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Sunny Deol throws his own CHALLENGE


Now this is just not fair!

Just when Sunny Deol is standing at a crucial juncture of his career with two big films of his releasing within a space of four weeks, an age old film of his is threatening to loom large in the month of May.

Come June 01 and a brand new exciting film of his, FOOL N FINAL, would be seeing a global release. Four weeks later, i.e. on June 29th, he is expected to create fire works once again as he comes together with director Anil 'Gadar' Sharma who brings the entire Deol family on screen for the first time ever in APNE.

With films boasting of such good credentials, it is imperative to expect a lot happening for Sunny this summer. But ironically this is the time period that producer-director KC Bokadia has chosen for the release of his film THE CHALLENGE that was made around 4-5 years back.

Co-starring Tabu, Farida Jalal, Ashish Vidyarthi and Govind Namdeo, THE CHALLENGE is one of those many films that Sunny had signed in the wake of success of GADAR - EK PREM KATHA. In the film, Sunny plays a Muslim character by the name of Hussain who is a truck driver by profession and gets caught in the web of deceit, conspiracy and back stabbing as he ends up being labeled as a terrorist.

The film has come close to release number of times, especially last year, but it seems that now it would eventually release at theaters earlier than his two new films i.e. May 18th.

One wonders if Sunny is indeed happy with this hat trick that even he wouldn't have seen coming?

Why has Sridevi been feeling great?

The eternally beautiful but elusive Sridevi has obviously caught the shaadi bug. In town recently to attend more than one wedding, the well dressed Sri seemed affected by the jovial, milansaar mood. Her fans went into a tizzy on seeing her at one of the weddings in Delhi, and you could actually hear them whisper, 'Hurry up if you want to see Sridevi."

While the guests' excitement knew no bounds, Sri looked at ease. And when one guest ran up to click her picture, instead of turning away, Sri immediately obliged with a picture perfect smile!

We asked her how she felt getting all this attention from her fans. "It feels good," she said at first, and then, after a moment's thought, she brightened up and said, "Actually, it feels great!"

Tabu cheers for buddy Shilpa!

She might have been the queen of the marquee. But somehow Tabu has chosen to be a recluse, lately choosing roles randomly rather than by any design. Says a source close to the actress, "Tabu doesn't really care about stardom. She has lived her life the way she wanted to. And now she isn't running after roles. Her current obsession is her home in Hyderabad which she's putting together brick by brick." Tabu made a rare public appearance on Saturday night for the first trial show of Anurag Basu's Metro. There was a very special reason why Tabu was there. Shilpa who's holding her breath for the film to carry forward her international appeal, is one of Tabu's closest friends. "In fact," shares Shilpa. "I introduced Tabu to the gym some years ago. Since then we've remained friends." There was an added reason for Tabu's presence at the Metro premiere. Tabu had originally been offered Shilpa's role. "But Tabu had money issues. In fact monetary sizing- down has always been a problem for her. She has lost count of the films that she finally said no to in spite of outstanding author-backed roles because she felt she was being exploited monetarily. Money is a touchy issue for Tabu. And why not? Her home in Hyderabad is a pricey passion." Tabu seemed to love buddy Shilpa's performance. "But the general verdict in this performance-oriented film is that Irrfan steals the show completely from the entire cast. He's the best, followed by Kay Kay, Konkona and Kangana, in that order," says a source.

Tabu

Shilpa Shetty

Priyanka-Harman on a Date!

Priyanka Chopra constantly denys her relationship with Harman Baweja even though, they have been spotted together several times. The two were recently spotted outside Fame Adlabs, Andheri after a late night show of Spiderman 3. Priyanka and Harman came in their individual cars and after the film got over they left in their respective cars. But, they watched the film together and had requested for a corner seat to avoid attention. After the show got over, some of the fans went up to Priyanka for autographs and she was gracious enough to do oblige her fans. She was quite friendly and it was evident from Harman and Priyanka's body language that they are certainly more than just good friends. Just a few months ago, they were seen together at a popular Italian restaurant in the suburbs. The two continue to deny their relationship. Last year there were also some rumours about trouble between Priyanka and Harman. But, Priyanka proved everyone wrong when she threw a bash at her new penthouse in Versova. "It was Harman's birthday and she organised a surprise birthday bash for him. She had invited their friends like Sonali Bendre, Goldie Behl, Amrita Arora, Usmaan Afzal, Ashish Chaudhary, Arpita Khan and Sophie Chowdhry," says our source.

Priyanka Chopra

[table=98%][tr][td=2,1][/td][/tr][tr][td=2,1]Abhishek-Preity snub Bobby![/td][/tr][tr][td=2,1]Abhishek Bachchan-Preity Zinta-Bobby Deol-starrer, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom has accumulated some unpleasant memories for Bobby Deol.

Apparently Bobby didn't enjoy himself at all while filming Jhoom and spent most of his time sitting by himself brooding quietly in a corner while Abhishek Bachchan and Peity Zinta had a whale of a time whooping it up with each other.

Abhishek and Preity sidelined and ignored Bobby completely, being caught up with their own private masti.

Previously Abhishek had commented that he wanted to have lots of fun with Bobby Deol on the sets of Jhoom as both of them grew up together as kids. When Bobby got the wind to this, after a moment's silence he said, "Abhishek must be having a better memory than mine. I don't remember having any fun on the sets while shooting for Jhoom

Jaya Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee in a cold war?

The Mirror headlines talk of a 'cold war' between the two extremely talented Bengali actors - Jaya Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee. According to the report relations between co-stars Jaya Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee turned frosty during the filming of Pradeep Sarkar's film Laga Chunari Mein Daag in Varanasi. Rani, 30, repeatedly tried befriending Jaya, 59 but made little headway. Jaya was apparently not amused by the presence of Rani's family on the sets and Rani's inclination to frolic around with them. Jaya would do her scene and retire to her corner. She even refused to share lunch with Rani's family, ordering her own food from a five star hotel to her vanity van. Though Rani and her mother tried their best to befriend Jaya, nothing melted the senior actor and the distancing continued throughout the shoot. At one time Jaya was known to be fond of Rani but relations turned sour when Rani and Abhishek, co-stars of the 2005 box office success Bunty or Babli, grew close. At one point there were even media reports of a 'possible marriage.' It is believed Rani and her family were not invited to the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding because of her past relations with Abhishek. Rani had no comments to offer to the Mirror story though her mother denied any freeze in the Rani-Jaya relationship. "We have had no problem," she said, "In fact after the Varanasi shoot, we will soon go to Spain for the last schedule of the film!"

Rani Mukherjee

red-carpet reception at London premiere of 'Metro'

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty came to a rousing reception at Leicester Square in London for the premiere of Metro .

'Metro' is Shilpa抯 first film after the triumph in 'Celebrity Big Brother', which catapulted her to international fame, and she embraced her reality show rival Danielle Lloyd on the occasion.

Lloyd, 23, was vilified after she ganged up against Shilpa with Jade Goody and Jo O'Meara on the Channel 4 show in which the Indian actress came out a winner after suffering racist abuse that triggered widespread outrage.

Shilpa wore a pink sari to the central London premiere of 慚etro

Tabu's dream house

Tabu has at last realised her dream of constructing a house in Hyderabad, the city she hails from. Located at a stone抯 throw from her close friend Nagarjuna抯 house in the posh Jubilee Hills area of the city, her picturesque five bed-room house, built on half an acre of land, has all the requisites generally cherished by top celebrities.

Tabu抯 two-storeyed white bungalow has a fish pond and a personal gym on the ground floor. The actor has constructed a special office room on the first floor for visitors like Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi and Amala. A swimming pool is constructed on the terrace.

The bungalow, enriched with Burmese teak wood stairs, is still undergoing finishing touches. Labourers are working hard to ensure that new Rajasthan milky white flooring welcomes her on her next visit, as she dislikes the existing tiles. Tabu says, 揊or the last three years, I have been busy building my dream house.擺/size]

Sushmita Sen told to pay 10 times more for evading duty


The BMC has directed actress Sushmita Sen to pay a penalty of Rs25 lakh for deliberate evasion of octroi duty while importing her Toyota Land Cruiser.

The civic body has given Sen 15 days to appeal against the order, which it passed last month.
Joint Municipal Commissioner Satish Bhide confirmed that Sen had been asked to pay a penalty of Rs25 lakh, which is more than 10 times the duty on the vehicle.

揥e considered the merits of the case before imposing the penalty,

慡ushmita is motherly

Manisha to play Nepali politician - in real life

After almost a decade in the film industry, Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala is getting ready to play the most challenging role in her life - that of a Nepali politician, but this time in real life. The model-turned-actress, who comes from one of the best-known political dynasties in Nepal, has decided to take the plunge because of the situation in Nepal. Her grandfather B.P. Koirala was the first elected prime minister of Nepal, her great-uncle Girija Prasad Koirala is the present premier, and her father Prakash Koirala is a former minister. Manisha, who was on a quick, low-key visit to the country recently to see her parents, told a Nepali weekly that she was waiting for the right "environment" to join politics. "I am known not just as an actress," she said in an extensive interview to Naya Patrika, a new tabloid to hit the stands. "I frequently meet Indian political leaders and they know me. "I want to join politics because the situation in Nepal is such today that I don't think it's right to sit mum. I would have been glad to remain an actress if everything in Nepal was fine... But with the situation deteriorating, I can't shirk my responsibility." Manisha also held the Maoist guerrillas, who joined the government last month, responsible for "wrecking" the environment for holding elections. However, the actress, acclaimed for her role in Bollywood films like "Bombay", "Khamoshi" and "1942: A Love Story", said it would take some time for her to join Nepal's politics "actively". Manisha, who had incurred the wrath of pro-democracy protesters by supporting King Gyanendra's power grab through a coup and the local election held by the royal regime last year, reiterated her support for the king despite his fall and a movement in Nepal to abolish monarchy. "The king had asked for three years," she said. "It was not a long time. But he was not allowed to work. Now it's the tendency to blame the palace for every evil. What will people do if they get a republic? Will they then blame Maoist leader Prachanda?" Manisha, who had actively campaigned during the polls, said she did not think King Gyanendra was undemocratic. "It was not wrong to campaign," she said. "An election is a democratic exercise. It is a different thing that the parties decided to boycott it. One has the right to take part or boycott. I exercised my right." During her visit, Manisha met Koirala's daughter Sujata but not the octogenarian leader "since he was busy". Asked if she met the king, her monosyllabic answer was: "No". The actress also spiritedly defended her father Prakash Koirala's decision to support the king, for which he was expelled by his Nepali Congress party, which led the anti-king protests. "His party expelled him because he expressed a different opinion," she said. "How can a democratic party crack down on a different opinion? This is wrong. In the past, the same party expelled former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba." About her earlier announced plans to start a film city in Nepal and an aerial ambulance service, she said: "It took me four to five days just to get a return ticket to Mumbai. "You can't get any work done in Nepal in the current situation. You can't do anything till there is an end to strikes, peace and political stability."

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in Karan Johar's next film

Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan in a still from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam (2001). Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol will feature in Karan Johar's next film that follows the travails of an Indian couple post 9/11.  Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan first starred together in the romantic family drama Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), a film that was so successful it continues to run uninterrupted till date in a theater in Bombay! Their last film together Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam (2001), produced and directed by Karan Johar, was a huge success too.  Kajol is currently working on U, Me Aur Hum in which she is paired opposite her husband Ajay Devgan, who is also the director.  In addition she has signed up for Raj Kumar Santoshi's Ramayan. A few days earlier she had told Bombay Times she would not sign any more films.  "I can't handle any more assignments at the same time," she said.  According to an HT insider the dusky 31-year-old found it hard to turn down Karan Johar with whom she enjoys an excellent professional rapport. Besides, Kajol feels, while taking on more work may keep her away from her daughter Nysa it will allow her to spend more time with her husband Ajay Devgan.  Interestingly, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam (2001) featured Amitabh Bachchan, another close friend of Karan Johar besides Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan.  However, in view of a simmering professional rivalry between Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan it is moot if he or any of the Bachchans will feature in the new film.  "There are several roles which require many competent actors to portray some strong characters but besides the lead pair, no one else has been finalized," confirms an HT source.

When Ajay Hated The Attention !  Kajol was noisily occupying center stage that day at the 'muhurat' of Kumar Mangat's 'Hal-e-Dil', which launches his daughter Amita. She was filling on for Ajay who was away shooting, and was all smiles and happy chat as she went ahead with the little camera ritual! Little Nyasa meanwhile was sitting close by, happily watching the proceedings.

Just then Devgan dropped in and the tiny tot jumped on to daddy's arms and lap. The reclusive Devgan tried his best to keep on a polite smile while requesting over-eager well wishers to kindly not pull her cheeks or crowd her too much.  While Ajay couldn't bear being at the center of so much attention his friendly daughter Nyasa didn't seem to mind it a bit!

Juhi Chawla returns to Rakesh Roshan's cinema

Not too many cineastes would recall Juhi Chawla's presence in a Rakesh Roshan cinema. But nudge your memory, and you'll recall Juhi in Rakesh Roshan's ill-fasted Karobaar where she played Rishi Kapoor's wife who's tempted to spend a night with tycoon Anil Kapoor. The remake of the Robert Redford-Demi Moore film An Indecent Proposal was a fiasco. "That's because the film got delayed. By the time Karobaar came out the story was stale. Anyway, Juhi is working with us again," says Rakesh Roshan. The lovely actress last seen as the battered wife in Onir's Bas Ek Pal, has been cast as a psychiatrist in Rakesh Roshan's comedy Krazy 4 to be directed by Raja Sen. "Juhi plays a very important role of a psychiatrist. We needed someone mature. While all the guys Arshad, Rajpal Yadav, Irrfan Khan and Suresh Menon are funny Juhi is very serious," says Rakesh Roshan. This is Juhi's second role as a shrink in a comedy. She was given the thankless task of curing Govinda's mind in David Dhawan's Deewana Mastana. Juhi Chawla

[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 10-5-2007 02:37 PM ]

I Apologize to Kareena: Bipasha

Some star or the other invariably ends up in a foot-in-the-mouth situation after every episode of Koffee With Karan. Now it was Bipasha Basu's turn. Eyebrows have been going up ever since she commented that Kareena had "too many expressions" on her face when she performed on screen. This, the industry folks have presumed, was in retaliation to Kareena's comment aome weeks ago that John was "expression-less." The seeming retaliation has re-activated the whole Kareena-Bipasha war that goes back to the days Abbas-Mustan's Ajnabee when during a stint in Switzerland, the two actresses had exchanged harh words over Kareena's costume designer lending his talents to Bipasha without Kareena's consent. Bipasha is horrified by the tit-for-tat suggestion. "I'm not that kind of a person. I certainly don't believe in tit for tat. And my episode of Koffee With Karan which was telecast on Sunday was recorded in the first week of December when I had no clue what Kareena had to say about John. In any case everyone is entitled to her opinion. If Kareena thinks John is expression-less then so be it. He's a grownup man. He can fight his own battles. I certainly won't jump in the fray for anyone else, not even my boyfriend. I don't wish to star a war of words with Kareena or anyone else." As for Bipasha's opinion on Kareena, "I was asked what I felt about her acting. And I gave my opinion. I also made comments on Tanushree Dutta and Sunny Deol. And they weren't meant to be offensive." Bipasha has just returned from a long stint of Abbas-Mustan's Race in Dubai to do a shampoo ad in Mumbai. "It's strange. But on the show I was asked who's my favourite, and I said Saif. When I said it I hadn't even worked with him. If comments on the show are strategized in a particular way the interviewee can't help it."

Kareena Kapoor

Bipasha Basu

Aishwarya Rai is coming back

Aishwarya Rai will face the camera for the first time After marriage in Ram Gopal Varma's ambitious sequel Sarkar 2. The actress will play the pivotal role of a manipulative daughter-in-law of the Nagre family where Abhishek has assumed the position of the patriarch; an aged and feeble Amitabh Bachchan keeps himself to the house. The filmmaker who is adept at making underworld-related films now shifts the focus to the daughter-in-law who eventually, evolves as the matriarch in the family. Apparently, Aishwarya masterminds strategies to retain the family's monopoly in different underworld businesses. Abhishek will be shown falling back on his wife in times of crises. Amitabh Bachchan will be reduced to being a helpless old man who has only his experiences to share with his son, the new godfather. Abhishek, along with his wife, will run the business and sort out problems of the people. Aishwarya will be seen as a shrewd woman. She though is not an out-and-out negative character and strikes a balance between her household work and the family business. She loves her family, at the same time she can be ruthless when it comes to dealing with wayward characters. Reportedly, Ash will sport minimal make-up in the film. The film is supposed to hit the floors in June.

Jaya Bachchan sunbbed Rani

Apparently Jaya Bachchan and Rani Mukherji on the sets of Pradeep Sarkar's film, Laaga Chunri Mein Daag have been exchanging cold vibes when they were shooting in Varanasi for the film. Rani tried her best to be friendly with Jaya, but Jaya would return the friendly overtures with a cold smile making evident that something was wrong between Jaya and Rani, although they pretended that everything was normal. Jaya would deliver her lines and sit in her corner of the sets, avoiding Rani and her family. Jaya is fond of Rani as an actress, but there really is no proof that she likes her as a person, although Rani has never misbehaved with Jaya or any of the senior actors on the sets. Jaya was also very upset when media had started speculating about Abhishek dating Rani making it one of the reasons why Bachchans kept Rani and her family out of the wedding.

Rani Mukherjee

Shilpa in Britain!

'Metro' rode on the newfound fame of Shilpa Shetty in Britain to become the first Indian film to be premiered at London 's Leicester Square where Hollywood hits like 'Casino Royale' and 'Harry Potter' have had their first screenings, say its happy distributors. Shilpa plays a bored housewife in the film looking for some way to spice up her boring routine. The film portrays life in a big city by drawing from the stories of three couples that dwell in it. It is described as an intertwined story of the emotional journeys of the six protagonists.

Ahana Deol to direct Esha!

With yesteryear's Dream Girl Hema Malini as mother and Garam Dharam as her father, Ahana Deol comes to Bollywood on a silver platter as it were. Elder sister and ear-marked actress Esha Deol, with whom she has done dance performances along with mother Hema, should have been a strong influence to take to acting as well, but Ahana seems to be still camera shy. After all, Kareena took only a few months to follow in the dancing footsteps of sister Karisma Kapoor. That however does not rule her out behind the camera, and so it is. Ahana Deol is all set to don the director's cap and will have Hema, Dharmendra and Esha as acting putty to be knuckled into shape in front of the camera. Ahana will, theoretically speaking at least, also have her three step-brothers, Sunny, Bobby and Abhay, also at her service if she chooses to cast them! Ahana is bracing up to direct a film about a man who faces hardships and emerges triumphant. The male lead has not yet been finalised (though Kunal Kapoor seems to be a strong candidate), but the female lead has already seen sister Esha signed in. Ahana has said that she never aspired to become an actress. "It's not my scene. I don't like the thought of wearing make-up. As it is I don't like to doll-up,"she has been quoted as having said and that seems quite categorical. That should also sound like music to Dharmendra's ears as he has never been too happy with Esha donning make-up. Hema too has been very unhappy about how Esha's talent has not been exploited at all yet, and is therefore producing the film (she had produced and directed Dil Ashana Hai before) and having Esha's younger sibling taking up the reins to show the world what Esha is all about really. Though, didn't they say the story is about a male protagonist's struggle and triumph?

Bebo-Shahid romance in Hills

Kareena Kapoor is currently in Manali with beau Shahid Kapoor shooting for Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar. Shooting for the film is expected to end on May 30. According to a leading daily the couple have been driving around in the twin cities of Kulu and Manali and taking long walks after sunset. Romancing, would describe it. Though Kareena has consistently maintained marriage is not on her or Shahid's mind as both of them want to concentrate on their respective careers, we are hoping the salubrious environs of the hill station nestled at an altitude of 1,829 m in the Shivalik hills would change the couple's mind. To tell you the truth, we don't believe the two of them have such exciting careers at this point of time. Okay, that was a tad unwarranted. Shahid does have Firoz Nadiadwala's Fool N Final lined up for release. Directed by choreographer turned director Ahmed Khan, the action comedy features Sunny Deol, Shahid Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty. In fact, shortly before Kareena flew to Manali, Khan arranged a special screening of the Fool N Final for her, because he knew she would not get a chance to see the film when it was officially released because of her projects. After seeing the film, Kareena was so excited by the way Khan had directed beau Shahid she gifted him a Rs 2.5 lakh Breitling wrist watch! That wasn't very bright. Khan already had the watch! "It was a pleasant surprise for me. I am extremely fond of branded watches and I already had the same model which Kareena has gifted me. But I appreciate the gesture that she bought me something which I like. Probably, Shahid had told Kareena that I collect watches," he said.

Kareena Kapoor & Shahid Kapoor