Abraham: She’s the original

Karan Johar: And everyone else is a copy?
John Abraham: No.. not really but she’s the original…

Hmm…now that’s yummy. Well, if that is not enough listen to both the stars talking about their struggling days in the industry and how they feel about their image now. Catch John blushing away to glory when Karan asked him how he feels about being popular with the gay population in Paris! Right from Colleagues in the film industry, rivals, likes and dislikes to a steamy rapid fire with the guests. Here is the racy rapid fire question set exclusively for you:

If John could rescue either Salman or Vivek in Kabul, who would he choose? On a good deed day, what would he like to gift Kareena? What are the three reasons why John prefers a motorcycle to a woman? Did John prefer Bipasha in Corporate or Dhoom 2? If John was not in Bipasha’s life which Bollywood actor would she be attracted to? Which actress would she like John tying a Rakhi to? Who does she find sexiest without a shirt- John, Salman or Hrithik?

Watch who takes the hamper home, in this very exciting episode of Koffee with Karan!

Do not miss anything. Catch Koffee With Karan on Sunday Evening at 9 in Star World and also in Star One on the 6th of May.

Now that rumors about Mallika Sherawat starring in a Hollywood movie have been doing rounds in Print media, we’ve got more news.

Bill Bannerman’s new movie Unveiled is about a Muslim woman. This part every one knows. The woman is a victim and yet is dangerous, even this we told you yesterday. But this time we’ve got more news on what the story is actually about and why is Bill specific about Mallika!

Bannerman’s story is about a Muslim woman who has two husband’s and another husband as well. One hears that Clint Eastwood has highly encouraged the concept but all the parties are concerned about how Muslims are going to take the movie. With more and more violence being associated with Muslims and Islam, Unveiled is surely going to be some sort of a controversy in itself.And as for zeroing in on Mallika, Bill thinks that Mallika would do justice to the movie, because she has been married, divorced and also had to face threat calls. Not to forget the controversies about her surrounding all the time, about what she said and what she didn’t. With all these Mallika is more like Bill Bannerman’s character herself.

And if one is to believe, Mallika beats Penelope Cruz and Hillary Swank to this role. But only an official announcement should end all the gossips. But until then… Mallika should definitely be applauded, irrespective of whether she acts in this film!

Just when you though Ramu aka Ram Gopal Varma is the self indulgent and arrogant mind who thinks he is the best…he has made some stunning statements about himself!

In an interview with the paparazzi Ramu said that Shiva (2006) & Mohit Ahlawat (one of Ramu’s numerous proteges) are his biggest mistakes. He also said that every idea cannot be made into film!Now that is very stunning from Ramu, because he is the one who asked questions like “Is there a necessity to have a script?”

Looks like the after effect of all of his “finds” is slowly showing on Ramu. And one also wonders that after working with the like of Amitabh Bachchan, Ramu is desperate to work with some of his good old guys, with whom he cannot get carried away! The fact that Urmila Matondkar is going to do a cameo in his Sholay.

Ramu, in his early days was a fast learning film maker who then went onto become a stylish film maker. Looks like now he wants to get back to basics. And he promises more, “Nishabd is my most romantic film ever. If a romantic film from me shocks people then wait till you see what I’ve in store in future.”

Has anyone asked what does Ash’s former boyfriend is doing?
Well he is also planning for his wedding with the gorgeous girlfriend Katrina Kaif with whom has been steady for long now. A week before the rumors flew that Salman has announced his wedding with the beauty before Ash and Abhi wed. Though this piece of news has got no confirmation, brother Arbaaz Khan says Salman can surprise everyone any time. Bollywood would surely enjoy another much awaited wedding. No dearth of beauties for Sallu bhai han!

Did u see him? I am sure you have and if not here is the Godfather of Bollywood in his slimmer avatar. Adnan Sami is back with his fresh look. God he looks great! And what a come back! To promote his latest album, Sami collaborated with channel V for the exclusive series of promos. Now, any guesses what Sami does in the promo? He plays the famous Don Vito Corleone from Godfather. After Marlon Brando immortalized the role, it is Sami who is doing the feat. And hey, he is good! Hope his new album is a top charter! Good Luck cuty…

Everyone knows that Aamir and Ashutosh Gowarikar go a long way and are really supportive of each other. But what is this that we are hearing? Both the A-list personalities are planning to release their films at the same time, welcoming some healthy competition. Gawarikar’s ‘Jodha Akbar’ and Aamir’s home production ‘Taare Zameen Par’ have been scheduled to release in Diwali 2007. Now that is going to be some real good competition. Jodha Akbar seems toinvite undue trouble, first it was because of Hrithik-Ash tiff, then the wedding bells ringing for Ash and now even the release is going to give some jittery waves to the director. Well, we can just wish good luck!

Looks like Ram Gopal Varma likes the title Guns and Roses. Or else how on earth can you explain what’s happening with Ramu. First it was Urmila Matondkar (since Drohi), then Antara Mali, then Anurag Kashyap (Kaun, Satya) and Sandeep Chowta and now it is Manoj Bajpai. All of them were made (read used) by Ramu’s Genius. Of course these people also helped him build the Factory. It was always roses with each of them for Ramu.

But today after having worked with the likes of Amitabh Bachan and the Junior Bachchan (and being appreciated for it) looks like he is at guns with everybody.

Manoj Bajpai says he doesn’t want to work with Ram Gopal Varma again. Great! So far so good. But ask Manoj Bajpai, and Antara Mali who is at loss?

Infact, Anurag Kashyap himself said in an interview that he needs Ramu more than Ramu needs him.

Anyways if you are as famous and as technically correct as Ramu is, you will have nothing to loose … Period!

She sure is one of the most sought after actors in Bollywood. Beauty with Talent is the phrase apt for Urmila Matondkar. Very few know that the beautiful actor is a painter by passion. She has painted over 30 of her zealous imaginations. And to top the two most sought after abilities the actor has won accolades for her singing with Asha Bhonsle.

“As a child, whatever I have done, I have done with seriousness, intensity and full-fledged passion, but even then it doesn’t make me a professional singer. My mamaji, Madhav Desai, sings and plays the tabla. I have sung Ghulam Ali’s ghazals, have karaoke sessions at home so yes, I do love singing” says Urmila. She is not just being showered by film scripts but also by singing projects. So when are we going to here you next Urmila?

It has been long since you’ve seen Amitabh Bachchan playing the role of a son. Don’t worry he acts his age but anything is possible for Mr Bachchan in Bollywood. He can be 60 and love, and he can be 64 and again fall in love (this time an approvable one because he’s been single all this while) and also tell his mother about it.

So will you see him on the silver screen as a 64 year old Chef falling in love with Tabu. Zohra Sehgal plays his 85 year old on screen mother and also makes sure that his son gets the bride. So guys check out for Cheeni Kum. Directed by Balakrishnan, Cheeni Kum will release in May. Now that sounds some refreshing news!

Mallika Sherawat – the sensational and the steaming Sherawat is all set to surprise Bollywood by being the highest paid actress for Cameos. Eyes popped out is it?

Well, the faster you digest the fact that she is not just hear to stay but also to rule, the better it will be for your senses. Mallika Sherawat is being paid 1.5 crore for her cameo role in Himesh Reshammiya’s “Aap Ka Suroor”, which means she is paid 15 lakhs per minute. Oooph…that is really huge! This makes her the highest paid actress in the history of Bollywood. Now, does Rani, Kajol, Ash or any one wants to comment on that. Rakhi Sawant has sure chosen the right inspiration. Revise your price tags ladies!

Bollywood actress Tabu, who achieved eminence through her roles in experimental and offbeat films like “Astitva” and “The Namesake”, says she would prefer to act in comedies now.

“I have made audiences cry as much as possible. Now I would like to make them laugh,” she said.

She added that she prefers watching comedies too.

Is any director out there listening?

Priyadarshan, a director active in Bollywood as well as South Indian cinema, has denied that he is remaking Tamil blockbuster “Chandramukhi” in Hindi.

Priyadarshan said the Hindi film he is currently directing is “Bhool Bhulaiya” starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan and it is not a remake of the Rajnikant starrer.

He said that “Bhool Bhulaiya”, is in fact, a remake of Malayalam film “Manichitrathazhu” and the remake rights had been bought for Rs.10.5 million.

Shrugging off reports that filming rights of the AbhiAsh wedding were given to a TV channel, Amitabh Bachchan said that no such deal was struck with any media firm for the sale of pictures or filming of “a very private moment”.

“No such rights were given. And even if we were offered such a deal, we’d have rejected it outright. The wedding was a very private moment for our family and close friends,” Amitabh told IANS.

“According to a report, we had sold the filming rights for Rs.50 million to a TV channel. We’ve received a letter from Rajiv Bakshi to whose channel we were reported to have sold the filming rights.

“He (Bakshi) categorically states that the report was completely false. Neither have we promised photographs to any particular publication. The truth is I haven’t got any photographs yet. They’re expected any time now.”

Amitabh is very clear about protecting his family’s privacy. “And if I’m called selfish for that, then yes I’m selfish. I’ll protect and safeguard my family’s interests.

“You can judge me, condemn me and nail me for my professional conduct. But you can’t follow me with cameras into my home. The wedding was a private affair. And I maintain that.”

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai’s wedding has decided a few things in Bollywood. The current status lies like this: The Khans are out of the Bachchan circle. Close friend Hrithik Roshan after the ‘Kissing’ scene in Dhoom-2 is also out of the Bachchan camp, Rani- poor lady is still being nice to friend Abhishek and Preity is everyone’s favorite- also so are Kajol and Ajay. So what do these power houses do after such an open insult? They unite and face their common competitor! And that’s what has happened. The Khans have become the thickest of friends. Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan became friends again with SRK inviting Sallu Bhai and Girlfriend Katrina to KBC and also for the World Cup Finals’ party at SRK’s residence. And guess who joined the biggies? None Other Than Hrithik Roshan!



They sizzled big time at the World Cup Party and it is heard that Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are joining hands for a huge project. So may be Hrithik will also stick to the new found pals. Looks like good competition for the Bhachchans and the Rai Bachchan clan.

Tara Rum Pum is released and gone with the wind! Now the hopes are piled up on Yash Raj Films’ next- Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Let’s see how this movie fares well on the Box Office.



The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Priety Zinta, Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta. The film is directed by Shaad Ali with lyrics by Gulzar and music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. How about the song listing from the movie:

1. Jhoom
Singer : Shankar Mahadevan

2. Ticket To Hollywood
Singer : Neeraj Shridhar & Alisha Chinai

3. JBJ
Singer : Zubeen, Shankar Mahadevan & Sunidhi Chauhan

4. Bol Na Halke Halke
Singer : Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Mahalaxmi Iyer

5. Kiss Of Love
Singer : Vishal Dadlani & Vasundhara Das

6. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Singer : KK, Sukhvinder Singh, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Shankar Mahadevan

7. Jhoom Jam
Singer : Instrumental

Dhoom 2 is always in news and so there is more food for thought for Dhoom 3 which is on cards. We always knew that Dhoom 2 had international standards in terms of action and now we have been proved right. Action sequences in Dhoom 2 have been nominated for the prestigious Taurus Stunt Awards.

Fight Master Alllan Amin who directed the stunt scenes is all excited about the nomination. “I am very proud of the fact that we have won a nomination. It’s a first,” says Amin. Remember Hrithik and Ash’s scene where they jump from the cliff, with actors volunteering for the scene the directed had no qualms about shooting the scene. And it was mind blowing! The makers had also roped in Australian stunt master Vic Armstrong to execute some of the stunts. The Hollywood stunt coordinator is all praise for Hrithik Roshan: “Hrithik is one of the fittest actors I have seen recently and those efforts made the stuff on Dhoom 2 look exceptionally good”. Armstrong has directed Tom Cruise and Pierce Brosnan. Let us hope to win this international award! It sure is going to set new standards for Yash Raj Films and Dhoom 3.

It is the Era of Talent Hunts and Star Voice of India is all set to choose the talent of India but only individual. Here is something for all you bands out there who have formed groups dedicated to music. The hunt is for the best music band and is conducted by our world music genius A.R Rahman and actor-singer Vasundhara Das. As an answer to the all the famous talent hunts that restricted themselves to North of India, this particular talent hunt is exclusive for the bands in South India. Once the hunt becomes popular it will be extended to the whole of India. And both Rahman and Vasundhara Das have reasons for this southern specific bend. “I could say that Chennai is the cultural capital of India, in Carnatic music and so many other things.So being in the South and being launched from here is very important,” says Rahman. “I’ve grown up in Bangalore and I can see what comes out of the city. It’s just huge, the potential. There are so many people and so many different forms of music playing for underground audiences who don’t listen to mainstream music,” adds Vasundhara. So let us see how this talent hunt with a difference, changes the trend. Get ready southerners with your Musical Band, Rahman is on his way.

Ravi Chopra’s Bhootnath, is not just bringing in the two Big Shots of Bollywood but also portraying them is a different character. While Big B plays the role of a friendly Ghost who befriends a Kid, Shahsrukh plays a Navy Officer. Shahrukh was recently on the luxury cruise liner Superstar Libra at Mumbai with Juhi Chawla who plays his wife in the film. Shshrukh was visibly overwhelmed by the mammoth ship and was also mesmerized by its speed. He shot his scenes with co-star Juhi Chawla at a superfast speed and spent rest of the time exploring the gigantic ship. Hmm…sounds interesting! SRK will first time wear a Navy Officer’s attire on screen…sure he would look his fauji best!

The Venue of the Star TV Talent Hunt Star Voice of India has already been declared on the forum at Star TV’s Official Website and therefore we post the information required by our very keen readers. We were waiting for the officials to declare the information and were therefore delayed in letting the details known to our readers. Here are the details:

Kolkata: 29th April
Audition Venue: SWABHUMI 89 C, Maulana Abdul Kalam Avenue, Kolkatta -700054

Mumbai: 4th May
Audition Venue: Bhavans College, Munshi Nagar, Dadabhai Road, Andheri West

Indore: 5th May
Audition Venue: Hotel Fortune Land Mark, Vijaynagar, Indore

Delhi: 11th May
Audition Venue: Shankarlal Hall Delhi University Main Campus

Jaipur: 12th May
Audition Venue: Jai Club, Mahavir Marg, C Scheme, Jaipur

Lucknow: 18th May
Audition Venue: Ravindralaya Auditorium, 4 Baugh, Lucknow

With the release of ‘Spiderman-3′ in Bhojpuri tomorrow, the regional language viewers can now hear Spiderman speak their dialect as it is for the first time that a Hollywood flick has been dubbed in their language.

Kids and school going students who watched the promos of the movie are eagerly waiting to hear their favorite hero delivering lines in Bhojpuri.

”I find it hard to understand the American accent of the earlier series and just try to make out from the actions but this will be a real fun,” said an enthusiastic Lalan Singh.

Ramakant Singh, a school teacher, finds it exciting to see American actors speaking in the language on screen.

”I have already watched the promos on TV and it was very entertaining. People will be amused to see the world famous superstar uttering dialogues in their dialect,” he added.

Bihar and Jharkhand Motion Pictures Association (BIMPA) president Raghuvansh Singh said the movie would promote the language as a lot of Bhojpuri speaking people live abroad, especially in Mauritius.

However, Bhojpuri film producer Yadunandan Mandal felt such initiatives would financially cripple the future of Bhojpuri movies.

The locations, art and culture of Bhojpuri movies are different from those of the Hollywood, he said, adding the dubbing would not attract the audience.

The movie, to be released in UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, was dubbed for Rs three crore, an amount to fund two Bhojpuri films, integrated media and entertainment conglomerate, Percept Picture Company, stated in its website.

It added that as many as 50 to 60 prints of the film would be released.

Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishan, who lent his voice for Toby Maguire’s Spiderman, said it was another way to promote his mother tongue.

Of late Bollywood stars ‘Big B’, Hema Malini, Dilip Kumar and Saira Bano have stepped into the fast-growing Bhojpuri film industry.

With an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore, there are 150 films on the floor.

Apart from English and Bhojpuri, the movie would be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telegu versions.

Bollywood star Sunny Deol today inaugurated a school at Vidyanagar-Vadtal road, 5 km from here, in the district.

Also present with Deol in the inauguration ceremony of ”Zen School” was Minister of Primary Education Bhupendrasinh Lakhawala, Anand MLA Dilip Patel and Sarasa MLA Jaswantsinh Solanki.

The school is built by Zen School Parivar and the parivar already runs a Zen school in Padra. The school here will be having classes from kindergarten to standard 7th with facilities like swimming pool and yoga classes.

When quizzed about the fake encounter issue, Deol said ”We show fake encounters in reel life. Of the real life encounters I know nothing about.” He also talked about his film ‘Big Brother’, which would be come to cinema theatres shortly.

On why he exhibits so much aggressiveness on screen, Deol replied that everyone is interested to seeing action or agressive behaviour and therefore he does it as an actor.

A film comprising his family members is being made and it is titled ‘Apne Apne’, he added.

Noted Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt will preside over the golden jubilee celebration function of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), India, here on May 6.

The function will be held at Birla Matoshri Sabhagruha here from 0930 hrs.

Established in 1957, AA is a voluntary worldwide fellowship of men and women from all walks of life, who meet together to attain and maintain sobriety.

Alcoholism is a progressive incurable illness as recognised by World Health Organisation (WHO), American Medical Association, the British Medical Council and Indian Psychiatric Society. It can be arrested one-day-at-a-time. The AA programme provides the wherewithal for permanent recovery from alcoholism.

Addressing the media here today, a member on condition of anonymity said, ” Alcoholism is a disease of disgrace and denial of which has three aspects: physical, mental and spiritual.” It is a progressive disease where people drink upto a point where they either lose senses, money or alcohol. It is a mental obsession. The condition of the patient is such that ”I buy pain”. The disease makes them lie, lose jobs, they cheat and con people to procure alcohol. The disease makes them bankrupt and makes a ”hole in their soul”.

Psychiatrist Ashish Deshpande said, ” Alcoholism is a disease not a disgrace. We need to take this on a war footing. Our 12 step programme helps alcoholics befriend themselves. There is no known cure for alcoholism but the disease can be arrested with the help of AA.” ” AA is a lifestyle anyone can inculcate. Its philosophy has been referred to and is used such that when a person shares his pain, the listener feels. If he can change, so can I. Our policy is attraction. We help, we do not preach. AA should be given a wider platform,” he added.

Very few know that singer Shankar Mahadevan, who is a part of the terrific trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, is also a part of the fabulous 30-year-old band called Shakti that boasts of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and famed guitarist John McLaughlin.

On his birthday this year, Mahadevan received a most perfect present - his friend McLaughlin gifted him a song called “The voice” and flew to Mumbai to be with him on the special day.

For Mahadevan it’s one of the biggest honours he’s received.

“He flew down especially for my birthday. There are certain people, the minute you meet them, you know they are great and John is one of them,” said Mahadevan.

The duo have been a part of the fusion group for a long time and have performed more than 150 shows all over the world.

“I knew his birthday was approaching and thought of the song,” said McLaughlin. “I write for people I admire and love and Shankar is one of them. To me Shankar is THE voice. I was talking to Zakir Hussain about my desire to get a vocalist for Shakti. He suggested Shankar, who sent me a CD. Three minutes after listening to it, I called him.”

It was a great birthday for a great singer!

A Jaipur court has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Bollywood playback singer Vinod Rathore over the bouncing of a cheque given by him to an educational trust here.

The court, which had summoned Rathore on Feb 28, issued the warrant Monday after the singer failed to turn up.

In 2005, Rathore had taken a loan of Rs.200,000 from one of the trustees of the Kushal education Trust.

“He issued a cheque for this amount but it was not entertained by the bank on the scheduled date due to lack of adequate deposit in the bank,” Rajesh Maharishi, lawyer of the trust, told IANS Tuesday.

“The court now has issued an arrest warrant against him under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act and has fixed Aug 17 as the next date of hearing,” he said.

A person found guilty under the Act can be sentenced to a maximum of two years imprisonment, or a fine that may equal double the payable amount, or both.

Ayushmann, a radio jockey with BIG 92.7 FM, has become the first in his field to win the Young Achievers Award.

The award has been instituted by the Bharat Nirman charitable trust, which honours young achievers in different fields.

Shahnawaz Husain, Lok Sabha member, and eminent musician and Grammy Award winner Vishwa Mohan Bhatt gave away the award Monday at the Siri Fort auditorium.

After receiving the award, Ayushmann said: “It is an honour to be presented with this award. I am proud of the fact that my work has been recognised by such an illustrious body.”

The other categories in which the award was conferred included women and child welfare, education, public relations, social service, entrepreneurship and administration.

A court has directed Bollywood actor Salman Khan to remain present on May 4 in the Metropolitan Magistrate Court here, which is conducting trials into the September 2002 hit-and-run case in which the actor stands accused.

On the last occasion, the trial had to be adjourned as witnesses in the case were not remain present for recording their evidence.

Salman Khan had allegedly rammed his vehicle into a bakery on September 28, 2002 at Pali Hill road, Bandra. One person was killed and four others were injured in the mishap.

Initially, Salman Khan was booked under 304 (a) of the Indian Penal Code for negligent driving.

But, later, the prosecution had moved the court for an alteration of the charges. The charges were, subsequently, modified and the trials into the case had commenced in Metropolitan Court at Bandra.

Rakhi Sawant, known for her raunchy video numbers, has landed in a legal soup for posing in a bathtub against a statue of Lord Buddha in a TV show.

A complaint has been filed against her with the police in Maharashtra’s Amaravati district by a Buddhist group, which said the actress had hurt their religious sentiments. They also burnt her effigy and raised slogans against her.

The case was filed under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code for intending to insult a religion.

Police have not taken any action so far, media reports said.

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, who has been in the news after winning the controversial ‘Big Brother’ reality show in the UK and pecks on her cheeks by Richard Gere, is the most searched person on the internet.

According to a recent ‘yahoo.com’ database, Shilpa leads in the search of her name the world over, preceding names like Angelina Jolie, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Beyonce Knowles, Brad Pitt, Britney Spears, Carmen Electra, Drew Barrymore, Eva Longoria, Halle Berry, Harry Potter, Hilary Duff, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton and Tobey Maguire.

”Though Shilpa is not very net-savvy, she deserves all she’s got and more,” says her spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar. ”She’s always been a trendsetter, but it’s only after ‘Big Brother’ that people’s perceptions have really changed.” It is noteworthy that the actress has also been flooded with thousands of mails ever since she opened her e-mail account shilpashettyonline@gmail.com.

The actress, who debuted opposite Shah Rukh Khan in 1993 in ‘Baazigar’, is at present looking forward to her upcoming releases ‘Metro’ and ‘Apne’.

With “Ta Ra Rum Pum” not releasing at PVRs in Mumbai and Gurgaon, the feud between Bollywood’s biggest production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) and India’s best-known multiplex brand PVR Cinema continues.

The row kicked off when YRF demanded 50 percent share of the first week’s collections for “Dhoom 2″, as against 48 percent that is the norm. PVR did not agree, and refused to screen YRF’s “Dhoom 2″ and “Kabul Express” across the country.

“Discussions are going on between PVR Cinema and YRF but we have reached no conclusive decision. As the exhibitor and the distributor both need each other equally, we hope to reach a conclusion which is fair to both parties,” Ashish Saxena, COO film division, PVR Cinema, told IANS.

Refusing to comment on the issue, the YRF spokesperson said: “We don’t talk about our business arrangements. But whatever deals we finalise are with mutual agreement with the other party.”

Added a source preferring anonymity: “PVR has compromised at some places. It has settled with YRF for a high share of first week collections for ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’ at some places while at others it is low.

“As far as occupancy is concerned, on the first day it was only 60 percent while on weekends it soared up to 80 percent at PVRs across the nation. But it has not touched the houseful mark yet.”

Box Office reports that “Ta Ra Rum Pum”, which is budgeted at Rs.250 million, is the third most expensive film from the Yash Raj banner after “Dhoom 2″ and “Fanaa”, but its performance at the box office hasn’t been very impressive yet.

The opening of the film shocked everybody. However, the film picked up on Saturday and some more on Sunday, but in metros only. Monday showed the normal drop of nearly half the weekend collections.

In Britain, “Ta Ra Rum Pum” received a good opening with weekend collections of $463,507 and in America it was a fair opening with weekend collections of $425,102 at the box office.

However, Saxena finds it “too early” to comment upon the film’s fate because it has not been screened at all PVRs. The tiff had adversely affected the collections of “Dhoom 2″.

“Although the box office collections of ‘Dhoom 2′ were good in both domestic and international markets, as it was not released at PVRs the producers faced losses of a little less than Rs.40 million and PVR too lost up to Rs.30 million. And ‘Kabul Express’ couldn’t find the kind of audience it deserved,” added the source.

Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan who carved a niche for himself by portraying variety of roles in movies ranging from action to comedy, and romantic, is now poised to take his career in a new direction.

The actor, who had tried his hand in production a few years ago, makes his directorial debut with ”U, Me Aur Hum!” which went on the floors this week.

The film, a Devgan Films venture, stars Ajay and his actress wife Kajol in the lead.

Produced and directed by Ajay Devgan, this romantic flick stars Sumeet Raghvan, Karan Khanna and Isha Sharvani along with Ajay and Kajol.

Written by Robin Bhatt, Sutanu Gupta and Akarsh Khurana, the film has dialogues by Ashwani Dheer, music by Vishal Bharadwaj, lyrics by Munna Dhiman and costumes by Anna Singh and Manish Malhotra.

The film was launched at a low-key ”mahurat” attended by the cast and crew, held at Manoranjan Studio, Andheri on April 30 and the first shooting schedule will flag off on a cruise liner on May 5.

The film is slated for a January 2008 release.

Ajay’s last release ”Omkara” and ”Golmaal” did well at the box office. His upcoming films include Rajkumar Santoshi’s ”Halla Bol” where he plays an actor and Ramgopal Varma’s ”Sholay” in which he essays the role of Viru immortalised by Dharmendra in the original directed by Ramesh Sippy.

Ajay has produced ”Raju Chacha” and ”Dil Kya Kare” in which he acted opposite Kajol after their marriage.

”When people ask me why I took up direction, I reply that I have always followed my heart, and this time, I said I need to direct. I am not at all nervous about my first venture and there is no confusion in my mind that this is the right thing for me. I am very excited about ‘U, Me Aur Hum’ and I hope it does well,” Ajay told reporters after the ”mahurat”.

Yaad-e-Naushad, a musical evening to pay tributes to legendary music director Naushad Ali on his first death anniversary, will be held here on May 5.

The musical event, comprising select compositions of the late music maestro, will be held at Shanmukhananda Hall here.

Organised by Hemant Kumar Mahale and his group and Digital Media Incorporation, ”Yaad-e-Naushad” will feature playback singers like Suresh Wadkar, Sudesh Bhosle, Anil Vajpayee, Siddhant Bhosle, Sanjeevni Bhelande and Gauri Kavi.

The orchestra has 50 artistes /musicians with instruments which will have a blend of western and eastern culture. The programme will be conducted by veteran music director and arranger Raees Khan (Pappuji) with Arvind Mukhedkar as script writer.

The concept ‘Yaad-e-Naushad” has been drafted by Mahale. Last year, he had successfully presented a musical event to celebrate the 75th birthday of Shammi Kapoor. He followed it with a musical evening to pay tributes to late music composer O P Nayyar.

”It is a challenging job in present time to organize shows of this magnitude and the audience will surely enjoy every aspect of it,” Mr Mahale told reporters here today.

The ‘ideal husband’ of ‘Kumkum’ fame, Hussain Kuwajerwala and his elegant wife Tina rocked the audience at a city hotel yesterday.

Here in the city to perform at a fashion show organised by AP Jewelleres, the couple made everyone dance to their tune.

Their performances were punctuated by lissome beauties walking the ramp, wearing the exquisite range of jewelleries as well as watches and other accesssories designed by AP Jewellers.

Tina and Hussain performed to the same numbers that had won them accolades from lakhs of fans throughout the country and also the coveted crown of the best celebrity dancing couple at the highly popular TV show “Nach Balliye”.

The show concluded with the display of the bridal collection by the models as the dancers, decked up like a bride and bridegroom, performed to a typical Bollywood-style wedding song.

Apurva Apte couldn’t speak as a child. Now, with 162 stitches in his mouth after a major surgery, he’ll be seen singing his lung off on May 28 on Zee’s “Antakshari”.

“I was born with cuts in my mouth, jaw and upper lips. I was operated when I was one-year-old and had got 162 stitches in my mouth,” Apurva told IANS.

It’s a truly emotional moment for the young man’s family and the other contestants. Before he was born, Apurva’s father wanted him to be a very big singer.

“As I grew I realised my father’s dreams and started practising singing. My father is my biggest inspiration and the only driving force in my life. It hasn’t been easy. But I realised nothing was impossible for me. The two things that kept me going are positive thinking and sportsmanship.”

Apurva never felt handicapped as compared with other contestants.

“Not at all! Since the time I was four, my father had got musical instruments for me to practice singing. But at times I do feel a little nervous when I’m all set to face the world.”

Apurva hopes to become a professional singer.

“My dream will soon come true and I will be a rock star with all the blessings of my father and other family members.”

He says he had fun on the sets of Titan “Antakshari”.

“I got lots of love from Karan Oberoi, Himani Kapoor (the two are hosting the show) and other friends on the sets. It was just like another home where everybody made me feel so special and wanted.”

The Bollywood’s most wanted couple is out at Venice enjoying their Honeymoon. But the wedding has left many others enjoy the knot. ‘Aishwarya Rai’- the name sure comes with a value and the value isn’t any small- it runs into crores. Rai’s entry into the Bachchan Family has made the Bachchan clan worth Rs 700 crore! Wooph…that is a big fat amount…wonder how many zeros are those! And everyone from the Mehndi Walla at Sajot, Rajasthan to people like us sitting and typing about the golden couple are reaping the benefits of their wedding. And ad world is the one going to reap the most as Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan are Brand Ambassadors of quite a handful world famous Brands. Reid & Taylor, Ford Fiesta, L’oreal being a few of them. Big B charges upto Rs 5 crore per ad, followed by Aishwarya who charges Rs 3 crore per ad while Abhishek, who wasn’t far behind, has recently raised his brand value after hits like Mani Ratnam’s ‘Guru’ and ‘Bunty aur Babli’. And the marriage no doubt had many cash registers ringing. With special launches like L’Oreal that first time launched an exclusive Aishwarya Shade collection- Color Riche range, Tender Beige on the 21st of April the profit has been proved right. So people in business- be it any (including media) - should give more blessings to the couple to go ahead and be popular always! Enjoy the Pics too!

Salman had shown guts and had approached a doctor for his receding hairline problem. Recently Sallu Bhai visted Dubai for a second sitting of hair weaving following his last year’s surgery. Well good to hear that the actor instead of being is actually being gutsy about it. But a source of ours has something else to say: “A hair transplant can go awry if one doesn’t meet the post-surgery precautions. In Salman’s case, something went wrong as a result of which he had to shave his head.” Now, Now Sallu you surely don’t want to take risk- especially when girlfriend Katrina is extremely hot. Sure beauty is just skin deep but it might also have deeper effects! And it looks like Sallu bhai is keen to get his dear friend Boney Kapoor into the same weave. Apparently in his next film, by Boney and directed by Prabhu Deva- remake of Telegu film ‘Pokiri’, Salman will be seen sporting a new hairdo.

The father-son duo has been doing great on screen and has also been people’s favorite. This season sees a lot of Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan duo sharing the screen together. You will catch the duo in Apoorva Lakhia’s “Shootout At Lokhandwala” and in YRF’s “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”. Wait there is more…as it is all public that Amitabh Bachchan is going to ask for Tabu’s hand this summer with Balakrishna’a directorial debut “Cheeni Kum”, there is no doubt that the director wants more of this legend and plans to cast the father with his son in his next flick “Pa”. So let’s wait for more of the father-son duo this summer. And hope “Cheeni Kum” is not too sugary to ignore. WE will believe people when she says: “The film is very believable and real. It doesn’t try to explain and show that this is a love story about an old man and young girl. It’s very honest.”

The ‘shehanshah’ of Bollywood seems unwilling to let his magnanimity in Bollywood go very easily. Recently we saw him fretting when the list for the highest tax payers named Hrithik at the top. He said that he paid more tax than Hrithik and claimed the title. Well something that the shahenshah doesn’t understand is that something about being young brings all the attention and in Hrithik’s case it is not just youth but talent also plays a good deal. UTV has big plans for the actor. UTV plans to cast Hrithik and Uma Thurman in its next action pact thriller.

You can almost imagine how well the both would merge- the Kill Bill assassin and the superhero. And hopefully the director would be Vishal Bharadwaj of Omakara fame. Oooh…I can’t wait for the movie for sure!

For those who are wondering how Rani Mukerji managed to get into those short skirts in Siddharth Anand’s just released “Ta Ra Rum Pum”, the actress reveals it all.

“Getting slim, my dear. That’s the magic mantra,” she told IANS while shooting for Pradeep Sarkar’s “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’”.

“The minute I was told about what kind of look I’m supposed to carry off in a major part of ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’, I knew I had to get seriously slim. If I had put on those short skirts looking the way I did earlier, I’d have looked pretty cracked.”

While Rani toned her physique for the skirts, she made her trainer work overtime.

“I made my trainer Satya’s life a living hell. I don’t think he has ever had a more demanding client.”

Besides the slim and svelte look, Rani also had to make sure the clothes went with the transitions in the character’s life.

“See, at first Saif Ali Khan and I play collegians. Then I gradually go on to being the mother of two growing kids. So I had to have a specific before-and-after look.”

“My dress designer Sureeli Goel was driven up the wall by my demands. See, today the character’s look is very important. Not just the heroines, even the heroes devote a lot of time to getting the look right.

“Earlier, I’d constantly have fights about my clothes with Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Now it was Sureeli’s turn to get the brunt of my exacting nature. All three designers feel I’m one of the most quarrelsome heroines they’ve worked with.”

Rani chuckles hard, and then sobers down when Sarkar drops in to brief her for the day’s shooting. They converse in fluent Bengali and obviously have much to share.

Sighs Rani, “I don’t know where all those stories about me squabbling with dada (Sarkar) came from. Probably from people who want to see us fight and cannot bear to find me getting along with my directors.

“Whether it’s Anand, who incidentally was in college with me, or dada, I’m the last person to create any problems.”

Rani will now finish her solo portions in Sarkar’s film and then wait for Abhishek Bachchan to return from his honeymoon in June before shooting with him.

“Almost all of Abhishek’s scenes in ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’ are with me. So, we’ll be shooting together constantly in June. I’m looking forward to that. I’m really happy for Abhishek and Ash. They deserve all the happiness in the world.”

What about love in Rani’s own life?

“I’m not holding my breath for it. Love isn’t something that obeys a timeframe. When it happens, it’ll happen. In a way I’m glad I don’t have a man in my life. It gives me the chance to focus completely on my work. But if and when it happens, I’m not going say no to love just because I’m busy with my career. No way.”

After “Naksha” and “Big Brother”, Sunny Deol’s box office standing isn’t quite in the pink of health. However, his career seems to have got an unexpected boost in the arm, thanks to Shilpa Shetty whose presence in the Deols’ family film “Apne” has made it a source of keen interest worldwide.

The film directed by Anil Sharma stars all the three Deols - Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby.

“To me ‘Apne’ is as precious as ‘Metro’, which opens in May. I had signed Anilji’s film earlier because I loved the idea of being paired with Sunny in a film that stars all the three Deols. If ‘Metro’ comes in May, ‘Apne’ follows in June. So yeah, I’m tense about both releases,” Shilpa told IANS.

When reminded about Sunny and Sharma’s recent track record, Shilpa jumps to their defence.

“Everyone goes through a lean patch. So did I before ‘Big Brother’. Don’t forget Anilji made ‘Gadar’, one of the biggest hits ever. I’m sure ‘Apne’ will be massive.”

Inspired by the all-out international publicity being given to the other Shilpa starrer “Metro”, the producers of “Apne” are planning a huge Shilpa-centric release abroad.

“At home, bringing the three Deols would be considered big news. But overseas, it’s Shilpa who gives ‘Apne’ that extra spin,” said a source.

Isn’t it ironical that a film designed as a vehicle to bring together two generations of the Deols is getting heftier global attention because of its leading lady?

“And why just Shilpa? Even Katrina Kaif is seen as a USP in ‘Apne’ after ‘Namastey London’, which is a big hit abroad,” added the source.

Apparently, with the additional interest the film has invoked overseas, Sharma hopes to make a keen comeback.

“Normally, Sunny’s films are very strong in north India and rather weak overseas. Thanks to Shilpa and ‘Big Brother’ Sharma, who has been going through a crazily lean patch, has found a reason to feel hopeful,” said the source.

If all goes well, the sound of the Indian dhol will rise and swell in the US. Composer Aadesh Shrivastava has teamed up with Grammy award winning Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean for a song and used 60 dhols in the score.

“Wyclef, who has sung with Shakira in ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ has asked me to contribute to his solo album. I’m composing and arranging the strings and rhythms. I’ll be billed the co-producer of his album,” Shrivastava told IANS.

The Wyclef track with Shrivastava is called “Immigration”.

“Things are really moving fast here. I want to introduce the Indian dhol worldwide. I’ve used 60 dhols for Wyclef’s albums, along with as many violins.”

The composer has been stationed in the US for the last three weeks.

“I wasn’t in Mumbai for Abhishek’s (Bachchan) wedding. But Amitji (Amitabh) is like my guru. He sent me his best wishes for my endeavour. We’re bonded by our mutual love for music. I want Amitji to release my album with Wyclef Jean when it is released in October.”

Shrivastava says that Wyclef has worked with a whole host of big American singers.

“Wyclef has worked with the likes of Norah Jones and Shakira. He has also done songs with Michael Jackson including ‘Billy jean’. While I’m partnering him in one track, I’m arranging several other tracks for him.”

To live or to die. That is the dilemma hanging over the protagonist of “Mukhbiir” as the producer wants it one way and the director in another.

The dispute between the Hyderabad’s animation expert Sudish Rambhotla, who is producing the espionage thriller, and director Mani Shankar is over the climax.

“Mukhbiir” is a slick two-hour cerebral espionage thriller about a 19-year-old government informer, played by Sammir Dattani, who changes his identity so often that he finally doesn’t know who he is.

While Sammir dies at the end of the version shot by Shankar, Rambhotla thinks a downbeat ending for a protagonist who goes through untold stress and strife would put audiences off.

“Audiences would want to go home feeling the young boy has finally some hope of happiness in life. That’s why I’d prefer a happy ending,” Rambhotla told IANS.

It is Rambhotla’s first feature film as a producer.

“We shot the film exactly the way I had visualised it. I see no reason to mar my vision at the end,” argued Shankar.

The spy thriller’s hero is game for both the endings.

Sammir said: “The film has shaped up so well, I don’t mind either ending. In fact, we’ve shot both endings and I like both. I love my role in ‘Mukhbiir’. And I’m in every frame. Whether my character lives or dies, I’m in almost every frame of the film.”

“Mukbiir” isn’t the first film to have shot two endings. Raj Kapoor and Mansoor Khan shot two endings for “Bobby” and “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak” respectively. While the former opted for a happy conclusion, the latter chose to end tragically.

More recently Vipul Shah had two endings for “Aankhen” and its two versions were screened in India and internationally.

Ram Gopal Varma went even further. He shot two different versions for Jijy Philips’ directorial debut “My Wife’s Murder” - in one Anil Kapoor had murdered his screen wife Suchitra Krishnamoorthy. In the other he hadn’t. Both were supposed to be released as separate films in separate theatres. Finally, better sense prevailed and Varma went with just one conclusion.

As the release date approaches it remains to be seen which way “Mukhbiir” goes.

“I haven’t played a character who dies at the end. It’s believed that films where heroes die are frequently hits. Cases in point…Rajesh Khanna in ‘Anand’ and ‘Namak Haraam’, Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Deewaar’ and Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Devdas’,” said Sammir.

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BollyNews NETwork
3 May 2007