French men go gaga over Bips

February 9th, 2009

Traveling the world is a perk that comes with the job of acting.

And Bipasha Basu is most thankful for that. Of all the cities visited, Bipasha is madly in love with the City of Love, Paris! “I have visited Paris only once, and please note, I wasn’t romantically attached at the time. But the love I received in Paris is something I will never forget. It’s a place every woman should visit, while she’s young,” advises Bipasha.

The best thing about the men there is that they aren’t afraid to express their love, she claims. “They flirt shamelessly, but are always gracious and polite. Men sang songs for me, gave me roses, and made me feel beautiful. I love my memories of Paris,” said the dimpled lass. Hope John has got down to practicing some singing and gathering roses already!

There's always a first time

February 9th, 2009

Tusshar Kapoor’s never thrown a bash, but this time he felt he should celebrate the success of his film with his close friends.

So he hosted a grand bash at his house and it sure was buzzing with a lot of actors from the film industry. From Fardeen and Natasha Khan to Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor to Ameesha Patel and her businesman beau Kanav Puri to Karan Johar to Celina Jaitley to ... Bollywood made its presence felt here indeed.

Malaika Arora Khan, Amrita Rao, Shreyas Talpade, Aarti Chhabria, Sameera Reddy, directors Apoorva Lakhia and Satish Kaushik and society’s Sheetal Mafatlal (what was she doing here we wonder) were also responsible for making this night buzz.

Arshad Warsi and Maria Goretti walked in arm-in-arm (there seemed to be no problem in their marriage).

Amrita Arora who’s all set to tie the knot in a few weeks, was talking about her big day.

Yes, Ekta Kapoor was there too although we have reports that she will be keeping a low-profile for the next few months. However, here, she shook a leg with dear friend KJo.

New Kid on the Block: Mona Singh

February 9th, 2009

She may be new to Bollywood, but Mona Singh is no stranger in front of the camera. The actress, who became India’s sweetheart with her role in the famous telly serial Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, has a versatile career on the small screen.

She has starred in serials, anchored shows and won reality TV competitions. Mona will now cover even more entertainment ground as she gets set to make her debut on the silver screen with Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots.

Mona burst on the scene playing the plain Jane, braces-wearing Jassi on Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi. After that wrapped up, Mona donned her dancing shoes for the dance reality show Jhalak Dikha Laja which she sailed through, defeating Shewta Salve to win the title. The versatile actress then made several guest appearances on shows such as Kandy Floss, where she starred besides Sakshi Tanwar.

She also tried her hand at hosting with the reality show Champion Chaalbaaz 1. Last year, she anchored the newly launched Naya Roop Nayi Zindagi, a takeoff of the American show Extreme Makeover.

Mona went on to participate in yet another dance reality competition, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena, where she was paired with Indian spin bowler Harbhajan Singh. Mona proved she had all the right moves once again and won the contest.

After that, the actress made a cameo appearance as Raunak on NDTV Imagine’s Radha Ki Betiyaan Kuch Kar Dikhayengi. Her most recent television project was the reality show called Arre Deewano Mujhe Phehchano.

The Punjabi actress currently resides in Lokhandwala, Andheri. She is dating TV actor/singer Karan Oberoi, who rose to fame as a member of the music band Band of Boys.

3 Idiots stars Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor. The movie is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone. Mona plays Kareena’s sister in the film, though her character is not part of the novel.

Kat crossing the limit?

February 9th, 2009

Mumbai: Looks like Katrina Kaif is pushing herself to deliver the best. Very recently she did back-to-back shooting schedules which lasted for almost 20 hours.

The actress was shooting for Rajkumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. The shoot got over around 1:30am. After this Katrina rushed to a photo shoot for Prakash Jha's Rajniti at around 2am. She never complained that she was tired and did not insist even once on a break.

Her professionalism seemed to have bowled over the film's unit. A source close to Katrina said: "Recently Katrina shot for Rajkumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani continuously without a break and after completing the shoot she rushed to do a photo session for the movie Rajniti at 2am. People at the photo session were shocked at her stamina for work, as they were wondering whether she would be able to make it after such a hectic schedule."

The insider added: "But finally Kats made it. The outcome of the photo session, one has to wait and watch. The actress was on toes for around 20 hours and no one heard even a word of complaint from her."

When contacted, Katrina's confirmation was short: "Life should be like this. Always busy."

We only hope Kats does not stress herself too much.

SRK to undergo shoulder surgery on February 16

February 9th, 2009

Mumbai: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will undergo surgery for his torn shoulder on February 16.

According to sources close to the Bollywood actor, Khan will be operated at the Breach Candy Hospital in South Mumbai.

This will be the actor's second shoulder surgery. The last time, he was operated in a London hospital.

SRK had hurt himself on the sets of 'Dulha Mil Gaya' in November last year.

Post surgery, his left arm will be in a sling and will require at least two months to be fit leaving Khan out of action for the first half of 2009, they said.

However, the actor will be busy with IPL second season which begins in April and is expected to be fully fit by July-August, sources added.

His home production 'Billu Barber' starring Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta is ready for release on February 13.

"Abhi hamari mehendi ka rang bhi nahi utra tha"- Katrina Kaif

February 9th, 2009

Katrina is calling for justice and goes on to say at an election rally, "Abhi hamari mehendi ka rang bhi nahi utra tha ki use berahmi se ujad diya gaya! " The crowd responds by saying, "Indu behen zindabad."

Well, don't be confused, Katrina has not joined any political party, rather this is for a scene from Prakash Jha's upcoming multistarrer, Rajniti and the venue is the Madhya Pradesh capital, Bhopal.

The shooting of the film is on in full swing and on Sunday, Katrina was shown addressing a political rally from a podium and mouthing the above hard-hitting dialogues. She was later joined on stage by Nana Patekar.

As per out local sources in Bhopal, the shooting commenced early in the morning at 6 am and continued till late in the afternoon.

Amrita, Malaika reveal all

February 8th, 2009

Mumbai: It promises to be the wedding of the season. No wonder then bride-to-be Amrita Arora and the rest of her bridal party have roped in some of the best Indian designers to create outfits for them.

First up, the vintage white gown designed by Ashley Rebello, one of Amrita's closest pals. "She wants a vintage gown, so that's exactly what I'm making for her. A long lace gown, with a high neck, which flairs from the hips. In fact, I'm flying down to Paris on the 10th to buy the lace for the gown which will either be Christian Dior or Karl Lagerfeld," reveals Ashle

The bridesmaids -- Amrita's sister Malaika Khan, best friend Kareena Kapoor and close friend Mallika Bhat -- will be in peach Grecian-inspired gowns. "There will be absolutely no skin show for the church wedding as I certainly don't want any one of them to be shown the door by the priest," laughs Ashley, who is also designing an emerald green and maroon ghagara for Amrita and a chikan pathani for the groom Shakeel Ladakh for the Nikah ceremony.

However, the two sisters haven't just restricted themselves to one designer. Vikram Phadnis is apparently designing some outfits for them for some wedding-related events.

And they also met up with Delhi-based Shantanu & Nikhil and got several outfits made for the different functions. "We've made this very avant garde lehenga for Amrita, which is made of old silk brocade sarees with a wide off-shoulder blouse," informs Nikhil.

The church wedding is on March 4. According to sources, Salman's sister Alvira Agnihotri is hosting the mehendi and sangeet at Salman's residence. The nikaah will be on March 6 as Amrita's would-be husband is a Muslim.

A friend says, "It's a relief that all the functions are being held in Bandra itself." Amrita will not be converting to Islam as nor did big sis Malaika after trying the knot with Arbaaz. The couple are not planning an immediate honeymoon as Amrita will be shooting from March 9. However, later they plan to honeymoon in Paris or LA.

February 8th, 2009

Aishwarya, daughter of actor Prabhu and the granddaughter of the legendary actor Late Sivaji Ganeshan, married Kunal, son of Prabhu’s sister Thenmozhi on 8th February in Chennai.

The marriage reception of Prabhu’s daughter, Aishwarya, was held on February 8th at Rani Meiyammai Hall in Egmore.

Sanjay Dutt’s 200 crore film hit by recession

February 9th, 2009

Bunty Walia had plans to make a film on the battle of Saragarhi with Sanjay Dutt but the ongoing recession has put the Rs. 200 crore budgeted film on hold.

According to our sources, Bunty Walia has plans to make the film but right now the time is just not right to put in something as huge as 200 crore on a film. The industry is facing recession and the film requires a lot of man power and money. “But I don’t want to make any compromises and will definitely make the film with Sanjay Dutt in the lead and also get in 20 other big names. Even the director will remain the same that is Rohit Jugraj. I think it will take me another 6-7 months to go ahead with it. But yes as of now the film plans are on hold.” Walia has stated.

Walia is known to be amongst Dutt’s best pals, further added, “Sanjay Dutt too wants to do this film as he is the co-producer of the film. But right now he is managing his work and also planning his political strategy for his Lok Sabha elections so for the time being things are on hold. The shooting will be in Morocco as it will be the perfect location for the war which took place.”

The battle of Saragarhi was fought in 1897 in the bordering areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan which was back then known as the North West Frontier Province. Dutt was to play the Sikh regiment havaldaar called, Ishar Singh in the film which was to have 20 other main lead actors enacting the roles of 20 brave Sikhs who formed the back bone of the regiment and gave a fight till their death.

Delhi 6’s Masakali is worth Rs. 13,000

February 9th, 2009

Sonam posing with a dove (called Masakali in the film) on her head in Rakeysh Mehra’s Delhi – 6 has been creating a lot of buzz. It is heard that Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra auditioned nearly a hundred pigeons for this particular shot in the movie. But then he ultimately settled for a dove.

Sources inform that “Rakeysh Mehra needed to shoot a song with Sonam with a bird sitting on her head. He had tried pigeons but they used to fly away it was actually music director A.R. Rehman who gave him the idea to use a dove instead of a pigeon because he considered it a symbol of love. Rakeysh Mehra promptly asked for 12 doves on the sets. But ultimately chose this particular dove which came from Assam.” says sources.

“But the director had to shell out rupess 13,000/- per day for the bird in hand. Rakeysh Mehra wanted the scene as he had already scripted it and did not want to compromise on anything for the song” adds our source.

Well Rakeysh Mehra’s efforts definitely seem to be worth it. The song has already become the buzz of the town. The song is also being compared to the scene in Rajshri’s Maine Pyar Kiya where heroine Bhagyashree sings with a dove on her hand.

Akshay’s movie creates record, en route to be biggest Bollywood FLOP ever

February 8th, 2009

Whatever Akshay Kumar does, he does it with style. If he comes up with two huge money spinners in the form of ‘Singh Is Kinng’ and ‘Welcome’, his flops too never fail to make news. Last year it was ‘Tashan’, which in spite of being a failure went on to garner over 30 crores just from India box office. This year it is ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ which dropped miserably after the opening weekend but already has 30 crores in it’s kitty (from India). And yes, it is going to surpass the total of ‘Tashan’!

So what makes the two films special? Well, in spite of not managing to recover the money for their investors, the two films have created records when it comes to being the highest money spinners when it comes to films that have flopped. And we are not just talking about the current times; we are talking about the history of Indian cinema where these two films would find a place by being the only ones that crossed 30 crores milestone at the box office and still were labeled as flops.

Says a film maker who has worked with Akshay but wishes to be unnamed, “That’s the kind of pull that Akshay Kumar generates today. Even his flops make more money than so many other hits. No, let’s not take away from these successful films. After all they may have been made at a nominal cost and sold at a reasonable price considering the kind of star cast involved and budget they have been mounted at. Of course an Akshay Kumar film is costlier due to which both the profits as well as the risk quotient, whichever way the tide turns, is also higher.”

Last year when ‘Tashan’ had flopped, Akshay Kumar could deserve to laugh about it since first and foremost it had Yash Raj Films as the biggest name involved and secondly, it was a multi starrer with the likes of Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. Hence, each of the actors escaped all the flak. However, thing is different for Akshay in case of ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ since the film was completely sold on his name and star power.

“And that’s the reason why the opening was still decent”, says an industry insider, “Now if the movie by itself doesn’t carry much merits then there isn’t much that a star can do. This is why the opening of films like ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ and ‘Tashan’ have to be looked at closely. They tell a lot about the star power, not to forget the box office figures that have created records though not the kind that Akshay would appreciate in longer run.”

Narrating a hypothesis, he adds with tongue firmly in cheek, “If his next film does say 40 crores, he would be happier if that figure is good enough to recover the investment rather than have a 50 crore runner for a movie where 100 crores have been invested. It’s hardly a record that he would love to hold!”

Kites Sold for Rs110 Crore

February 8th, 2009

Even as there's talk of ambitious Bollywood projects being put on hold and superstars slashing their price, here's some welcome news for the industry. Anil Ambani's Big Pictures, has reportedly picked up the marketing and distribution rights for producer Rakesh Roshan's 'Kites' for Rs 110 crore, the largest such deal ever in Bollywood. In addition, Roshan will get a share of profit from overseas rights.

Roshan declined to divulge the exact figure, but industry analysts said it could easily add up to Rs 150 crore. Last year, the rights for 'Ghajini' and 'Singh is Kinng' were sold for Rs 94 crore and Rs 65 crore. So, the rights for 'Kites' alone could fetch almost the combined value of the rights of Bollywood's two biggest blockbusters last year.

Though he refused to comment on the sum, Roshan said the valuation factored in his "goodwill'' and the price of his son, superstar Hrithik. A romantic thriller directed by Anurag Basu, it also stars Mexican actress Barbara Mori and Kangana Ranaut. Blogs and gossip columns have been abuzz with talk of steamy scenes and reports that Rakesh Roshan was asked to leave the sets during some particularly sizzling sequences. The film is likely to be released around Diwali.

Sonam Kapoor to Play Emma in Anil Kapoor's Next Production

February 8th, 2009

Adaptations seem to be the flavour of the season. Anil Kapoor is now adapting Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma, for his next production. And who better to play the spirited and busybody matchmaking heroine than his daughter Sonam Kapoor? In earlier versions of the novel, celebrated actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale and Alicia Silverstone have played Emma, whom Austen describes as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like."

Emma is one of Sonam's favorite novels and it is on her urging that papa Anil decided to finally produce a film for his daughter. Says a source, "Sonam can be the perfect Emma. The film will beautifully capture the sensuous and obstinate side to Sonam's personality."

Revealing more details of Emma, the source adds, "While one of the two heroines is the master of unconventional cinema Abhay Deol, currently being feted for his terrific performance in Dev.D, Sonam's second hero is newcomer Arunoday Singh. Rajshri Ojha will direct the film."

Whether Anil's interpretation of Emma manages to match up to Jane Austen's novel, and its several celebrated screen adaptations, remains to be seen.

ABOUT EMMA

Emmais an 1815 novel by Jane Austen. It is the story of the perils of misconstrued romance.The author uses two themes, namely: the concerns and difficulties of women's lives in Georgian-Regency England; and, a 'comedy of manners' among her characters, each of whom would justify him/herself as behaving according to the highest standards of polite manners. Emma, the heroine manages to bungle all affairs, including her own, by her intrusive enthusiasm and constant matchmaking.

'Derogatory' term 'barber' to be dropped from Shahrukh's flick

February 8th, 2009

New Delhi :After courting controversy days ahead of its release, Shahrukh Khan's latest film 'Billu Barber' will see the term 'barber' dropped from its hoardings and posters across the country following objections from an association of hairdressers, terming it "derogatory".
The actor-producer, who spoke to representatives of the Salon and Beauty Parlors Association over the issue, today said his production house Red Chillies Entertainment will ensure that the term 'barber' is removed from all hoardings.

"We will put a piece of paper on the word barber wherever it can be done in India. We will send teams," Khan said.

"Posters and hoardings belong to the production, which is Red Chillies. It is a little expensive to try to change the posters, so, that we couldn't have done," he told CNN IBN.

The association had earlier objected to the title of the film, terming the use of the word 'barber' "objectionable and derogatory".

The association President Uday Takke had reportedly threatened to take to streets if the film, that is set to hit theatres next Friday, was released with some objectionable content.

Khan, who has a cameo in the Irrfan Khan-starrer, said though his company stood by the fact that there is nothing wrong with the use of the word 'barber', they did not want to offend anybody.