Akshay Kumar in a supernatural thriller
Having created his own unique niche in the Hindi film industry,
Akshay Kumar is now looking forward to challenging roles.
He has proved his mettle as an action hero, as a romantic hero and as a comedian. Now, Akshay is aiming higher. He wants to do roles that are out of the ordinary.
One such role he will be seen playing in filmmaker
Nagesh Kukunoor’s movie, which will be a supernatural thriller. Kukunoor will first make his next movie
Aashayein with
John Abraham in the coming months before moving on to make the film with Akshay.
The yet-untitled movie will go on the floors in the last quarter of 2007. Speaking about the film, Akshay says something like it has not been made in Indian cinema so far.
Well, we look forward to this flick.
Kajol to dance to Samba
On the international dance day on April 29 actress
Kajol will dance the Samba.
Come Sunday, dance instructor
Sandip Soparrkar and his troupe will perform to a variety of dance forms from around the world: Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, France etc.
And part of this dance troupe will be Bollywood actress Kajol, who ended her long sabbatical last year with
Kunal Kohli’s movie
Fanaa. Kajol will be dancing to Samba, which is a Brazilian dance of African origin.
Interestingly, Soparrkar and other performers will be dancing to Bollywood songs. According to Soparrkar, all these international dances can be performed to Bollywood music. The only skill needed is to know how to do it correctly. This is where Soparrkar’s experience of many years comes into play.
Apart from Kajol, other performers include
Kitu Gidwani, Rohit Verma, Poonam Dhillon and
Aditi Gowitrikar.
Indian Charlie's Angels
Three spunky girls armed with gadgets and guns will thrash the baddies on the Indian silver screen too.
Yes, Bollywood filmmaker
Yagnesh Shetty has plans to make a very sleek and stylish movie featuring three actresses in the roles of action heroines along the lines of American TV show
Charlie’s Angels. The three actresses are
Amrita Arora, Kim Sharma and newcomer
Leher (who is from England).
The film is titled
Boomerang and it won’t have any heroes. What it will indeed have is lots of special effects and graphic imagery a la
Matrix. In fact, reports have it that the team that did stunts for
Matrix has already been roped in for action scenes in
Boomerang.
What’s more, meticulous attention is being paid to the styling of the three actresses in the film. Special suits have been designed for them. Each girl will also be carrying weapons and gadgets, which they will learn to use.
Above all, the three girls have been practicing strenuously for their action roles in the film. Amrita Arora, for instance, has been learning roller-skating, biking, high kicks and other stunts using cable suspension.
The movie’s makers are leaving no stone unturned to give it an international look. The film will be shot in Cyprus and China.
Suzzanne does up Priyanka’s new place!
Both Twinkle Khanna and Suzzanne Roshan seem to be gaining ground as the most popular home designers in Bollywood.
After the duo did up Rani’s new pad, we hear Suzanne is now doing up Priyanka Chopra’s new home in Versova (in the suburbs).
Obviously, Priyanka is quite delighted at this, and is even making it a point to be completely involved with the designing, giving her inputs, and the two seems to be doing a mighty good job of it.
'Miss India' Sarah Jane in Bollywood flick
Not many people are aware that the recently crowned Miss India-World
Sarah Jane has already acted in a movie.
Sarah had her brush with acting before she won the coveted tiara just a few days back. She acted in a small-budget movie titled
Brides Wanted, directed by
Girish Acharya. The movie has actor
Anuj Sawhney playing Sarah’s love interest.
Brides Wanted tells the story of an NRI (Anuj) who comes to India to find a suitable bride for himself. After meeting and rejecting a couple of eligible girls, he meets Sarah. From then on begins a breezy romantic tale between the two protagonists. The film also stars
Waheeda Rahman and
Girish Karnad in the roles of grandparents.
The movie's producer
Bala Kumar of G V Films, is sure that Sarah’s winning the Miss India title will generate interest in the movie which is about to hit the theatres soon.
While Sarah’s next goal is to obviously win the Miss World crown, she is open to acting in Bollywood films after the big pageant.
Arbaaz, Sohail in Aamir's production
Arbaaz Khan and
Sohail Khan will act in a movie to be produced by
Aamir Khan.
The film, tentatively titled
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, will mark the directorial debut of scriptwriter
Abbas Tyrewala. The movie will be a campus love story and will introduce Aamir’s cousin
Imraan in the lead role.
The two Khan brothers, Arbaaz and Sohail, have been signed to play small roles in the film. Arbaaz says his cameo in the movie is "very interesting". He adds that he and brother Sohail are very excited about it.
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na will also star
Naseeruddin Shah and his wife
Ratna Pathak Shah.
A R Rahman has been finalized to compose the film’s music.
Katrina on a roll
Katrina Kaif has proved her detractors wrong with her acting in
Vipul Shah’s movie
Namastey London. And now she has signed a big movie to be made by
Subhash Ghai.
Not long ago, Katrina was labeled as "
a silent beauty" because she could not speak fluent Hindi and therefore got her dialogues dubbed in movies. Critics also claimed that she did not know how to act and that she had an expressionless face.
Though Katrina has been part of successful films like
Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya and
Sarkar, her roles in these films were not big enough for her to take much credit for the movie’s good run. But in
Namastey London she shares equal footage as the movie’s hero
Akshay Kumar.
And now, filmmaker Subhash Ghai has signed Katrina for his next film titled
Main Yuvraj. The film will have three heroes:
Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor and
Zayed Khan.
It is believed that Ghai was quite impressed by Katrina’s work in
Namastey London and decided to cast her in the role of a modern girl who is passionate about music. In Ghai’s words, Katrina suits the role perfectly.
Katrina will have to learn a musical instrument for her role in
Main Yuvraj. She is presently shooting for
Abbas Mastan’s movie
Race after which she will begin preparing for her role in Ghai’s film.
Main Yuvraj will be an out-and-out musical film.
A R Rahman will compose its music. Ghai himself will produce and direct the film.
Kangana gets a raw deal?
Those who have seen
Kangana Ranaut’s previous films were surprised to find her altered voice in
Suneel Darshan’s
Shakalaka Boom Boom.
The truth is that the film has the voice of a dubbing artiste for Kangana’s character. Kangana Ranaut herself came to know that her voice would not be used in
Shakalaka Boom Boom just a few days before the film’s release.
Director Suneel Darshan says he wanted a particular accent for Kangana’s character in the film. He also alleges that if Kangana had given more time to the film, he could have worked on her diction.
Apparently, Darshan roped in a dubbing artiste to record Kangana’s dialogues despite the fact that Kangana had dubbed for most part of her role in the film. Darshan says he hasn’t done anything that is not specified in the signing contract.
As a result of dubbing by another girl, Kangana’s character does look a bit up-market in the film, but it also looks superficial.
Bread Butter and Cash
Meghna Gulzar’s next movie will be very different from her two previous films.
So far Meghna Gulzar has made movies with somewhat mellow themes. Her first movie
Filhaal explored complexities and sensitivities of relationships, while her second film
Just Married was a light-hearted comedy about a newly married couple.
But Meghna’s third film will be a thriller about three characters with negative shades. Meghna is teaming up with
Sanjay Gupta for this movie.
Meghna and Sanjay Gupta seem like a very odd combination. But Meghna says when they met they were on the same wavelength.
Gupta, whose White Feather Films is producing a number of flicks, will produce Meghna’s film titled
Bread Butter and Cash.
Sanjay Gupta has finalized
Arjun Rampal(Gupta’s blue-eyed boy nowadays),
Bipasha Basu and
Aftab Shivdasani for the three leading roles in the film.
Salman backs off from auctioning his painting
It is no longer a secret that actor
Salman Khan has a talent for painting. Salman gave one of his paintings for auction at a fundraising event,
Right To Education, organised by Plan India Initiative on Saturday at Grand Hyatt. The money from the auction was for the welfare of deprived children.
Bollywood director
Karan Johar played the auctioneer at the event. When Salman’s painting came up for auction, the highest bid for the piece of art was Rs 20 lakhs.
The amount perhaps did not meet Salman’s expectations. The actor walked on the stage and announced that he was pulling his painting out of the auction as the amount bid was too low.
Salman took the mike and said that some day when he would perhaps be a famous artist, then he would think of selling that painting. The audience laughed at Salman’s jest.
The event was a star-studded affair with celebrities like
Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Malaika Arora, Arbaaz Khan and their son Ahaan,
Sri Devi, Boney Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan, Sangeeta Bijlani, Mohammad Azharuddin adding glamour to the evening.
Although Salman has had passion for painting since childhood, he started taking it seriously only recently. He has also learned some fine points of painting techniques from artist
Nilesh Vede.
Ritesh to play Aladdin
Ritesh Deshmukh gets seriously exotic for
Sujoy Ghosh's
Aladdin and the Mystery Of The Lamp, with Bollywood mega superstar
Amitabh Bachchan as his genie.
The actor is somewhat shy talking about this project. "I don't know what plans Sujoy and (producer)
Rohan Sippy have about my looks. It could be totally Arabian or it might be somewhat contemporary. But it's an exciting prospect any which way," said Ritesh.
"It has always been a childhood fantasy to have my own genie to make my wishes come true. And what better wish fulfillment than Amitabh as a genie?" said Ritesh.
What truly delighted Ritesh was the director's determination to sign the actor. "Sujoy told me I was his first and only choice to play Aladdin. That made me happy. It's not often than one gets a chance to be in a huge fantasy like this, and that too with Amitabh as your co-star," said Ritesh.
Earlier, Ritesh shared screen space with the legendary actor for a segment of
Ram Gopal Varma's
Darna Zaroori Hai.
"But that was just a two-day shoot. And Amitabh scared the hell out of me playing that eerie character. I think Aladdin is the ultimate fun fantasy and the ideal vehicle to share with India's biggest superstar," said Ritesh.
So excited is Ritesh about his preparation for Aladdin that he has decided to dodge all new offers for now.
"I do have my friend
Sajid Khan's
Hey Baby. But that's it. I want to focus completely on
Aladdin. It's exciting to be in a children's fantasy. Until lately Bollywood had completely ceased making films for younger audiences. Now we seem to have revived that old young feeling," said Ritesh.
Juhi to make singing debut
Juhi Chawla is trying her hand at playback singing for the first time. There are chances that she may sing a song in
Ravi Chopra’s impending production
Bhootnath.
"Although nothing is fixed as yet, there is a very good possibility that Juhi may sing in the film,"
Abhay Chopra confirms.
Juhi has been taking formal training in classical music for almost five years now. She took up music as a hobby when her acting career was in the slow lane.
Juhi had in fact sung at an awards function when she was hosting the event with
Karan Johar.
In
Bhootnath, Juhi, starring opposite
Shah Rukh Khan, essays the role of a loving mother to a son who befriends a spirit, the latter played by
Amitabh Bachchan.
Raima Sen to play a housemaid
Raima Sen will be seen playing a housemaid in
Aparna Sen’s next movie
Japanese Wife.
Before beginning to shoot for her movie, Aparna Sen held workshops in which all the movie’s actors rehearsed their parts. Raima Sen was in a bit of a fix because she plays a housemaid in the film.
Raima, daughter of Bengali actress
Moon Moon Sen, has never done household chores in her life. But she had to learn them for her role of a rural girl working as a housemaid in
Japanese Wife.
It was then Aparna Sen’s daughter
Konkona Sen Sharma, who is also a very good friend of Raima, came to her rescue. Konkona advised Raima to observe her housemaid. So everyday, Raima would drive to Konkona’s house and sit and acutely observe Konkona’s housemaid at work. Sometimes, Raima would even help the maid.
Within a week or so, Raima learnt how to use the broom, how to mop the floor and how to do dusting and other sundry household chores.
Apparently, Raima’s training showed in workshops and the movie’s director Aparna Sen was reportedly satisfied with Raima’s grasp of her character.
Japanese Wife has
Rahul Bose and a Japanese actress,
Chigasu Takaku, in lead roles. The film will reportedly be made in three languages. The movie’s shooting recently began in Japan and will continue till June.
Nana in a royal role
For the first time a film is being made in Hindi on the life of Martha warrior
Chhatrapati Shivaji.
Filmmaker
Mehul Kumar is all geared up to direct a film on Shivaji Maharaj. The movie’s script is already complete and now pre-production work is said to be underway for the ambitious historical project.
Mehul’s favourite actor
Nana Patekar will play the role of the Maratha warrior in the film. It is believed to be a dream role for Nana who had wanted a Hindi movie to be made on Chhatrapati Shivaji for a long time.
Before shooting the film, Nana will do intense research on the life of the Maratha warrior. He will also train extensively in horse riding and sword fighting.
In the past, Nana and Mehul Kumar have worked together in hard-hitting films like
Krantiveer,
Tiranga and
Kohram.
Sherlyn Chopra to play Al Pacino's role
RED SWASTIK newcomer
Sherlyn Chopra in her upcoming film plays the role of a killer as we are told. she also seems to be having some killer instincts when it comes to the kind of movies that she wants to be a part of.
"Well, there is one role that I would rather kill for than die for and that is
Al Pacino's part in
And Justice For All. It's my all-time dream role." Says Sherlyn.
In the film Pacino plays a lawyer [Kirkland] who is forced to defend a judge charged with rape. Kirkland has had problems with the judge in the past, including one incident when the judge wrongly sentenced one of his clients because of a technicality. This is how Kirkland ends up facing a moral and legal dilemma.
Filmmakers better watch out and 'meat' up her character before offering her a part in their films now, considering the kind of killer taste that Sherlyn has when it comes to films.
Will Abhi play the lead in Mission Kohinoor?
Abhishek Bachchan is making news as the most-favored star for a new Bollywood thriller based on the theft of the priceless rock that rocks the Indian psyche – the Kohinoor diamond.
The Kohinoor finds pride of place in the royal gems of Britain. Efforts to get the gem back to India have hit the headlines in the past. Pakistan too, has laid claim to it.
Reports say that Abhishek Bachchan and
Salman Khan are tipped to play lead roles as spies on a mission to get the Kohinoor back to the country to which it belongs.
The script is presently being finalized by two well-known production houses who are in a race to start the project –
Rajkumar Santoshi and Adlabs.
While Adlabs wants to cast Abhishek as the protagonist, Santoshi has chosen Salman Khan to be the hero.
"But Abhishek is busy and not available immediately for making
Mission Kohinoor," say Adlabs sources, "We are still in talks and will finalize the cast soon!"
Sallu's wedding gift to Abhi
The buzz goes that
Salman Khan has decided to gift a sherwani to
Abhishek Bachchan as wedding present. Sallu is keen to be friends with AB Juniour despite his betrothal to former sweetheart
Aishwarya Rai.
Sallu has been invited to the big, fat Bollywood reception by the Bachhan family so.
He may have thought of giving something special to the actor eager to take the vows with Ash.
Amitabh Bachchan personally called up
Salim Khan to invite the entire family for the wedding reception.
"Bhai thought of gifting something special to Abhishek and allegedly, asked a close designer friend to make a sherwani for him. He is going to spend a lot of money on the sherwani," says our source.
The sherwani will be ornate, and will have zardosi work. However, those who think that Abhishek might wear it for his shaadi need to hold their horses.
A separate wedding outfit, commissioned by
Jaya Bachchan, is being designed by Kolkata based designer
Sharbari Dutta. "I am making a kurta for Abhishek's wedding, but I can't talk about it," says Dutta from Kolkata.
