Salman Khan to do an extended guest appearance in MAMK!

February 3rd, 2009

Mumbai : Salman Khan presents yet another shocker to all the movie buffs and fans waiting for the release of his much-anticipated and controversial flick, ‘Main Aur Mrs Khanna’. News has it that Salman is not the lead actor of the flick and is only doing a guest appearance for his brother’s home production.

‘Main Aur Mrs Khanna’ which was earlier titled ‘Mr And Mrs Khanna’ has been in news for long. To start off - there was the famous Khan spat between Shah Rukh and Salman at Katrina Kaif’s birthday bash because Shah Rukh refused a cameo role in the movie. Since then, cast of the movie has been altered and Salman is rumoured to be just doing a cameo role. Much ado about nothing!

It was reported that Kareena had agreed to the offer because of her amity with Salman, and Preity too had agreed for a cameo for good friend and debutante director Prem Soni. And, Salman agreed to the role for his brother – Sohail Khan.

The Sohail Khan’s production flick might not be in for big bucks but certainly promises to be one helluva entertainer!

Bollywood's Shilpa Shetty buys IPL stake in Rajasthan Royals

February 3rd, 2009

Shetty and her partner, the UK businessman Raj Kundra, have bought a 12 per cent stake in the team captained and coached by Sh ane Warne.

The deal provides evidence the IPL may be weathering the economic downturn after Shetty and Kundra paid $15.4 million for their stake, which values the Rajasthan franchise at around $140million, a significant increase on the $67 million its owners, Emerging Media, paid for it a year ago.

Manoj Badale, the British businessman and owner of Emerging Media, said "The selling of this stake is part of our long-term strategic approach to build the Rajasthan Royals into a global sports brand.

"Our resources are already focused on on-field investment in the key areas of player development infrastructure; international expansion; and to also support continued investment in our playing staff."

Shetty won Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 and is one of Bollywood's leading actors.

Her investment begins a week when the IPL will once take the spotlight with its second player auction due to be held in Goa on Friday where Kevin Pietersen could earn a contract worth up to $2 million.

Shetty's involvement is change of direction for the Royals who were proud of their underdog tag when they won the first IPL. They were the cheapest franchise and opted to build a team under Warne.

At the first IPL auction they shunned the big names, studied stats and decided to pursue lower profile cricketers with a point to prove such as Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir.

Lara Dutta launches her second website

February 3rd, 2009

In an attempt to increase her interaction with fans, Bollywood actress Lara Dutta has launched her second web portal www.mylaradutta.com on February 2. She had launched her first website laraduttaonline.com in Paris last year.

Says the actress, "The website will have all the anecdotes, facts and pictures that my fans always want to check about me."

"For those who don't have net connectivity they can download information about me through mobile", adds the actress.

Lara Dutta also made clear that there is no wedding plans between Dino and her.

"I share a wonderful friendship with him, but there is no wedding happening here. You need to find a partner who supports you emotionally. I am yet to find a person like that.

Nayantara miffed by false news

February 3rd, 2009

Nayanthara denies newpaper reports that she fainted on the sets of her big budget action flick opposite junior NTR in Hyderabad. The reports say that she lost her balance and fainted on the sets, while shooting for an action sequences due to low BP.

The actress clarifies. “It is baseless and I can’t figure out who is behind spreading such false news? I was shooting continuously for my Malayalam film and reached Hyderabad on Sunday evening. I have joined the unit and am perfectly fine”.

Nayan is making a strong comeback to Tollywood after a gap and she will be taking part in the photoshoot of her next Tamil film opposite Surya for producer Udayanidhi Stalin by next week.

Shahid and Priyanka affair - say it isn't so!

February 3rd, 2009

Ah love, how strange it is in life, and how doubly strange it seems in the glamorous, yet insane world of Bollywood!

Is it true that Bollywood stars promote hogwosh regarding their 'off screen' relationship with their co stars to promote their film? Yes it is. Is them being in love, or for that matter, is love in general a must for publicity?

And why this banter? Because a certain film called 'Kaminay' is due for release and the murmurs regarding the film's stars stars Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor are full steam ahead.

15 years ago Billy Crystal asked Meg Ryan in 'When Harry met Sally' if a guy and a girl can never be 'just friends'. And four years ago Saif Ali Khan asked the exact same thing to Rani Mukherji in 'Hum tum'. We keep asking the same question to ourselves. But can Shahid and Priyanka never be friends?

Granted that Kareena dumped Shahid like a hot cake after she realized Saif was her 'soulmate'. Granted that Priyanka dumped Harman Baweja because she grew tired of mirrors cracking every time he looked into them. But really, do Shahid and Priyanka need to be together just to promote 'Kaminay'? They were seen at a hotel checking into a room, then they were spotted dancing wildly at a club packed with onlookers, and then the duo made sure they were loud enough to talk mushy stuff between shoots.

Know that the film is directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, who earlier made the charming 'Blue Umbrella' and the magnificent 'Omkara'. He certainly doesn't need meanigless gossip to promote his films, his name is enough to bring audiences to theaters.

"When I marry the world will know", Katrina Kaif

February 3rd, 2009

Many times news of Katrina getting married to beau Salman Khan erupted but every time, it turned out to be a great joke. Recently when a Marathi daily published another such type of news and making it even stronger by quoting Salman’s father Salim Khan, Katrina reacted strongly and denied any such type of happening and asked the media to clear up the news.

Regarding the rumor, she says, "It's complete rubbish. When I marry the world will know. Right now I've no such plans." Katrina remarked about media frequently making their marriage a breaking news, "That's bound to happen. If you're a public figure and at the end of the day neither of the party is clarifying anything, there's bound to be a lot of speculation and unnecessary comment. But I'm not going to get provoked into giving explanations. Because once they start, they never end."

Katrina had a high expectation from Yuvraaj but everything shattered when the film fail to spell magic and she felt little disheartened as her combination with beau Salman Khan did not work. Currently, she is shooting with Ranbir Kapoor for Rajkumar Santhoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani.

Priyanka creates history in world cinema

February 3rd, 2009

By now it's a known fact that in Ashutosh Gowariker's What's Your Raashee?, Priyanka Chopra plays 12 different characters, each representing a difference star-sign from the horoscope. This makes Priyanka the only actress in the world to play so many characters. The closest that we come to such a massive bodycount for one actor is Sanjeev Kumar in Naya Din Nayi Raat. He played nine different characters.

But what ensued on the sets of Raashee all of last week would count as a unique occurrence in the history of world cinema. Under the choreographic supervision of Raju Khan, Priyanka performed to a song that required her to bring all the 12 characters together in all their varying moods and personalities.

Though Priyanka isn't allowed to speak about it, it was the toughest musical challenge of any actor's career, requiring her to swing from mood to mood at the drop of a beat. Apparently, Priyanka wasn't allowed breaks between shots, as this would have broken the rhythm of the 12 characters as captured in one line of vision.

"Priyanka shot with Raju Khan (who is Saroj Khan's son) for 22 hours at a stretch. At times she couldn't sit or take a breather for hours at a stretch. It was very important to get the continuity right. Otherwise the character's graph would've become lopsided. To dance and emote to a song in 12 different looks and makeup all at once is not an easy thing," reveals a source.

And to think Kareena Kapoor could be doing the song. It's confirmed. The outspoken Kareena says she was indeed supposed to do What's Your Raashee? "Yes it was offered to me and Shahid Kapoor. I'd have loved to do another film with Shahid. But the dates were clashing with Karan's film that Rensil D'Silva is directing with me and Saif."

Kareena also clarifies that her opting out of Raashee had nothing to do with her split with Shahid. "We're professionals, all of us. Even if I'm working in a film with Saif in place of a film with Shahid we're thorough professionals here in Philadelphia. There's no time to party or go out or do any of the fun things. We've been shooting in a tube station in below-freezing temperature and we need to cover as much work as possible in limited time."

Ironically, What's Your Raashee? was offered to Kareena and Shahid just after they split. Now another couple that has broken up is doing the film. But according to onlookers Priyanka and Hurman Baweja are so compatible off and on screen that it's impossible to tell the status of their personal equation.

"They're laughing and joking on the sets even when they aren't facing the camera. In fact, Hurman was there to support her when she did the tough 12-avatar dance act," says a source.