gossip artis HOLLYWOOD~BOLLYWOOD~MALAYWOOD

Close shave for Hrithik Roshan

If a canopy hadn抰 come between him and certain death, Hrithik Roshan would have been a funeral headline on Friday.

The near-fatal accident happened on Friday morning, when the actor was shooting for his father Raakesh Roshan抯 'Krrish'in Singapore. An action shot of him dangling on a wire from a highrise was into its umpteenth retake when the wire, frayed at the edges with the strain, snapped. Hrithik went hurtling down

John Abraham confident.

Actor John Abraham expressed his confidence about the success of his forthcoming film 'Garam Masala'.

John displays the same confidence about the success of his yet to be released 'Garam Masala' where he plays the photographer of a tabloid called "Garam Masala". But he does not hesitate to attribute this confidence on his film maker Priyadarshan.

On his forthcoming film 'Garam Masala' John said, he does not have any expectations simply because he is very confident about the product. According to him the movie is great and clean.

In the mean time, John is also working in two other movies Zinda, to be released in December this year and Babool at the beginning of the next year. In Babul John is acting against Salman Khan and Big B Amitabh Bachchan.

"Garam Masala" is slated for release on November 3 this year.



[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 8-12-2006 01:42 PM ]

There is no climax in GM: John

John Abraham. The name itself conjures up the image of a hunk. Or bikes! Or Bipasha Basu! But there are many more facets to John's persona! Having bagged a number of prestigious projects, he is gearing for his next release, Garam Masala, which will see him in a comic role for the first time. Without further ado, we presents you a tete-a-tete with the man who has caught the fancy of practically the entire Indian female population

REAL LIFE HERO JOHN

John Abraham, the sexy demeanor of 'Jism' is playing a real life character in Anil Sharma's 'Mumkin'. John Abraham with his Adonis looks has become a heartthrob overnight. John, an ex-Gladrags Mega Model, was appreciated both by the masses and the classes for the first hit of the year 'Jism'. Nowadays, he is the hottest sensation of the tinsel town. John is associated with big banners of the film industry. The major projects of John are 'Aitbar', 'Lakeerin', 'Rakth', 'Paap' and 'Mumkin'. John's hopes are pinned on 'Mumkin' where he is playing a member of anti-terrorist group. John has done a lot of homework for the character because he had indeed lost his dear friend to the bullets of a Kashmiri militant. In the film, John plays the protagonist who avenges the death of his bosom friend who is gunned down by Kashmiri militants. John is delighted about the project and hopes that the audiences will appreciate it.



[ Last edited by Gadis_Venus at 22-1-2006 03:42 PM ]

Manisha to follow Tanuja Chandra

Manisha Koirala who dominated the tinsel town until not very long back is determined to return to her past glory. She has decided to produce women- oriented movies so that she can change her image of a quarrelsome actress. Many directors are reluctant to sign her in fear of her recent court cases despite her past image of hit films. She is trying her best now to woo directors. Hopefully, she will succeed in returning to her past glory!

Manisha Koirala


[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 8-12-2006 01:55 PM ]

PREITY SERIOUS ABOUT ITEM NUMBER

Preity Zinta has always distanced herself from the media. She says she wants her performance to speak rather than she talking about her movie. Moreover, she doesn't like certain media reports about her personal life. Even the recent reports about her relationship with Chhote Nawab Saif Ali Khan are baseless. Such like reports have annoyed her in the past. So she avoids meeting with the media. The reports of close relationship of Preity Zinta with Saif Ali have been published in the Press. Besides Preity, Saif Ali has also denied these reports and called them rubbish. In fact, even Saif Ali's daughter Sara was upset by this gossip. Saif is disturbed and so also his family.

However, Preity confesses that her progress in films has been slow as compared to her contemporaries. But, she is not worried about it. She claims that she is happy, as she didn't hang around the directors and the producers for bagging offers. "I do one film at one time. I want to do my best as per the demand of my character. I wish to dress myself the way my character would have done". Even after the success of 'Koi Mil Gaya' she has not raised her professional fee. "I charge as much as I deserve. So my producer doesn't have any problem on that account. I can't do a film for the sake of money." When asked about her future projects, Preity said she doesn't believe in planning. I believe in doing good work though.

Now, Preity is getting ready to do item numbers too. So far she has not done any. Item songs are important for movies, she feels. And if she is offered one, she will do it. Will she get an offer of an item number soon? Maybe or may not be because these days foreign girls are available in plenty and they are being assigned these numbers. However, the success or otherwise of her movie 'Kal Ho Na Ho' will be known soon. This movie of Yash and Karan Johar is likely to prove a milestone in Preity's filmi career. This will indicate if she would get an item number.

URMILA IN TANUJA CHANDRA'S MOVIE

Tanuja Chandra has decided to sign on Urmila Matondkar for her forthcoming movie. Tanuja makes movies on women-oriented subjects. Yes, Urmila needs to do a movie like this to bag some award. Urmila won't mind to be a fighter for woman causes. If she can become a ghost in Ram Gopal Varma's 'Bhoot', she can easily and successfully become a crusader for the women's causes.

Urmila Matondkar


[ Last edited by Gadis_Venus at 14-1-2006 06:42 PM ]

Will luck favor Aftab

Aftab Shivdasani is one of the few Bollywood's actors who have had hit films but the credit went to his other colleagues in the movie. Isn't it a misfortune of Aftab? The success of 'Hangama' was attributed to Akshaya Khanna and Paresh Rawal. However, the failure of 'Footpath' was passed on to Aftab. The chocolate boy of tinsel world is hopeful that he will soon return to his golden days of 'Kasoor'. He bases his confidence on the wisdom of the directors and the producers. Though he commenced his filmi career under one of the few best Bollywood directors like Ram Gopal Verma, yet he has remained far behind his contemporaries who have gone miles ahead of him.



[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 8-12-2006 01:57 PM ]

URMILA ENTERS PAKISTAN

The vivacious beauty of Bollywood Urmila Matondkar has been the newsmaker of the year. The glam doll of film industry has matured into a woman of substance as she now prefers author- backed roles supported by sensible direction. Recently, she was conferred "Best Actress of the Year" by Indo-American Society. To add to her histrionics she has agreed to shoot a music video in Pakistan. This year saw the downpour of Urmila films, which were class apart, whether it's partition saga 'Pinjar', or estranged mother-daughter relationship drama 'Tehzeeb'. She was simply outstanding. Urmila being a great fan of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, prefers to be like him in the field of acting. Urmila visited Wagah Border during the music release of film 'Pinjar', which has the backdrop of India-Pakistan Partition.

'Pinjar' was based on Amrita Pritam's novel in which her character marries a Pakistani man. During the promotional tour of film 'Tehzeeb', Urmila disclosed that she is going to Karachi with Prahlad Kakkar to shoot a music video. In the video, Urmila will be playing a Pakistani girl while a local actor will be playing an Indian guy. She was tightlipped about the project. 'Tehzeeb' brings the combination of talents of two generations after the gap of twenty years. Shabana Azmi, actress plays the role of Urmila mother in 'Tehzeeb'. Urmila plays the title role of 'Tehzeeb' who wants to rule the world in her own way. According to her, the role falls between a spontaneous actor and a method actor. Incidentally, it was twenty years back she and Shabana Azmi played mother and daughter in 'Masoom' where Urmila made her acting debut as a child artiste along with Jugal Hansraj. After mind-blowing performance in 'Bhoot', she is doing another woman-oriented film, Ram Gopal Verma's 'Ek Hasina Thi'.For an ambitious actress like Urmila Matondkar sky is the limit.

LARA, BIPASHA TO COMPETE IN 'NO ENTRY'

Bollywood's two damsels - Lara Dutta and Bipasha Basu - who are known to be sex symbols are competing with each other. According to reports, Lara Dutta and Bipasha Basu will be seen together in 'No Entry', presumably competing for one-upmanship. Both of them are known for their bold and sexy scenes. Lara Dutta competed with Priyanka Chopra in their recent movie 'Andaaz'. And Lara proved that she could reveal more than Priyanka, and dominated all though the movie. Bipasha can also reveal more and is prepared to go all out to win the audience.

Lara claims to prove as the sexiest actress of Bollywood, no matter how she fares in acting. She is determined to do everything to win the movie watchers unlike Tabu who is more interested in acting, and would not do what Lara could do. You may recall that after the bombardments of glam dolls in item songs, the trend has been set for dare-bare acts, and Lara Dutta is the latest to join the party with a bang. Lara sizzles in an item number 'Aisa Jadoo' from the film 'Khakee', which is to be released soon. The remix version of the song has already become a craze among the pop generation. It seems that after Isha Koppikar, Yana Gupta and Lara Dutta will be setting dance floor on fire. Lara's jadoo can do wonders.

Lara Dutta


Bipasha Basu


[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 1-6-2007 04:06 PM ]

SQ154

He has set his sights on...  
(Hint: It's not her!)
By Sheela Narayanan

October 20, 2005      




SHAH Rukh Khan is not one to rest on his laurels.

  
Shah Rukh Khan stars in Paheli - a love story based on a rural Indian folktale - with Rani Mukherjee. --AFP
Even though he was recently endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan as Badshah (King) of Bollywood.

The 39-year-old actor has something gold and bald in his sight - the Oscar statuette, of course.

The nomination of his film Paheli (Riddle) in the Best Foreign Language film category in the Oscars has buoyed Shah Rukh into lobby mode.

The superstar told the Indian media: 'I shall leave no stone unturned to get Hindi movies their due. Paheli has provided this opportunity.

'I shall make every endeavour to get international recognition for Hindi movies. Lagaan (Tax) made the ground and Paheli will consolidate it.'

Paheli is based on a Rajasthani folk story about a ghost who falls in love with a young bride. He takes the form of her husband when he leaves her to go on a long journey.

Shah Rukh's production company, Red Chillies Entertainment, produced the film.

However, he is up against some serious criticism about Paheli being India's nomination for the Oscars.

CRITICISM

Critics and some industry players were aghast that the box-office flop was chosen to represent the country.

Others questioned why other Hindi films such as Black, which has received critical acclaim, or other regional language films were not chosen instead.

Actor Makrand Deshpande said: 'Why does India's entry at the Oscars have to have songs and colours galore so as to cater to the Western idea of Indianness?'

Ignoring the controversy surrounding the nomination, Shah Rukh and writer-director Amol Palekar will be lobbying hard to give the other 90 Oscar contenders a run for their money.

Amol said that he would be consulting Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowarikar, whose film Lagaan was nominated for the 2002 Oscars, as well as Mira Nair and Shekhar Kapur.

'I will work out a strategy with Shah Rukh who is extremely savvy about marketing,' he added.

Shah Rukh said that despite having more than 800 Hindi films made per year, barely 1 per cent of Bollywood films make it to international markets. He wants to up that to 10 or 12 per cent.

Said Shah Rukh: 'At present, these movies are popular among non-resident Indians and Asians only.'



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Is it on again, Amisha and Adnan?


THE on-again off-again talk that Amisha Patel is seeing big man of Bollywood music Adnan Sami is back on again.

The speculation around Mumbai's Tinseltown was that Amisha, 30, started dating the popular 31-year-old singer after accompanying him on his world tour.

But Amisha's long-time boyfriend, producer Vikram Bhatt, has denied the rumours to Rediff.com.

He said: 'Believe me, there's nothing between them. Amisha is with me. We are doing just fine together.

'Amisha and I are very much in love. And if she wasn't busy with her career, we'd have made it official without a second thought.'

However, fresh juice emerged when Adnan spoke with Rediff.com about his concert at the Taj Mahal last month, revealing that his new lady love is a 'well-known Bollywood actress'.

The Pakistani singer who is twice divorced said: 'But it's too early to talk about her. We're just beginning to discover each other.

'We met during the last lap of my concerts last month. Since then, we have been constantly together.'

NONE LIKE PREITY ZINTA

Preity Zinta has its own identity in Bollywood. She is known for her straightforwardness and sincerity, besides no malice against any body, especially in the industry. She believes in modesty and carries no ego . She measures her every step before moving ahead in life. Her qualities have helped her in entering into big banners like those of Yash Chopra and Karan Johar. That would have never been possible otherwise for a newcomer like her who has no godfather in the industry. Her behavior is excellent on the sets with all her colleagues.

Her latest flick 'Salam Namastey' is talk of the town as the movie has been drawing a good response at the ticket window since its release, presumably because of her brilliant performance g in it. Apart from this she has already had several hits to her credit like 'Soldier', 'Kya Kehna', 'Dil Chahta Hai', 'Kal Ho Na Ho', 'Veer Zaara' and 'Koi Mil Gaya'. She is not only talented but also fully involved in the movie during its shooting. Even her first movie 'Dil Se' had won the hearts of the viewers. So, she doesn't need to follow today's hot and bold girls in exposing herself to look glamorous. She is pretty and full of glamour even without any skin show.



[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 8-12-2006 01:58 PM ]

Shah Rukh Khan: 慖 Love Being Famous!

PRIYANKA'S ' PLAN' FOR SUCCESS

Priyanka Chopra, the beauty wonders of the nation, 'Plan'(s) for success. Priyanka who zoomed to glorious success in her debut film 'Andaaz' opposite Akshay Kumar and Lara Dutta is back with a bang in Sanjay Gupta's 'Plan' opposite Sanjay Dutt. Priyanka will also be seen in Sajid Nadiadwala's 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' that will be directed by David Dhawan. According to reports it is a comedy film. One in a million has got the luck that Priyanka has. She started her show business career with a crown at the most prestigious beauty pageants of the country, which was followed by the grand success of Miss World.

World was at her feet and she was flooded with film offers. After the soaring success of her debut film 'Andaaz' sky was the limit but it was followed by Sunny Deol starrer 'The Hero' which was a semi hit. But still she got important projects. Priyanka has hit the jackpot with 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon', in which she is playing the female lead. The film also stars superstar of the Millennium Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol. The director of the film Anil Sharma (of 'Gadar-Ek Prem Katha' fame) is optimistic about the film. Priyanka hopes it to be another blockbuster. Happy days are here again for Priyanka.

Kareena, Priyanka in Pepsi ad

Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, who were last seen together in Abbas-Mustan's Aitraaz, will be seen together again in a Pepsi ad, which will be directed by Farah Khan.

The ad will be shot on October 27.

"I'm really looking forward to getting together with Priyanka again. We had great fun shooting for Aitraaz. There was no rivalry between us," says Kareena. "In fact, while working in Aitraaz, I realised for the first time that two actresses can be friends. Shooting the Pepsi ad will be a party."

Priyanka, who cut a Rs 20 million deal for a two-year contract involving 12 days of work, adds, "The minute I heard Bebo was going to shoot the Pepsi commercial with me, I whooped with joy. Then when I heard Farah Khan was going to direct us, I whooped again! Three of us girls are going to have a whale of a time. We've already decided what naughty things we're going to do!"

This must be the first ad in India where two leading actresses will be directed by a woman. Priyanka shrugs, "I don't know   about that but this is my first ad ever. I'm as nervous as I was when I did my first film."

Alliance, the company that looks after endorsement deals for Amitabh Bachchan, has Priyanka as their new client. After Pepsi, they're looking at a perfume deal for her.

"We hope to make Rs 10 crores [Rs 100 million] on Priyanka's behalf through endorsements in the next two years," says celebrity-endorsement consultant Sunil Doshi.

"Today, endorsements are bigger than film deals for stars," he adds.

"For a few days of work, you're paid more than what you get for an entire movie which takes up at least six months of your time. It's quick, big and safe money."

Kareena Kapoor


Priyanka Chopra


Pepsi


[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 8-12-2006 02:00 PM ]

Rani heaves a sigh of relief

Bollywood's number one actress Rani Mukherjee has heaved a sigh of relief with the ouster of Aishwarya Rai from Ketan Mehta's magnumopus movie 'The Rising' starring Aamir Khan. Rani was a colleague of Aishwarya Rai in the movie and thought that Aish would steal the limelight. Film analysts view that the Aish's ouster from 'The Rising' is very bad for her career. Rani is now confident of getting the lion's share in the movie and draw full attention of Aamir Khan. This is to recall that Rani had become very popular after her dialogue with Aamir Khan in 'Gulam' Aati Kya Khandala'. Since director Bobby Bedi has replaced Aish with Amisha Patel, who ranks below Rani, the latter is very excited and hopeful of dominating the movie with Aamir Khan though.

MADHURI DIXIT'S FEAR...

Madhuri Dixit is fully occupied these days with Aarin. Her posh house in Mumbai has turned into a toy house. Madhuri and her husband Sree Ram Nene are very eager that Aarin picks up their mother tongue (Marathi) rather than English.Aarin speaks a few words like Mami and Baba. But Madhuri is afraid that Aarin might not imitate their pet cats' meaw



[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 1-6-2007 04:13 PM ]

GOVINDA FORCED TO TURN PRODUCER

Govinda, the phenomenon, died a few years ago; however, it seems the few who weren't informed was Govinda, the actor. Every second film that blows up on a Friday in Mumbai cinema goes bust by Sunday night. Why should it trouble us if Govinda's last release 'Raja Bhaiya' that didn't just get completely unnoticed (like his previous many), even though it was reportedly taken off a city theatre within two days? But what's sad is that Govinda has no takers today. No filmmaker wants to touch him even with a barge pole because he doesn't need a troublesome Govinda who can't even guarantee distributors for his film, forget audience. Tutu Sharma and Smita Thackeray will vouch for this.

It is really saddening, because Govinda was a national institution. And to extend that logic, that there is no one to watch his films is a national disaster - an institution which should have been left alone as folk history, but one that overstayed its welcome and is sadly getting shoved into oblivion. The reason Govinda deserves the iconic status is not his relatively consistent film trade bull run through the 90s, or his loud stage-like acting skills, or his pelvic thrusts (electric-shock-moves painter M F Hussain once called "coarse, vulgar and unbearable" ).

Govinda remains a national institution because in recent times, like no other actor (and few concepts) in this country, for howsoever brief a period he managed to unite the tastes of this nation of 'haves' and 'have-nots'. But now with no producer even contemplating to sign him for his/her movie, the Entertainer No. 1 Govinda is forced to take up a new occupation today.

Govinda admits, "Yes, I am producing a film titled 'Sukh' under the banner Govinda Entertainment Private Limited. Earlier, Shashi Sinha, Shashi Prabu and Kirti Kumar (my brother), produced my films. But today I am directly getting involved with production." What made him to decide to become one? "Whatever offers I was getting I wasn't satisfied with the subjects. People were coming to me with the same kind of roles again and again, but I wanted to do something new," Govinda muses. "For the last one year I was toying with a few subjects. I had a theme and I wrote the script too."

What about the rest of the cast and credits? "I will be starring in the film. Music is by a new guy. I am giving a break to a lot of newcomers in my film.

The process of finalizing the cast is going on. It is not important whether I shall have established stars or newcomers in my film. The main hero of my film is the subject. There are no heroes or heroines in the film; everybody is a character in the film. Some ideas have been taken from here and there but the presentation and stylization of the script, story and dialogues will be different." 'Sukh' doesn't sound like a typical Govinda fun film. Govinda smiles mysteriously though, "I can't talk about it right now. All I will say is that the kind of comedy I was doing all these years is all over now. Smita Thackeray's film 'Hum Do Hamare Ek', directed by Anees Bazmee, will be the last of its kind. Expect the unexpected and keep guessing!" The much delayed, Tutu Sharma produced 'Khullam Khulla Pyar Karenge' (with Preity Zinta) is the only other Govinda film that remains to be released apart from Thackeray's film.

Is he going to work with his family only? "No if it's a good offer from outside I will do it. Now, I want to do good films. Today price is no criteria and dates are no problem. If there is a problem it's just one: good cinema." "In fact, doing a film at 0% price is also no problem. Mujhe set pe khana aur aane jaane ka bhaada bas sirf itna chahiye. Magar mujhe wada chahiye ki aap ek mahaan picture banayenge..."

Let's hope that his latest recipe works for him. He describes it as the "Fourth phase of my career - serious roles." Serious means little to the people who have worked with him or know him. At 45, a lead actor ought to reinvent himself enough to believe that a whole film (like the whole world) may not always revolve around him. If not, he must better retire than fade away.

For Govinda, the actor, I am certain it won't be the latter. However, he needs to realise that Govinda, the phenomenon, died years ago.

KAREENA TURNS DELHIITES OUT OF CONTROL

The Capital of India witnessed a galaxy of Bollywood stars for the shooting of 'Bewafa'. Though the dream merchants do not like to shoot movies in Delhi because of rowdy behaviour of Delhiites, the recent addition of the Metro rail of the latest technology, attracted the 'Bewafa' team to rescind their earlier decision. Interestingly, the stars in 'Bewafa' include Anil Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai, Shamita Shetty, Sushmita Sen and Akshay Kumar, who are a rare commodity for Delhiites.

Gorgeous Kareena was dressed in a sequin-bordered sari, as she was seen checking her scene after every shot. She was walking up the escalator and then coming out of the metro along with few junior artists who were acting as passengers in the film. So they attracted a huge crowd of their fans during the shooting of the scene in which Kareena enters and comes out of the Metro as the most ravishing passenger of the metro so far. The crowd turned out of control indeed to have a glimpse of their favourite stars. Manoj Bajpai who plays romantic lead opposite Kareena was dressed in formal trousers and shirt.Kareena Kapoor plays the role of the second wife of Manoj Bajpai, who was earlier married to her sister.



[ Last edited by  Gadis_Venus at 8-12-2006 02:20 PM ]

NEVER SAY DIE REEMA

In last few years many beautiful Bengali actresses have made waves in Bollywood. Bipasha Basu, Rani Mukherjee and Sushmita Sen are among those who have made a mark in the industry. The latest one is Reema Sen, the new Bengali beauty who made her debut last year with 'Hum Ho Gaye Aapke' opposite Fardeen Khan, but the film bombed at the box office. It was a miserable flop though, and sank the hope for survival for the Bengali beauty. Reema struggled in the industry against all odds. Before entering films, Reema successfully modeled for Nescafe, Lux and Clinic Hair oil, Nivea, Electrolux, Borosoft and more. And her first movie was 'CHITRAM' in Telugu opposite Uday Kiron in 2000. Ramoji Rao produced the movie. Besides, she acted for Jayapradha who has about 280 films, in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi to her credit. Jayapradha is set to don a new avatar. She would be directing her first feature film titled 'Classmates'. A bi-lingual in Tamil and Telugu, it has the story and screenplay penned by the actress. The hero is Siddharth, the actress's nephew, and playing the female lead are a bevy of beauties - Reema Sen, Diya Mirza (a former Ms. Asia Pacific) and former Ms. World Yuktha Mookhey. Cranking the camera is Ajay Vincent; Mani Sharma sets the tunes, and Vairamuthu pens the lyrics. Jayapradha's home banner Jayapradha Productions produces a college campus romance, the film.

Later, she played romantic lead opposite Sunny Deol in 'Jaal - The Trap', an action-packed film. However, the movie flopped miserably at the box office in spite of her senior star Tabu starring in it. Reema admits that she signed 'Jaal' because it had the acting talents of Sunny Deol and Tabu, which were her idols in movies.

According to her, it was a wise career move, which misfired though. She was recently in news for director Raman Kumar's 'Jodi Kya Banai Wah Wah Ramji', a rib tickling comedy starring Paresh Rawal and Amar Upadhaya. In the film, she plays the character of Priyanka, an Indian girl who is brought up in western culture. She says the character has many shades and dimensions. In future she will be seen in Firoz Nadiadwala's 'Aan -Man At Work'. It's a multistarrer with Shatrughan Sinha, Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Raveena Tandon. Reema gropes for a big bang at the box office. Madhur Bhandarkar, the director of the film, promises a challenging role for Reema.

While accepting a film offer, she says that she listens to the script first and then studies her character role. These are vital things to decide for taking up the assignment because they take the movie to succeed at the box office. About her character, she prefers a positive and challenging role. She likes the story, the screenplay and direction of the film, which plays an important part for the success of the film.