Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone - Love birds in Bangkok


Bangkok suddenly seems to be have become the second home for Bollywood these days. Saying so, coz recall all the Bollywood stars and half of them are in Bangkok either for work or fun (read pleasure). Neera Vora’s ‘Shortcut’ has let 4 A-stars (Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao) have work and play in this fun city. Also stationed in Bangkok is another A-star, Akshay Kumar, who is shooting for Nikhil Advani’s ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ with pretty and nubile co-star Deepika Padukone.

Talking about Deepika, Ranbir Kapoor could just not be left out. So, instead of leaving his prized possession in the hands of ill famous Bollywood playboy, Akshay Kumar, (Don’t’ mind Twinkle!), the Kapoor prince decided to fly off to Bangkok to guard his lady love. Ranbir got an assignment to do a photoshoot for Filmfare magazine in Bangkok and, knowing that Deepika was already there, the actor lapped it up excitedly.

On Friday, he left for Bangkok for the photoshoot. Now, the love birds are surely painting the city of Bangkok red.

Aamir Khan unveils his new look at the ‘Race’ premiere






Thursday night, March 20, Abbas-Mustan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Sameera Reddy, Mahendra Singh Dhoni,Neil Mukesh, David Dhawan and Tusshar Kapoor and Gul Panag adorned the Premiere of ‘Race’. But the person who managed to steal the show among all these glittering celebrities was Aamir Khan who took everyone with his closely cropped look.

Aamir was supposed to go bald for the new look of his film ‘Ghajini’, but he finally opted for shaved-off thinner white lines criss-crossing his head like scars.

“This is the look originally, yes. This is what the look was and this is what the director wanted so this is what I have done and there are these ’scars’ on my head and at the back also in two three places - since the character has got injured in the head,” explained Aamir to the reporters.

Wife Kiran, who was with Aamir too seems to be happy with his new look. “I think he looks hot,” she said simply.

Akshay is a happy singh


After an ordinary weekend, Monday had a clear enough tale to tell for Tashan. The film's word of mouth has reached an abysmal low and this Yash Raj film now is under threat of coming close to the first week's collections of the likes of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (for which the end box office outcome read a flop in the final run).

Still, in spite of such unforeseen fate of the film, Akshay Kumar is smiling and continuing to keep 'happy'. How is that possible? Well, the name of the character that he plays in his forthcoming film is called - hold your breath - Happy Singh!

Yes, that's true! In Anees Bazmee's Singh is Kinng which has an out and out Punjabi flavor to it, Akshay Kumar is known as Happy Singh while Sonu Sood is named Lucky Singh. It is a known fact that names like Happy Singh and Lucky Singh are pretty much in vogue in the state of Punjab and for a film like Singh is Kinng it is only justified to have two of its principal protagonists carrying the same names.

With Singh is Kinng just about three months away, Akshay Kumar certainly would be looking forward to some 'happy' times ahead after the Tashan fiasco

Randeep follows SRK and Hrithik

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Randeep Hooda is on a career high these days. He has a long list of films to release this year. After SRK and Hrithik, now Randeep will be seen in a legendary character in Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya where he portrays the character of painter Raja Ravi Verma. This is a film that the actor is banking heavily on.

“Rang Rasiya is a period film in which I am playing Raja Ravi Verma – the legendary Indian painter.” says Randeep. He believes it is one of the best characters he has portrayed in films. Randeep feels preparation for any character is important before you portray it onscreen. So what was his preparation to play this legendary character? “I did prepare for this role. But the tragedy is I can’t paint like Raja Ravi Verma, so I dropped the idea”, he quips.

Speaking about his director Ketan Mehta, Randeep says, “It was a great pleasure working with Ketan. He has extracted some really good aspects of me and especially as an actor I feel it’s very important for a film. At the same time I don’t think only one film can decide your standing in the industry. I have done nine films and I am yet to know my standing.”

Randeep’s forthcoming films include Ru Ba Ru, Love Khichdi , Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya, Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye and the long delayed Karma Confessions and Holi . “They have all shaped up pretty well. I am very excited. I have done varied work. Hopefully all my movies capture different audience”, he concludes.

When cricketers got bitten by the acting bug













Bollywood is surely making its way felt in the world of cricket, what with top stars like SRK, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta and Juhi Chawla going all out to promote cricketing world’s latest extravaganza IPL.

While the who’s who of Bollywood is now seen on the cricket field cheering their favorite teams, not so long ago, we even had a kind of role-reversal where some of our past and current cricketers tried their hand at acting.

Ajay Jadeja: This good-looking cricketer had a good career going for him until he got embroiled in the match-fixing controversy along with Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar and some others. Making a comeback after that was always going to be a Herculean task and hence the flamboyant all-rounder decided to put his good looks to use and try his hand at acting. He debuted in Khel along side Sunil Shetty, Celina Jaitley and Sunny Deol. The movie sank without a trace and Ajay soon realised ki filmy hero banna har kisi ka khel nahin.

Akki beats SRK as music of Singh is Kinng has raked more than OSO…


Vipul Shah's Singh Is Kinng has highest ever music sale in more than a decade. Sources close to the production house reveal that the sales for a limited period of time have been for whopping Rs 13.5 crore. Says Sandeep Bharghava of Indian Films, "This is a landmark valuation and we are very proud to be associated with the biggest films of 2008 - Singh is Kinng and Ghajini. We are very sure the music will do very well".

Indian Films, who own the worldwide rights of Singh is Kinng, have sold the music rights to Times Music. Says Adarsh Gupta of Times Music, "Having tasted humongous success with one of the biggest grosser of 2007 in the Hindi film category, Welcome, we are now signing on what is believed to be the biggest hit of 2008 with Singh is Kinng."

Music industry has been going through a lot of turbulent times and had hit the slumber in revenues. Average music sales were less than Rs 3 cr and even a talked about project like Shahrukh Khan's Om Shanti Om had gone for Rs 7 cr.

If the music sale of Singh is Kinng is any indication then the music valuations are back and how.

Says Vipul Shah, the producer of Singh is Kinng, "Akshay Kumar has been commanding a huge draw, whether it would be the box office, satellite or music are concerned. I am not surprised at all."

I wish SRK luck for Paanchvi Paas...: Big B


After SRK, is the Big B planning to return to the small screen? CNN-IBN’s Entertainment Editor Rajeev Masand finds out in this exclusive chat with Amitabh Bachchan.

Rajeev Masand: You have a commitment with Star TV to do something with television. What is the nature of the shows that you are discussing? I ask this specifically because after Kaun Banega Crorepati the game show format seems a little redundant now.

Amitabh Bachchan: This is exactly what I have been telling all the television channels who have approached me. There is a balance amount left over with Star TV and we are looking into how we can accommodate that. But yes, it is time to think of something new and normal.

I have spoken to several channel heads and they are battling with new ideas but if nothing comes up then I will go back to the tried and tested formula of game shows or question-and-answer shows.

Rajeev Masand: Shah Rukh Khan’s new show Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain is also a quiz show. It is perhaps filling in the void that KBC left. Have you had a chance to see it?

Amitabh Bachchan: I haven’t seen it. But I saw the master, the original. It was put up to me as one of the options that I would do. But it has gone to Shah Rukh now and I wish him all the best for it.

Rajeev Masand: Are you looking at other formats like acting on television?

Amitabh Bachchan: I don’t think so. But you never know, circumstances maybe such in life that you may finally end up acting on television.

Vidya Balan scores a biggie opposite Abhishek Bachchan.

Vidya Balan
She is the lucky mascot of Bollywood and now, after pairing with Saif, John, Shiney and Akshay it’s her turn to rub some luck on Abhishek Bachchan.

Balki, who made his directorial debut with ‘Cheeni Kum’, has signed Vidya Balan for his next ‘Pa’ along with Abhishek in the lead, and Big B is expected to play a character role in the movie as well. Tabu was a strong contender for the role, but the director decided to opt for Vidya Balan instead.

Based on insiders, Tabu had a showdown with Balki after the release of ‘Cheeni Kum’ and the actress ended up giving no credit to the director which irked Balki hence, he approached Vidya for his next, who readily accepected the role.

The Bachchans have always admired Vidya as she has acted with Big B in ‘Eklavya’ and AbhiAsh in ‘Guru’, and this time the actress will be playing Abhishek’s leading lady for the first time.

Tabu was not too happy as she was hopeful of bagging the role, but guess Vidya stole her sugar and has left her with a ‘Cheeni Kum’ after taste.

Minnisha and Bips feel that they make a cute pair with Ranbir Kapoor.

Bips and Ranbir in ‘Bachana Aae Haseeno’
Her role in ‘Shaurya’ won her accolades not just from fans, but also from the critics, and now Minnisha is ready to make a comeback to mainstream Bollywood with ‘Bachana Aae Haseeno’.

Minnisha has replaced Katrina Kaif in the movie as Kat did not find the role to be impressive; Ranbir Kapoor will be shown romancing Minnisha in ‘Bachana Aae Haseeno’. Minnisha has earlier paired with Abhay Deol, Jimmy Shergill and Rahul Bose, but her pairing with has not been termed as the perfect ‘jodi’ just yet.

Minnisha is however; sure that audiences will love her pairing with Ranbir as the two look really cute together and also; share a great on-screen chemistry.

Now, co-star Bips has also been claming her ‘jodi’ with Ranbir to be #1 in the flick which is the remake of the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Bachelor’.

So, if Bips-n-Minnisha’s claims turn out to be true then, Deepika sure has to keep Ranbir away from these Bollywood babes and express loud, “Ranbir honey, Bachana from these Haseenas.”

Saif-Kareena, Ranbir-Deepika and Shilpa-Raj shine at the Zee Cine Awards in London.

Saif and Kareena at the Zee Cine Awards, London
After IIFA, Zee Cine Awards show was the next to go International and the biggest highlight of the awards turned out to be the couples, who began their romance journey in 2007.

Ranbir Kapoor was accompanied by his family and Deepika, who walked in with the Kapoors like a soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Saif was seen taking blessing from Kareena's grand-uncle Shammi Kapoor, and even exchanging hugs with her family.

Shilpa Shetty stepped out for the first in public with her beau Raj Kundra and she looked hot in a Cavalli gown. Lara Dutta, opted for a gown as well and she looked simply glamorous in her brown-n-blue number, and she was sure quite excited to be in London.