Sallu to play Anthony Gonsalvez!
David Dhawan will direct the modern-day remake of
Manmohan Desai’s movie
Amar Akbar Anthony.
Keeping with the trend of remakes in Bollywood, David Dhawan too has decided to realize his long-cherished dream of remaking his favourite film
Amar Akbar Anthony.
The original movie had
Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor and
Vinod Khanna playing three brothers separated at birth.
Dhawan’s movie will reportedly have the three real-life brothers,
Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan and
Sohail Khan playing the roles.
Dhawan is presently shooting his movie
Partner with Salman. The director confirms the presence of Salman in his
Amar Akbar Anthony remake, but refuses to divulge any more details.
The buzz has it that Salman will play Anthony Gonsalvez (a goon), Arbaaz will play Amar (a cop) and Sohail will play Akbar (a tailor and singer). The film’s leading ladies are yet to be finalized.
Dhawan will start shooting the film after he is through with
Partner.
Salman takes Miss Universe for a ride
Miss Universe
Zuleyka Rivera rode pillion on
Salman Khan’s bike a few days back.
Zuleyka is on an AIDS awareness tour of India. She is spearheading a campaign with the motto ‘
Get Tested, It's in Fashion’.
Media reports say the Puerto Rican beauty was a special guest at Salman Khan’s Eid party last week. After the party, the Bollywood star offered to drop her home on his motorbike.
The time was around 3 in the morning. Salman drove Zuleyka from his Bandra residence to Royal Palms in Goregaon, where she was staying.
A newspaper even quotes Zuleyka as saying that she finds Salman "hot". She thinks Salman has "an amazing body and a great sense of humour."
Zuleyka aspires to become an actress someday. Her favourite is
Angelina Jolie, who by coincidence is also shooting in India nowadays.
Zuleyka was crowned Miss Universe 2006 in July this year.
Now Arjun wields a cane
Although the cane that
Arjun Rampal’s character wields in
Don makes his handicap apparent, it also serves as a weapon for him.
The limping ex-convict Jasjit, played by
Pran in the original
Don (1978), was a tough and emotional character. Now, Arjun Rampal reprises the role in
Farhan Akhtar’s
Don which releases this Friday.
Rampal says the toughest part of playing Jasjit was to maintain his limp. To get under the skin of his character, Rampal tried keeping the limp even when he was not shooting on the sets. This, Rampal says, took a toll on his legs.
But despite the limp, Rampal’s character is shown very tough in the film. Although he walks with a cane, he uses the same cane in fighting the baddies when needed.
To learn to fight with a cane, Rampal underwent a special martial arts training under the Shaolin Temple expert known as
Kanishk.
Arjun says the action and stunts in the film are very realistic and not over the top. There won’t be any gravity-defying stunts but stylish fights that are believable.
After a completely marginalized role in
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Rampal hopes his performance in
Don will boost his career.
Meanwhile, Rampal has ventured into film production with his movie
I See You. The theatrical promos of the film will be shown before the
Don screenings.
SRK in 'Dhoom 3'?
The latest buzz in the industry is that King Khan will act in the third edition of the Yash Raj film
Dhoom.
Even as
Dhoom 2 still has to hit the marquee,
Aditya Chopra (producer) has begun working on the script of the third part of the movie,
Dhoom 3. Chopra is reportedly so impressed by the way
Dhoom 2 has shaped up and is now planning the third part too.
The big coup is that the film will star
Shah Rukh Khan in the negative role that has been essayed by
John Abraham in
Dhoom and
Hrithik Roshan in
Dhoom 2. If anything, this piece of news lays to rest the rumours of fallout between SRK and the Chopras.
While SRK will play the villain,
Abhishek Bachchan and
Uday Chopra will be on the opposite side of the fence, playing the cop and his sidekick in the third part too.
Reports say newcomers
Ranbir Kapoor and
Sonam Kapoor might also be part of the project. The two are already acting together in
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movie
Saawariya.
It is still not confirmed whether
Sanjay Gadhvi will direct
Dhoom 3. The movie will go on the floors only after the release of
Dhoom 2.
Kitne aadmi the?
Ramesh Sippy's
Sholay has been a source of inspiration for several filmmakers. More recently,
Ram Gopal Verma has been busy with his remake of the film with
Amitabh Bachchan playing the character of Gabbar Singh.
Now, soap queen
Ekta Kapoor will also remake
Sholay and call it
Gabbar Singh. However, Ekta is to make the film in Bhojpuri. Earlier, she has made a Bhojpuri film titled
Hum Bal Brahmachari Tu Kanya Kumari.
Mahesh Pandey who is the writer of most of Balaji's shows including
Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and
Kasauti Zindagi Kay will direct her Sholay remake.
"The film will be launched on November 20 which also happens to be
Tusshar Kapoor's birthday. The film will go on the floors on January 5 and will be released on the same day as Ram Gopal Verma's film," says a source. "It will probably be one of the biggest and the costliest films to be made in Bhojpuri and bug names from the Bhojpuri and Hindi film industry are being signed for the same. There are about 35 characters in the film and a big name from Bollywood who will give competition to Amitabh Bachchan will be finalised soon for the role. A Bollywood actor will be taken for the role of Thakur Baldev Singh."
Bhojpuri superstar
Ravi Kishen has been finalised for the film. "I have been signed for the film but I am not allowed to reveal which character I will be playing. You will have to wait for an official confirmation from either Maheshji or Ekta," he says.
The film will have lyrics by
Vinay-Bihari and music from
Satish Ajay who are big names in Bhojpuri industry. When contacted for his views on impending competition, Ram Gopal Varma said jokingly, "My film will flop."
Love on a bed of red hot chillies!
The bed of roses is a cliché now. A Bollywood movie breaks this stereotype and shows two lovers locked in an embrace on a bed of red hot chillis.
It may not be an ideal idea of romance. But it’s different.
Riya Sen and
Shreyas Talpade have shot for a sequence in
Sangeeth Sivan’s movie
Apna Sapna Money Money in which the two are shown sharing a romantic moment on a bed of red chillis.
The sequence introduces Riya Sen’s character of a simple, village belle in the film. In the scene, Shreyas and Riya bump into each other and fall onto a bed of chillis. To add some humour to the shot, the chillis were put in the open in front of a family planning ad which said
Hum Do Humare Do.
But shooting this scene was no fun for Riya and Shreyas. In order to give the correct shot, the two had to fall many times on the bed of chillis. Moreover, it was a hot day and the chillis were dry and prickly.
After just a few shots, Riya’s skin began to burn. She even began sneezing ferociously. She had ice rubbed all over her shoulders and neck to take the sting of chillis away. And it took a whole day to get the shot right.
Riya says she will never forget her ordeal of that day.
Apna Sapna Money Money is a comedy about several characters all of who are after money. Apart from Riya and Shreyas, the movie stars
Ritesh Deshmukh, Celina Jaitley, Koena Mitra, Sunil Shetty, Jackie Shroff and
Payal Rohatgi.
Serial Kisser - II
Now, serial kisser Emraan Hashmi has competition to face!
If the Murder boy’s reputation as an onscreen serial kisser preceded each new Emraan release, new kid on the block Upen Patel is out to give him a run for his money.
Upen is all set to carry his casanova image from 36 China Town further in the forthcoming Shakalaka Boom Boom. In the film, Upen reportedly gets to smooch all the three pretty babes - Kangana Ranaut, Celina Jaitley and Seema Rehmani. Some slurpy affair, that!
Jaanemann
Jaanemann is a love triangle between a dude, a geek and a beauty.
Salman Khan plays the dude.
Akshay Kumar plays the geek. And
Preity Zinta, the beauty.
Shirish Kunder, husband of
Farah Khan, makes his directorial debut with this
Sajid Nadiadwala produced film, made roughly on the budget of Rs 35 crore.
The film is a musical love story, full of many mushy moments, good music, comedy and wholesome entertainment.
Salman Khan plays Suhaan Kapoor, a handsome dude, a long-haired rocker for whom life means fun and rock n’ roll. Suhaan is full of many dreams and aspirations. But he is not rooted in reality. Akshay Kumar plays Agastya Rao, a shy, studious, bespectacled geek with curly hair, toothy smile, frilled shirt and a desperate look all over his face. His confidence slips when he interacts with girls. Yet he has an unshakeable belief in the power of love. Preity Zinta plays Piya, a feisty, ebullient girl who has beauty, brains and wealth. She is strong and outspoken and yet emotionally vulnerable. Both Suhaan and Agastya love Piya. But neither of them can muster courage to voice their feelings.
College gets over and the three go their own paths.
Ten years pass.
Suhaan has achieved his dreams. But there is one big void in his life – love.
Agastya has used his intellect to make his own place in the world and outer space (it is believed he plays an astronaut). But his inner space is still vacant of love.
Piya too has grown mature and lives alone. There is no man in her life.
Then, in a sudden twist of fate, all three meet one day. As they rekindle their friendships, love sprouts once again. But the big question is: Whom does Piya love?
The film also has
Anupam Kher playing a dwarf. His name in the movie is Bonny Singh.
Jaanemann has music by
Anu Malik and lyrics by
Gulzar. The film will release on October 20, a day before Diwali.
Vidya Balan too busy for her mentor
Vidya Balan is one of the busiest actresses in Bollywood these days. After the grand success of
Lage Raho Munnabhai she has been showered with numerous offers by filmmakers.
Recently, when her mentor
Pardeep Sarkar, who launched her in debut movie
Parineeta, approached her for a role in his upcoming flick under Yash Raj banner, Vidya refused the offer, citing the date problem. She has already stepped out of
Sudhir Mishra’s movie
Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan because of the same reason.
Vidya’s refusal turned out to be gain for the talented Bengali lass
Konkana Sen. According to the industry news, Sarkar has roped in Konkana for the same role which was offered to Vidya.
Meanwhile, Vidya is having a handful of projects in her kitty. She has already completed
Vinod Chopra's
Eklavya,
Mani Ratnam's
Guru and some parts of
Nikhil Advani's
Salaam-e-Ishq.
She is now moving on to her other projects which include
Sajid Khan's
Hey Baby,
Rituparno Ghosh's
Rahgir and a South film
Dasavatharam.
No wonder, Vidya is too busy for the man who launched her into Bollywood.
1 man, 3 women and a thriller!
One man, three women, and a secluded palace.
Anant Mahadevan’s next movie Anamika promises to be quite a thriller.
The film is a suspense drama set in Rajasthan. Its story is said to be inspired from
Daphne du Maurier’s book
Rebecca.
Dino Morea, Minissha Lamba and
Koena Mitra are the film’s lead players.
Aarti Chabria has a brief role.
The film revolves around three main characters living in a secluded palace. Dino plays a man whose first wife (Aarti Chabria) is dead. Minissha plays his second wife. Koena plays Dino’s childhood friend who still loves him secretly. She is a governess-cum-architect. A series of unexpected developments occur after the characters decide to transform the palace into a heritage resort.
The film is being shot in three palaces in Bikaner – palaces of Gajner, Lalghad and Laxmi Niwas.
Dino says the film has him in a look he has never donned in any film so far. Koena describes her role in the movie as the "meatiest" of her career till day.
Minissha says the film is an edge-of-the-seat thriller with "a big surprise" in the end.
Celina plays a con-woman
After playing
sex kitten in many films,
Celina Jaitley now appears to be looking for some variety.
And to begin with, Celina is playing a funny con-woman in
Sangeeth Sivan’s movie
Apna Sapna Money Money. In the film, Celina plays a character named Sania Badnaam.
It is also learnt that Celina will don different looks in the movie. She is also learning Jazz Ballet for her role.
Interestingly, while Celina plays a con-woman, most of her scenes in the movie are with
Sunil Shetty, who plays a cop. Celina says her role in the film was "a challenge".
Apart from Celina and Sunil, the film also stars
Jackie Shroff, Ritesh Deshmukh, Riya Sen, Koena Mitra, Shreyas Talpade and
Payal Rohatgi.
Celina is currently busy with two more films:
Vikram Bhatt’s
Red and
Sunil Darshan’s
Shakalaka Boom Boom. Both films have Celina playing very different characters. Celina says her aim is to do as much variety of roles as possible.
Katrina out of 'Sholay'
Ram Gopal Varma’s dream project will have a little change in the star cast.
The latest news from tinsel town is that
Katrina Kaif will no more be a part of
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Sholay. Katrina was supposed to play the role of Radha, which was essayed by
Jaya Bachchan in
Ramesh Sippy’s original
Sholay.
While some reports suggest that Katrina was dropped from the project because of her diction problem, the actress says the reason for her departure is "date problems".
Katrina is presently busy with as many as three important projects:
Vipul Shah's
Namaste London,
Anees Bazmee's
Welcome and
David Dhawan's
Partner.
Katrina has also been sprucing up her Hindi diction. Surprisingly, the actress has not dubbed for her major Hindi films in the past, like
Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya, Sarkar and
Humko Deewana Kar Gaye.
But Katrina insists that she is indeed speaking her own dialogues in her forthcoming movies.
About opting out of
Sholay, Katrina says things were settled amicably with Ramu.
Varma is presently said to be thinking of roping in
Sushmita Sen for the role.
However, Sushmita’s presence in the flick is not confirmed yet.
Mallika plays an ex-CIA agent
Bollywood’s sex kitten plays a unique embodiment of oomph and IQ in
Kamal Haasan’s movie.
Mallika Sherawat’s southern sojourn is sure generating lots of hype. To start with, the lissome girl teams up with Kamal Haasan in the bilingual (Tamil and Hindi) movie
Dasavatharam.
The film will have Mallika playing an ex-CIA agent, while Haasan plays as many as ten different roles. It is learnt that Mallika was so excited about working with Haasan that she gave her consent to the project even before reading the script.
Mallika will also give some steamy scenes with Haasan in the movie. Her character is that of a bold, sexy and intelligent girl.
Shah Rukh to act in a film by Anubhav Sinha
Talks are on between
Shah Rukh Khan and filmmaker
Anubhav Sinha for a movie that will take off next year.
Sinha, the maker of films like
Dus and
Tum Bin, is presently busy shooting his multi-starrer movie
Cash with a host of Bollywood actors in Cape Town. And he has some more projects in the pipeline, one of which is a movie with Shah Rukh.
In fact, Sinha has already discussed the movie’s script with SRK on several occasions. The movie’s story is said to be based on a very novel concept.
Shah Rukh is currently committed to two movies that will keep him busy for around a year. He will first wrap up
Shimit Amin’s
Chak De India in which he is playing a hockey coach of a girls team. Then SRK will get busy with
Farah Khan’s next movie
Om Shanti Om.
The film with Anubhav Sinha will happen only after that, perhaps in the latter half of 2007.
But for the time being, it is
Farhan Akhtar’s
Don which is the talk of the town nowadays. The film has SRK reprising the role played by
Amitabh Bachchan in
Don (1978).
Shiney and Soha in a period love story
Filmmaker
Sudhir Mishra is all geared to direct
Shiney Ahuja and
Soha Ali Khan in his upcoming film
Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan, which is a period love story.
After
Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, Sudhir Mishra has once again borrowed a phrase from
Mirza Ghalib’s poetry as the title of his film.
If ‘
Hazaron Khwaishein’ took us back to the Indian politics of 1970s,
Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan will travel a bit further into the past, into the era of 1950s and 60s.
The film’s story revolves around a turbulent relationship between a writer-director and an actress-dancer.
Shiney Ahuja plays a filmmaker named Zafar, while Soha Ali Khan plays the danseuse-actress Nikhat.
At the face of it, the story bears a striking resemblance to the much-rumoured relationship between
Guru Dutt and
Waheeda Rahman in those days.
But Sudhir Mishra keeps us guessing. He says the film could be autobiographical, and it could also have references to Guru Dutt.
Mishra says the movie is his take on the film industry, “sort of a tribute.”
While Shiney has committed to the project even without reading its script, Mishra says he could not think of any other actress except Soha to play the role that takes him fifty years in the past.
Mallika Sherawat turns item girl down south
The Bollywood siren is getting ready to shake her booty down south.
Mallika Sherawat seems to be in a mood for an elongated southern sojourn. After an important role in
Kamal Haasan's movie
Dasavatharam, she will now perform in an item number in a Kannada film by
Ashwini Ram Prasad.
The movie, titled
Preethi Eke Bhoomi Melidhe is the first film of director
Prem as an actor.
Tamanna is the film’s heroine.
It is learnt that before giving her nod to the item number in the film, Mallika insisted on hearing the song, which has been composed by
R P Patnayak. The song will be shot in November in a six-day schedule.
Offers from the south Indian film industry have been pouring in regularly for Mallika. She was approached with an offer to do an item number in
Murugadoss’s latest release
Stalin. However, Mallika declined the offer. She rather opted to do the item in
Mani Ratnam’s forthcoming film
Guru.
Mallika and Rahul to pair up again?
The tinsel tattle has it that producer
Pritish Nandy is thinking of signing
Mallika Sherawat and
Rahul Bose for yet another romantic comedy.
It was the most unusual jodi to be seen on the silver screen this year. Bollywood’s sex kitten Mallika Sherawat and arty boy Rahul Bose came together to bring the house down in the romantic comedy
Pyar Ke Side Effects, which has been declared a hit by Pritish Nandy Communications.
Encouraged by the good response to the film, Pritish Nandy is now said to be planning yet another movie of similar genre with Rahul and Mallika in the lead roles.
Nandy believes there is a niche audience for the brand of "witty, intelligent humour" that was seen in
PKSE.
Nandy calls Mallika and Rahul "a winning couple" and believes that their jodi will continue to appeal to the audience.
Well, one thing is certain. Mallika and Rahul get along very fine when they are together. They indulge in everything from teasing, bantering to cajoling when they meet. The friendly relation between them is pretty open.
And this chemistry between the two will definitely show on the screen too.
