Payal’s time to sizzle 
Friday April 30, 2004

Just when we wondered why Payal Rohatgi hasn’t figured in an item number yet, the news of her item number in Sameer Karnik’s film came about. Things, however, didn’t fall in place with that project but Payal’s fans fear not! She’s doing her first ever item number in the Akshay Kumar–Raveena Tandon starrer Police Force. You’d expect the glamour gal to make an appearance in jhatak western outfits, but you’d be surprised to know that Payal is also sporting an Indian look in the song. Kya baat hai! And she had to put in a lot of hard work for this song. with choreographer Ganesh Acharya. We hear she spent 8 hours daily for three days. Well, this is one item, Oops, item number, worth waiting for. 

Bipasha is showing everyone the finger!
Friday April 30, 2004

Wakaau! If you’ve seen the recent vanilla cola ad, you’ll know what we’re talking about. The muchtalked about commercial has Vivek Oberoi with an Elvis-style ducktail hair, doing a spoof on old film numbers by the likes of Jumping Jack Jeetendra, eternal lover boy Rishi Kapoor and even Amitabh’s ‘lightbulb’ Yaraana dance. Now we hear Bipasha too, has been roped in for a cola commercial which will hit the screens soon. In fact, we caught the actress shooting for the ad on Election Day at Mukesh Mills. We won’t reveal what the ad is about, but we’ll disclose something else: The conscientious actress had already cast her vote early in the day – we caught sight of the black dot on her finger. Of course, she’s been showing everyone the finger ever since. Naughty Bips! 

No lambaa wait 
Thursday April 29, 2004

This is called pursuing dreams diligently. Raman Lamba may still be hot on the fashion circuit, but he has plans to make it big in films. After his brief appearance in Mohabattein, and a role in his wife Shona Urvashi’s debut Chupke Se, Raman now wants to singlemindedly focus on movies. So he has hired an international agency, Curtis Brown, to further his career in the international market. “People feel I got good opportunities in international modelling, but my heart and mind is set on films”, he says. Raman is going to UK in June and will be staying back for a month. “Let me see what they put me to. There are lot of opportunities in theatre, movies and modelling”, he says. If everything works out as planned, Raman may move his base to UK. 

‘Madam, I’m Adam’ 
Thursday April 29, 2004

Hello, kaun hai?” the ladies are asking already. And the young model-turned-actor is itching to reply, “Madam, I’m Adam.” It’s the smooth and witty Adam Bedi, the young son of Kabir Bedi, who’s now set to follow dad’s giant steps in the acting arena – ready ‘for battle’, as he puts it. “Dad gives me tips all the time. He’s a wonderful resource to have around. He makes sure that I am prepared for what I am getting into. And then with much guidance, tips and advice, points me into battle and says, ‘Go!’,” says an enthusiastic Adam. The blue-eyed boy will make his acting debut in Charas, in which he plays a phirang. Not surprising, for with light eyes, fair skin, brown hair and a heavy American accent, Adam is far from the conventional Hindi film hero. “I am working on that. I’ve been learning the Hindi language,” he says. 

Neha won’t take sleaze lying down 
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

It’s a rare event in Bollywood when a hot babe has to feel the heat herself and poor Neha Dhupia is going 
through the exact predicament. The problem with Neha at the moment is that no one bothers to pay any attention to her, with or without the bikini. 
When she took off her skimpy garment to show her immaculate ‘back’ for Deepak Shivdasani’s Julie, she thought that she’ll be inundated with the offers. But nothing of that sort happened and Neha found herself entangled in her own trap. 
We hear that she woke up one fine morning to find out that C-grade filmmakers were the only ones who would consider her for their sleazy adult quickies. That was enough to wake her up from slumber and Neha decided to make some changes before these filth offers went galore. 
The first one to taste the axe due to her newly found scruples was Anant Mahadevan, who signed her for his film, Aayenga Aanewala. “Now, I only want challenging roles for the future,” declares Neha. 

You choose some, you lose some...  
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

MALLIKA Sherawat has refused Mahesh Bhatt’s new project. ‘‘Yes, I am not doing Mahesh Bhatt’s Zeher because I did not like the script. Mr Mahesh Bhatt was fine with my decision,’’ she says. Also, there’s a buzz that she has been signed on for Jhamu Sugandh’s film and that he has given her full freedom to even select the script! But Mallika says, ‘‘It’s too early to give any comments on Sugandh’s film.’’ 

Friends are forever  
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

KAREENA Kapoor and Fardeen Khan became great buddies while shooting for Khushi. So much so, that she gets the credit for Fardeen being a part of Dev. And she proudly tells us, ‘‘When they narrated the script to me, they hadn’t cast the actor as yet. I thought Fardeen would fit the bill to the T so I suggested his name.’’ And the rest is trade history. Obviously, the duo shares a fantastic relationship even off-screen. ‘‘The two have so much fun on the sets. They keep pulling each other’s leg and are always up to something or the other,’’ says director Govind Nihalani, who was more than happy to have such a khushi ambience on the sets of Dev. 

Saif is a ‘seriously’ funny boy 
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Comedy is no laughing matter. And Saif sure subscribes to that notion. The actor’s hugely successful stint at comedy in Kal Ho Na Ho has his fans expecting more funny stuff from the forthcoming Hum Tum as well — especially since he’s a pro at it. But Saif thinks otherwise. “For me, doing comedy is not about laughing at all. I’d just be nervous then. Because as long as we have the moment in the spotlight, it’s okay to laugh. It’s not really funny on the sets. You’re hoping it will be, you see, but I’m not arrogant enough to crack up at my own jokes. The joke is made on the sets and then the audience reacts, so you don’t really know how it went down until then.” And you thought shooting funny scenes was a laugh riot all the way? Incidentally, in Hum Tum, Saif plays a cartoonist working for the Times of India and as part of the promotion with the Group, there is actually a comic strip titled Hum Tum in the metro sections of the newspaper. In that, Saif does look like, well … a cartoon! 

Mad at Mallika
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Emraan Hashmi is hopping mad. The leading lad from Murder hasn’t been able to keep his anger under wraps after last Friday. The reason? His co-star Mallika Sherawat! “At a party to celebrate the success of the film last week, Mallika kept claiming to everybody around that the movie was a success only because of her. Now I’ve been laughing away all her tantrums earlier, but this is the limit. We’ve all worked hard on the project and one person can’t take the credit. That’s when I decided, enough was enough. Mallika Sherawat doesn’t deserve my patience any more.” Emraan’s anger may be understandable, but knowing Mallika, we’re sure she’s going to have some spicy repartee to this one too! 

Abhishek in a hush-hush item song
Saturday, April 24, 2004

On Tuesday Abhishek Bachchan flew off to Singapore to dance to Vaibhavi Merchant’s item number in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Rakht. The number has been in the pipeline for two months now, with Abhishek choosing to remain tighlipped about his first-ever item song. 

"I’m not allowed to speak about," he maintained till he flew off. But not it can be told. The hush-hush song is actually the international rage ‘One Love’ by the group Blues. 

Revealing the details the Rakht producer Suniel Shetty says, "We’re doing a Hindi-English version of the song. We’ve taken permission to use the song, nothing unofficial about it. Because it’s an international hit I couldn’t think of anyone else but that baby of mine. It’s a beautiful song and people will drool over it when they see Abhishek performing to it." "According to me he’s the most happening youngster of this country. The track is all about style attitude and being cool. I could only see him do the song, that’s why I approached him. I told him to hear the song and he fell for it. Now it’s also Jayaji’s favourite song. Abhishek tells me she listens to it more than he does," adds Suniel. 

Incidentally the Suniel Shetty-Abhishek Bachchan mutual fan club has been thriving for a while. If Shetty thinks Bachchan is his `bachcha`, Abhishek reciprocates the compliment by calling him ‘Anna’. Very conscious of his dancing skills, he agreed to do the item song in Rakht only because he couldn’t say no to Anna. 

‘One Love’ would be the second recent international chartbuster to have been legitimately acquired by a Hindi filmmaker and suitably Indianised. Earlier on, Karan Johar took legal consent and paid copyright compensation to use Roy Orbison’s ‘Pretty Woman’ in Kal Ho Naa Ho. Apparently the days of R.D.Burman, Bappi Lahiri and Anu Malik’s unauthorized adapations of international pop hits are nearing an end. 

"They ought to," asserts Suniel Shetty. "Creative vandalism isn’t a decent option. It was very difficult to acquire the rights for ‘One Love’. We approached through Virgin Records. I guess Blues wanted the ‘One Love’ mantra to spread all over the world. They realize the reach of Indian cinema. I got the opportunity and I grabbed it. Sixty percent of the song is the original. 
Shaan sang the Hindi bits. I know the song will be a rage. And Abhishek is the icing on the cake." 

Ironically even while a song in Rakht is being legitimately adapted the film is an unauthorised remake of Sam Raimi’s 2000 drama The Gift with Bipasha Basu cast as a psychic and Dino Morea as a wife-beater. 

Sushmita is Sen-sual in `Main Hoon Na`
Friday, April 23, 2004

Oh! Sushmita Sen is turning hotter by the day. 

She already has given you a reason to go back to school with her ethereal look in light chiffon saris and free-flowing hair in Main Hoon Na. 

And after grabbing the viewers' attention with her frantic pelvic thrusts in the qawalli track Tumse Milke Dil Ka in Main Hoon Na, she will now take your breath away with another sizzling dance number Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha in the film. 

She recently shot for the dance number and looked too sexy in her outfits and styling designed by Manish Malhotra (see picture). If all teachers were as appealing as Miss Chandni Chopra, who would want to bunk classes! 

Laila won’t go nude
Friday, April 23, 2004

Footballers’ Wives star Laila Rouass won’t be stripping in the raunchy ITV drama. The 28-year , plays Amber Gates, has signed up for another series but insisted on a no nudity clause. 
A source said, ‘‘Laila is not daft and realises the producers will need to make the next series even more sexy than the last. The sex scenes would have got more and more wild and she is one of the main characters. She told the bosses she wouldn’t go nude or topless.’’ This not all that’s happening in the life of ex-VJ. Her role in Footballers’ Wives has brought her accolades to an extent that even Hollywood has shown interest. But, her co-star in the series, Gary Lucy, has decided not to sign for a new series. The 22-year-old actor says he wants to pursue ‘‘more serious roles’’. 

Phir Milenge, promises Shilpa
Friday, April 23, 2004

She is the original item girl who twirled fabulously to UP-Bihar lootne much before Khallas happened. But now Shilpa Shetty has her eyes set firmly on another tag: that of an actress worthy of critical acclaim. 
The lissome lass is currently working on a film titled Phir Milenge which stars Abhishek Bachchan and Salman Khan and is being directed by Revathi. ‘‘I agreed to be a part of the film the minute I heard the script,’’ reveals Shetty who describes the movie as ‘‘very emotional, very realistic.’’ It reportedly revolves around the plight of an AIDS victim though Shetty side-steps the issue by saying, ‘‘it has a message. The film speaks about so much more.’’ 
So what prompted her to take on a film helmed by a woman director and how was it working with Revathi, herself an actress? ‘‘She is very accomplished and brings out the best in her actors. As for working in the film, the minute I heard the script, I was determined to be a part of it. It is a very challenging role.’’ Apart from that, Shilpa will also be seen in Puneet Issar’s cop drama, Garv which sees her pairing with Salman Khan once again. 
From Baazigar to Dhadkan it has been a long journey for Shilpa. Recently she went to Pakistan for a show and the response she got there has her bubbling with excitement. ‘‘I’m so very happy,’’ she gushed adding, ‘‘visiting Pakistan was something I’ve always wanted, I had heard so much about the Pakistanis. And really, this experience has been beyond my wildest expectations. The people here are very warm-hearted, and the women very, very beautiful.’’ 
She spoke for the industry while she was there. ‘‘Bollywood has never produced any movie to intentionally hurt Pakistanis. If unintentionally, we have hurt your sentiments, on behalf of the Indian film fraternity, I apologise to everyone today. Never has it been our intention, not in the past nor in future,’’ she told the audience there. 
Shilpa also recalls the impromptu moment onstage during her performance when she kissed the Pakistani flag. ‘‘It was not planned nor choreographed,’’ she said. She stressed on the fact that whenever tensions rose between the two countries, artists from both sides of the border tried to ignite and develop love and affection between the masses. ‘‘We are working to bring people together,’’ she said. 

No entry, no competition 
Friday, April 23, 2004

Confidence, thy name is Bipasha. The Bengali bombshell is one actress who is so sure of herself that she doesn’t blink twice. Not even when the competitor is as sizzling 
a siren as the gorgeous Lara Dutta. Parallels were drawn between the two dusky beauties when Lara also did some hot numbers. But Bipasha more than welcomed her “friend” into the arena of competing bombshells. When we asked Bips if she considered Lara “competition”, she was as chilled out as a cucumber. “I don’t believe in competing,” said Bipasha. “I definitely think Lara is very, very talented. She’s beautiful and her personality is immense. But I don’t believe in competition.” Maybe not now honeys, but with their “together” film No Entry 
around the corner, we guess the tug-of-war, however invisible, should begin. Again the Jism hottie elaborates, “I’ve known Lara for a very long time; because I’ve known Kelly. We’ve known each other for five years. For a while we were so busy, we couldn’t even keep in touch. But after a long time it’s good to work together!” 

NEW LOOK DUDE 
Thursday, April 22, 2004

Aditya Bal’s gone home to Delhi, but not for a holiday. “It’s work that beckons me. It’s for the Fashion Week.” But this is a point in his life where he’s facing the fork in the road. After modelling professionally for six years, the man is seriously steering his career towards acting. And if one wants to take him seriously, just check out his new pics. These are only test shots he’s got done with a photographer named Hyder Khan. According to him, he’s been getting offers but he’s also being wary about being sure about being cast in the right mould. “Of course, I also know that I can’t be too choosy as of now.” But he knows one thing, “I’m not sure if I fit the chocolate boy looks.” So once he’s back in good ‘ol Mumbai, he’s going to be honing his acting skills and putting himself out there to be discovered. He also gets candid about uncle Rohit. “When the time is right, I’d appreciate his assistance. So far, I haven’t asked him.” We’re sure it’ll all work out, Aditya

Dressed to kill   
Monday, April 19, 2004

It was a perfect sight to see after a long time. Neha Dhupia, looking slim, trim and svelte. And to compliment her new-found figure, she was dressed to kill in a black sleeveless outfit and stilettoes, looking demure. Remember her bikini romp in a flick some time ago ala Andress? Her ample figure then had garnered the kind of attention that seemed more avoidable than complimentary. And when she was spotted the other day looking as such, the bouncer at the entrance of the discotheque really did not recognise her! He kept her waiting for some time before finally letting her in with her family and friends who had accompanied her. A welcome case of mistaken identity, eh Neha. 
    

Shah Rukh’s space sojourn at NASA  
Monday, April 19, 2004

Either Shah Rukh Khan is far too dedicated to other producers (over and above his home productions) or simply that he is far too confident of the up and coming ‘Main Hoon Na’. The Farah Khan directed college caper is up for release on 30th of April, but guess what? SRK is not going to be in town for the release. He is away in the US of A for a ‘top secret’ project. We say top secret simply because the shooting will be in the high security areas of NASA. Where King Khan will film important scenes for Ashutosh Gowarikar’s ‘Swades’. We thought NASA reaches out to space. This is one time the biggest stars of the firmament are landing at NASA. Now you know why all SRK fans look so ‘spaced’ after they met their idol? Shhhh! That’s why it is top secret! 
    

Kim’s ‘butterfly’ butt… tut tut! 
Monday, April 19, 2004

The gorgeous Kim Sharma has something new to boast of --and we’re not talking about Nehle Pe Dehla, the film she is shooting for currently. We hear that she’s gone and got herself a tattoo on her lower back, just above her ‘butt’. Of course, when we ‘probed’ about what the tattoo design was exactly, she coquettishly refused to divulge the details. Later, though, she revealed that it was an insignia of a butterfly. What about a pic of the tattoo, we enquired? “No, way,” she replied. “It’s too low… just above my bum, and there’s no way I’m going to let you photograph it.” What a bummer. Tut, tut, if we may say so, with a stiff upper butt, oops, we meant lip! 
    

FROM MODEL TOWN TO TINSEL TOWN
Monday, April 19, 2004

We’ve been hearing that they intend to digress from the ramp and onto the acting platform. Well, it has happened at last. The sexy models, Nethra Raghuraman and Jesse Randhawa, who ruled the fashion world, will now strip off the haute couture to don Bollywood costumes. We have a host of models-turnedactors trying their hands at the world’s oldest and perhaps most lucrative profession - acting. Though the hot bods usually begin their stints with item numbers, Nethra and Jesse seem to have landed better deals, with the former playing a cop and the latter doing the role of a journalist in the Sanjay Thakur produced and Nabhkumar Raju directed film, Chot. Let’s hope these perfect-ten figurines manage to make a perfect 10 film, without causing any chot to the box office!    

Cannes she find the Perfect Husband? 
Monday, April 19, 2004

If you are The Perfect Husband, its gotta go to Cannes. After Monsoon Wedding and Devdas placed Indian cinema on the global platform of the Cannes film festival in 2001 and 2002 respectively, it is 
Prriya Singh Paul’s Neha Dubey starrer The Perfect Husband that will do the country proud and complete the hattrick. ‘‘The global appeal of my film is enhanced because it exposes the hypocrisy in the match-making marriage rituals in India, seen through the eyes of a white character (played by British actor William Randall),’’ says Paul.   

Trash those rumours
Monday, April 19, 2004

A FEW days ago, there were rumours that Netanya Singh spent the night over with a special someone at a suburban five-star hotel after a party. There was a whole lotta speculation as to who the boyfriend in question might’ve been. But Netanya laughs the whole thing off. “Yes I did stay over — but I was not with any boyfriend! I was with Moon Moon Sen, who is my friend Riya’s mom, as we had to take a flight to Kolkata the next day! Imagine all that gossip’s over nothing!” So there you have it, straight from the source. And guys, get this, she’s currently single and doesn’t mind waiting for the right man before she settles down.” It's been quite some time that I have been staying in this city and I haven’t really been able to find a nice guy. Well, if I find one, I will surely get married,” she says. Are all the hunks listening? "  

Actress refuses Jackie's 'blessings'
Saturday, April 17, 2004

It certainly wasn't a boon in disguise. Asked to seek veteran actor Jackie Shroff's 'blessings' for her role in Ashok Tyagi's film, Fllora Saini simply put her foot down. 

Tyagi is currently directing a film based on the life and death of Indian Express journalist Shivani Bhatnagar who was sensationally murdered inside her own home. The project has turned into a Russian Roulette with leading ladies coming in and being thrown out almost at random. First it was the sultry Suman Ranganathan who was shown the door. Newcomer Shruti Sharma replaced her. That too didn't last for long. Fllora, who starred in the imminently forgettable 'Love in Nepal' opposite Sonu Nigam was offered Shrama's role after she left. But it just wasn't meant to be. Quite inexplicably Ranganathan, the original choice, was reinstated and Saini found herself out in the cold. 

While the other actresses are keeping mum about the bizarre chain of events, the former Miss Kolkata hints at something more sinister than meets the eye. "I have come here to learn acting and not to earn anyone's blessings. I was surprised when I was told to approach Jackie Shroff, the film's leading man, to bless me. Quite honestly I didn't understand what it meant. Neither did I want the meaning to be explained to me. I know what a 'blessing' can imply in Bollywood parlance and I wasn't interested. This is not the first time it's happened to me. In fact it's a suggestion that's been made to a number of other actresses and only those who agree to be 'blessed' eventually get the roles," she claims. Saini, who has worked in at least 12 Telegu films before making her way to Mumbai, refuses to elaborate further. 

Tyagi however pleads innocence. There was no hidden agenda, he insists. According to him: "I certainly didn't mean anything like what she seems to think. Jackie is the film's hero and I just wanted that Fllora should sit with him and discuss her role in-depth. Nothing more than that was required."  

Sush takes prostitute’s role rejected by Bipasha and Preity
Saturday, April 17, 2004

Sushmita Sen will be seen playing a prostitute's role that was spurned by sultry Bipasha Basu and chirpy Preity Zinta .

Lazmi had to approach many actresses to play the role of a prostitute in her next movie before she could finally sign one. The film titled, ‘ The Prostitute and The Postman ’, is based upon the relationship between a sex worker and a postman, to be played by Karan Nath . 

To play prostitute in the movie, Lazmi first approached Bipasha Basu who showed a little interest in the project but did not give any final word to Lazmi. After that, the director approached Preity Zinta for the role but the feisty showed no enthusiasm to be a part of Lazmi’s skimpy budget project.

A dejected Lazmi then approached Sushmita Sen for the role and the lissome actress consented to it. Interestingly, the movie hardly contains any intimate moments between the prostitute and the postman. 

‘The Prostitute and the Postman’ has an estimated budget of Rs 2.5 crore project, and it is inspired from a real story based on concept by Bhupen Hazarika.

The film will be shot in and around Dehra Dun in a single schedule of 45 days starting January 2005. 

Prabhu Deva strikes back
Saturday, April 17, 2004

Once termed as the Michael Jackson of India, the south dancing sensation Prabhu Deva is back in news. 

His recent choreographed dance number “Main Aisa Kyun Hoon” for Hrithik Roshan in the upcoming film "Lakshya" is making waves on the small screen. 

In fact on a recent occasion when Hrithik was asked as to what does he have to say about Prabhu Deva who was tagged as the man without bones, an exhilarated Hrithik replied, “The wonder is that he really does have bones”! 

The last time that Deva choreographed a Hindi song was in "Khushi" (2003) where Kareena Kapoor and Fardeen Khan danced around in the “Hai Re Hai Re” song and amused in their various weird getups. 

And that's not all! Prabhu Deva will even make an appearance in a dance number in the upcoming children film "Abra Ka Dabra". This time the song will be choreographed by Ganesh Acharya amongst a group of children. 

And considering that the film has a lot of special effects and made in the 3-D Plus format, Deva's special appearance indeed appears to be special. The last time that Deva made a special appearance in a Hindi track was in the “Dumroo Baje Re” from "Shakti" (2002). 

SAIF PLAYS BANGALEE BABU
Thursday, April 14, 2004

Finally Saif Ali Khan will play a Bangalee babu character in debutant director Pradip Sarkar's film 'Parineeta'. Based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name, this film was earlier made by Bimal Roy with Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar in 1953. Director Pradip Sarkar has been an assistant to Vidhu Vinod Chopra for several years. The film will be produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It also seems that Chota Nawab is excited about his next venture. “Yeah.. finally I get a chance to play a Bengali character. My mother would be really happy,” he said. Incidentally his sister Soha Ali Khan has already completed the shooting of her maiden Bengali venture 'Srikanto' (written by Sarat Chandra) in Kolkata. Not known to many, 
that Sanjay Leela Bhansali had approached Saif Ali Khan for Chunnilal's character in 'Devdas'. But he had refused the offer. Currently Saif is waiting for the release of Kunal Kohli's 'Hum Tum'. 

ASH’S LIP-LOCK ACT WITH...
Wednesday, April 13, 2004

Well, here is some real hot stuff! According to the grapevine, paragon of beauty and noted actress Aishwarya Rai finally agreed to do a smooching scene for Sameer Karnik’s film ‘Kyon Ho Gaya Na?’ The buzz is around that Ash had a kissing scene with her co-actor Vivek Oberoi. The insiders informed that, “Both Ash and Vivek insisted on ‘that’ particular shot. They had a fantastic body chemistry while the shot was canned.” Initially Ms. Rai had refused to smooch or expose (unnecessarily) on screen. She had even refused to kiss her co-actor Prosenjit Chatterjee in Rituparno Ghosh’s Bengali film ‘Chokher Bali’. Even her international agents had earlier reported that Ms Rai didn’t sign certain Hollywood project, as they demanded revealing scenes. Slightly confusing, but never mind, as they say everything is fair in love n war! Kyon... ho gaya na!! 

Arjun’s gentleman act
Wednesday, April 13, 2004

Unlike other Bollywood actors, Arjun Rampal has a dignity and prefers to maintain that at any cost. Currently the actor went to Singapore for the shooting of Vashu Bhagnani’s ‘Vaada’. He brought his wife Mehr, daughter Mahika and his mother with him, but the smart actor didn’t wait for the producer to foot the bill of their tickets and accommodation. He paid for their travel expenses even before Vashu could approach him. This comes quite in contrast to what Vashu’s ‘once upon a time’ favorite hero Govinda used to do. Govinda who played the lead roles in Vashu’s ‘Coolie No. 1’, ‘Hero No. 1’ and ‘Bade Miya Chote Miyan’ used to have an entourage of eight to ten people. Their tickets and lodging used to all be taken care by Vashu. Arjun’s behaviour therefore surprised the producer. Well that’s a lesson that every actor should learn from Mr. Rampal! 

Bole to, why so few comedies?
Tuesday, April 12, 2004

Laughter, they say is the best medicine but not in Bollywood’s pharmacy, which prescribes it in unusually small doses. A rare Munnabhai MBBS apart, the main course of Mumbai masala has always been love stories ‘with a difference’ and action-thrillers ‘with a twist’. 
Unlike Hollywood which never fights shy of comedy as a genre, Bollywood considers it an unsafe proposition. Does the Indian audience actually prefer tears to guffaws? ‘‘The Indian audience likes his film to be wholesome and varied: An amalgamation of several factors, of which comedy is just one. A comic film will always find the going tough as opposed to an action thriller,’’says Masti producer Ashok Thakeria. 
Not only this, the Indian viewer also has a different sense of humour from centre to centre. Says distributor Sanjay Mehta: ‘‘The concept of comedy is different from person to person. In the interiors, slapstick and over-the-top humour rules while the city audience prefers subtlety,’’ he says. That is why, while Hera Pheri works wonders in the cities, smaller towns prefer films like Coolie No. 1 and Hero No. 1. There were just two film makers who managed to cross the laugh-divide, feel trade experts. ‘‘David Dhawan was able to appeal to a disparate audience which helped make his films big city hits too.’’ says Mehta. Earlier, it was the Manmohan Desai-Amitabh Bachchan combine which made ‘‘comedy a hero’s act too.’’ 
The absence of right kind of actors also has contributed to the paucity of comedy films. ‘‘For a comic film one needs actors who can grasp the situation and have excellent timing,’’ says David Dhawan. His pick: Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Govinda and Boman Irani. 
The success of  M u n n a b h a i MBBS and the so-so success of Masti coupled with the failure of formula films to strike gold has prompted a rethink on the genre’s viability. Masti director Indra Kumar feels ‘‘it’s time to experiment and take risks.’’ Why? ‘‘Because with stress increasing in their d ay - t o - d ay life, people have begun to prefer escapist fare. And comedy fits the bill.’’ 
The fate of ventures like Masti, Shaadi Ka Ladoo, Mujhse Shaadi Karoge and No Entry will decide whether yet another attempt by Bollywood at comedy, tickles the funny bone or not. 

Classic Comic Capers 
Chalti Ka Naam Gadi 
Chupke Chupke 
Gol Maal 
Angoor 
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron 
Amar Akbar Anthony 
Coolie No . 1 
Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan 
Hera Pheri 
Munnabhai MBBS 

An image make-over! 
Tuesday, April 12, 2004

Post marriage, Raveena Tandon wants to get over her image of a mast mast girl. She is looking for more mature roles; perhaps that’s why she’s making her debut on the small screen with Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam. When asked if she thinks married actresses have little scope in Bollywood, her reply was, ‘‘It’s all in the male psyche. When they see you in mangal sutra and sindoor, the feelings aroused are very maternal. Something like bhabi. Men don’t like to fantasies about married actresses. Its deeprooted in our culture. I also feel that after a point, actresses should accept things gracefully.’’ So its time for a make-over for her!  

Taxmen target brand bigwigs
Tuesday, April 12, 2004

SHAH Rukh Khan has paid Rs 40 lakh while Aishwarya Rai has forked out Rs 22 lakh. No, one isn’t talking about the 30 per cent income-tax that the stars (presumably) cough up on their total earnings, but the eight per cent earned through brand 
promotions, in other words, service tax. Following a clarification from the Union ministry of finance on July 1, 2003 which stated that stars endorsing products came under the category of ‘business auxiliary services’, Bollywood’s bigwigs have been under the taxman’s scanner. The central excise officials who collect the levy on behalf of the directorate of service tax are furiously penning letters to all the film stars they see in advertisements. 

Knot now, darling
Tuesday, April 12, 2004

Raj Kaushal and Mandira Bedi have a light-hearted banter over their film, Shaadi Ka Laddoo  
It's very rightly said that since you are going to be damned either way --get married or remain unmarried -- why not to get married and be damned? "That's what I have maintained in my film," says Raj Kaushal, director of Shaadi Ka Laddoo. 
In that case, does Mandira Bedi, his actresswife nurtures any regrets post-marriage? “Very slight, ignorable,” a glowing Mandira mock complains. “Do you know it has taken him eight long years to make a film with me. We have been together three years before and five years after our shaadi!" Raj justifies the delay, saying, “I had to have a role for her that could get her out of her Shanti's crusader image and Kyon Ki's negative image. I wanted to present her the way she is in real life." Mandira cuts in to affirm, “Yes, indeed. I am today's woman, assured and confident of herself, knows what she wants. She is a buddy for whom one of her friend is even willing to sacrifice his marriage!” 
Was it the first time romance for both? “No!” Mandira's honesty touches you. “It's the second time for both of us. But it wasn't a relationship on rebound as enough time had passed in the meanwhile. Both of us had got the first experience out of our systems and were emotionally and psychologically free for a new bond to bloom! Let me tell you, Raj is the best thing to have happened to me. I had issues like ego, short temper, hotheadedness. But Raj has calmed me, mellowed me. His calm composure has made me an absolutely positive person.” 
Is there anything that they would still like to ask each other? “What's it that you hate about me?” Mandira asks Raj, who came up with a long list. “You don't believe in yourself. You are the most complete woman, I know but you don't think so. You lack patience. I say this inspite of the fact that you got to be the most patient person to have stuck it out with me! When angry, you throw a fit, while when I am angry, I don't speak!” Mandira reacts impatiently, “Not speaking is worse than throwing a fit. I hate this trait in you! Ok, tell me if we hadn't met me, who would you have wanted to marry?” Raj touches wood, “I believe in destiny. Thank God, you agreed to marry me.” 

Alone in the world
Tuesday, April 12, 2004

Ritesh Sinha is convinced. “It’s now or never,” he says. “With all this talk of India making it on the international scene, we have to make our move now.” And he’s ready. The young filmmaker, whose 60-second film, War and Peace, was toasted on the festival circuit last year, is all set to make his foray into crossover territory with All Alone. “I also want more people to see my film,” he says candidly. “At the same time, it’s my point of view instead of putting together ideas from two or three films.” 
All Alone, set in the Mauritius of the 60s, has an international cast and crew. While Manoj Bajpai and Diana Hayden play the lead roles, French actresses Claire Keim and Elisa Tovati play key roles in the film. “It helps because now I get access to two markets -- Indian and French,” says Ritesh who is yet to finalise a British actor, though he seems to have got a nod from famed Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer for the music of his film. “My film is a musical and that’s what I conveyed to him,” says Ritesh, who also intends to rope in an American cinematographer. 
“All Alone is also a song,” elaborates Ritesh. “The film is about five different people and a nation -- and how they all affect each other.” So why Mauritius? “Even during my trips there, when I get into a cab at the airport, there’s a Hindi film song playing on the radio. When they switch channels, you hear a French number. But the Indian influence is strong on the landscape.” 
The film goes on the floors with a long schedule in Mauritius in August. “It’s winter during that time,” he says. “I am just hoping to make a good film with all the right ingredients.” 

REDDY, steady go
Monday, April 12, 2004

Sameera Reddy is in no hurry. After the horror flick Darna Mana Hai, Sameera’s signed two Sanjay Gupta productions, Plan and Musafir. Unit hands insist that director and ‘close friend’ Sanjay Gupta is all set to launch her in a dream role opposite Sanjay Dutt and Anil Kapoor in Musafir, where she plays a bored housewife who has affairs with three men.

THE HEAT IS ON
Monday, April 12, 2004

YUVA 
Mani Ratnam is back in action. Let’s consider his last foray into Bollywood an aberration, though Dil Se was a cut above the rest in terms of its narrative style, visual chutzpah and slick execution. And now the Madras maestro returns to form with a film whose structure is modelled on the Spanish hit, Amores Perros. It’s the story of three guys --a genius, a goon and a charmer -- whose paths cross one morning over the Hooghly river and change their lives for ever. Armed with a scintalling score by A R Rahman, Ratnam’s film, set in Kolkata, has a terrific cast -- Ajay Devgan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Rani Mukherjee, Kareena Kapoor, Esha Deol and Om Puri. 

HUM TUM 
Kantaben can relax. If she seriously doubted Saif Ali Khan’s gender preference, then for a change this time he doesn’t have Shah Rukh Khan for company. Kunal Kohli calls it India’s first date flick. Whatever that means. As far as we are concerned, it’s another boy meets-girl romance between Saif and Rani Mukherjee. 

MAIN HOON NAA 
Shah Rukh Khan goes back to college for brother Zayed Khan in Farah Khan’s directorial debut which has all the telltale signs of one that belongs to the Karan Johar school of filmmaking. We ain’t complaining at all. The music is a hit and the promos look great. Now let’s wait for the action. Farah’s first film also stars Sushmita , Amrita Rao and Suniel Shetty.

DEEWAR 
This Deewar is not that Deewar, though the common factor is Amitabh Bachchan. While 1975 film was a gangster drama, this one is Milan Luthria’s POW drama with the Big B finding himself behind bars on the other side of the border. Akshaye Khanna sets out to rescue him. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt. If Luthria’s first film, Kacche Dhaage, was any indication of his talent, then this one would be worth waiting for. 

CHARAS 
Tigmanshu Dhulia made one of last year’s better films, Haasil --about politics and violence in the college campus. This time round he tackles the drug menace in the mountain regions of North India. Jimmy Shergill, Uday Chopra and Irfan Khan are cops on the drug trail. And for those who have seen Namrata Shirodkar’s dhua dhua number on the small screen, Dhulia’s drama seems to have the makings of a crackerjack adventure yarn. 

LAKSHYA 
The promo is a hit. So now we all know the story about how long-haired Hrithik Roshan discovers himself after 24 years at 18,000 feet. And who helps him to do that? None other than Amitabh Bachchan. Farhan Akhtar follows his trend-setting Dil Chahta Hai with this self-discovery drama of a young soldier shot extensively in Ladakh. And since this is also a love story, it also stars Preity Zinta. 

MAIN HOON NAA 
Shah Rukh Khan goes back to college for brother Zayed Khan in Farah Khan’s directorial debut which has all the telltale signs of one that belongs to the Karan Johar school of filmmaking. We ain’t complaining at all. The music is a hit and the promos look great. Now let’s wait for the action. Farah’s first film also stars Sushmita , Amrita Rao and Suniel Shetty.

GAYAB 
Tusshar Kapoor does a disappearing act and turns into Mr Diabolic. Prawaal Raman’s second feature after Darna Mana Hai defies genre by simultaneously being a dark comedy, a love triangle and a thriller. Without revealing more of the story, let’s just say this Ram Gopal Varma production also stars Antara Mali and Raman Trikha.

Suniel & Sunjay’s ‘shady’ acts!
Monday, April 12, 2004

SUNIEL is a man with varied interests and numerous businesses of course. When he’s not shooting, he slips on the business man’s cap and on one such occasion Suniel landed up in some ‘shady’ business. And to join him on this venture was his best buddy Sunjay Dutt. Well, before you jump to any incongruous conclusions about our two muscle heroes, let’s explain what this ‘deal’ is all about. Suniel and Sunjay along with producers Nitin Manmohan and Sohail Maklai and entrepreneur Hamed Saberi have together formed Shades Enterprise Pvt. Ltd, a company that will retail eyewear and opticals at showrooms, kiosks and franchisee outlets in metros and mini metros. Shades will house more than 150 international brands like Armani, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Hugo Boss, Versace, Ray Ban etc. 
When we asked our Dutt man about his new Shades business, in his usual natty style he replied, “Our shades are not shady, when it gets too sunny we like to cover up.” And on a more serious note Suniel added, “I saw potential in this business, shades are an important aspect of one’s attire and look. It’s a fashion statement, and adds so much to style to an individual.” To such a great partnership, what else do we say but chashme baddoor!

Ali Larter signed opposite Salman in Marigold
Sunday, April 11, 2004

Alison (Ali) Larter, star of New Line’s $200 million-grossing Final Destination franchise, will play the title role in Marigold, An Adventure Of India. Willard Carroll’s romantic musical-comedy is about an American actress who comes to India to make a low-budget Hollywood film and suddenly finds herself tossed into the eccentric world of Bollywood. The announcement was made recently by Reiko Bradley, President of Becker Films International, Marigold’s distributor and financier. Indian superstar Salman Khan co-stars as the Bollywood dance instructor whose new pupil has two left feet and a bad attitude. 

According to Bradley, Marigold is scheduled to begin shooting in June after Larter completes A Lot Like Love with Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet. 

“It’s been a long search but we’ve found a perfect match-up between an actress and a character,” says writer-director Carroll. “Ali has brought a fresh approach to all her roles and she’s fearless about the challenges of singing, dancing, physical comedy...and 10 weeks in India during the summer”. Carroll and Larter first met last year when she was starring with Gina Gershon and Joy Bryant in Three Way Split, the Scott Ziehl-directed thriller that Carroll (Hyperion Pictures) was producing. 

Bradley maintains that Marigold’s concept received a strong response from distributors at the recent American Film Market. “People love this character and the story’s sense of romantic destiny and fish-out-of-water comedy,” Sidhartha M Jain, Vice President-Hyperion and Executive Producer informed. “In the beginning Marigold approaches the Indian way of doing things with scepticism, but then she’s won over by the country’s great spirit and sense of joy—qualities personified by Salman’s character.” 

Jain also said that Shari (Truth) Watson, whose hip hop-meets-Bollywood album Addictive was a major international dance hit last year, will write the lyrics for Marigold’s seven original songs, with music by composers Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa (Kal Ho Naa Ho). Truth’s new Raphael Saadiq-produced album Ready Now will be released May 11. 

Marigold—a Hyperion Production—has a co-producing deal with Sandeep Shah, of Sandy Entertainment from India, in addition to other International financing deals.

Lakeer - A Preview
Sunday, April 11, 2004

After the successes of films like Angrakshak, Zor and Kranti, Vicky Films PVT Limited are back again with another action packed blockbuster along with the action king himself, Sunny Deol. "Lakeer - The Forbidden Lines" is prolific choreographer Ahmed Khan's debut attempt at direction. And contrary to what one might have presumed, the director does not go for a love-or-dance theme (with a cast that mainly comprises of non-dancers). His multistarrer film is basically a story of relationships.

Arjun Rana (Sunny Deol) is a powerful personality, feared by all. The apple of his eye is his brother Karan (Sohail Khan), who uses his brother's rich and famous image to the maximum advantage and always procures what he desires. On the other hand, Sanju (Suniel Shetty) is a motor mechanic, loved by all. He idolizes Arjun Rana and wants to become like him. His love for his brother Saahil (John Abraham) is absolutely unshakable. Saahil represents the youth of the college and is in love with Bindiya (Nauheed Cyrusi). And, Bindiya happens to be Arjun Rana's sister. The movie deals with how circumstances change when relationships cross the forbidden lines.

Lakeer is your typical action packed Bollywood masala film starring action men Sunny Deol and Sunil Shetty in lead roles. The film sees the directorial debut of Ahmed Khan who is one of the popular choreographers in Bollywood. The musical score for the film is provided by A.R.Rahman, of the Bombay Dreams fame which is currently running successfully in London's West End.
Releasing -- April 16, 2004

Mallika Celebrates Success With Dinner
Saturday, April 10, 2004

Actress Mallika Sherawat whose ´Murder´ is in for a chance to become the years first universal hit , after it took a flying start across India last Friday , treated her director-friend Govind Menon (who gave her the first major break in ´Khwahish´) , to dinner the same evening . 

The girl who is likely to be chased by filmmakers now that ´Murder´ is all set to succeed , has already signed a Telugu film opposite Ravi Teja.

Will Ash marry Vivek
Saturday, April 10, 2004

Well, for Aishwarya Rai it seems that she is the busiest actor from Bollywood. It is really a matter of doubt that she would finally accept her paramour Vivek Oberoi as her life partner. Rather would she be able to accomodate Vivek in her busy schedule? It has been a stale news that Vivek is in love with Ash, but the million dollar question is that — Is Ash in love with Vivek? Hmm... Ash only knows! She has nothing particular to gain from Vivek. (Salman introduced her to Bhansali and she bagged roles in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and 'Devdas'.) The insiders feel that, "Ash is obliged to Vivek for the Salman Khan episode. In fact she too wanted to break away the relationship with Salman, after Salman misbehaved with SRK during the shooting of 'Chalte Chalte'." Vivek and Ash are seen everywhere like love birds. Recently they were spotted at Mira Nair's party. Currently Ash is out of India for a globe trotting tour with Hrithik Roshan. She will be back after two months. Meanwhile what would Vivek do? Take a flight to US or just have 'masti' in his native land? Well Vivek has donned the role of Romeo long back, but for Ash, she is yet to decide on her Juliet act. Clever cat indeed!!

Adultery: An excuse to shed clothes!
Thursday, April 08, 2004

While earlier, films about the straying husband were prevalent, a new trend whereby housewives go out and find themselves sexual and/or emotional gratification has taken hold of Hindi cinema. 
Recent films like Amit Saxena’s Jism, Deepak Tijori’s Oops, Arunaraje’s Tum, Karan Razdan’s Hawas and Anurag Basu’s Murder have deep-focused on the middle-aged housewife’s search for sexual gratification outside the sanctity of marriage. 

Barring Bipasha Basu in Jism, these ladies finally repent their pleasurable pursuits, but not before reprimanding their dread-faced husbands about their spousal negligence and lack of responsibility. 

So what happened to the fully-devoted Bharaitya Nari who perishes in her pursuit of domestic salvation? Just two years ago, Tabu in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Astitwa had to leave her husband’s home for good after he found out she had an affair many years earlier. Today, the urban wife seems to have the creative freedom to seek alien arms when the ones at home fail to support her sexual synergy. 

Is this a sign of changing times? Or merely a passing fad whereby women in the garb of domesticity are sexually exploited by filmmakers beyond the boundaries prescribed for the conventional film heroine? 

Several decades ago in director Narendra Suri’s Lajwanti(1958) the husband Balraj Sahni threw his wife Nargis out on suspicion that she was having an affair with his friend when in fact she was only having her portrait painted by the suspected lover! 

Today the bored wife (Meghna Naidu) in Hawas not only gets her nude portrait done between bouts of breathy love-making by her lover, the lover also shows the nude painting to the husband!!! 

In Mehboob Khan’s Andaz (1949) the wife Nargis had to shoot her unwanted admirer Dilip Kumar to prove her fidelity. In J Om Prakash’s Aap Ki Kasam (1974), the wife Mumtaz walked out on her husband Rajesh Khanna when he accused her of carrying on with their neighbour Sanjeev Kumar. 

As late as the 1970s wives went through the traditional agni parisksha and emerged unscathed. Attitudes towards domestic equations changed drastically with Kalpana Lajmi’s Ek Pal in 1986 where the inert sexually and emotionally famished wife Shabana Azmi got impregnated by her former lover Farouq Shaikh during her husband Naseeruddin Shah’s absence. 

Shabana Azmi had created a sensation by confessing, "It’s every housewife’s fantasy to have a relationship outside marriage." 

That fantasy seems to have come to fruition in current times when the market is swamped by films about unfaithful wives who refuse to remain smothered in a domestic cul-de-sac.

In Anurag Basu’s Murder which opened last week Mallika Sherawat plays a hot-hot-hot wife who gets into a steamy situation with another man while her husband is looking the other way. 

This is the second film on an adulterous wife in two weeks. In Sanjay Gupta’s Musafir which opens later this year, Sameera Reddy plays a wife who sleeps with not just one but several men outside marriage. 

Is this a sign of the Hindi- film heroine’s maturation? Or is the wanton woman a mere pretext for filmmakers to make the heroine shed her clothes? 

On suspects the latter to be true. All said and done, there’s little style and substance in the films that are making their ostensibly ‘bold’ statements.

Rani-Preity says no to smooch
Wednesday, April 07, 2004

The buzz is around that Bong beauty Rani 'Rising' Mukherjee and bubbly actress Preity Zinta has straight away refused to smooch the lead male actor on screen. Well, the issue is not just about smooching but more so whom they are suppose to smooch.(?) The grapevine has it that, writer and director Mukul Abhyankar approached both these Bolly damsels for the female lead in his venture 'Dogs'. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor. (Bachchan and Kapoor will be acting together after several decades.) Both the ladies turned down the offer without as the role required some extremely hot and love making scenes to be shot with...hmm... Rishi Kapoor.(!) Rishi Kapoor plays a 45-year-old, unmarried and living with his mother who has always beaten him up — and still does. He is a broken, imbalance man lacking confidence who becomes an unstoppable monster by the end. Well how can Rani and Preity 'kiss' Rishi uncle? Isshhh... Now the producer have approached another Bong bombshell Sushmita Sen for the role. Will Sush smooch Rishi... will he be lucky this time?

Neha cools down her strip-tease act
Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Neha Dhupia wants a break from the flesh trade. After her bare-dare act as a prostitute in 'Julie', the former Miss India is no longer interested in getting down and dirty. 

Exposure - first in a hot, hot bikini in 'Qayamat' and now the sexplosive 'Julie' - hasn't done Dhupia's career much good. While Bollywood's newest Castoff Queen is at pains to defend the publicity still from Deepak Shivdasani's film that shows her supine in bed in naked splendour, it seems to have attracted the wrong sort of attention. 

Shocked by a C-grade filmmaker who wanted her to act in a sleazy adult quickie, Dhupia says she now wants only challenging roles for the future. That's the reason why she refused to do Anant Mahadevan's 'Aayenga Aanewala' after first accepting the film. 

According to the screen siren, she had taken up the offer thinking it might prove to be a welcome break from 'Qayamat' and 'Julie'. However that was before she got around to hearing the plot. In the film, produced by Ravi Dodi in association with Pritish Nandy Communications, Dhupia would once again have to strip for box office success. 

"From the very beginning I have maintained that meaningful roles can make or break an actress. With due respect to both 'Julie' and 'Qayamat' I honestly think the films had too much exposure. I have now decided to so some serious roles and am open to offers from well-known directors. I want to be remembered for performances with substance. And it's certainly not possible to establish yourself in this profession by taking off clothes at the drop of a hat", she insists. 

Although the bindaas babe has sworn off 'adult-erated' offers, she has no regrets about the films in which she has worked. "There's no question of repenting for anything I have done. But like everyone else, I too feel the need for change in my life and want to move on to playing different characters. Sticking to glamorous roles only will not make me an actress of substance," she quips.

I can win election against PM: Mallika Sherawat
Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Lucknow: Oomph girl Mallika Sherawat today said she would not hesitate to contest against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee from Lucknow, if given a ticket for the Lok Sabha election. 
"I am ready to take on Vajpayee in Lucknow and will certainly win the election, " claimed Mallika, the latest sensation to rock the Bollywood bandwagon. 

Claiming that several political parties had approached her to campaign for them in the coming Lok Sabha election, she said, " I have rejected all such offers as I want to give more attention to my career.'' 

Malika also said she would not hesitate to contest against the Prime Minister and was confident of ''all-out support'' from the youth. 

The Rohtak girl, who shot to limelight with her daring scenes in her debut film 'Khwahish', said she saw no controversy in Bollywood artists joining politics. " Politics is also a part of our life. 

"How can anyone deprive us of our democratic rights, " she asked. 

Renowned film director Mahesh Bhatt, who was here with Mallika in connection with the promotion of their new release 'Murder', also supported Bollywood artists joining active politics.

Controversial guy!
Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Arjun Rampal is in the midst of controversies. And it pertains to the astronomical fee he seems to have quoted to two leading film-makers -- Ramgopal Varma and Suneel Darshan. 

There's talk that when RGV approached Arjun to enact the lead role in SHANTI KUTIR, Arjun agreed to do the project and quoted Rs. 1 crore as remuneration. RGV backed out and signed someone else instead. 

With Suneel Darshan, it was a case of Arjun rubbing the film-maker the wrong way, insist rumour mills. According to sources, when the maker of ANDAAZ approached Arjun for his soon-to-be-launched BARSAAT, the actor not only demanded a crore, but also told the film-maker that he'd be able to shell out dates for the project in 2005. 

While RGV kept quiet about the issue, Suneel decided to make it public by talking to the press and revealing the reasons that prompted him to 'drop' Arjun from the project. 

"It's up to me to quote what I feel is right. That's my prerogative," Arjun clarifies, "Similarly, it's up to the maker to accept or reject the demands that I make. That's his prerogative." 

Let's begin with RGV, I tell him. "There was no problem with RGV," Arjun reveals, "Contrary to what people think, I was not negotiatiating any project with RGV. I had signed SHANTI KUTIR and even allotted dates to Ramu-ji. I was eager to be a part of the project and I clearly remember that the makers were contemplating signing Lara Dutta then. Somehow, the dates didn't match and the makers approached Sushmita Sen. But matching Sush and my dates was a problem." 

Please continue. "Simultaneously, there were problems with the owner of the buyngalow, where the film was to be shot. That's when Ramu-ji called to say that we'd work some other time. There was no unpleasantness whatsoever. Had that been so he wouldn't have approached me again for his new film. In fact, now that we're talking about it, let me inform you that I've already signed his forthcoming project." 

But Arjun does look disturbed when we discuss Suneel Darshan and BARSAAT. "It all started with Mr. Darshan approaching my secretary. My secretary was very clear before we met that my dates were unavailable for the next one year and also the kind of remuneration I charged. Yet, Mr. Darshan insisted on meeting me." 

He continues, "When I met Mr. Darshan, he gave me a narration of the story, but prior to that revealed that the project would roll after two months and that he'd require dates on an immediate basis. When I expressed my inability to allot the required dates, he asked me to think again, adding that BARSAAT would change my fortunes as an actor. But I politely refused the offer." 

"The next thing I know, Mr. Darshan has gone to the press citing my remuneration as the reason for my 'ouster' from his project. Really, that was too much. However, he did a complete somersault later and told my secretary that he'd never spoken against me. I even asked him to give it in writing, which he refused." .

Mallika feeling ‘alone and vulnerable’
Monday, April 05, 2004

Mallika Sherawat is miffed at being treated disrespectfully by some people in the film industry just because she is open about doing sexually explicit roles.

Mallika says she is deeply disturbed by the incident that happened recently on the sets of Channel V. It happened that Mallika’s co-star in ‘ Murder ’, Patel played a prank on her by calling her under the pretense of a journalist of People’s Magazine. But the prank got ugly after Ashmit called Mallika a bitch and proposed her to sleep with him for a night.

“It was so degrading. I've never felt more humiliated in my life. When you start talking about sleeping with a woman I don't think it's funny,” a teary-eyed Mallika told a reputed News agency.

"Just because I've a sexy image, does it mean people can take liberties with me? If I was an Aishwarya Rai or a Kareena Kapoor, they'd never have dared to play such a prank," said Mallika.

Mallika also recalled an incident when she was recently pitched against 'Tulsi' (Smriti Irani) in a television debate where Smriti ripped her apart for her ‘hot’ screen image. Mallika’s reply to Smriti is: “She herself wore a swimming suit when she participated in a beauty contest!”

"I feel I'm all alone and vulnerable to all sorts of lewd targets in Mumbai," said the star of ‘Murder’.

Why Salman got his navel pierced?
Monday, April 05, 2004

Now Salman Khan has one more reason to strip away his shirt – his recently pierced navel.

Salman is not really a man given to body-accessories. So why did he decide to get his navel pierced – a fad which is usually popular among girls.

Salman says that the decision to pierce his navel came on the spur of a moment. He says that he did it for his sisters Arpita and Alvira.

"Actually, my sisters wanted to get their navels pierced and I decided to accompany them. Being a sporty kind of a person, I too decided to get my navel pierced. I did it purely for kicks and now I’m even finding it fun," says the actor.

Will we get to see his glinting navel in any of his coming movies?

"Well that depends upon the director," quips Salman with a hearty laugh.  

Has Mallika Sherawat outstripped Bipasha?
Friday, April 02, 2004

Notice how suddenly Bipasha Basu is no longer the oomph specialist? True, she triggered off the present day sexual revolution in mainstream Hindi cinema when she played the wanton heroine cheating on her husband in Jism two years ago. 

But now within two years Basu’s oomph seems passe, thanks to the surfeit of sexual hijinks clearly visible in the plunging necklines and morales of recent ‘sex’ films. Recently Ms Basu jokingly admitted that she had begun to feel slightly out of step, going by the amount of exposed flesh exposed by the girls who’ve come after her. 

The arrival of bolder girls particularly Mallika Sherawat has certainly turned the voyeurs’ attentions away from Bipasha. On top of it Bipasha’s recent films like Ishq Hai Tumse and Rudraksh on which she was banking to build her fan following have bombed miserably. 

Mallika Sherawat arrived six months after Jism in Khwahish where she was the consummate beach babe. Uninhibited, ready to bare her skin to the permissible limit(and a little beyond) and not the least apologetic about the colour of her image (purple). 

Though Khwahish didn’t work as well as Jism at the box office, and though its leading man Himanshu Malik didn’t benfit the least, Mallika Sherawat was suddenly hot and willing. While Bipasha came across as outspoken but conservative in her interviews Mallika’s attitude in the press was refreshingly in-your-face. 

She marketed herself as the diva with spunk and balls and got herself written in every newspaper and seen on every channel. 

But Mallika denies any marketing strategy in her career. "It’s all destiny and hard work. I’ve slogged like crazy to get where I have. And those who think it’s just my body that got me where I am, they should take a look at the other body-beautifuls that have rushed in after me. They haven’t gone beyond their first feverish film." 

Both Bipasha and Mallika feel there’s a need to go beyond the flesh to be a long-lasting actress. Examples of actresses who made a strong impact in their debut through their skin show are before them. In the early 1970s Rehana Sultan made a huge impact in Chetna and Dastak in roles that required her to shed her clothes on camera. She did nude sequences in both, got branded as an on-screen libertine and then vanished in spite of winning the National award for best actress. 

Mumtaz would have remained an oomph girl if she hadn’t graduated to performing parts in the later part of her career. The only oomph girl who acquired stardom was Zeenat Aman. In films like Qurbani and Satyam Shivam Sundaram she went much further in the clothes-shedding binge than Bipasha or Mallika. 

Can Bipasha and Mallika, seen as the new-millennium version of Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi reinvent their image and career? 

Mallika seems eager to. "I know where to draw the line. When I watched Murder with my producer’s 12-year old daughter I didn’t feel embarrassed about the love scenes, except for the kissing scenes. I covered her eyes with my hands when those came on." 

Conservative at heart, the wanton woman seems an illusion created to woo audiences back into theatres. Once they are back, it’s back to business as usual. 

Sleazy films – the latest fad in Bollywood
Thursday, April 01, 2004

A new trend for movies with sexually oriented themes has gripped a number of filmmakers in Bollywood.

Consider a few of the recently released films like Tum and Hawas. Both films are based on the subjects of a married woman’s infidelity in having out-of-marriage sex. And now in the offing is a third film (‘Murder’) on a similar subject. 

The question is why these subjects related to a woman’s sexually are suddenly getting so much attention. 

Aruna Raje, the director of Tum contends, that her movie is not sleazy and there is much more substance in it than few sexually explicit scenes. Speaking in a similar tone is Karan Razdan, the director of Hawas. He says that his movie attempts to balance the two elements of sexuality and pure story-based content.

But then is it a mere co-incidence that Razdan’s next movie ‘Girlfriend’ (starring Amrita Arora and Isha Koppikar ) is based on another bold subject of a lesbian relationship. 

Razdan defends: “Actually, in the past Hindi films have been so cloistered from bold subjects exploring human sexuality, that there is a tremendous scope to make good movies based on these issues.”

The same opinion is held by Deepak Shivdasani, who is making a film titled ‘ Julie ’ based on the life of a prostitute. The movie has Neha Dhupia in the leading role.

Shivdasani says: “ Now that the winds of change are blowing why don’t we open up and be more acceptable towards subjects that were considered a taboo before.” 

Amisha-Vikram's mom at war!
Thursday, April 01, 2004

Mumbai: Amisha's mother Asha Patel reportedly called up Varha Patel, Vikram Bhatt's mother and warned her to tell her son to stay away from Amisha. 
An allegedly frightened Varsha filed a complaint with the Versova police. Amisha's parents disapprove of Amisha's association with Vikram Bhatt. 

Meanwhile, director Vikram Bhatt and actress Amisha Patel continue to have a blast shooting in the Swiss Alps for forthcoming flick, 'Elaan'.

Mallika vs Tabu: Big fight at BO
Wednesday, March 31, 2004

It would be recorded as one of the abiding ironies of cinematic history. This Friday two women and actresses of amazing contrasting personality vision intent and projection are being pitched against each other. 

Two tellingly dissimilar films and actresses take centrestage this week. Mallika Sherawat in Anurag Basu’s 'Murder' and Tabu in M F Husain’s 'Meenaxi' provide a classic study in contrasts. One is spunky, spirited and unabashed… the other enigmatic, bridled and discreet…. 

While Basu’s in-your-face thriller seeks inspiration directly from Adrian Lyne’s erotic steamy thriller 'Unfaithful' about a housewife’s sexual romp with a horny stranger, 'Meenaxi' is an abstract poetic journey into the heart and mind of restless womanhood.. Tabu in a surreal avatar, portrays three women named Meenaxi, Meenakshi and Maria all pursued and studied by a writer (Raghuvir Yadav). 

The theme and treatment of 'Meenaxi' wouldn’t lend themselves to popular appeal, more so since the whole world already knows what Husain is capable of as a filmmaker after the Madhuri Dixit-vehicle 'Gaja Gamini'. Though the music score by A R Rahman has acquired a humming life of its own, 'Meenaxi' will be released and seen on a very restricted level. Though after 'Maqbool' Tabu has again played the enigmatic diva in 'Meeanxi' with consummate fluency, the film is unlikely to get her anything more than good reviews. 

Consequently, this Friday is open to the other release. The Bhatts, longing for a hit (all their recent films including director Anurag Basu’s earlier work 'Saaya' have been thundering flops) are cashing in generously on their leading ladies’ uninhibited image. 

Because of Mallika Sherawat’s oomphy presence, 'Murder' has become one of the hottest films among distributors and exhibitors . Their spirit isn’t dampened by the no-show - the other peep-show 'Hawas - based on the same Hollywood film ('Unfaithful') as 'Murder'.

The sensuous promotional spin and the sumptuous music score by Anu Malik are already hits. Will 'Murder' follow suit? According to exhibitors, the film is expected to be the first bonafide success of the year. Mallika who was a hit heroine in her flop debut film 'Khwahish' is crossing her fingers, hoping her second stab at stardom would pay richer dividends. 

Interestingly, both of this week’s releases depend entirely on the leading lady for creative and commercial sustenance. Meenaxi‘s male actors are Raghuvir Yadav and debutant Kunnal Kapoor (not to be confused with Shashi Kapoor’s son of the same name who made an effort at stardom many years ago in Ishmail Shroff’s 'Ahista Ahista') . 'Murder' features the producer’s nephew Emran Hashmi and Amisha Patel’s brother Ashmit. Hashmi made his flop debut last year in Vikram Bhatt’s 'Footpath' while Patel fared no better in the same director’s 'Inteha'. 

The onus of delivering a boxoffice slammer must go to the leading lady. Isn’t it ironical that there’s more hype about a film featuring a one-film old sex symbol than a seasoned multiple-award winning actress of tremendous substance? 

Mallika Sherawat has the last word on the subject. "Like it or not, the sensuality of Raj Kapoor always got more takers than the seriousness of Satyajit Ray. In a battle between the intellect and flesh, flesh always wins. A dancing girl always attracts a larger crowd than a choir singer. Sad, but true."

Murder - A Preview`
Tuesday, March 30, 2004

A remake of the Richard Gere - Diane Lane starrer Hollywood flick Unfaithful, Murder is the second directorial venture of Anurag Basu who earlier directed 'Saaya' for the Bhatts.

Sapna (Meghna Naidu) and Raj (Shawar Ali) are a married couple. They live in Dubai. Raj dreams of immigrating to America. To achieve this, he must earn and save enough money. So he starts to work seven days a week.

Sudhir (Ashmit Patel) and Simran (Mallika Sherawat) are a happy couple settled in Bangkok. Engrossed in business and chasing his dreams, Sudhir ignores his wife. In an alien land and novel atmosphere Simran gets terribly bored and longs to pursue new horizons.

But as time goes by, Sudhir becomes so engrossed in his business that he fails to pay any attention to his wife. As for Simran, boredom sets in as she tries to while away the lonely hours in a foreign land. But a chance meeting with an old flame (Emraan Hashmi) changes all this. What begins purely as platonic friendship inevitably ends up in a passionate relationship as they become emotionally and physically involved. Soon infatuation becomes an obsession and Simran's extramarital affair becomes obvious to Sudhir. At this point, Sudhir decides to confront Sunny but this meeting leads to some shocking revelations.

Others in the cast of Murder include Raj Zutshi, Uday Tikekar, Sheeba Chaddha and Shabnam. Anu Malik has composed tunes on lyrics penned by the Rahat Indori and the Bhatt regular Sayeed Quadri.

film is said to release in April 2004. 

Latest info on `Marigold`
Tuesday, March 30, 2004

By now we all know that Alison [Ali] Larter, star of New Line's $200 million-grossing FINAL DESTINATION franchise, has been cast in the title role of MARIGOLD - AN ADVENTURE IN INDIA, Willard Carroll's romantic musical-comedy about a tempestuous American actress who goes to India to make a low-budget Hollywood movie and suddenly finds herself tossed into the eccentric world of Bollywood film-making.

But here's some exclusive info on the project you weren't aware of.

Organisers ordered probe about marital status of Miss India
Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Mumbai : The organisers of the Miss India beauty pageant said they would probe allegations about the marital status of Lakshmi Pandit, one of this year's contest winners. However, they have ordered a probe following allegations in the media that the winner is married. The contest is open only to unmarried women. Pandit, a 22-year-old city-based classical dancer, had bagged the "Miss India-World" crown at the 2004 contest held here on Saturday night.

Sources said : "The winners are right now in the middle of a busy schedule. Hence we have still not been able to confirm her marital status." Earlier, a TV channel had carried a report that Pandit had claimed to be married when she moved into a rented house in a city suburb with one Siddharth. Reacting to the news, a spokesperson for the organisers said : "As per the rules, a contestant has to be unmarried and the winner has to maintain her single status till the end of one year." 

Bipasha Basu and Dino get together
Monday, March 29, 2004

Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea have decided to get together once again but only on the screen. The two were a hot item some time back but they are no longer together. Dino is believed to be seeing Shilpa Shetty while Bipasha is getting close to John Abraham. But Bipasha and Dino are still friends and have decided to work together since they don't want to mix business with pleasure. They have signed their third movie together titled Ishq Hai Tumse to be directed by G Krishna. 

It's gay time folks!
Monday, March 29, 2004

Besides Satish Shah enthralling the audience with his gay gimmicks in Vashu Bhagnani's Out Of Control, Karan Johar's Kal Ho Na Ho also boasts of enough gay gags to have the audience in splits. In fact, the gay joke is practically a sub-plot of the film where domestic servant, played Sulbha Arya, assumes that Shah Rukh and Saif are lovers. The best was at a recent TV show when actor Rahul Bose's brother-in-law revealed before the camera that he saw Bose in maid's dress skirt, et al. At which Bose immediately clarified that he was just rehearsing for TM Murari's play - The Square Circle. But it was all in good humour. Now, now, one wonders if Hindi cinema is coming of age? 

Will Amisha marry Vikram Bhatt?
Monday, March 29, 2004

It's known to all that Amisha Patel is in love with director Vikram Bhatt. Though the actress denies the rumors, but it has finally come out of the closet. Recently a daily bulletin exposed their relationship. Vikram is not only promoting Amisha but also her brother Ashmit, who is already written off as an actor. Before Amisha hooked herself to Vikram. she was having a full blast affair with Bunty Walia. Why did the couple split, is still a mystery to the industrywallahs. The "Rising" star seems to be playing her cards safely.

Sridevi`s other husband!
Sunday, March 28, 2004

The phrase “mera sirf do hi pati” (I have only 2 husbands), which actress Sridevi repeatedly uses as the catchline of her currently on air TV serial 'Malini Iyer' seems to have come out true in her real life also. 

While her second pati in the serial is Tirupati, her first pati in real life seems to have come out from a town close to Tirupati. 

Ramakrishna Goud, a resident from the town of Guntur in Andra Pradesh has filed a petition in the Chennai court claiming that he is Sridevi's first husband. 

He claimed that he had married Bollywood actress Sridevi on March 15, 1992 at Chennai. But she later deserted him and went for a second marriage to film producer Boney Kapoor. He has asked the court to order the actress to return to him. 

Surprisingly Goud's complaint comes in 8 years after Sridevi married Boney Kapoor in 1996. 

Lets see what Sridevi has to say about this. Will she still go with her adage “mera do hi pati”?

Sheen to do a Varma thriller
Sunday, March 28, 2004

Kolkata: She might be a new entrant to Bollywood and thinks of going slow, but Sahara's find Sheen is all set to do a Ramgopal Varma thriller soon. 

Sheen, who was here for the promotion of Ashok Pandit's flick Sheen, said her next project would be a thriller by Mr Varma, where she would be facing the lense along with Arjun Rampal and Naseeruddin Shah. 

"I am in no hurry to sign up films in a row. I have done Mr Pandit's film with maximum concentration and in the immediate future I have the Ramgopal Varma-film, yet to be titled," she told UNI. 

"Besides me, the thriller, which will be essentially different from the types Bollywood gets every week, has Arjun Rampal and Naseeruddin Shah. The work of the film is slated to start mid-April." 

"I am getting several offers immediately after the Ashok Pabndit-film. However, I am in no hurry to sign up whatever comes up my way. Actually I am very cautious and want to do selective and meaningful characters," Sheen said. 

Regarding Sheen, the actress said it's about the plight of Kashmiri Pundits, how they had been uprooted from their homes and homeland. Sheen plays the daughter of Pandit Amarnath (Raj Babbar) in the film. 

Despite terrorism being at its peak, she refuses to leave Kashmir but circumstances force her to do so and settle in Jammu's refugee camps, she said. 

Regarding her experiences in playing the lead lady in the film, she said it was a great opportunity for a newcomer like her to get a performance-oriented role in her very first Bollywood venture.

Shilpa Shetty kisses Pakistani flag!
Sunday, March 28, 2004

Lahore: Pakistan's hoi polloi are often dazzled by the presence of Bollywood stars. The visit by Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty was no different in terms of charm and charisma, until Shilpa went ahead and did the unprecedented -- she kissed the Pakistani flag, taking her audience by surprise. 

Shetty attired in a snug tomato-red outfit, ended her first dance on Thursday by dramatically swaying the Indian and Pakistani flags together and kissing the latter. 

Recalling the "impromptu" movement onstage on Thursday night during her performance, Shilpa was quoted by Online News and the Daily Times as saying it was simply an innocent gesture symbolising the current state of peace and friendship between India and Pakistan. 

"It was not planned nor choreographed. I'm looking forward to a time when we will be able to come together without fearing consequences," she was quoted as saying. 

Bubbling with excitement, she further went on to say that, "I'm so very happy. Visiting Pakistan was something I've always wanted to do. I had heard so much about the Pakistanis. And really, this experience has been beyond my wildest expectations." 

"The people here are very warm-hearted, and the women very, very beautiful," she added. 

Shetty also rejected the suggestion that the Indian film industry is churning out propaganda movies. It was in fact, coming out with stories keeping the viewers' entertainment in mind

Kal Ho Naa Ho conquers Paris 
Friday, March 26, 2004

Having worked its magic at the Indian box office producer Karan Johar’s Kal Ho Naa Ho now seems all set to conquer the non-traditional market. Earlier this week the film won the prestigious Prix Du Public award at the Valencienes Film Festival in France. 

Johar who’s just back from France is naturally elated. 

"They had earlier invited Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. This time Kal Ho Naa Ho was in the competitive section. It competed with well-acclaimed films like the Afghani Osama and The Australian Hypnotic. It won the public award." 

Karan Johar isn’t surprised by the attention Kal Ho Naa Ho is getting outside India. 

"Not really. I feel all of us need to go outside India and expose our films. When I directed my first film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai I was too new to expose it internationally. But now I want to target my films worldwide. Of course my primary audience is Indian. I make my films for every Indian from Mumbai to Mississippi. But if my films reach beyond, what’s the problem?" 

"Full credit to my father (Yash Johar) for showing me the way to take Kal Ho Naa Ho into so many tomorrows. Now my Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is being released theatrically in France. It was first noticed at the Cannes market—the Wall Street of cinema. Now I might take Kal Ho Naa Ho to the Cannes market. We from our film fraternity in Mumbai must learn to let our films be seen by as many potential buyers abroad as possible. When we make a film we must travel with it. I think all the efforts that we put into making Kal Ho Naa Ho visible has paid off. Now it will have a French and German release." 

"In the meanwhile I’ll be going to Paris in June for the premiere of K3G. Its international title is The Indian Family. And now my next directorial venture will again be a very Indian film, this time with a historical background. It’ll be ready in 2005-end. I’m right now scripting it and I’ll start shooting at the end of the year." 

Aftab`s multi-faceted character 
Friday, March 26, 2004

The actor with the chocolate boy looks, Aftab Shivdasani, off lately is playing many multi-faceted characters. 

In Anupam Sinha's Shukriya he plays a character with dual personality ala 2 souls trapped in one body. Aftab describes, "The first character is of an aspiring pop-singer who loves to sing and dance. The second character is a suspicious guy who comes in the second half of the movie, though he's not exactly a negative personality". 

Then there's Glenn-Ankush's sci-fi venture "Jaane Hoga Kya" where Aftab plays an intelligent scientist who wants to experiment on cloning. He lands up creating his own clone and with this clone Aftab portrays a complete negative character, once again post Kasoor. 

And though he plays a single character in Inder Kumar's Masti, it changes in the course of the film. Before marriage he plays this cool dude with a spiky look. However post marriage he bears a toned down and de-glamorized look, as marriage seeps out the juice from his character. 

There is one more film wherein Aftab is playing a dual character but he isn't willing to divulge more about it as of now. 

Lets see how successful is Aftab in portraying these multi-dimensional roles! 

Taxi Driver 
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Akbar Khan has mighty plans up his sleeve! Besides giving finishing touches to his colossal project TAJ MAHAL, the film-maker is planning to start not one, but two projects one after the other. But more on that later… 

As of now, Khan is preoccupied with TAJ MAHAL, which should hit the screens by June-end. “I'm planning to dub the film in English and Persian languages,” Khan tells me, “The English version will be released in North America and Canada simultaneously with the Hindi version in India. We will dub the film in Persian later.” 

Khan, who made his directorial debut with HAADSA, is planning to start another historical once TAJ MAHAL releases. “But I wouldn't like to reveal the subject of the film or the historical figure the film is based on. Let me keep it under wraps for the time being,” he smiles. 

There's a valid reason for the film-maker to behave in that fashion. “When I announced AKBAR THE GREAT [television epic], a number of producers announced serials on Emperor Akbar. And don't we know what happened when I announced TAJ MAHAL? A number of projects got announced pronto,” he says, sounding slightly bitter now. 

But he sounds excited the moment he discuss his ambitious plans for the future. “Prior to making a historical, I hope to start a film called TAXI DRIVER. This film will be produced by me, but directed by someone else,” he divulges, not wanting to reveal the name at this stage. “I've decided to tap talents from within my company,” is all that he states. 

A quickie, TAXI DRIVER will be shot in a 4-month start-to-finish schedule. “The film will be shot for 15 days in Mumbai, while the balance major portions will be shot in the U.S.,” he adds. Though Khan hasn't finalized the star cast of the film yet, he does reveal that he has Manisha Koirala in mind to enact a pivotal role in the film. Interesting!  

'Luck By Chance' 
Thursday, March 25, 2004

The desk-job specialists are really going overboard. Their figment of their current imagination is that Zoya Akhtar has signed Karisma Kapoor for her directorial debut, which was to star Madhuri Dixit at a point of time. 

After Madhuri and Zoya decided to part ways [there were creative differences, besides monetary issues proved a speed breaker], there was talk that Aishwarya Rai, Karisma Kapoor and Preity Zinta, the 'next three options', were being considered for the role in question. But in an exclusive statement to this writer, Zoya had denied the development then. 

However, a section of the media has gone overboard by stating that Karisma has been confirmed for the role. 

However, Zoya sounded shocked when this writer called to crosscheck the development. “I haven't finalized anyone yet. No, not even Karisma Kapoor,” Zoya clarified, continuing in the same breath, “I also wish to clarify that the title of the film is not NARGIS. The actual title is LUCK BY CHANCE.” 

Zoya plans to launch LUCK BY CHANCE by the end of the year. “The film will have an ensemble star cast, but the story will primarily revolve around one main guy and one main girl. The moment the principal cast is finalized, we'll go ahead and sign the remaining names,” she states. 

As an afterthought, she adds, “I'm waiting for my movie to start. I'm eager the project goes on floors as soon as possible.” Zoya's official statement should silence the gossip mongers for the time being at least! 

Bollywood stars to perform in Pakistan 
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Pakistan: Bollywood movie stars and singers are to perform for the first time in Lahore on Thursday as rivals India and Pakistan inch towards peace. 

The performance at a Lahore club will feature song and dance routines by Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khana and Shilpa Shetty, as well as singers Babu Supriyo and Sunidhi, said Muhammad Khawar, marketing manager of the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club.

Although Indian films are banned in Pakistan, videos are popular and Bollywood stars and singers have a large Pakistani fan base. 

"We hope the event will be appreciated and will strengthen friendly relations between Pakistan and India," Khawar added. 

About 100 of the 1,500-strong audience at the sold-out event will be Indian nationals, he added. Tickets were priced at 8,000 rupees a head. 

"We are performing in Lahore with one message: 'Let's put things together for peace and love'," Jatin, the event's Indian musical director, told reporters.

NEHA STRIPS FOR ‘JULIE’! 
Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Neha Dhupia has given three bold scenes in director Deepak Shivdasani’s film ‘Julie’ which narrates the story of a prostitute. ‘Julie’ is a story about an innocent girl who comes from Goa and gets trapped in the flesh world of Mumbai. Unlike other actors like Manisha Koirala in ‘Ek Choti Si Love Story’, Neha couldn’t create a fuss while shooting for ‘Julie’. As the had already made him sign a pact well in advance to avoid unnecessary controversies when the film hits the marquee. According to the contract, Neha, who plays the title role of the prostitute in the film, has no objection in shooting for the film and its promos in skimpy outfits. In fact, the publicity still of the film has Neha posing backless. The contract further says that Neha is doing the scenes at her own will and cannot back off at the last moment. “I play the role of a prostitute and has anyone ever heard of any pimp having sex in full clothes?” asks Neha. Neha also compares her bold act to somewhat Julia Robert’s of ‘Pretty Woman’ fame. The film also stars Priyanshu Chatterjee.

Kal Ho Naa Ho wins Public award in France 
Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Kal Ho Naa Ho has another universal reason to celebrate. First the script of the movie entered the Oscar library and now it has won the Prix du Public Award for best film at the Valenciennes film festival in France on Sunday. The festival screened films from all across the world including Australian and Afghani movies. The audiences loved everything in the film including the sublime emotions, song-and-dance formula and Shahrukh Khan. Kal Ho Naa Ho will now be distributed in France and Germany market. 

Incidentally Johar's last film “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum” also won the jury award at the same film festival, some years ago

Lara finds female more attractive than male! 
Wednesday, March 24, 2004

And no, we are not talking about any of her film characters here. This is what the Bollywood onscreen temptress has to say in the latest issue of the film magazine 'Stardust'. Lara Dutta shares her unbiased views on sex, sex and more sex in an interview in the film magazine and in explicit detail. She talks about how sex is an important part of a relationship and how a relationship is an important part of sex. 

Some of Lara's honest quotes include “The most important thing when you're having sexual intercourse is 'Are you making your partner happy?” and expresses that “I honestly believe that one of the main reasons we were put on earth was to procreate and to keep a species alive”. 

On a serious note she claims, “In a relationship being forced to participate in sexual intercourse is definitely rape”. And on a lighter side she confesses, “I definitely think the female form is fare more attractive than the male body. If I had to see a nude body of a woman or a man, I'd any day pick a woman… I myself dress for other woman because the women are going to check me out more than the men are”. 

She further states, “As an actress and as a woman, I think it's very important to have a certain amount of sexuality… I don't believe in over-exposure. I don't want to show the entire world exactly all that I have”. 

She concludes saying that a small ratio of men can accept sexually aggressive woman dominating in bed. 

We must say, Lara quite openly comes out of the closet in this bold interview.

I don't mind 'sex symbol' tag: Neha Dhupia 
Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Kolkata: Her 'blink-and-you-miss' role in Harry Baweja's 'Qayamat' did nothing for this former beauty queen's career. 
However, Former Miss India Neha Dhupia is excited about her forthcoming release 'Julie' where she plays the challenging role of a young girl who ends up being a prostitute. 

This is a very challenging role for me. You just got to wait and see the film to believe that it's just not made of a few steamy scenes as you have heard of," the model-turned-actress said today. 

Dressed in a blue chiffon salwar kurta, Neha was every bit matter-of-fact when the topic of her being labled as the sex symbol came up for discussion. "I don't really pay so much attention to that. I do a character and for that two and half hours I am that character. People are calling that character steamy and hot, not me," she pointed out. 

Directed by Deepak Shivdasani, 'Julie' is to hit the screen soon. 

Her next release is 'Raat' which is also being completed fast. 

Asked about her future assignments she said, "I have also signed a film with Mr K C Bokadia. The film is yet to be named. There was another film for which the dates did not match. I am comforable doing one thing at a time." 

Neha was here in the city to unveil the Ponds Femina Miss India Crown designed by Tanishq. Speaking on her association with Tanishq, she said, "The splendid craftsmanship that's gone behind making this crown is obvious at first glance. It instantly took me back to my old days when I was crowned Femina Miss India in 2002. I wish I had become Femina Miss India two years later. The crowns are not only good to look at but are a lifetime treasure." 

For the 'Qayamat' girl the happiest moment of her life was the day she became Miss India. "I still cherish that moment and and feel blessed," she said. 

Akshay Kumar`s philanthropic ways 
Saturday, March 20, 2004

The action Khiladi recently proved that he has a heart of gold within when he met a handicapped fan of his while shooting for a film in Manali. 25-year old Puran Chauhan from Delhi lost his leg in a road accident when he was just five years old. But then he didn't lose his heart. Despite his handicap, Chauhan learnt martial arts on his own and Akshay Kumar's action oriented films further boosted up his morale. Filmi as it may appear to be, but he did consider the onscreen Akshay Kumar as his master. With his strength of mind, Chauhan acquired black belt from South Korea and today he runs his own martial arts club in Delhi. 

Our Bollywood khiladi Akshay Kumar was totally overwhelmed by Chauhan's strong determination and the will to live life as a normal human being that he asked his director Anil Sharma to give him a role in his upcoming film Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo.

Aamir rises on the sets of `The Rising` 
Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Aamir Khan's passion with 'The Rising' evidently shows off with the fact that the perfectionist star even celebrated his birthday on Sunday at the sets of his film. His close friends and relatives who are usually around him on his anniversary were substituted by the crew members. 

The shooting of his film is in full swing and contrary to what is being spread about, there doesn't seem to be any finance problem after Manmohan Shetty withdrew from the project (apart from the Sahara group backing out) Bobby Bedi has reportedly found a fund source in the Pune based INOX group.

Nepalese girls blow hot, says Jharna 
Tuesday, March 16, 2004

There's a heat wave coming from the Mountain Kingdom and it's steaming up cinema screens across the country. Meet Jharna Bajracharya and 'Fall in Love' with Nepal. 

Jharna, who makes a sizzling appearance in Rajat Mukherjee's film, Love in Nepal, opposite singer-actor Sonu Nigam, is the second Nepalese actress after Bipana Thana to make inroads into the Mumbai film industry in recent days. 

Thana had earlier pipped local gal Karisma Kapur to a role in Remember Me, director and cinematographer Antony Joy's revenge thriller with a strong dose of the supernatural.

After her bare-dare act in Love in Nepal, Bajracharya is no less confident of giving Indian bombshells a run for their money. 

"I believe girls from Nepal are some of the most beautiful in the world since there's so much natural splendour where we grow up. In fact we don't even need too much make-up to enhance our sex appeal. We are in India to make our mark and I am sure we will prove ourselves," she claims. 

According to Bajracharya, her Bollywood debut is the culmination of a childhood dream. "I wanted to act in Hindi films ever since I can remember. Mumbai actors and actresses are very popular in Nepal. I personally admire the kind of work Manishaji (Koirala) has done here and hope I can carry on her legacy," she gushes. 

Love in Nepal stars Sonu as Abby, the wild and wacky creative head of an advertising agency called Madness. Besides the oomphy Fllora Saini as agency head Meenakshi Malhotra aka Maxi, Bajracharya provides the additional dash of glamour when the unit moves to shoot an ad in Nepal. 

Just as Maxi starts to fall in love with Abby, Tanya (Bajracharya) swoops in and tries her best to seduce him. The film turns into a 'whodunit' after Sonu ends up in bed with a dead Tanya besides him. 

Tinseltown's newest Nepalese import admits she doesn't mind stripping for success. "What's wrong with exposing if you are blessed with natural beauty? I have bathed in the crystal clear water of the mountains and that's left my body glowing. Watch me in Love in Nepal and I am sure you will find me pleasing too," she says. 

Bajracharya insists she's here to stay. According to her: "I expect the film to do quite well and hopefully it will be a turning point in my career!"  

Tabu moves on from Irrfan 
Sunday, March 07, 2004

Guess who Tabu is being linked to these days? Believe it or not, struggling director Apurva Lakhia, whose Abhishek-Lara starrer 'Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost' bombed. Apurva, who is extremely thick with Junior B, is being heavily promoted by the latter. The question is, who is promoting Junior B? 

Sachin bats for 'Dhak Dhak' girl 
Sunday, February 29, 2004

He may be the 'God' of Indian cricket. But Madhuri Dixit is the screen idol that even Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar worships. 

In fact the Little Genius is waiting for Mrs Nene's return to Bollywood as eagerly as thousands of other fans across the country. "It's true that as an actress I admire Madhuri Dixit the most because she's suave, elegant and performs well. I have watched her on the silver screen ever since I was in school and especially love the songs from her films," admitted the usually reticent Sachin in a television interview. 

According to the star batsman, Madhuri has earned the nation's respect on merit alone. She has never had to expose or resort to outrageous behaviour for box office success, says Sachin. But award-winning roles in 'Beta', 'Dil' and more recently 'Devdas' notwithstanding, India's former cricket captain is still undecided about his personal favourite

"It's difficult to pick the best. I saw every film and thought she couldn't do better work. And each time she proved us wrong," he quips. 

While tinsletown's newest 'castoff queens' may be wiling to shed clothes and inhibitions at the drop of a hat, that hasn't dimmed Madhuri's magic, feels Sachin. 

"Everyone is vying for her own space in the film industry. It's a matter of individual choice that I admire Madhuri," he insists. 

Like world famous painter M F Hussain who cast her in his home-production 'Gajgamini', does Sachin too have plans to dedicate his next century to the 'Dhak Dhak' girl? For the moment the ace cricketer will let his willow do the talking. 

Hrithik was a part of Main Hoon Naa 
Saturday, February 28, 2004

Here's something that will surely take you by surprise. Hrithik Roshan was once a part of the Main Hoon Naa cast. And guess what, he even shot for a day for the film. The character Hrithik was to play in the film was that of Shahrukh Khan's younger brother. But things didn't materialize later on and eventually the role went over to his brother-in-law Zayed Khan. 

Incidentally, actor Sohail Khan and Dil Chahta Hai director Farhan Akhtar were also considered for the role. 

Moreover if the buzz is to be believed, Farah Khan's close buddy – director Karan Johar, will also make an appearance in the film, though his part is said to be a blink-it-and-disappear role

Puri film fest concludes; breaks all norms 
Thursday, February 26, 2004

Bhubaneshwar : The setting was just right -- sun, sand and the sea -- for the "Bring Your Own Film Festival" (BYOFF) that concluded here. More than 100 films of different genre were screened at this unique five-day event. Organised by a group of adventurous filmmakers, it saw about 200 participants sharing their experience and ideas with the directors and the audience. Many were making their debut. The festival by all accounts has succeeded in its mission of providing an alternative to the routine official film festivals. BYOFF is a virtual revolt against the official film festivals.

The films were screened inside two makeshift tents, Bhadaas and Dho, erected on the sands. The Oriya words, meant to express feelings of excitement, reflected the enthusiasm of all those present. The organisers had issued no formal invitations to the film-makers, the viewers or the media.  

Film producer Nagi Reddi passes away 
Thursday, February 26, 2004

Chennai : The film producer, Dada Saheb Phalke awardee and philanthropist, Nagi Reddi (91), died after a brief illness. Nagi Reddi is survived by three sons and two daughters. In recognition of his contributions, the Tamil Nadu Government conferred on him the Kalaimamani Award in 1972. In 1986, came the crowning glory : the Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Nagi Reddi served twice as the Film Federation of India president and led the South India Film Chamber of Commerce four terms, shaping new paths for the industry in the south. He established the Vijaya Vauhini Studio, Vijaya Colour Labs and Vijaya Hospitals, under the Vijaya Medical and Educational Trust in 1979.

In 1949, Nagi Reddi set up Vijaya Productions with Ramana Reddy, in 1950. Nagi Reddi made "Shavukaru" and introduced a young heroine, who after the movie, came to be called Sowcar Janaki. The 1951 fantasy "Pathala Bhairavi" captured the imagination of Tamil and Telugu audiences. Five years later, Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani co-produced "Missamma" (in Telugu) and "Missiamma" (in Tamil). The hit comedy established Savithri and "Gemini" Ganesan as a popular lead pair. "Maya Bazaar" followed in 1957, by which time, Nagi Reddi had established himself as a "hit" producer. 

Bollywood goes grey with a vengeance 
Tuesday, February 24, 2003

Mumbai: Sin is in. More and more actors are exploring the darker side of life on celluloid. Industry pundits attribute several reasons for this role-reversal. 
Says Javed Akhtar, “There was an angst in society that was reflected in Amitabh Bachchan’s anti-establishment films. He embodied the hopes and frustrations of millions. Today, unfortunately there are no causes to be fought. Today’s glib hero is just happy being bad. He could be the gym-toned, silver-tongued, wheeler-dealer like Saif Ali Khan who wreaks havoc in the life of an innocent girl in Ek Hasina Thi. 
Is this a disturbing trend? Manoj Bajpai explains, “Rebels generally make straitjacketed people uncomfortable. I don’t have a dark side, and I don’t like the term villain. Call the characters I’ve played grey. Regular audiences also find a catharsis through men of steel who shatter stereotypes.’’ 
Other notable leading men who revealed their mean streak were Shah Rukh Khan in Baazigar and Darr, Sunjay Dutt in Khalnayak, Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee, Akshaye Khanna in Humraaz, Ajay Devgan in Deewangee and Manoj Bajpai in Aks and Road. Memorable hell’s angels include Amrita Singh in Aaina and Kajol in Gupt. While Kajol snagged the Filmfare Best Villain trophy for her role as the killer girlfriend, Preity Zinta’s vicious turn in Armaan fetched her several best-villain nominations. Adds Zinta, “Actors in movies have to compartmentalise their emotions. Heroines especially are not allowed to let off steam. That makes them into unreal, simpering characters. Similarly, the bad guys are painted so bad that they end up looking unrealistic. Real life has no black or white, only grey. I can name at least 400 million men and women who have grey shades and behave like I did in Armaan.’’ 
Perhaps it was Shah Rukh Khan’s careerdefining move in Baazigar which opened the floodgates for the bad-packers. Khan elucidates, “I started my career playing an antihero. It was not a conscious career move. I thought the role had madness and passion. It was a role lot of other heroes had refused. (Laughs) But I’ve sobered down now. So you could say from throwing my heroine off the terrace to serenading her with a guitar, I’ve really come a long way.’’ 
A more realistic understanding of the dark side of the psyche was delineated in Vishal Bharadwaj’s masterly Maqbool. Tabu, who played the desi Lady Macbeth to chilling perfection, says, “Despite her immoral and unscrupulous act, there is still a lot of dignity to Nimmi, my character. It’s harder to play a grey character. If I can make the audience believe in my cause despite it being anti-social, great. Perhaps that’s why Nimmi gained the sympathy of the audience. Whereas another negative character I played in Jaal was easier but I didn’t win any sympathy votes maybe because no one connected with it.’’ 
So obviously, being grey isn’t enough. Ram Gopal Varma, who reinvented the black lexicon vis-a-vis films like Satya, Kaun and Company, says gingerly, “No larger-than-life shaadi-baraats and dream sequences in Switzerland for me. I see life in darker shades and that’s how my films and characters shape up to be.’’ And for a spot of delicious irony, master of romance Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next film is titled Black. Clearly black and dabs of grey seem to be the current shades at the box-office. 

Stars shine on darker side of midnight 
Sin is in as more actors rush in to play villainous, vampish roles
Tuesday, February 24, 2003

An ex-cop turns bad and goes on a trigger-happy spree: Ajay Devgan in Khakee. She’s the bored mistress of an underworld don and she plots to bump off her paramour: Tabu in Maqbool 
She oozes oomph and plots the murder of her husband: Bipasha Basu in Jism. 
Bad makes good. The overwhelming response to off-kilter films like Maqbool and Jism is a sign that actors are willing to step out of conventional roles and experiment with the darker side of midnight. Stars are showing a willingness to abandon gloss for gore. Preity Zinta, who played the vixen Sonia Kapoor in Armaan with uninhibited elan says, “As Preity Zinta,there’s a certain protocol I have to follow, but as Sonia Kapoor, I could be a bitch.’’ 
In Satish Kaushik’s Tere Naam, Salman Khan torments the object of his affection and the audience cheers lustily. In the next few months,there’s more to come from the rogues’ gallery. Ajay Devgan in Mani Ratnam’s Yuvaa, Suneil Shetty in Farah Khan’s Main Hoon Naa and Sunjay Dutt in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Ranveer will unleash an array of bad-packers on screen. Says Santoshi, “More often than not, we make excuses for the nefarious behaviour of the heroes. The script will ascribe it to a traumatised childhood or being dumped by an uncaring girlfriend. Ajay Devgan in Khakee didn’t give any explanations for his villainy. He was plain bad. Just like Gabbar Singh in Sholay.’’ Another line of thought to explain the experimentation is that cinema reflects societal trends. That explains the colossal success of the angry young man in the early 1970s. 

Hrithik returns to make a Preity picture
Monday, February 23, 2003

Mumbai: If there was one single entity that sizzled at the 49th Manikchand Filmfare awards last night, it was the letter ‘K’. Koi Mil Gaya, Rakesh Roshan’s winsome extra-terrestrial caper and Kal Ho Na Ho, Karan Johar’s engrossing tragicom, mopped up most of the awards between them. KMG won five awards—Best Film, Best Director, and in a first-time double whammy, both the critics’ and the popular award for Best Actor (Hrithik Roshan). KHNH bagged eight trophies, including Best Actress (Preity Zinta), Best Supporting Actor (Saif Ali Khan) Best Supporting Actress (Jaya Bachchan), Best Music (Shankar Ehsaan Loy), Best Lyrics (Javed Akhtar) and Best Male Playback Singer (Sonu Nigam). The howlarious Munnabhai MBBS bagged the critics’ award for Best Film—it also fetched Sanjay Dutt the Best Actor award for a comic role. Urmila Matondkar walked away with the critics’ award for her stellar performance in Bhoot. 
In an emotion-charged speech, Rakesh Roshan, while accepting the critics’ award on behalf of Hrithik, who was backstage after a performance, said, “I am very happy today—the critics wrote my son off and now he’s won the critics’ award.’’ Saif Ali Khan lightheartedly quipped, “I’m happy to get it because it’s the oldest trophy and I’m traditional.’’ Javed Akhtar, who notched up his 13th award, quipped, “Looks like 13 is not such an unlucky number but I plan to move on to 14 soon—at the next Filmfare awards. To which emcee Shah Rukh Khan reparteed, “And I thought I was the only show-off around here.’’ 
Award winners apart, the show belonged to emcees Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan. The Khan duo, fast developing into a first-rate stand-up comedy act, took audacious cracks at the industry, improvised with panache and generally brought the house down. Even normally deadpan stars in the audience could be seen cracking up at the wicked witticisms that flowed from SRK-SAK—who, incidentally, also did an extension of their gay act from Kal Ho Na Ho to wild from the audience 

Hot bods set stage on fire at Filmfare awards 


Mumbai: The sprawling Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds glittered with star power as Bollywood’s Who’s Who descended from their limos and took their seats at the 49th Manikchand Filmfare award on Saturday night. Rekha, resplendent as always in a traditional sari, Shabana Azmi in a glittering green-blue outfit, Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff in black, and Abhishek Bachchan, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Preity Zinta were in the audience hugely enjoying the proceedings. When the inseparable trio—Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Ambani and Amar Singh—walked in together, cameramen went into a tizz and made a beeline for the Big B. 
The performances, choreographed by Shiamak Davar, had oodles of sultriness on display (Bipasha Basu, John Abraham, Ishaa Koppikar, Fardeen Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Kareena Kapoor), but it was Hrithik’s patented Indiarubber act that stole the thunder. The actor, who danced to a medley of his hit numbers, was greeted with thunderous applause, and literally set the stage on fire—a spark from the fireworks at the end of the Jadoo song got a portion of the pandal burning. Abhishek Bachchan, who was presenting an award just after, proved he’d inherited his father’s sense of comic timing when he made a couple of cracks about the fireworks and Hrithik’s striptease during the performance. 
The Lifetime Achievement awards went to three industry veterans—B.R. Chopra, and quintessential screen moms Nirupa Roy and Sulochana. At the other end of the spectrum, the R.D. Burman award for fresh music talent went to composers Vishal-Shekhar for their snappy score in Jhankaar Beats. 
Three new awards found their place in the honours list this year—the Filmfare Power award, the Motolook award and the Filmfare Special Performance Award. The first, polled by Bollywood denizens who voted in those they considered the most powerful players in the industry, was shared by Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan and presented by Reliance MD Anil Ambani and Information & Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Motolook award, instituted by Motorola, for an actor who’d ‘departed from his\her usual look in a film’ was won by Saif Ali Khan for his Kal Ho Na Ho get-up while Kareena got the Special Performance award for Chameli. 
The sponsors of the 49th Manikchand Filmfare awards were the Manikchand group of industries, Motorola, BPL mobile, Cafe Coffee Day, Hyatt Regency, Air Sahara, Coca Cola, Bright Advertising and Velocity. The official partner was Radio Mirchi and the event was produced and managed by 360 degrees. 

Roll Of Honour 


BEST ACTOR : 
HRITHIK ROSHAN FOR KOI MIL GAYA 

BEST ACTRESS : 
PREITY ZINTA FOR KAL HO NA HO 

BEST FILM : 
KOI MIL GAYA 

BEST DIRECTOR : 
RAKESH ROSHAN FOR KOI MIL GAYA 

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE : 
SAIF ALI KHAN FOR KAL HO NA HO 

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE : 
JAYA BACHCHAN FOR KAL HO NA HO 

BEST ACTOR IN A COMIC ROLE : 
SANJAY DUTT FOR MUNNABHAI MBBS 

BEST ACTOR IN A VILLAINOUS ROLE : 
IRRFAN FOR HAASIL 

BEST LYRICS : 
JAVED AKHTAR FOR KAL HO NA HO 

BEST MUSIC : 
SHANKAR-EHSAAN-LOY FOR KAL HO NA HO 

BEST PLAYBACK ( MALE ) : 
SONU NIGAM FOR KAL HO NA HO 

BEST PLAYBACK ( FEMALE ) : 
SHREYA GHOSHAL FOR JISM 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD : 
SULOCHANA, NIRUPA ROY AND B.R. CHOPRA 

BEST DEBUTANTE ( FEMALE ) : 
PRIYANKA CHOPRA AND LARA DUTTA FOR ANDAZ 

BEST DEBUTANT ( MALE ) : 
SHAAHID KAPOOR FOR ISHQ VISHQ 

`Raveena ties the knot in style!`
Sunday, February 22, 2003

Udaipur: Fulfilling her childhood dream of marrying like a princess, Raveena Tandon, on Sunday night tied the nuptial knot with boyfriend Anil Thadani, a film distributor, in royal grandeur at a 17th century palace turned into a five-star hotel. 

The high profile wedding ceremony was held at Jag Mandir Palace Hotel in traditional Punjabi khatri and Sindhi style with parents of both the bride and the groom performing the rituals. 

The Jag Mandir Palace, located on an island in the famous Pichchola lake, where Mewar Maharaja Karan Singh had held a reception for Mughal Prince Khurram, who later became Emperor Shah Jahan more than 400 years ago, was decorated like the set of a Bollywood film with an exquisite blend of tradition with modernity. 

The barat procession of the groom, with caparisoned horses, camels and torch bearers, reached the wedding venue in style. 

Led by a local band, the procession started from the sunset terrace of Fateh Prakash Hotel with many of the baratis dancing to the tunes of hit film songs and, after winding its way through a maze of narrow lanes of the city of lakes, reached the Banshi ghat of Pichchola lake where the groom and baratis boarded flower-decked boats, owned by former Udaipur royals, to reach the Jag Mandir Palace. 

`Tum` Vs `Kismat`

The voyeurs never had it so good. While last week Bipasha Basu got an oil massage from Sanjay Dutt in Rudraksh, this week’s two films promise more skin show from two of the loveliest ladies in lush town. 

But both Manisha Koirala and Priyanka Chopra who star in this week’s Tum and Kismat, respectively protest violently against their films being designated peep-shows. Chopra says she plays a simple middleclass girl who moonlights as a night club crooner, hence the item song Mahi mahi. Manisha Koirala is a housewife and a mother who slips into a one-night stand after getting drunk. 

But the most interesting aspect of this week’s releases is the comeback factor. While Kismat sees the return of the Deol scion Bobby who has gone missing from the screen during the last one year, Tum marks the return of the director Aruna Raje. 

Raje’s been missing from the marquee for years now. Her last directorial venture came several years ago. Raje is clearly seeking a place under the sun. Considering the fate of other female directors, it seems like a tall order. 

Raje’s colleague Kalpana Lajmi somehow managed to complete and release Kyon. The film bombed badly and left Lajmi shellshocked. After three consecutive flops Tanuja Chandra is ready with Film Star which features Mahima Chowdhary in the title role. Other female films like Shrabani Deodhar and Paravathi Balagopalan are barely in the picture. 

Actress Revathi has just completed a film with Shilpa Shetty, Salman Khan and Abhishek Bachchan in the lead. She’s among the rare female filmmakers to be able to make projects on her own terms. Aruna Raje apparently had to compromise on everything including the cast. She wanted someone suave and magnetic to play Manisha’s seducer. She had to settle for Karan Nath apparently under pressure from her producer. 

Will Tum break the current jinx on women directors? The impact of Tum is expected to be limited to a discerning mature audience. The junta is expected to make a beeline for Guddu Dhanoa’s dhamaka. 

Bobby Deol who stars in Kismat has been out of circulation for quite a while. His recent two releases Humraaz and Kranti, coincidentally featuring the same leading lady Amisha Patel have swung from the hit to the flop status within a year. In-between there was David Dhawan’s comedy Chor Machaye Shor which sank without a trace of a smile. What’s kept Bobby away from the marquee for so long? Just wrong release-timings I guess. 

No one is expecting miracles from Kismat-- not with Guddu Dhanoa at the steering wheel, not when Dhanoa has delivered two flops last year, one of them Jaal: The Trap with Bobby’s big brother in the lead. But everyone hopes it works for Bobby’s sake. 

But as Patna exhibitor Roshan Singh puts it, "We haven’t had a full-blown masala film with fights, drama, blood and sex in a long time. If you see the recent films have all tried to play around with the formula. Kismat plays it straight. That’s its USP." 

A woman’s picture by a woman director and a straight-from-the-hip as-you-strike-it masala film. While one is a ‘safe’ venture the other takes magnum risks with audiences’ tastes. Which way will the wind blow?  

Final Solutions bags Wolfgang Staudte Award and Special Jury Award

Mumbai : The documentary "Final Solutions", won the Wolfgang Staudte Award and the Special Jury Award in the 54th Berlin International Film Festival. The film explores the Gujarat violence and takes a hard look at the politics behind it. The documentary by Rakesh Sharma, rejected at the Mumbai International Film Festival.  

Manisha's beau threatens `Tum` PRO

Now this is an actress whose films are always dogged in controversies. After Ek Chhotisi Love Story, Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala is making news for her upcoming erotic thriller Tum – A Dangerous Obsession due to release the coming Friday, thanks to close boyfriend – Cecil Anthony. 

Cecil has allegedly called the film's PRO – Alok Mathur on his mobile phone and abused and threatened him for spreading hot revealing photographs of Manisha Koirala from the film Tum to the media. Mathur however claims that the images were provided to him by production house of the film. 

Mathur has gone ahead and lodged a complaint against Anthony in the Oshiwara police station. 

Kapil Dev to star in Bollywood film 

Mumbai: India's former ace Test cricketer Kapil Dev, credited with taking 432 wickets in the international arena, will star in a Bollywood big screen sports movie - as himself. 

The film is about a boxer, played by Bollywood star Sohail Khan, who fails to make it big because of the politics involved in boxing. 

Frustrated, he quits the game to become a television sports journalist who is tasked with interviewing various sports personalities, including Kapil Dev. 

The cricketer appeared before the cameras at the weekend for the first session of shooting for the $1.1 million movie, entitled Aryan. 

"Bollywood has not given much attention to making films on sports and I am happy this is a small beginning," Dev said as he emerged from Riverdale studio in central Mumbai.

Amir, Salman and Sarukh considered by Simon Jones for Gay Porn movie in HollywooO

Porn director Simon Jones is considering Amir Khan, Salman Khan and Sarukh Khan in his upcoming X rated movie Pueris Collection III. The setting is for a high class aristocrat in Paris to fall in love with three men from India who are visiting as friends and keep praising Indian women. After close encounters with their French hostess they start competing for her. The movie has one of the highest budget and a fantastic story. Simon was extremely interested in the three when he saw them in recent NY shows. When asked how they will perform in gay scenes, Simon casually side tracked the issue. “If these guys are not gay, we have ways and means to handle that”, he said. The movie will cast some of the hottest X-rated stars from the West. According to Simon, these actors may have to use sex devices to boost their participation levels. Obviously they are novice in this field. But they will mature and grow up to the world standards. They did not sign any contract yet. None of them have been formally approached. In recent days, Hollywood is getting very interested in casting Bollywood stars. This particular movie needs stars from India and Middleeast. When asked if sexual orientation of the stars will matter, Simon answered no. It is the natural setting and manhood that matters these days. 

Shah Rukh, Hrithik on a shows' spree 

When it's awards time, stars make the most moolah! Shah Rukh, for example, despite his bad back (and recent recovery), has been dancing for the bucks! He compered the Sansui Awards evening, and will be doing the same for the Filmfare and Zee Awards. He's managed an eight-digit amount cumulatively. Ditto for Hrithik Roshan who danced for the Screen Awards. He has also been pencilled in to perform for the Filmfare and Zee Awards for a similar price as Shah Rukh. What's more? In March, Hrithik leaves for his world tour. He will do a series of stage shows in the US!

Ash, Lolo or Preity: Who'll play `Nargis`?

It's a known fact that Zoya Akhtar, daughter of Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani and sister of Farhan Akhtar, had been planning to make her directorial debut with NARGIS. It's said that Zoya had penned the script keeping Madhuri Dixit in mind and also had a meeting with the U.S.-settled actress a few weeks ago. 

The latest on NARGIS is that Madhuri and Zoya have gone separate ways.
Reason: The hefty fee the actress demanded was a major deterrent. The story doing the rounds is that Zoya has pencilled on the 'next three options' – Aishwarya Rai, Karisma Kapoor and Preity Zinta. 

“Neither Aishwarya nor Karisma have been approached for the role,” Zoya informs me, in an exclusive chat, “I am in a quandary. Believe me, the project is on hold primarily because we haven't been able to finalise the leading lady.” 

But why did the talks with Madhuri fail, considering that you waited for over a year to get her positive nod? Was it the exorbitant fee she quoted that made you retract? “Well, we had creative differences as well. Let me put this on record, she is not being considered for NARGIS anymore,” Zoya spells out. 

What about Preity? Reportedly, the actress, who happens to be a family friend [she's been a part of Farhan's DIL CHAHTA HAI and LAKSHYA and Honey's ARMAAN], had decided to bail out Zoya by allotting bulk dates. True? “Well, Preity is a friend, but we haven't discussed the film yet,” she avers, “But we're in the process of talking to someone…” 

Though Zoya is tight-lipped vis-à-vis the actress she is talking to [to step in Madhuri's shoes], there are rumours that the 'queen' has been approached for the role. Since NARGIS is expected to roll in September/October this year, a clearer picture should emerge in a week or two. We'll keep you posted!

`Divorce` – Not between husband & wife

The moment you hear this word, the first thing that comes to your mind is that of a married couple parting ways citing various differences, one of the main reasons being incompatibility. But have you ever heard of a child wanting a 'divorce' from his parents? Well, that's the theme of debutante director M.J. Ramanan's DIVORCE, starring Jackie Shroff, Mandira Bedi, Sonu Sood and Master Parth. 

Although Ramanan denies that his film had drawn inspiration from MASOOM, AKELE HUM AKELE TUM and RAHUL, which reflected the emotions of a neglected child, he does admit that the story of DIVORCE germinated after he read a report in a U.S. newspaper about a young boy seeking divorce from his parents since they neglected him. 

To be shot in a start-to-finish schedule, from February 9 to March 12, DIVORCE makes an attempt to reflect the lives of an urban couple. “But it's not an art/experimental film. It's a sensitively penned story that should strike a chord with every parent and child, not just in India but abroad as well,” Ramanan informs me. 

Having assisted a number of names in India as well as in Hollywood, DIVORCE marks Ramanan's entry in Bollywood mainstream cinema. “It took time to get a producer to back this project,” he reveals. Gunjan Apsara co-produces the film; this being her production debut. 

Mandira endorses Ramanan's statements, “What really got me hooked was the plot of the film. I relate to it completely. As a married woman, I may not be devoting as much time as I should to my husband [director Raj Kaushal] and home. That propelled me to accept the film.” 

Sonu Sood, who won critical acclaim for his performance as Shaheed Bhagat Singh, sounds equally gung ho about the film. Incidentally, 2004 seems like a crucial year for this youngster, what with Mani Ratnam's YUVA [Sonu plays the main negative role in the film] and Shyam Benegal's film slated for release in the coming months. 

Jackie, who plays a lawyer, feels that the role he is enacting in DIVORCE is different from the one enacted by him in KAASH. “Every director has a vision. Every director has his own style of doing things. That film [KAASH] was different from this one. But, of course, the colour of the tear never changes. Both are emotional films,” he tells me. 

Adultery: Bollywood's new hit formula?

In Vishal Bhardwaj’s fascinating take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Tabu has an affair right under her surrogate-husband benefactor and patron-saint’s nose. 
In one sequence, she seduces, teases and entices her lover (Irfan Khan) right under her rightful partner’s eyes. Later she prompts the lover to slay the spouse. 

Now barely a month later in Aruna Raje’s 'Tum: A Dangerous Obsession', Manisha Koirala plays a bored housewife who pays for the sins of her one-night stand when the lover (Karan Nath) turns obsessive. 

Raje had made another film about an adulterous wife several years ago. In 'Rihaee', her boldest film ever, Hema Malini was Vinod Khanna’s lonely wife in the village who has an illicit affair with a passerby Naseeruddin Shah while her husband works in the city. 

The film and its mature handling of the theme of adultery echoed Kalpana Lajmi’s 'Ek Pal' where Shabana Azmi was Naseeruddin Shah’s inert wife who comes alive when her former lover drops in and impregnates her. 

The woman, seen as the tradition home maker has intermittently been put in adulterous situations in films that wear their badges of boldness like army medals. One such recent film was Deepak Tijori’s Oops where Mita Vashisht played Kiran Kumar’s alcoholic wife who goes out and has an affair with a male stripper(Kiran Janjani) who’s her son’s best friend!

The adultress isn’t an esoteric offbeat phenomenon. Taking a cue from the bold and trendsetting B R Chopra film 'Gumrah' in the 1960s, where Mala Sinha continued to see her lover Sunil Dutt even after marriage with Ashok Kumar, Dharamesh Darshan's forthcoming Bewafaa features Kareena Kapoor as the wife torn between her husband Anil Kapoor and lover Akshay Kumar. 

Sanjay Gupta's 'Musafir' which will release at year-end goes even further. Sameera Reddy plays a bored small-town housewife who has torrid affairs with three drifters played by Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Suniel Shetty. The love-making scenes are so hot they drove Priyanka Chopra right out of the project. 

Apparently, Hindi cinema is shedding not just clothes but also skin as far as the traditional image of the Hindi film heroine is concerned. Films like Tum, Bewafaa, Musafir and Karan Razdan’s Hawas allow the female protagonist to move away from the sanctity of marriage. 

The Indian soaps on television also appear to be enamoured of the amorous strain in a woman. In Sahara’s soap 'Zindagi Teri Meri Kahani' a wife plans to kill her devoted husband in collusion with a terrorist. 

In Star Plus’s 'Kasauti Zindagi Kay' the wanton Komolika repeatedly plots with an entrepreneur behind her husband’s back. And in Zee’s 'Astitwa : Ek Prem Kahani', a wife finds her male colleague’s shoulder to be far more sympathetic than her husband. 

The men aren’t getting left behind either. In two forthcoming feature films, 'No Entry' and 'Masti', a group of roving-eyed men lust after the forbidden fruit outside marriage. Are we entering a new phase in popular art where marriage is , for now, no longer the sacred institution it was meant to be? 

Not quite. "I’m bored and I’m out," said Manisha Koirala to husband Aamir Khan in Mansoor Khan’s 'Akele Hum Akele Tum'. At the end she repented her priorities in life. Now in Tum she ‘slips’ and sleeps with another man and is traumatised thereafter. 

The Bharatiya Nari may be shedding her skin. But at the end of the day she doesn’t really believe in breaking the conventional mould. 

Preity's writing meets with a sensational response

After alluring her viewers with her acting skills, Preity Zinta is setting a new lineage of fans for herself through her writing skills. The dimpled beauty made news right from the day she resolved to write a column for BBC. And post-penning her first column, the response is like doubled. 
For her debut piece of writing, Preity, but obviously chose the topic dealing with her profession, as “The changing face of Bollywood”. And the column reported a record of one lakh + impressions on the first day of its launch, qualifying itself to the site's top ten most widely read stories on the day.
Of course the initial response might have turned out of the curiosity hype. Will she be able to sustain her reader fan following? We hope yes!

Garam Dharam with sexy Sherawat

After Hema Malini, it's hubby Dharamendra who is returning to the silver screen with a bang (and we are not talking of B grade cinema here). Apart from making a special appearance with Amitabh Bachchan in Hum Kaun Hai , Dharam paaji has bagged a lead role in another film.

And the interesting part comes here. His character in the film is based on the late Mumbai stockbroker Harshad Mehta who created quite a controversy in the early 90's. To be directed by Khwahish director Govind Menon, the film is titled Kis Kiski Kismat. And with so many kisses in the title, you only expect the smooching seductress Mallika Sherawat to co-star in the film. Of course she's not paired opposite Garam Dharam, but his son in the film to be played by a newcomer. 

Manisha dares to bare in Tum

Venus film's “Tum – A Dangerous Obsession” directed by Aruna Raje is creating news among the industry for it's three lengthy love-making scenes featuring Manisha Koirala (and this time without a body double). The first is with Karan Nath (who plays a fashion photographer), second with Rajat Kapoor (who plays her husband in the movie) while the third is a four-minute long passionate song sequence in bed. The movie also boasts of other bold and steamy scenes. 

So hot was the onscreen chemistry of the stars that the film ran into serious trouble with the censor board. They refused to grant a censor certificate unless 16 major cuts were made and the length of each lovemaking scene was reduced to half before submitting the film again. 

But director Aruna Raje put her foot down and insisted that since the censors were awarding an adult certificate to 'Tum', the cuts were unreasonable, as they were very crucial to film's narrative. Finally after a month long battle, Aruna Raje emerged victorious as they relented and passed the film without any cut. 

Aruna Raje clarified that "Tum is not a soft porn film meant to tantalize audiences. It is the story of a married woman who gets carried away and gets intimate with a young man. But she soon realizes her mistake. The story is about the repercussions of her one mistake, which turns her life topsy-turvy. Manisha has done some bold scenes in the film, but they are the demand of the story. It deals with her turmoil and about how she tackles the situation. It's Manisha's finest performance till date." 

Manisha Koirala admits that 'Tum' has a very bold theme and it does have a number of daring scenes featuring her. "But they are not vulgar and cheap as they were in Ek Chotisi Love Story", she says. "When Arunaji narrated the script to me, I liked it immensely. But at the same time I told producer Ratan Jain and Arunaji that I was a bit skeptical doing the film because of my bad experience during 'Ek Chotisi Love Story' But both Ratanji and Arunaji assured me that they would not let me down. The bold scenes, which are integral to the story have been shot very aesthetically, which is why they don't look vulgar at all. Apart from that, I was very comfortable doing those scenes as Arunaji is a woman director. I have yet to see the film but I know that Ratanji is the man of his word. I'm sure that he would never present me in a cheap manner in 'Tum' I was sure that 'Tum' wouldn't be a film that would upset me." 

Tum will unveil at theatres all over on Feburary 20th.. 

Suraiyya's house up for claim

Mumbai: The much-discussed stories about a near-traffic jam and queues of men lining up outside Krishna Mahal to have a glimpse of the screen Goddess, Suraiyya, might just quietly slip into being a forgotten legend with the landlord of the house all set to claim back the flat. 


Barely two days after the demise of the singer, the filigreed wooden doors of the ground floor flat of Krishna Mahal has been pasted with a legal notice for claiming back the flat. 

The notice has been pasted for the benefit of any person, who wishes to make a claim to the said flat, whether as her heir or otherwise. The notice states `such person is advised to notify the undersigned in the event of such person making a claim to the said flat whether by way of succesor or residence or otherwise. 

In case there were no legal claimants, the house would go back to the landlord. 

Suraiyya being single, the likelihood of the flat going back was high. "It is a shame if the house goes back to the landlord since it holds so much of memories of Suraiyya and lot of sentimental values for her fans across the globe. She has gone through a lot in this house of hers", says Sadhana Rana, a close family friend of the late actress. 

"But I hope someone comes forward to retain the house or to ensure that something could be done legally to ensure that her house was preserved as it was", she said. 

"She never made a will regarding the house because she suffered from a phobia that if she ever did make a will she would die", discloses Sadhana. 

India`s first film on Cyber Crime

Writer-Director Sikander Bhatia's crime-thriller Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya will be India's first film on Cyber Crime. 

The film entirely shot in Bangkok has an all-new cast, which includes Miss India – Reshmi Ghosh and a Swedish actress – Agnes. And the tagline of the film states 'Ambitions are good but watch out where you land'. 

Diya-Bunty split?

Diya Mirza and Bunty Sachdev have called it quits! That what's the latest buzzword is! Grapevine has it that Bunty was two-timing Diya while playing hide and seek with Neha Dhupia. Diya, stood by her lover like any other girlfriend hoping to transform him for the better. But Bunty continued to play games and Diya finally showed him the door. "I want to concentrate on my career," Diya said. Don't all actresses say that after heartbreaks and tears? 

John miffed!

John Abraham is miffed with a story carried by an eveninger that his back (the crack of his butt) is visible in a love-making sequence in 'Paap'. "I don't know where these stories come up from," he said. "I've only shown my torso like I did in 'Jism'," he added. Those who've seen the movie tell us that John is right, and indeed, there is no crack! They also tell us that the 'crack' was present in one of the scenes originally but was edited as the censors would have never cleared it!

Mumbai High Court reprieve for Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan

Mumbai : The Bollywood actor, Shah Rukh Khan, got a reprieve when Mumbai High Court stayed till February 9 the bailable warrant against him issued by a lower court in a cheating case filed by a real estate agent over a property deal. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate J B Pankhe had issued bailable warrant against Shah Rukh a week ago in a cheating case in which the complainant Anees Ahmed alleged that he had not paid brokerage of Rs 3.82 lakh for purchase of a flat in Khar two years back. The warrant was made returnable on 11 March. The interim stay was granted by Justice Dilip Bhosale on a petition filed by the actor pleading that the magistrate had exceeded his jurisdiction by issuing bailable warrant against him. The judge said he would examine on February 9 whether the warrant issued had legal sanction.

Golden couple, Amitabh and Hema, will be seen together in Yash Chopra's next film

Mumbai : And now the golden couple, Amitabh and Hema, will be seen together in Yash Chopra's next film, albeit in guest appearances. Today's average hero and heroine is aged 26 and 22 respectively, the lower the better. In-between there were sporadic attempts like Mohan Kumar's "Avtaar" and "Amrit", and Ravi Tandon's "Zindagi", in which the protagonists were greying, aged souls. But "Baghban" and now "Dhoop", which have been released in the last two months, have spotlighted the elderly couple in full glory. After the stupendous success of "Amitabh Bachchan" and "Hema Malini" in "Baghban", "Dhoop" is the story of another autumnal couple.

Regarding "Baghban", Amitabh said : "I have never seen something like this before. Little children are going home to tell their parents to see the film. My entrepreneur friends who think Hindi films are infra dig have seen "Baghban" and cried like a baby!"

Dev Anand will be conferred 2002 Dada Saheb Phalke Award

New Delhi : The 80-year-old veteran actor-producer-director "Evergreen" hero, Dev Anand, has been selected for the Dada Saheb Phalke Award - for 2002 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to all aspects of film-making. The award will provide "impetus" to his work. The award will be presented to Dev Anand on December 29. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakhs, a shawl and a "swarna kamal". He will be the 34th recipient.

"Bandit Queen" Phoolan Devi features at National Museum of Australia

Canberra : "Bandit Queen" Phoolan Devi features prominently in the first ever exhibition of its kind on international outlaws which opened here at the National Museum of Australia. The head of the curatorial team, Joanne Duke, said : "The exhibition highlights her exploits and generosity towards the poor that earned her the respect of many low caste men and women. How from an outlaw she became a lawmaker". The exhibition traces her life from the time she was 11 when her parents married her to a much older man, how she fled from him and was abducted by a band of robbers, one of whom took her as his wife, her abduction and rape after the murder of her partner. It shows how she embarked on a reign of terror against her abusers and allegedly killed 22 villagers, her negotiated surrender and the time she spent in jail.

Playing a bride on-screen and being one in real life are completely different feelings, says Karisma

Mumbai : In expressing here feelings about married life, Karisma said : " However, I have always been a modern girl with traditional Indian values. But honestly, playing a bride on-screen and being one in real life are completely different feelings. I am very happy." Life is truly beautiful for newly-wed bride Karisma Kapoor. Regarding her newly-wed life, she said : "After marriage, one becomes more responsible. Earlier, my responsibilities were towards my family, my producers and directors. But now, my responsibilities are towards a person who is a very important part of my life. It feels wonderful to be a married woman. I feel settled. It's a different kind of feeling. As an actress, I have dressed up as a bride for the camera. But honestly, playing a bride on-screen and being one in real life are completely different feelings. I am very happy."

Seven-day festival of dance in Mumbai begins today

Mumbai : Odissi dancer Kiran Sehgal, who will perform at the Sangeet Natak Akademi's seven-day festival of dance in Mumbai that begins Friday, believes culture is being taken over by films. The last major dance festival was held in Mumbai in 1991. Sehgal said more such initiatives are required to rescue the Maharashtra capital from the film world. The deputy secretary of the Akademi, Helen Acharya, also agreed. But she said : "It's not like we haven't had any other festivals after that. In July, for instance, we organised a one-day programme of music and dance."

The festival will showcase, through more than 15 performances, most major styles of Indian dance like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Sattriya and Mohiniattam. There will also be a special choreographic production in association with the Nehru Centre, featuring some leading dancers of Mumbai.

International Children's Film Festival begins on November 14 in Hyderabad

Hyderabad : The International Children's Film Festival will start from November 14, 2003 in Hyderabad. At such events, the creative contrast in standard between India and the world has been glaring. As the nation prepares to host yet another International Children's Film Festival. The reasons for this are not difficult to seek. The Children's Film Society of India has a new chairperson, actress Raveena Tandon. She has a national award to her credit, but beyond this she has little else to qualify for what is undoubtedly a a very difficult task. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has reportedly said that Tandon loves children, has adopted two and has promised to act in young cinema without charging a fee. It seems strange that these ought to be touted as defence for appointing the actress. Producers and directors have been merely extending this line of thought to their creations. Besides, the Society allocates an unrealistically low amount of money to make a film, and obviously quality suffers enormously. Most of these movies are shoddy in form. The 13th International Children's Film Festival in Hyderabad will screen 170 movies from 34 countries, including India, in different sections, such as International Competition, Asian Panorama and Children's World. Czech animation, a series on Tintin and pictures about animals will form part of the Special Screenings. Retrospectives of Lars Berg, Jacques Tati and Ram Mohan, apart from tributes to Johnny Walker and Madan Bavaria are the other highlights. Some of the prominent films to be shown in Hyderabad are Germany's "Bibi Blocksberg" (all about witchcraft), China's "Together" (by the renowned director, Chen Kaige, who picturises how a violin brings together a 13-year-old boy and his musician mother), Britain's "Summer With the Ghosts" (whose basic theme is tolerance for others) and also Britain's "An Angel for May" (a lyrical fantasy).

Ghaziabad Court convicted 10 persons for murder of theatre activist Safdar Hashmi

Ghaziabad : Court has convicted 10 persons for the murder of the theatre activist and CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) leader, Safdar Hashmi, in 1989. Hashmi was killed while he and his associates were staging a street play "Halla Bol" during the municipal elections in Jhandapur and Sahibabad in Ghaziabad district. Hashmi was 36 years old at the time of his death.

Investigations revealed Sharma and his accomplices were armed with iron rods and revolvers. They chased Jha, dragged him out of a house and shot him dead," the prosecution said. As for Hashmi, he took refuge in the local Citu office. Sharma and his men mercilessly beat him up and left him there. He was rushed to a local hospital and shifted to RML Hospital later, where he succumbed to his injuries the next morning. The maximum punishment for Mukesh Sharma could be the death penalty.

Parveen Babi fails to depose in a designated court set up under TADA (P) Act

Mumbai : The former film actress, Parveen Babi, failed to depose in a designated court set up under TADA (P) Act. Parveen Babi claimed to have gathered evidence on involvement of actor Sanjay Dutt in the 1993 bomb blast case. Taking a serious view of the lapse, the judge ordered the registrar to issue fresh summons on her asking her to appear in person on August 8.

Murali bags best actor award and Tabu shares best actress with Shobana

New Delhi : Malayalam actor Murali bagged the best actor award for his role in "Neythukaran" (Weaver) in the 49th National Film Awards. On the other hand leading Bollywood actress Tabu shared the best actress award for "Chandni Bar" with South Indian star Shobana for her role in "Mitr-My Friend" B Lenin got the Best Director Award for his "Ooruku Nooru Peru" (Hundred People in a Hamlet) and Girish Kasaravalli's "Dweep" (Island) was adjudged the Best Film.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured at prestigious Edinburgh International Festival in Britain

New Delhi : Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured at the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival in Britain later this month with a retrospective of his strides in Bollywood. Asoka, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Pardes, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil Se and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindusthani are the Khan-starrers to be screened at the George Square Theatre in Edinburgh in the month-long extravaganza beginning July 26.

The festival also features Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Birju Maharaj, Shubha Mudgal, Aditi Mangaldas, Bharti Shivaji among the 150-strong Indian group.

Exhibition of Indian film posters opens to public at Victoria and Albert Museum in London

London : An exhibition of Indian film posters opened to the public at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The Victoria and Albert Museum, now known as the V&A, has probably the biggest treasure house in the world of Indian art objects, much of it looted, although it is not polite to refer to that now. But to be fair, the V&A has been making amends by allocating space for a permanent Nehru gallery and holding fairly frequent Indian exhibitions of one kind or another. One of the guests who popped in last night at the opening private launch of Cinema India : The Art of Bollywood was Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose musical, Bombay Dreams, is running (so far) to packed houses at the Victoria Apollo Theatre. Among those due to see the musical are Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and other members of the Indian cricket team who have now started what is likely to prove a challenging tour of England. An assistant curator at the museum who has chosen 70 posters for the V&A exhibition which "captures the excitement and glamour of Bollywood and documents the vibrant visual culture of Indian film", Divia Patel, said : "We have about 150 in our collection". The posters are subdivided into such categories as the Art of Advertising, the Glory of India, Indian after Independence, Youth Culture and the International Arena, 1970s and 80s, the Depiction of Women, Love and Romance, the Global Perspective, and Contemporary Artists and Bollywood.

Sony decides to shelve its proposed foray into film production in Bollywood

Mumbai : Sony has decided to shelve its proposed foray into film production in Bollywood. Sony is one of the biggest financiers of films in Hollywood. The company has also decided against setting up the proposed Rs 100 crore film fund. The CEO of Sony Entertainment said : "We have reviewed our plans for film production. We have identified that our strength lies in film marketing and not film production. Hence, we have decided against entering the business". However, the company is still open to financing films of smaller independent producers for a fee.

International Film Festival of India may be postponed

Bangalore : The International Film Festival of India, scheduled to begin in Bangalore on October 11, may be postponed as international air travel is being looked upon with trepidation. The Karnataka Cabinet decided to urge New Delhi to postpone the festival as the state is facing its worst drought in three decades. A minister said : "Air travel all over the world has been affected and one should not expect too many film personalities to take the chance of traveling all the way here."

President and Prime Minister congratulate Mira Nair for winning Golden Lion award

New Delhi : The President, K R Narayanan, and the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, congratulated Mira Nair for winning the Golden Lion. Mira Nair's vision of an elaborate wedding in India (Monsoon Wedding), won top honours at the Venice Film Festival with the Golden Lion award for best film.

Nair said she had not expected any big award at the festival. "I expected nothing from the movie. I just wanted to make a small thing. I am so happy it has become big."

Shiv Sena demands immediate ban on film "Lajja"

New Delhi : The New Delhi faction of the Shiv Sena demanded an immediate ban on the film "Lajja". They said that it has insulted the religious sentiments of Hindus. The Party's Delhi President, Jai Bhagwan Goel, said : "The film should be banned immediately, failing which the Shiv Sainiks will enforce the ban in their own way." He said the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sushma Swaraj, should take steps to stop the screening of the movie, in which the "great character" of the Hindu Goddess Sita has been "insulted".

BJP workers burn an effigy of filmmaker Rajkumar and posters of actress Madhuri to express their protest

Bhopal : A group of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) workers burnt an effigy of the Bollywood filmmaker, Rajkumar Santoshi, and posters of the film actress, Madhuri Dixit, to express their protest against what they described as "objectionable dialogues" against Hindu gods and goddesses in Santoshi's latest movie "Lajja".

"Lajja" is also being screened at the local Sangam cinema hall, but no demonstration was held there. This is the second time this year that a demonstration against a Hindi film has been staged in the city.

Amitabh Bachchan will be honoured with "actor of the century" award

Dubai : Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan will be honoured with the "actor of the century" award at the Alexandria international film festival in Egypt in recognition of his contribution to the world of cinema.

On a question regarding the dominance of American films that threatened regional cinema including Indian cinema, Jaya said there was no threat to Indian and Egyptian cinema as the countries had a rich historical and cultural heritage of their own.

Rangmahal Theatre destroyed in a fire

Kolkata : Rangmahal Theatre was destroyed in a fire here. The caretaker and two employees of the theatre were arrested. The flames turned to ashes the auditorium and the Kolkata's first revolving stage. There was no casualty. Police and Fire Brigade personnel say a short circuit sparked the flames.

On the other hand, a committee of Kolkata police had inspected seven to eight cinema halls in the city. Among them four in central and north Kolkata have been issued show-cause notices as the "overall amenities, including safety" were found unsatisfactory. The notices are to be answered within 15 days.

Sivaji Ganesan laid to rest at Besant Nagar crematorium in Chennai

Chennai : The film star Sivaji Ganesan was laid to rest at the Besant Nagar crematorium in Chennai. Thousands of people thronged Sivaji Ganesan's residence in the city to pay their last respects to the thespian. Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Sivaji Ganesan (74) died of a heart ailment on Saturday. The veteran Tamil actor is survived by his wife, two son and two daughters.

The 74-year-old actor's funeral procession began from his residence in T Nagar and wound through Chennai's streets bringing the city's teeming traffic to a grinding halt. People gathered all along the streets of Chennai to bid farewell to an actor who was considered second only to former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran. Sivaji's body was mounted on a floral carriage.

Bollywood actor Salman and six others charged in yet another case of poaching protected wild life

Jodhpur : The Bollywood actor Salman Khan and six others have been charged in yet another case of poaching protected wild life. The Chief Judicial Magistrate of a local court, S K Mathur, read out the charges, relating to alleged killing of chinkara in 1998, to the main accused Salman and others, personally present in the court.

The accused denied the charges and said they will contest them in the trial. The case will come up for hearing on September 22.

Bollywood financier Bharat Shah admits Hospital

Mumbai : The bollywood financier, Bharat Shah, admitted to Lilavati hospital for an angiogram test. Shah also is a famous diamond merchant. He was brought to the hospital amidst tight security. He had earlier refused to undergo angiogram test on the ground that the government-owned J J hospital was not well-equipped. A special court had accepted his plea to undergo angiogram test in a private hospital.

Bharat Shah had been booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act for his alleged links with underworld don Chhota Shakeel. Police claim to have recorded telephonic conversations between them which revealed the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke was financed by the underworld.

Maharashtra government refuses to ban "Gadar

Mumbai : The Maharashtra government refused to ban the film "Gadar - Ek Prem Katha. On the demand for a ban on the film by certain religious groups and Janata Dal (S), the Maharashtra chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, told that the government has no authority to do so.

As the sporadic protest against "Gadar reached Mumbai, police have been kept on alert. The joint commissioner, Y C Pawar, has asked all police stations to tighten vigil. The alert followed a protest note to the chief minister by the Muslim League's Mumbai unit demanding a ban on "Gadar within 48 hours.

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