Hrithik – From robber to emperor!
After playing an aesthete thief in the latest blockbuster
Dhoom 2,
Hrithik Roshan now braces up for another challenging role.
It is hard to imagine anyone else except Hrithik playing the elusive robber in Yash Raj banner’s latest movie. Although a star-studded flick,
Dhoom 2 eventually turns out to be Hrithik’s film all the way, proving yet again his supple dexterity at doing stunts and his command over histrionics.
And now, the handsome actor takes yet another giant leap to play the Mughal emperor Akbar in
Ashutosh Gowarikar’s movie
Jodha Akbar.
Aishwarya Rai plays Akbar’s lover Jodha Bai in the film.
For many movie buffs, it may be difficult to imagine the chic and stylish Hrithik in the role of Akbar, but the movie’s director Gowarikar believes Hrithik suits the role perfectly because there is "
a certain royal quality to his face and body language."
And Hrithik too has left no stone unturned to get under the skin of his royal character in the film. True to his style, the actor has been preparing for his role for months. Swords have been breaking and Hrithik has been falling off the horses during his training sessions. Having done requisite preparations, Hrithik and Aishwarya are presently shooting the movie in Jaipur.
Jodha Akbar is being made on a very lavish scale. Gowarikar will have Hrithik and Ash wear real jewellery consisting of gold, emeralds, diamonds and other precious stones for their respective roles. Moreover, Ashutosh is said to be using around 100 horses, 50 camels and 70 elephants for the film. Gowarikar has spent years in doing research for the movie. He is taking help of some renowned scholars and historians.
Hrithik presently has only two projects in hand. After
Jodha Akbar, he will shoot for
Zoya Akhtar’s movie
Kismat Talkies.
Jaya and Abhishek together in 'Drona'
We have seen the chemistry between father and son in two films. Now
Abhishek Bachchan plays son to his real mother
Jaya Bachchan in a forthcoming costume drama.
The mother-son duo will soon be sharing the screen space in
Goldie Behl’s upcoming film
Drona. They will play mother and son in the film.
However, Abhishek and Jaya have also signed
Pardeep Sarkar’s film together but they will not play mother and son in that movie.
Goldie is Abhishek’s childhood friend and they share a good chemistry with each other. In fact, Abhishek has already worked with him in his directorial debut
Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai in year 2001.
Drona will be a costume drama with
Priyanka Chopra in the lead role opposite Abhishek.
The film is likely to go on the floors by the end of this year.
Paresh Rawal to break his comic image!
He made you love him, but now he wants you to hate him. Bollywood’s versatile actor
Paresh Rawal is all set to get out of his comic image.
Paresh will be seen playing a character called
Shri Shri Prakash Guru Ghantal Baba Bangali Sealdah Wale in
Anurag Kashyap’s upcoming film
No Smoking. The name sounds funny, but except the name there is nothing funny about the character.
Paresh plays a wicked person in the film, and, according to Anurag, his role will be completely different from the ones he has been doing in his movies of late.
No Smoking is a film which will give an anti-smoking message in an entertaining way.
The film stars
John Abraham, Ayesha Takia, Rajkumar Santoshi, Ranvir Shorey and
Joy Fernandes.
Bollywood stars to create AIDS awareness
On World AIDS Day, a galaxy of Bollywood stars, including
Shilpa Shetty and
Rahul Bose, will perform in a show in New Delhi to raise awareness about preventing HIV infections.
Popular TV actress
Mona Singh, best known as Jassi, will perform a dance number with children choreographed especially by
Shiamak Davar at the National Stadium on December 1.
Earlier that day, President
APJ Kalam will address Members of Parliament and release a special stamp to commemorate the occasion.
"President Kalam will be addressing MPs and will release the stamp," National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) Director General
Sujatha Rao said in New Delhi.
She said the evening's cultural show is planned to educate and create awareness among children and youth about HIV-AIDS and its implications.
"We are organising an exhibition, laser show, puppetry programmes and pantomimes, which are the best mediums to catch the attention of young minds," she said.
"The idea behind the show is to create awareness among people and to target the youth," Rao said.
According to NACO, there are 5.2 million HIV-infected people in the country, with 85.7 per cent of HIV infections through sexual intercourse.
Rao said
Kailash Kher will perform at the show along with many other TV stars.
Karisma Kapoor to return to Bollywood
After a long sabbatical from the silver screen, actress
Karisma Kapoor will stage a comeback in films very soon.
Karisma will star opposite
Sanjay Suri in filmmaker
Onir's next movie
You and I. The film will be a romantic story based on adventure sports and will be shot at exotic locations. It is likely to go on the floors next year.
Karisma had taken a long break from her acting career after her marriage to Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Kapur and the birth of her daughter Samaira. She has been seen in several advertisements in the past year and had said she was looking at scripts to make a comeback in acting.
Onir's debut film
My Brother Nikhil was acclaimed by critics and audiences, and he followed it up with
Bas Ek Pal, a movie on extra-marital relations. Onir’s second movie did not get as positive response as his first movie did.
Karisma was last seen in Bollywood in the utterly forgettable movie
Mere Jeevan Saathi.
Is Abhishek Bachchan out of 'Dilli 6'?
Rumour has it that
Abhishek Bachchan may not act in director
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s next film.
Mehra’s next directorial venture
Dilli 6 is a semi-autobiographical movie based on the days Mehra spent in Delhi’s Chandani Chowk as a youth. The suffix 6 in the title is the pin code of the area where he used to live.
Abhishek Bachchan was supposed to play the main lead in the film. But now, according to the latest buzz, he has been dropped from the project and
Hrithik Roshan has been roped in.
After the grand success of
Rang De Basanti, the audience will expect something more exciting from Mehra. He too is working religiously on this project. In fact he spent two-and-a-half weeks with legendary Hollywood script guru
Syd Fields for the script of
Dilli 6.
Besides executing the shots behind the camera, Mehra is also doing a cameo in the film.
Deepika Padukone will be the leading lady of
Dilli 6. The film will also star
Divya Dutta, Om Puri and
Atul Kulkarni.
Neha and Abhay earn 2.5 crores in 2.5 hours!
Ek Chalis Ki Last Local is the directorial debut of
Sanjay Khandoori that talks about two strangers Nilesh and Madhu played by
Abhay Deol and
Neha Dhupia. They both miss their 1:40 am last local train.
The movie is about two strangers who end up making their wait worthwhile as they fall in love and earn some money along the way. Well, not really some, but sufficient money. “Dhai Ghante mein Dhai Crore”, says Abhay Deol.
Apart from famous pakistani group
Call-The Band, the music in the movie has been composed by
Sandesh Shandilya. Debutante
Ankur has also done a song and the remix is by famous
DJ Suketu.
Neha Dhupia had put behind her glam-doll image in
Chup Chup Ke. Even in this film she plays a girl next door character. “I am clad in salwar kameez and that’s my look for the entire film. I think that’s the only advantage of being an actress, you get to play different roles. I was stuck in an image but that doesn’t mean that I’ll follow it. I don’t want to have an image of sex symbol or girl next door. I just want to be known as a good actress, who can play different kind of roles and that’s what I am trying to achieve. I am experimenting with different kinds of roles”, says Neha.
Abhay Deol adds, “I play an idiotic fun loving guy, who works in a call centre. I can’t reveal much about the story but yes this is about how two people come across a situation where they have to spend a night together. It may sound quite unique that the film does not talk about the characters but situations.”
Abhay looks stunning in this film. He reveals that he likes to play those roles that give him an opportunity be real. “Larger than life characters can be tiresome. We have done so much about the hero, who comes to save all; he looks great, he dances and shows his big muscles. Such roles are tiresome. I don’t mind playing heroic roles but I like to do roles where perhaps you have to face obstacles. Heroism isn’t just beating up the bad guy. Heroism could also be about mounting problems. I like the role that can push the boundaries”.
Real DHOOM in Rio!
When three childhood friends team up together for a movie that promises wholesome entertainment, the process of making the film becomes entertaining too.
Work and fun went hand in hand when
Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and
Uday Chopra (three childhood friends) shot together for
Sanjay Gadhvi’s movie
Dhoom 2. And the bonhomie wasn’t restricted to the three stars. The leading ladies,
Aishwarya Rai and
Bipasha Basu, too couldn’t keep away the fun spirit.
The stars particularly had swell of a time while shooting the film in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
The three friends would often regale the two actresses with anecdotes from their childhood and adolescence. In fact, Aishwarya goes on to say that after hearing their stories she felt as if she had always been a part of their group.
On another occasion, while shooting late at night at one of the carnivals in Rio, the entire team (including the actors) was absolutely exhausted. It was then, Uday Chopra, the naughtiest of them all, played the song
Kajra Re on loudspeakers.
The song fuelled everyone. Ash, Abhi, Hrithik and Bipasha got up and danced to the number. Ash and Abhi danced the exact steps from their movie
Bunty Aur Babli. This left the local Rio crowd applauding our Bollywood stars.
Often during the shooting in Rio, the five actors would also take long walks on the beach.
While Sanjay Gadhvi was making his movie, the quintet was having real DHOOM in Rio.
Anil Kapoor in a Burqa!
Anil Kapoor recently found a novel way to conceal his identity in public.
If you are a famous Bollywood star, then walking openly on the streets of old Delhi can create a riot. So when Anil Kapoor went to the crowded bylanes of old Delhi to do his research for a role in
Subhash Ghai’s movie
Black And White, he decided to hide under a burqa.
But he obviously could not conceal his manly figure.
When the locals saw a man walking around in burqa, they got suspicious. Apparently, an alarm was raised and a few policemen also came to the spot. Anil Kapoor gathered pace to keep the people off his trail, but he couldn’t.
Before things could get unsavory, one of the assistants with Kapoor raised the veil and revealed Anil Kapoor’s identity to the locals, who were baffled to see the mustachioed star behind the feminine burqa.
That day, Anil had to give up his research. But he returned next day. This time he was wearing a full-mask helmet with tinted wiser.
The shooting of
Black And White will begin in the coming days. The film has Anil playing a character from old Delhi. Anil is working with Subhash Ghai in this film after a gap of six years since
Taal.
Interestingly, whenever Ghai has made a movie with Anil in one of the lead roles, the film has gone on to become a hit at the box-office. Let’s see if
Black And White meets with the same fate.
John gets ready to play soccer
John Abraham’s passion for soccer is not unknown to his fans. Now, the handsome actor gets ready for the role of a football player in a Bollywood movie.
John has already begun working out and following a strict diet routine to get into shape for his role of an arrogant Indian footballer based in the UK in director
Vivek Agnihotri’s film
Football.
To acquire the physique of a footballer, John has begun running many miles every morning. With the guidance of his personal trainer
Kanishka Sharma, John has also begun doing some Shaolin exercises to bring flexibility into his lower back.
The movie,
Football, is about soccer culture and the human spirit to win. The film will also have some street brawls, typical of the belligerent fans of the game in the UK.
Besides John, an entire team of eleven actors will be training in the game. They will learn dribbling and dodging maneuvers along with other tricks with football.
Before the movie goes on the floors in January next year, a martial arts expert will come from southern Shaolin to guide the entire team.
Kashmira Shah is having a secret affair!
Hot and sultry
Kashmira Shah’s marriage with her American husband
Brad Listermann seems to be over.
Kashmira Shah is apparently having a secret affair with
Govinda’s nephew
Krishna (real name Abhishek). The sparks between the two began when they were shooting together for director
S Soni’s film
Pappu Paas Ho Gaya in Jaipur.
It was the time when the marriage between Kashmira and Brad was still on, but things were a little rocky between them. In those days, Kashmira met Krishna and they both clicked instantly.
Reports have it that after a few days of shooting, Kashmira even demanded the movie’s director that Krishna be shifted into the hotel where she was staying. After Krishna was shifted to the same hotel, the two started coming late for morning shoots, leading to rumours that something was indeed brewing between them.
And these rumours got confirmed and all doubts were cast away when Kashmira recently confessed in a hushed voice to
Rakhi Sawant on
Bigg Boss (on national television) that she was in love with Govinda’s nephew Krishna.
It could have been a publicity gimmick for their film, but one thing is for sure: Kashmira has moved past her husband Brad Listermann and found a new man.
Amitabh as Bhishm Pitamah?
Mega superstar
Amitabh Bachchan may play the role of Bhishm Pitamah in a six-hour movie based on the great epic
Mahabharat.
According to a news report,
Ravi Chopra, who directed the popular 1988 television serial based on the great epic, (which was produced by his father
B.R Chopra) is planning the film.
The news report also said that there are rumors that Bachchan may play the role of Bhishm Pitamah and
Rani Mukherjee may portray the character of Draupadi.
Chopra neither confirmed nor denied these rumors.
The movie is expected to cost 1.5 billion rupees (US$32.6 million; euro25.34 million), according to the news report.
This will be the longest film in the history of Bollywood, but it will be screened in two parts, Chopra was quoted as saying by the news report. "I will release it in two parts - part one on Friday and the second part on the following Friday," Chopra said.
"We are going to get a special effects team from Hollywood and the movie will have an international look so that we can market it abroad also," he said.
Chopra has just completed his latest film
Babul, which stars both Bachchan and Rani and is likely to be released next month.
20 Bollybeauties in a song!
It can’t get bigger than this. For the first time in the history of Indian cinema, as many as twenty actresses from Bollywood will come together in a movie song.
Producer
Sajid Nadiadwala is creating a record of sorts for the title song of his movie
Hey Baby. The movie, starring
Akshay Kumar,
Ritesh Deshmukh,
Fardeen Khan and
Vidya Balan, is the first full-length feature film by
Sajid Khan (director).
The movie’s title song, composed by
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, introduces the three heroes and shows their love for women.
To get the right impact, a huge and lavish set depicting a nightclub has been created in Mumbai’s Filmcity and as many as 500 dancers have been called from the UK. But the real feast for the eyes in the song will be cameos by 20 Bollywood heroines.
According to reports, they are:
Malaika Arora, Amrita Arora, Celina Jaitley, Dia Mirza, Ayesha Takia, Amisha Patel, Koena Mitra, Neha Dhupia, Minissha Lamba, Payal Rohatgi, Amrita Rao, Aarti Chabria, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Riya Sen and
Sophie Choudhary.
There is also a possibility of roping in
Sameera Reddy and
Sushma Reddy. Grapevine says
Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu and
Preity Zinta might also be among the twenty.
The song will feature the three heroes dancing with the twenty girls one by one. The number will be choreographed by
Farah Khan.
Bachchan saab, Tussi Great Ho!
Bollywood superstar
Amitabh Bachchan, who is treated as God by his fans, is ready to play God on screen.
Yes, the Hindi film industry’s undisputed megastar will be seen as God in writer-turned-director
Rumi Jaffery’s film
God Tussi Great Ho.
Reports have it that Bachchan will not be seen in the stereotypical image of God in costumes, jewels and mukut. He will rather play a cool, funky and dude-like God who will have a dialogue on life with
Salman Khan.
Bachchan is quoted as saying that his role has "a fantasy element" and it was "fun to do".
God, Tussi Great Ho will be Big B’s third flick with Salman after
Baghban and
Babul. Both the actors share a wonderful chemistry on screen.
Some parts of the film have already been shot and the filmmakers are hopeful to complete it by the end of this year.
Bachchan earlier played Lord Indra in
Agni Varsha. And in
Ravi Chopra’s next venture
Bhootnath he will be seen playing a ghost. Gabbar Singh, God and ghost: well that is astounding variety to speak of.
What can we say except "Bachchan saab, Tussi Great Ho!"
Rani in a courtesan’s role
Once again
Rani Mukherjee will show her adaa in the role of a tawaif in
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next film.
May be it’s the latest Bollywood fad.
Aishwarya Rai is the current talk of tinsel town for her role of the 19th century courtesan in
Umrao Jaan. And now comes the news of Rani playing a similar role in Bhansali’s next film
Saanvariya.
The movie is a youth love story starring two newcomers:
Ranbir Kapoor (
Rishi Kapoor’s son) and
Sonam Kapoor (
Anil Kapoor’s daughter). However, the film will have marginal appearances by Bhansali’s favourites,
Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee.
While not much is known about Salman’s role in the film, Rani will play a tawaif. This will be Rani’s second role as a courtesan after
Mangal Pandey – The Rising.
Perhaps Rani’s role in the film will not extend beyond a song appearance. The buzz has it that the choreography for the song will be done by
Shiamak Davar.
Bachchan trio in next Yashraj movie
In a major casting coup, director Pradeep Sarkar and Yashraj Films have cast Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya and son Abhishek in their forthcoming film --the first time the trio will be seen together in a movie.
"My wife Jaya, Abhishek and I will act in Pradeep Sarkar's next film," Bachchan said in an interview on Wednesday. Though Amitabh and Abhishek have appeared together in several films, as have Amitabh and Jaya, the trio has never been seen together in a movie.
Sarkar's movie, which is as yet untitled and is being produced by Yashraj Films, is scheduled to go on the floors in the next few days. Its first schedule will be shot shortly in the holy city of Varanasi.
The film also stars other big Bollywood stars like Rani Mukherjee and Shabana Azmi, industry sources said in Mumbai.
Sarkar's debut film Parineeta (2005), which starred Vidya Balan and Saif Ali Khan, was a huge hit with both audiences and critics.
The new film is expected to be released late next year.
Ritesh looks prettier than heroines!
For the first time in Bollywood, a hero is poised to give stiff competition to heroines in looking pretty before the camera.
In this Friday’s release
Apna Sapna Money Money,
Ritesh Deshmukh plays a conman who assumes many guises. One of these guises is that of a sexy girl.
In order to play a girl, Ritesh had to get his arms, chest and legs waxed. Then he had to shave twice a day and sit for long make-up sessions before every shoot. He had to wear padding on his chest and a variety of wigs on his head. And the result was stunning. The first time Ritesh stepped out of his van in a girl’s attire to shoot for his scene, everyone around was astounded.
Ritesh says that first walk from his van to the sets (with all eyes on him) was the longest walk of his life. But this was just the look of the character. Ritesh still had to bring the body language of a girl in his character.
Ritesh says he didn’t want to overdo things as that would have made his character look like a caricature. Since the film features a number of heroines (
Celina Jaitley, Koena Mitra and
Riya Sen ) Ritesh decided to observe and imitate them.
But even this wasn’t enough. After a while, Ritesh decided to behave like a girl all the time when he was on the sets. This left the movie’s director and other stars in fits of laughter.
And if a statement by the movie’s director
Sangeeth Sivan is to go by, Ritesh has “looked prettier than the movie’s heroines” in some scenes.
Perhaps that is why
Anupam Kher keeps drooling over him in the film.
Emraan breaks his promise!
Bollywood’s noted stud
Emraan Hashmi, who is better known as ‘Serial Kisser’, has broken the promise he made to his fiancée
Parveen.
A couple of months back the actor had made a decision that he won’t do any lip locking scene with his co-stars in films as his fiancée is not comfortable with it. Emraan also refrained from locking lips in two of his previous flicks
Dil Diya Hai and
The Killer, but both the films proved to be a disaster at the box-office.
May be the failure of the films led Emraan back on his kissing spree. The actor will very soon be seen locking his lips with his female co-stars
Geeta Basra and
Sayali Bhagat in
Raksha Mistry’s upcoming flick
The Train.
The movie’s director confirms the kissing scene.
The Train is a film about extra-marital affairs and the kiss is an integral part of the script. The film is said to be an urban thriller and besides Emraan there will be another actor in male lead whose name is still kept under wraps.
The producers are hopeful of releasing the film in the first quarter of 2007.
Hrithik's getting dangerous
Hrithik Roshan says he had to stretch his physical and mental limitations to do dangerous stunts for Yash Raj banner’s forthcoming thriller
Dhoom 2.
If
Krrish consolidated Hrithik’s image as a superhero,
Dhoom 2 will take it further. By Hrithik’s own admission, his stunts in the sequel to Dhoom are way beyond what he did in his father’s movie.
Even before shooting for the film, Hrithik had to learn roller-blading, snow-boarding, sand-boarding and stunts on motorbikes.
Stunt choreographer
Alan Amin has designed some very difficult stunts in the film. The movie has a particular sequence that required Hrithik to train for two months. And there are as many as three such sequences in
Dhoom 2.
Hrithik says although he did not train as much as was required for the stunts, he did undergo very arduous training for them. For the pre-climax scene of the film, Hrithik had to do snow-boarding down a steep mountain in Durban. The movie’s climax shows a chase sequence in a tunnel. The main part of the action climax was shot in Durban, South Africa. But the tunnel sequence was shot in Filmcity, Mumbai. Not just Hrithik, even
Aishwarya Rai has done some awesome stunts in the film.
When she began shooting for the film, the movie’s producer,
Aditya Chopra, found her a little overweight for her role. So she did power yoga for two months to develop a perfectly toned up body.
Both Hrithik and Ash’s characters in the movie are shown very stylish. So, a lot of attention was paid to their styling. Hrithik's hair is colored almost blonde.
Anahita Shroff is Hrithik’s stylist, while Blunt parlour has designed his hairdo. Meticulous attention was given to the outfits of Ash. In the climax sequence, Ash has worn a black catsuit with dark goggles and open hair.
Dhoom 2 looks like a very promising thriller. The movie has Hrithik and Ash playing thieves.
Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and
Bipasha Basu play cops.
