'Kareena is boringly beautiful'

Sameer Belvalkar’s story could well be what Bollywood stardust is made of. Having shot for big movies like Jodhaa Akbar, My Name is Khan and now, We are Family, it’s impossible to believe that this 34-year-old photographer started his career only six years ago!

Belvalkar claims that photography happened on a whim.

"Photography was never a hobby," he says. "In fact, I gave up my job and then picked up the camera without any knowledge of how to use it. I referred to books, researched on the Internet; followed other photographers’ work and in eight months, I got my first Bollywood film."

Belvalkar takes us through some of his great stills.

Seven new releases go down at box office

There were altogether seven releases this Friday, out of which Aashayein was expected to do well. But the Nagesh Kukunoor film couldn’t seem to take off right from the beginning.Other releases like Antardwand with rave reviews, Gumshuda, Geng, Hello Darling, Madholal Keep Walking and Soch Lo, all failed to make a great opening at box office with just 0-10% occupancy.

Lafangey Parindey seems to have had lackluster performance at BO, but the movie faired well in its first week with the collection of Rs 17 crore approx. The absence of good films this Friday has benefitted this Yashraj film a lot. The film will also profit its producers with a good satellite rights price.

Aamir Khan’s production Peepli [Live] entered its second week but witnessed a drop in its collection. Now the movie’s two-week total is Rs 27.50 crore approx.

The next film for you is Karan Johar’s production We Are Family which is releasing on September 2.

Mallika and Sharon Ston works together

Mallika Sherawat, who has made US her home with her living there and working in Hollywood films, has been seen rubbing her shoulders with the Who’s Who of Beverly Hills. However, the person she has recently bonded heavily with is definitely little more special as she is none other than the Basic Instinct star, Sharon Stone. The two were spotted attending a charity event and rooting for the international children’s rights organisation

Operation Smile that provides life-changing surgery solutions to children globally.
An eyewitness reveals that the two bonded like a house on fire from the moment they got introduced. "Sharon had heard about Mallika and from the time they arrived at the function, the two were inseparable. They sat together and right till the moment the event started, kept chatting about the work they are doing respectively for films and philanthropy. Post the event too they bonded again," says the source. When contacted, Mallika confirmed the news to us.

But what’s also interesting about this development is that our sources reveal that Sharon, who is also a film producer, might have discussed the proposition of casting Mallika in one of her films. Gossip is that the film might also have Sharon playing a meaty role.

"They were definitely talking about being friends from then on and planning how they should catch up soon. Sharon is always looking for new scripts to cast talents from across the world. Looks like Mallika has managed to charm Sharon as they have definitely had a talk on working together. The hottest girl in the West pairing up with the oomphy actress from the East will be a good combination to see," says the informer.

'Maa Tujhe Salaam' song is not that impressive

It is reported that the theme song for XIX Commonwealth Games, composed by AR Rahman failed to impress the CWG Organising Committee’s Executive Board member V K Malhotra

He said that the song, released on Sunday had "fallen short of expectations".

He added, "We had a expected a better anthem for the Games from a composer of Rahman’s status... "He has given some very good songs like ’Maa Tujhe Salaam’ but this song is not that impressive. We hope that the song is made better because there is still some time for the Games," said Malhotra.

At the launch of the song, Rahman had said, "I feel honoured to get the opportunity to compose the theme song for the mega-event. It was not an easy task. I had started composing it six months ago and finished just last night."

Priyanka is furious with Shahid Kapoor

Chopra are seeing each other. Now, grapevine has it that the power couple had a fall out recently, when Piggy Chops got to hear Shahid’s growing closeness with Asin. This news didn’t go well with Priyanka.

Shahid and Asin bonded really well over while shooting for an ad in Hindi and Tamil. It was the Tamil language, that led to this bonding. Since Shahid does not know Tamil, the ‘Ghajini’ actress was seen teaching him with great interest. They shared a good camaraderie.

“The ad that we were shooting for was in Hindi and Tamil. I could manage it as I know both the languages. But Shahid was struggling with the Tamil part of it, so he took my help in getting the language right. He didn’t know Tamil at all, so the entire exercise turned out to be a fun session,” Asin told.

The situation took a turn when when Priyanka made a surprise visit to her boyfriend Shahid Kapoor. The actress turned pale on seeing Shahid sharing good rapport with Asin.

I can't do films where I just look pretty : Kareena Kapoor

Kareena plays the same role that Julia Roberts did, but in her own style.

’I am absolutely honoured that Karan (producer Karan Johar) and Sidharth thought that I could do the Julia Roberts role because to me she is the finest actress,’ said the actress who feels the adaptation could have been more contemporary.

’It’s a very desi film. I think it should have been made more contemporary. Indian audiences are ready for that. It’s about the journey of two women. They start off with hating each other and due to unforeseen circumstances they end up loving each other.’

While working with Kajol, Kareena observed that her co-star was quite similar to her sister Karisma when it comes to their child.

’Kajol is a hands-on mother. I have seen Karisma. Both Kajol and Karisma, I don’t know if it’s the trait of that generation, are just there with their children,’ said Kareena.

Asked how it would have been if Karisma had played Kajol’s role, she quipped, ’Oh god! She can’t do that because we can’t marry the same man. No way.’

There are three child stars - Aanchal Munjal, Nominath Ginsburg and Diya Sonecha - in the film, but Kareena didn’t have to handle them. She is all praise for their professional behaviour on the sets though.

’In the film, I didn’t have to be with the kids because they had their mother (Kajol). The children were really lovely, they didn’t get impatient. They were acting like adults, not like children,’ said Kareena.

Salman Khan’s upcoming mega-budget flick ‘Dabangg’

Salman Khan’s upcoming mega-budget flick ‘Dabangg’ is so hot in the circuit that the owners of some single screen theatres have been refusing even Karan Johar’s upcoming ‘We Are Family’, starring Kajol- Kareena, a two week run at their theatres.
As Salman Khan-Sonakshi Sinha starrer ‘Dabangg’ is set for an Eid release on September 10, the theatre owners’ two week commitment to Karan Johar would affect Salman’s film, as ‘We are Family’ is releasing on September 3.

For instance, Manoj Desai of Maratha Mandir says, ‘I can not take ‘We are family’ for just two shows. If Karan is confident about the film, he should not be asking for the commitment of two weeks. He should let the film speak for itself and let the single screen owners then decide.’

Some theatres like Premiere in Dadar are not prepared to release Karan Johar’s flick ‘We Are Family’ at all as they feel that it would affect the chances of making money with ‘Dabangg’, which is very hot among the audiences.

Even Chandan cinema in Juhu is yet to sign a deal with Karan Johar’s ‘We are Family’, while the deal with Salman Khan’s ‘Dabangg’ has already been signed and sealed. However, UTV officials refuse the argument and say that they had already locked some theatres and even listing was out in newspapers etc.

It may be recalled that earlier Karan Johar’s ‘We Are Family’ starring Kareena Kapoor, Kajol and Arjun Rampal was set to release on Eid, September 10. But due to Salman Khan’s starrer ‘Dabangg’ coming on that date, it had been advanced by one week to September. However, even then two week commitment is creating problems for K Jo’s flick.

The buzz doing the rounds in the industry is that Salman Khan’s films have always been hot due to star appeal and only Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir or Akshay Kumar could have given him competition at the box office. But K Jo’s film does not have any major male stars and female stars were never able to carry the film on their shoulders at the box office.

Hello Darling - Movie Review

Now, what to say of a film that aims to grab eyeballs through the popping cleavages of its leading ladies and the silly antics of their lustful boss with the name Hardik, very similar to Harddick. Hello Darling, a rehash of the 1980s Hollywood movie Nine To Five, is a sex comedy about the exploitation of women at work places and gender equality.

Mansi (Gul Panag), Candy (Celina Jaitley) and Satvati (Eesha Koppikar) work in an office under a boss (Javed Jaffery) whose life and every action is driven by libido. Ignoring his dowdy wife (Divya Dutta), the incorrigible lecher doesn’t miss half a chance of hitting upon women with the hope of having some ‘good time’ with them.

When things come to a head, the three women decide to teach the horny Hardik a lesson. On the other hand, the boss’s wife (Divya) takes the help of a hubby reforming NGO, Pati Sudharak Samiti, with its hardliner head (Seema Biswas) who adopts shock methods like a volley of slaps to bring the stray husbands back on fidelity track.

There’s confusion galore after a case of mistaken identity. There’s a dead body, eunuchs, thieves, dumb docs and many more as the plot goes haywire and cooks up a hodgepodge in the name of comedy. Sadly, none of it works.

Director Manoj Tiwari hardly gets anything right in Hello Darling. The comedy is not just slapstick and inane, it borders on daftness. The double meaning dialogues don’t add to laughs either. Many situations seem deliberately stitched in the plot to make the proceedings funny. The sequence when the three actresses pose as nurses and kidnap the dead body from the hospital may draw some chuckles.

The film’s three leading ladies seem to be in competition to see who hams the most, a contest which Celina wins hands down. Javed Jaffery as the lusty lech is over the top, while Divya Dutta comes up with the only credible performance.

All in all, Hello Darling is rife with silliness. But if you happen to be a titillation seeker like the testosterone driven boss Hardik, you might find a silver lining in the cleavages of the hot babes.

"I am not upset says Rampal

"I am not upset... But will miss being part of Don 2. Some characters cannot be taken forward in sequels. Similar thing happened with Jasjit’s (essayed by veteran actor Pran in the original) character. They decided to go ahead with totally new characters," Arjun said.

The film which is a sequel of Akhtar’s remake of the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan starrer will go on floors in October and will be shot in Germany.

Rampal said this goes to prove that there are no favours in friendship.

"Farhan gave me ’Rock On!’ and ’Don’ and we have good memories. But friendship does not necessarily mean that I be part of all his movies," the national award winning actor felt.

Don 2 will see Shah Rukh Khan playing the title role and will also star Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Boman Irani and Om Puri. It will be produced under Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s banner Excel Entertainment. Arjun said he will go to Germany to meet the entire cast and make up for his absence.

Akshay loses his Privacy in hotel

Actors often complain that losing privacy is the price they pay for their stardom and the advent of cell phones has made them even more vulnerable to fans invading their privacy. So much so that even, Khiladi Kumar, known to be one of the most patient actos in the tinsel town, lost his temper when one of his fans continued clicking snaps with his cell camera despite the actor warning him not to do so.

This Sunday night, Akshay was at a five-star hotel with wife Twinkle. After the couple left the hotel and was stepping into their car, a fan came forward and started taking their pictures on his cell phone. Seeing his wife uncomfortable at being clicked without permission, Akshay asked the person to stop doing so, but the man continued and the angry star walked upto the man, snatched his phone from his hand and threw it on the ground, then crushed it to pieces under his foot. Leaving the cell phone owner stunned, he drove off into his car.

However, sources close to Akshay deny that he lost his temper and told that all that happened was Akshay asking the person politely to take permission before clicking someone and there was no such thing as the phone being broken or so.

Akshay Kumar is very particular about his pictures and he always poses for pictures whenever his fans ask him to do so. He finds it rude when people take pictures when he is dining at a restaurant.

Kareena is in 40th movie

Kareena will score 40 with her upcoming film WE ARE FAMILY. And the film is special in many ways. Firstly, it has a dream star cast in the form of Kajol and Kareena coming together. Moreover, the fact that it belongs to the Karan Johar camp makes it the fit 40th film for the actress.

Kareena on her part is equally gung ho about this fact, she says, "WE ARE FAMILY is one of my best works undoubtedly.
I have got an opportunity to portray a different image of myself in the film. I’m playing a mother and the fact that it marks the 40th film of my career makes it extra special for me."

Aishwarya Rai with Hollywood actor Ben Stiller

There’s a strong buzz in the industry that Aishwarya Rai is set to do a film with Hollywood comedian Ben Stiller soon. Ash, who has worked with a number of international stars and also did a photoshoot with Kate Winslet recently, is reported to be in contention for bagging the lead role in a film that Stiller wants to do in India.

Incidentally, even Sonam Kapoor was said to be under consideration for a similar project with Ben Stiller. But she hasn’t signed on the dotted line yet. Now, it remains to be seen if Ash will wrest the part from her. If you recall, Ash was also in talks with Michael Douglas for a Hollywood project to be shot in India. However, owing to Douglas’s dwindling health and his diagnosis of throat cancer, that project looks as good as shelved.

Katrina denied work with SRK

Not very long it was heard that Shahrukh Khan and Katrina Kaif were soon to come together. This had created quite a stir among the fans of the duo. However, Katrina puts an end to the buzz and has declined to work with SRK.

Grapevine has it that Katrina has many projects in her kitty which is keeping her very busy. This has led her to say no to working with Shahrukh. Dostana 2 and an untitled venture opposite Imran Khan under YRF is next on her schedule after Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

Katrina is currently in Spain, shooting for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara along with Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol.

SRK and Salman in Same Location

Tension shoots up whenever Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan are under the same roof. It happened on Wednesday that the warring Khans found themselves shooting at Mehboob Studios in Bandra at the same time.

Shahrukh was filming for a commercial while Salman was doing interviews for his upcoming film Dabangg. We hear that the loyalists of both the camps had tried their best to ensure that Salman and SRK don’t come face to face. But Salman, who is known to stretch his legs and walk around on the sets in between his shots, did wander out.

His muscles flexed and expression stern, Salman was seen walking with his characteristic swagger towards the set of SRK’s shoot, and for a moment everyone had their hearts stopped. Salman seemed headed for a full and final settlement with his arch foe.

But mid-way, Salman changed his direction and ventured onto another set where he had more work waiting. Shahrukh meanwhile, remained busy with his shoot all this while. Yes, he did spot Salman’s vanity van parked some distance away and paused for a good look.

Earlier, Salman and SRK had come dangerously close at the premiere of 3 Idiots, where Aamir Khan was the obvious buffer between the two.

Priyanka play a Indira Gandhi role

After Madhuri Dixit backed out from the project on personal grounds, Indian origin US filmmaker Krishna Shah is now considering casting Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra in the lead role in a biopic on late prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Titled “Mother: The Indira Gandhi Story”, it will be a big-budget two-part movie on the life of the Indian leader who was known as Iron Lady. Shah is working on the casting with Academy Award winning make-up artiste Jenny Shircore.

After going through the photographs of many Indian actresses, Shircore believes that Priyanka is the only Bollywood actress whom she can make look like Indira Gandhi after some prosthetic work on her face, Shircore says Priyanka’s face matches that of the late prime minister.

“Yes, I am in conversation with Jenny who thinks that Priyanka is the one who can fit in the character of Indira, but it will be too premature to talk about casting as we have not approached anybody as yet,” Shah said in a statement.

Madhuri could not do the movie because of her mother-in-law’s illness.

Shah is reportedly also in conversation with other actors like Albert Finney, Emily Watson, Tom Hanks and Tommy Lee Jones to play other characters in the film.

The first part of the movie will be based on Indira Gandhi’s life till the 1971 war, while part two will look more into her personal life as a mother to her sons - Rajiv, who succeeded her as the prie minister, and Sanjay Gandhi.

The script of the movie has also undergone changes.

“The script has been reworked after I got my hands on Richard Nixon’s personal tapes related to the 1971 Bangladesh War. My research has changed the script a lot and now we are looking at casting an appropriate face for Indira Gandhi’s character,” said Shah.

Aamir Khan looking forward for his next movie

After the stupendous success of Peepli Live, Aamir Khan is now looking forward to his next film, Delhi Belly. The entire shooting of the film is complete. Editing is apparently in progress but since the film is in English, international editors will edit the film. Being Aamir, he is quite involved with the post-production as well.

The film is being directed by debutant director Abhinay Deo, who has completed his next venture with Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhawni titled Game. The film is reportedly a take off on Robert Ludlum’s novel The Bourne Identity that has been made into a television series and a film. Game has been shot in five countries and stars Abhishek Bachchan, Kangna Ranaut, Sarah Jane Dias, Boman Irani and Jimmy Shergill.

Aamir Khan is busy concentrating on his wife Kiran Rao’s debut directorial venture Dhobi Ghaat. He plans to release Delhi Belly some time next year.

Endhiran is SRK favourite

Believe it or not, but Rajinikanth was not the first choice of filmmaker Shankar, for Endhiran.

Shankar initially wanted either Kamal Hassan or ShahRukh Khan for the role opposite Aishwarya Rai. However things didn’t turn out as expected and the project was grabbed by Rajinikanth.

After giving hits like ‘Sivaji’ with director Shankar, Rajinikanth is extremely happy to work with him again.

Enthiran is a forthcoming Tamil science fiction film co-written and directed by S. Shankar. The film features Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles with A. R. Rahman working on background score and soundtrack.The film will be released worldwide on 24 September this year. It is known for being the most expensive Asian film ever made.

Priyanka Chopra has just stirred up the hornets’ nest

Ishq Aur Mushq Chhipaye Nahin Chhupte, and in Bollywood, they can’t hide remakes. Well, this is the situation of Siddharth Anand’s next release Anjaana Anjaani which is garnering negative publicity on the plagiarism grounds, and a recent comment on the movie’s beginning by Priyanka Chopra has just stirred up the hornets’ nest.

Priyanka seems to be totally unaware of the situation that Anjaana Anjaani is rumoured to be a remake of the French movie The Girl On The Bridge (La fille sur le pont). At a recent promotional event, PC casually disclosed what she should have kept secret: the Anjaana Anjaani beginning, which is a tad similar to that of The Girl On The Bridge. A girl and a boy, completely strangers to each other, meet on a bridge where they have come to commit suicide.

Siddharth, obviously, is in a state of shock after he came to know what PC has really done. “Has she really spoken about it? Well, the similarity to the film is purely coincidental. I haven’t seen The Girl On The Bridge. I don’t know what it is about. I completely deny any similarity,” the director is quoted as saying.

He has even withdrawn the poster of the film which bears an uncanny resemblance to the posters of the popular films An Education and A Walk In The Clouds. He doesn’t want the film’s poster to look copied, as ApunKaChoice brought to the notice of its readers a few days back.

THE GABORS: ZSA ZSA GABOR: GLAMOUR COLLAGE: Post 6: (click to enlarge)

THE GABORS: ZSA ZSA GABOR: Post 5: FAVE PICS

THE GABORS: ZSA ZSA GABOR: Post 4: FAVE PICS

THE GABORS: ZSA ZSA GABOR: Post 3: FAVE PICS

THE GABORS: EVA GABOR: Post 2:

THE GABORS: Zsa Zsa, Eva, Magda, Mother Jolie :Post 1 of 7. (see index)

Ayaan and Ranbir Together again

The Wake Up Sid pair Ayaan Mukherjee and Ranbir Kapoor will soon be making a comeback together.

After the success of Wake Up Sid, Karan Johar is now toying with the idea of making a film with Ayaan and Ranbir Kapoor. Despite being a low budget film by Dharma Productions Wake Up Sid did come as a surprise but what was more astonishing was that the film went on to rake in big bucks after becoming a box office hit.

However, this time we hear that while Karan Johar will repeat the hit duo it won’t be a small budget movie like the previous one.

While the unit prefers to keep the project under wraps at the moment, the nitty-gritties are being worked upon. The project is scheduled to go on floors in 2011. It remains to be seen if Ayaan can come up with something more interesting than Wake Up Sid

Vidya turned into Item Girl

Now its time for Vidya Balan to show some latka-jhatkas and we hear that she is set to do her an item number for Santosh Sivan’s next Urumi.

As per what she said two years back, she was never against the idea of doing an item number provided she likes the song. So now that she has agreed and has taken up an item number, the song definitely cannot be any regular raunchy number.

The film is set in the 15th century and revolves around the killer of Vasco Da Gama, in which she will only make a guest appearance for an item song. We hear that the actress will do a traditional version of Mohiniattam dance form.

Mr. Bachchan has been an inspiration for Rajini

At the music launch of his upcoming sci-fi thriller Robot, south megastar Rajnikant was all praises for the film directed by Shankar and co-starring Aishwarya Rai. So much so that Rajni compared the movie to the cult Hindi film Sholay which has remained unrivalled since its release 35 years ago.

“Around Rs 160 crore has been invested to make the film (Robot). It’s fantastic; technical excellence is there. Sholay made history not because of the money or budget involved, not because it was a multi-starrer, not because of the technicalities, but because of its subject,” Rajnikanth told reporters at the music release of ‘Robot’ at JW Marriot on Saturday.

“Like Sholay,” he added, “in Robot too there is an excellent storyline, excellent character sketches. This is the first Indian story of its type. It’s science fiction and excellently made.”

At the music launch Rajnikanth and Aishwarya were joined by Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan.

Mr. Bachchan and Rajnikanth have had a long working relationship and have continued to remain friends since doing films like ‘Andhaa Kaanoon’, ‘Giraftar’ and ‘Hum’.

Speaking about Rajnikanth at the launch, Big B said: “I am very privileged because I have a long association with Rajni. There is no doubt in my mind that he is indeed son of the soil and he is the person who is greatly, greatly loved and admired by every Indians.”

In response Rajnikanth said Mr. Bachchan has been an inspiration for him.

I’d rather be choosy:Zarine

“After a debut of that size, alongside Salman Khan, I can’t afford to make the wrong choices and go on signing films by the kilos,” said the actress, who began her tinseltown career with this year’s period film, Veer.

She was in Kolkata to promote a lineup of mobiles launched by Sky Mobiles, a Kolkata-based mobile company, that recently signed her up as their brand ambassador.

“One funny thing is, my name is actually spelt as ‘Zareen’. But throughout the production of Veer and thereafter the media spelt it as ‘Zarine’.

And after Veer I decided to let it be since I’d be labeled a ‘numerlogy-ist’ if I suddenly changed the spelling of my name,” said the actress with a wry smile.

Despite the outcome of her debut film being not exactly very encouraging, Zarine said she had been approached with a lot of movies but was taking her time on deciding on them.

The actress, who said she enjoyed reading the works of Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, said she was spending a lot of time these days reading scripts and studying the world of films.

When asked what kind of movies she was looking to work in, she said said simply, “I am looking for scripts that exploit my potential. “I am working on a movie right now. It goes on floors by the end of this year, but I can’t divulge anything more than that,” said the 26-year-old beauty.

When asked if this ‘movie’ was the sequel to the 2007 Salman Khan starrer Partner where she is rumoured to have replaced Katrina Kaif, she said she say ‘couldn’t comment on that’. On Salman Khan, Zarine still sticks the industry standard ‘We-are-just-friends’ answer.

And on being incessantly pitched against Katrina Kaif, she said, “I guess in the film world, comparisons will be there. Everybody is similar to somebody. We just have to read a bit less into all that.” “I wasn’t supposed to be in the movies. I was going to be a doctor but I ended up here. It’s all destiny I guess,” she said looking at the heavens.

Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai work together

If all goes well Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will come together once again in Abhisek Kapoor’s next film that is yet to be titled.

Our source said, “After the success of Rock On! Kapoor was planning to make a sequel to the film. But there has been a change of plans.”

Kapoor feels that Abhishek and Ash are just apt for the plot of his next film. “The director has approahced them and hopes to rope them for this venture,” said our source.

When asked about Abhi-Ash playing the lead in his new venture, Kapoor did not deny the news but said, “I don’’t want to comment on anything right now.”

Our source said, “After the success of Rock On! Kapoor was planning to make a sequel to the film. But there has been a change of plans.”

Kapoor feels that Abhishek and Ash are just apt for the plot of his next film. “The director has approahced them and hopes to rope them for this venture,” said our source.

When asked about Abhi-Ash playing the lead in his new venture, Kapoor did not deny the news but said, “I don’’t want to comment on anything right now.”