Guess who wants to work with SRK
A top Hollywood actress has expressed her desire to work with Bollywood superstar
Shah Rukh Khan.
And that Hollywood actress is none other than Oscar nominated Spanish actress
Penelope Cruz, who is reported to be very keen on Indian movies and says she would love to work opposite SRK.
Penelope, who has been nominated for an Oscar in the best actress category for her role in the Spanish movie
Volver, expressed her respect for the Indian megastar's great body of work.
"I am a great fan of Indian cinema and I would love to work with Shah Rukh Khan," she said in Los Angeles.
Penelope hosted the party with other Hollywood A-list stars, including
Leonardo DiCaprio, Salma Hayek and
Edward Norton.
"I love India. I have the rights to a book and we are going to shoot the movie in India," Penelope added.
Penelope will play the lead in the English-language film, which is a screen adaptation of
Javier Moro's original novel
Passion India.
Moro's book was inspired by the true story of 17-year-old Spanish flamenco dancer
Anita Delgado who scandalised people in the early 1900s when she agreed to marry an Indian king,
Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, and settle in his native land.
Has Hrithik been offered Rambo 4?
Hrithik Roshan, who flaunted his magnificent physique to the hilt in
Dhoom 2, has reportedly been offered lead role in
Rambo 4.
Rambo 4, is the fourth one in Rambo series played by Hollywood star
Sylvester Stallone over the years.
The fourth sequel in the cult series played by Stallone over the years, is likely is to release in 2008. Hrithik, whose musculature stature matches that of Sly Stallone of the 80s, is thought to be perfect for the role.
However Hrithik’s father and filmmaker
Rakesh Roshan denied having received any such offer. "Hrithik has not been offered this role. But, it is true that offers keep coming from Hollywood producers for him," Roshan was quoted as saying by a website.
According to sources, Hrithik has been offered the role of an Afghan boy who grew up to be Rambo’s successor.
The fact that he is obsessed about his physique and his father has one of the strongest Hollywood hangovers in Mumbai, Hrithik being the next Rambo is very believable.
For the record, Hrithik hasn’t exactly been running after Hollywood. He turned down a film opposite
Jennifer Lopez seven years ago.
While Stallone gave a befitting farewell to the Rocky series with
Rocky Balboa, it seems the Rambo legacy will be carried on and don’t be surprised if the future looks a bit Indian.
Konkona turns tomboyish!
Konkona Sen Sharma is experimenting with different kinds of roles in Bollywood.
From a rustic village belle in
Omkara to a raunchy sex worker in
Traffic Signal, Konkona has played a variety of roles in her Bollywood innings so far. Now, the talented actress will turn tomboyish for a Yash Raj movie.
No I am not talking about
Pradeep Sarkar’s
Chooriyan, which stars her as a demure girl, but about cinematographer
Anil Mehta’s movie
Aaja Naachley which also marks the return of
Madhuri Dixit to Hindi films after a long gap.
Konkona is under contract with Yashraj Films to not reveal anything about the film. But she does admit that her role in the film is tomboyish. She will don a new look for her part in
Aaja Naachley.
Konkona is excited about working with Madhuri and
Kunal Kapoor. She doesn’t have any scenes with
Akshaye Khanna who is cast opposite Madhuri in the film.
Romance for Kareena and Shahid
Real life lovers
Kareena Kapoor and
Shahid Kapur will translate their romantic chemistry on the big screen in a movie.
Although Kareena and Shahid have worked together in three films, none of them has showcased their chemistry so far. Their first film together,
Fida, was a romantic movie but very bland and lacklustre.
Chup Chup Ke brought forth a few sparks between them, but it was primarily a comedy flick. The same goes for
36 China Town, which was a murder mystery.
All this time, the two lovers have been biding their time, waiting for a right film, a right script that will pitch them as the next hot jodi on celluloid. The duo now claims to have found one such movie.
It will be a film to be directed by
Imtiaz Ali, who made the sweet love story
Socha Na Tha two years back.
When Imtiaz reportedly approached Kareena and Shahid for his next movie, the two actors gave their nod without hesitation because they were bowled over by the script.
The movie apparently will tell a love story between a Punjabi girl and a Mumbai guy. The story begins with a chance meeting between two strangers and develops into a kind of romantic adventure set in North India.
Kareena says it is the first time she and Shahid will act together in a full-fledged romantic drama. Although both Kareena and Shahid had prior commitments, the two lovers are now giving precedence to Imtiaz Ali’s movie. The film’s shooting will begin in mid-March in Patiala, Punjab.
Hot model Sheetal Menon enters Bollywood
Supermodel
Sheetal Menon, known for her subtle sensuality, is making a foray into Bollywood.
She has been a Kingfisher calendar gal. She has walked the ramp, appeared in music videos and also done an advertisement with
John Abraham. Sexy and sultry Sheetal Menon has now got her foot in the door to tinsel town.
Yes, she will be seen acting alongside
Dino Morea in the movie titled
Bhram (Illusion). In the film, she plays a struggling model who gets involved in a relationship with a suave entrepreneur (Dino).
Sheetal and Dino not just have intimate scenes in the film, they also indulge in a passionate kiss. In fact, their kiss is said to be so steamy that Dino was nervous before shooting the scene. So was Sheetal. But the two overcame their inhibitions and shot the scene.
Sheetal, who has done an acting course at
Anupam Kher's institute, does not mind a little bit exposure before the camera. But she certainly is not game for item numbers.
She says it is an advice given by John Abraham when she shot a Pepsi ad with him. John told her not to do item songs in the beginning of her career because after that no one will take her seriously.
Sheetal is going by John’s advice and avoiding item numbers. She is only open to roles that can further hone her acting skills.
Shilpa Shetty to return to UK
Bollywood star
Shilpa Shetty, who returned to India last Saturday, is all set to go back to UK soon.
Shilpa is flying back to the UK to save her
Celebrity Big Brother housemate
Jo O'Meara.
The former S Club 7 singer has confessed to feeling suicidal after being branded a racist due to her treatment of Shilpa on the reality show, and the Bollywood star wants to let her know she is forgiven.
Shilpa told a British daily, "I would like to speak to Jo and make sure she is all right. I am very worried about her. I know she is a good person and I hate to think of what she is going through. She doesn't have much self-confidence and I know she must be having a terrible time. I just want to speak to her and tell her to try to be strong. I have no ill feeling towards her. My heart goes out to her."
The 31-year-old Big Brother winner has been in India visiting her sick father but is flying back to Britain today to help Jo.
The 27-year-old singer, who has been prescribed anti-depressants, has become agoraphobic since leaving the Big Brother house and has not stepped foot outside her hotel room.
Jo is struggling to cope with becoming a public hate figure after she and friends
Jade Goody and
Danielle Lloyd were accused of racist bullying against Shilpa during their time together on
Celebrity Big Brother.
Sanjay Dutt in a film on father-daughter bonding
Sanjay Dutt has agreed to act in director
Sanjay Gadhvi’s next film.
After making two out-and-out thrillers (
Dhoom and
Dhoom 2) with Yashraj Films, Sanjay Gadhvi has moved away from the banner. His next flick will be produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision Ltd.
From what is known, the movie will be a thriller set around a doting father and his young daughter. The film is said to be titled
Kidnap. It will explore the relationship between a father and his daughter whose lives are changed after a kidnapping incident.
It is learnt that Sanjay Dutt gave his consent to Gadhvi after hearing the script just once. As in real life, Dutt loves his daughter Trishala very much, he was able to identify with his character in the film.
Gadhvi has approached newcomer
Jiah Khan to play Dutt’s college-going daughter in the film. But the young actress is not keen to do the movie as she wants to see the audience response to her first movie
Nishabd which is yet to hit the theatres.
Amitabh in a slick fantasy flick
Megastar
Amitabh Bachchan is slated to act in a fantasy flick, which will be something like
Lord Of The Rings.
No, the film will not be a copy of the Oscar-winning movie by
Peter Jackson, but it will be based on an original story idea.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra is producing the film while his assistant
Ram Madhvani (who worked with Chopra for
Mission Kashmir) will direct it.
The movie, featuring Mr. Bachchan in a pivotal role, will have lots of special effects. To ensure the international quality of special effects, experts from India and abroad will be roped in for the project.
In the meantime, Madhvani has shot a promo of the film with Mr. Bachchan.
Big B seems pretty impressed by Madhvani’s skills. The filmmaker previously worked with Big B when he made a documentary on Bachchan called
Everlasting Life.
Apart from Chopra’s film, Mr. Bachchan will also be a part of
Rohan Sippy’s fantasy movie titled
Aladdin.
Amitabh refused to work with Pooja Bedi
There is a reason why
Rakhi Sawant is playing the role that was best suited for
Pooja Bedi in
Apoorva Lakhia’s movie
Shootout At Lokhandwala.
The movie, as many know well by now, is based on the real-life encounter between police and gangsters in Mumbai’s Lokhandwala complex in 1991. Coincidentally on that tragic day, Pooja Bedi was nearby giving an interview when the shootout began.
When Lakhia started making the movie, he obviously had Pooja in mind to play herself. But when
Amitabh Bachchan was signed to play a lawyer, Lakhia had to make adjustment in the movie’s starcast.
Mr. Bachchan apparently refused to share the screen space with Pooja Bedi. According to a media report, the superstar gave Lakhia the option to choose between him and Pooja. Obviously, Lakhia chose Mr. Bachchan. Pooja Bedi was excused from the project and Rakhi Sawant roped in to fill her place.
Bachchan’s apparent dislike for Pooja goes back to 2000 when she interviewed him for a TV show. In the show, Bedi had asked Mr. Bachchan some absurd questions like “Why is your beard white but the hair on head black.” Amitabh had then walked out of the interview.
Anyway, it is Rakhi Sawant who now gets to share a few scenes with Mr. Bachchan in
Shootout At Lokhandwala.
John wants to adopt a baby girl
Since his marriage may not happen for a couple of years more, actor
John Abraham is planning to adopt a baby girl.
John has a special soft corner for kids. His ease with little children was visible on a Kids show on television recently. Now, the handsome hunk reportedly wants to adopt a daughter.
A report quotes John as saying that he wants his daughter to sit pillion when he rides his motorbike.
Talking about marriage, John said he would remain single for a few more years before taking the marital plunge.
For the time being, he is headed to London to shoot for
Vivek Agnihotri’s movie
Goal in which he plays a footballer.
John will also attend the 79th Academy Awards night in the US on February 25.
Deepa Mehta’s movie
Water, which stars him in male lead, is nominated in the Best Movie in Foreign Language category.
Vidya too mature for Shahid
Vidya Balan and
Shahid Kapur would indeed make an unlikely pair on the silver screen.
Filmmaker
Aziz Mirza, who is returning to direction after a long gap, has signed Vidya and Shahid for his comeback film. Although it goes without saying that Shahid and Vidya make an odd pair, Mirza still had the two stars shoot for a photosession to make up his mind.
Expectedly, the age difference between the two actors showed in the photos, with demure Vidya looking much mature and older than the chocolate boy Shahid. As a result, instead of making Shahid look older or Vidya look younger, Mirza made some changes in the movie’s script. He made Vidya’s character older than Shahid in the story.
Mirza’s idea might just work, considering that there are a number of movies on old man-young girl romances in the offing. For instance,
Amitabh Bachchan will be seen alongside 19-year-old
Jiah Khan and thirty-something
Tabu in
Nishabd and
Cheeni Kum respectively.
If Mr. Bachchan can be paired with these young actresses, then why not Vidya with the cute and dimpled Shahid.
Ayesha is Aamir's heroine
In last one year
Ayesha Takia has progressed in leaps and bounds in Bollywood. The cute looking girl has made her place in Bollywood solely because of her talent. She could have taken the short cut on the ladder to fame, but Ayesha took the tough road, laid down her conditions (no exposure, no onscreen kissing), spurned the offers of sleazy roles, and rose in ranks gradually.
Naseeruddin Shah saw a spark in her and gave her a plum role in his directorial debut
Yun Hota To Kya Hota. But it was
Nagesh Kukunoor’s
Dor which brought Ayesha’s acting talent to light with her powerful performance as a young widow with many unfulfilled desires.
Now reports have it that she will be
Aamir Khan’s heroine in the Hindi remake of the Tamil hit Ghajini . The film will be directed by
R Murugadoss, who directed the original flick.
Madhu Varma and
Alu Arvind will jointly produce the Hindi movie.
As of now, Ayesha has completed the shooting of
No Smoking (with
John Abraham). She has three more projects in her kitty.
Aamir, on the other hand, is presently busy with his home production
Taare Zameen Pe which is a story on relationship between a dyslexic child and his father.
Vidya and Madhavan in Deepa Mehta's next
The two talented actors will come together once again for Canada-based director
Deepa Mehta’s next flick.
The superb chemistry between
Vidya Balan and
Madhavan was for all to see in
Mani Ratnam’s movie
Guru. But even before
Guru made it to the theatres, Deepa Mehta had been writing a script with Vidya and Madhavan in her mind for the lead roles.
The movie will be a satirical comedy called
Stella. It will have Vidya playing a wacky housemaid.
Deepa Mehta says making her Oscar-nominated movie
Water drained so much energy out of her that now she needs to make a feelgood entertainer to re-energize herself.
The talented filmmaker spoke to Madhavan about her next movie when he was in Toronto last month for the premiere of
Guru. Madhavan gave his consent to Mehta without even going deeply into the details of the project.
Shooting for
Stella is likely to begin in September or October this year.
As of now, Deepa Mehta is busy lobbying
Water for the upcoming 79th Annual Academy Awards. The movie has been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Harman goes the Hrithik way
Newcomer
Harman Baweja does his own stunts in his first movie
Love Story 2050, which is being directed by his father
Harry Baweja.
Harman is all poised to give his best to his debut Bollywood movie, which is a futuristic love story set in the year 2050. The film has some very risky stunts that Harman insisted on doing himself.
Just like
Hrithik Roshan trained for weeks to play a superhero in dad’s film
Krrish, so did Harman pack his bags and flew to London to train for three weeks in action and stunts under the guidance of an expert called
Forest, who trained an actor in the recently released Bond movie
Casino Royale.
And after the arduous training, when Harman did begin shooting his action scenes in Australia, he did meet a few accidents that left him injured. For instance, while shooting a scene in which he was supposed to jump from a bridge, Harman ended up with a broken shinbone after the jump. Despite the injury, Harman refused to use a duplicate for action scenes. As soon as he was fit again, he was ready to do his stunts. And he seems quite satisfied with the final result so far.
Love Story 2050 has
Priyanka Chopra playing Harman’s love interest.
Is Sneha dating her co-star?
People sometimes grow affection for each other while playing romantic roles on the screen.
This seems to be the case with the cute-looking
Sneha Ullal and her co-star
Kumar Sahil, a newcomer in Bollywood.
The two are working together in director
B H Tarun’s romantic movie
Kaash Mere Hote. And while playing lovers in the movie, Sneha and Kumar have reportedly grown feelings for each other.
Rumours have it that while shooting together for the movie in Mauritius, the two actors were inseparable. After the shoots, they would often go out for long walks together. Apparently, the intimacy between Sneha and Kumar showed before the camera too. Unit members say their chemistry in romantic scenes was simply incredible.
Sneha has so far acted in two movies:
Lucky – No Time For Love and
Aryan. Both the movies were box-office failures.
Shilpa may act opposite Hugh Grant
A British tabloid report says that Bollywood star
Shilpa Shetty may act opposite British heartthrob
Hugh Grant in a culture-clash romantic comedy.
A script is being written just for Shilpa, 31, and Hugh, 46, who are very excited about hooking up, The Daily Star said.
Quoting an unnamed industry insider, the report said: "It's going to be hotter than a vindaloo... With dancing, singing and a spicy story to boot."
The
Celebrity Big Brother winner is scheduled to meet Hugh in London for talks on the
Notting Hill-style box office hit, it said.
The source said, "She is a huge fan and is overjoyed at the thought of working with him. There will be some smouldering on-screen chemistry for sure. She brings all the glamour and he brings the laughs and with the headlines they both generate, the film is going to be huge."
The report said writers have already been hard at work on a rough draft of the plot with some of it being based on Shilpa's real-life experiences.
He said: "It is the story of a successful and charming, but shy, Bollywood diva who can't find the right man, until she links up with a producer who promises to help her crack the British and US markets... And they instantly click of course."
Celina, Zayed say goodbye to 'Hello'
Actor-turned-director
Atul Agnihotri’s forthcoming project
Hello hit a bump when
Celina Jaitley and
Zayed Khan walked out of the film.
The movie is based on author
Chetan Bhagat’s famous book ‘
One Night @ A Call Centre’ which is the story of six youngsters working on a night shift in a call centre. The film’s story is set in one night only.
Atul had previously said that Zayed and Celina’s roles in the film were tailor-made for them. But now the two actors have opted out of the project. Apparently, their departure was not prompted by any disagreement over the movie’s script or concept, but by date problems. Because the movie is set in a single night, Atul wanted to shoot the film in a single schedule to maintain spontaneity. But Zayed and Celina had other projects in their kitty and could not spare the required dates.
Now, Atull Agnihotri has replaced the two with
Sohail Khan and
Isha Koppikar.
Hello will have
Salman Khan telling the story from the author’s perspective. The film is about a one-night conversation with God.
Amitabh and Johnny Depp to act together
A film by
Mira Nair will mark the coming together of two great actors from Bollywood and Hollywood.
It is no secret that Mira wants to make a film called
Shantaram, which is based on the famous book by
Gregory David Roberts. The film tells the story of an escaped Australian convict who travels through continents and ends up in Mumbai’s underworld.
While Mira has already got
Johnny Depp’s consent for the lead role in the film, she had been meeting
Amitabh Bachchan for the role of a Mumbai-based gangster called Kader Bhai who becomes Depp’s mentor and father figure in the movie.
The good news is that Mr. Bachchan has agreed to act in Mira’s film. Big B will now be reading the novel by Gregory David Roberts. Johnny Depp has already read the book.
Mira, who is currently in India for the promotion of her latest movie
The Namesake, said she hopes to start pre-production work on
Shantaram in April. The movie’s shooting is likely to start by November this year.
Before
Shantaram, Mira Nair will make a short film on AIDS, starring
Shiney Ahuja,
Irrfan Khan and
Raima Sen. The project is a joint effort by filmmakers like Nair,
Santosh Shivan,
Vishal Bharadwaj and
Farhan Akhtar.
