Kajol and Shahrukh Khan Return?

We've all been waiting with baited breath and now we can finally confirm Kajol and Shahrukh will be appearing in the lead romantic roles in Karan Johar's next film, 'My Name is Khan'! Kajol had already refused a bunch of films with SRK after their last movie, 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham,' due to travel, but this time around Kajol's okay with it since her daughter is a little older now.

The flick will be partly shot in California and the first half is based on a true story, but not the second half... after all this is B-Town we're talking about, they have to throw in some drama! We'll keep you posted on the details!

Shah Rukh gives Priyanka more screen space in 'Billu Barber'

Mumbai, If Priyanka Chopra declares from the rooftops that she is Shah Rukh Khan's biggest fan then it is with reason. The superstar, who has been taking more than a passing interest in the music of the films he produces, decided to give away a large portion of his duet in "Billu Barber" to her.

"Shah Rukh took very close interest in each one of the songs. He isn't a musician, but he has an instinctive ear for music. It takes him just a few seconds to approve or cut down a track," composer Pritam Chakraborty told IANS.

With the songs meant for Kareena Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, Pritam faced no problems.

"Shah Rukh loved his songs with Kareena ('Marjani') and Deepika ('Love mera hit hit'). They were straightforward dance songs with shared grooves between Shah Rukh and Kareena and Deepika," said Pritam.

The song with Priyanka needed special treatment and Shah Rukh made Pritam re-work and re-record the song.

"Shah Rukh's song with Priyanka 'Khuda-ae-kher' is not an item song. It's a love ballad that the pair playing Bollywood superstars emote to in front of the camera. Being a love song Shah Rukh felt there wasn't enough of the female presence in the vocals. He made me re-record the song with more for the female vocalist (Dominique) to do since he wanted Priyanka to have an equal number of lines," the composer said.

"It was entirely Shah Rukh's idea to give Priyanka more lines in the song. He's a very generous entertainer. If you see him on screen he never tries to steal the limelight from his heroines. Even 'Khai ke paan banaras wala' in 'Don' had a lot of Priyanka in it although it was entirely Shah Rukh's song," Pritam added.

Asked about Shah Rukh's generosity, Priyanka sighed and said: "What do I say? Now do you know why he's my favourite?"

Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta, who play a rustic couple in "Billu Barber", will later be seen enacting the same Shah Rukh-Priyanka ballad.

Will Aishwarya Rai contest on Samajwadi Party ticket from Bihar?

Patna, After 'Munnabhai' Sanjay Dutt, it could be the turn of Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as a Samajwadi Party candidate.

Samajwadi Party workers and leaders in Bihar have decided to offer Aishwarya the party ticket for the Madhepura seat against Janata Dal-United (JD-U) national president Sharad Yadav, a party official said.

In view of the overwhelming demand of the party workers, the Samajwadi Party Bihar parliamentary board has recommended Aishwarya's name to party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Senior party leader Tulsi Singh told IANS that a large number of party workers and people had requested him to convince Mulayam Singh to give the party ticket to Aishwarya from Madhepura. Singh is chairman of the party's state parliamentary board.

The Madhepura seat is held by the Rashtriya Janata Dal's Pappu Yadav, who is serving life imprisonment in Tihar Jail in Delhi for his involvement in the murder of Left leader Ajit Sarkar. His wife Ranjita Ranjan is a Lok Janshakti Party MP from Saharsa.

JD-U leader Sharad Yadav is likely to contest from Madhepura, his old seat.

In the last Lok Sabha polls in 2004, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, the RJD chief, won from Madhepura by defeating Sharad Yadav. Lalu Prasad later resigned the Madhepura seat and opted to retain the Chapra seat.

Madhepura, a rural seat, is dominated by the backward Yadav caste. Last year, Madhepura was hit by devastating floods when the Kosi river changed its course after a breach upstream in Nepal.

I'm jealous of Harman Baweja: Amrita Rao

New Delhi, Bollywood actress Amrita Rao says she is jealous of her “Victory” co-star Harman Baweja because he has several scenes with national and international cricketers while she didn't have even one in the movie.

“Don't sprinkle salt on the wound,” whined Amrita when she was asked if she got to share screen space with any of the cricketers in "Victory". “I didn't get a single chance to shoot with any cricketer. It has all been Harman's privilege and I am very jealous of him,” Amrita told IANS.

Releasing Firday, “Victory” is directed by debutant Ajitpal Mangat and is the story of a father's dream that his son, who is from a small village in Rajasthan, will become a national cricketer. How the young man becomes an acclaimed cricketer forms the remaining plot.

The film has cameos by cricketers including Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Allan Border, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasurya and Dilhara Fernando.

About her role, Amrita said: “I play Nandini, a medical student from Jaisalmer. The character is very strong and inspiring. Nandini's character is basically very vocal about her mind.”

Amrita was here Tuesday to promote a new range of watches by the Gitanjali Group at the Rajouri Garden market.

The actress, last seen in Shyam Benegal's “Welcome To Sajjanpur”, says she had "a nice time working with Harman”.

“Not even once it come across that he was acting like a cricketer. He used to give such subtle expressions while shooting with the professional cricketers and facing bowls from legendary players,” said Amrita.

Amrita is confident that the film will do well even though it is pitched against the much-hyped Farhan Akhtar-starrer “Luck By Chance”, releasing on the same day.

“It wasn't easy to convince so many legendary cricketers to star in a Bollywood film,” she said.

After “Victory”, Amrita is looking forward to her next film ““Shortcut - The Con Is On!” that stars Akshay Khanna and Arshad Warsi. It is produced by Anil Kapoor.

What luck! Aamir Khan &Shah rukh khan in a film

The long wait for cinema audiences everywhere is now over with Zoya’s Luck By Chance (produced by Excel Entertainment and Reliance Big Pictures) hitting the screens on January 30.

Interestingly, the Khans play themselves in the film, but regretfully don’t share screen space and appear at different times individually. Shahrukh Khan interacts with Farhan and Aamir with Konkona. Both superstars have excellent relationships with Farhan and Zoya and both wanted to support this film.

Even though Aamir doesn’t do cameos, he readily agreed because he is familiar with the set-up having worked with producer Ritesh Sidhwani and director-actor Farhan in Dil Chahta Hai. Also, Aamir who works on bound scripts only, had already read Luck By Chance’s script when Zoya took it to him for feedback some years ago. So that was also okay.

“Initially, we were in a fix wondering how to talk to him, knowing his stance on cameos, till dad called me up to say he had spoken to Aamir,” explained the petite Zoya. Once dad Javed Akhtar succeeded with Aamir, Shahrukh Khan was easy to approach. “I personally spoke to Shahrukh Khan. But I won’t like to take the credit alone, because both actors did it out of friendship for Farhan and Ritesh. There is a lot of respect between all of us,” she added.

The film has Bollywood as its backdrop with Farhan playing a struggling actor opposite Koknona. “This is the first original story that gives you an insider’s journey of the film industry. A struggler’s experience,” said Ritesh. And here’s another little secret: Aamir shot for the film when he was in the midst of Ghajini and had the tonsured look; so, the consummate actor agreed to wear a wig for Zoya!

Bollywood Actor Aamir Khan receives a gold statuette worth Rs. 8 million

The perfectionist Aamir Khan has been truly an exceptional figure during the year 2008 as his two films ‘Taare Zameen Par’ and ‘Ghajini’ were super hit films especially ‘Ghajini’ has broken all the previous records of advance booking in Bollywood Film Industry and became the first film of 200 crores.

As everyone knows there is always uniqueness in Aamir Khan’s each performance and especially youngsters immediately catch his style. The producers of the film ‘Ghajini’ Madhu Mantena and Allu Arvind impressed a lot by Aamir Khan and they decided to give him a gold statuette worth Rs. 8 million.

According to Mantena, “Aamir really deserves for it. It is specially designed to remember Aamir’s look in ‘Ghajini’ and this statuette also includes eight pack abs.”

He further added, “This statuette has other metal to make it more beautiful. My idea was to develop an Oscar-sized statue mainly for ‘Ghajini’. Aamir Khan knew about it but he did not get to know that it would be made with gold.”

Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan doesn’t regret turning down Slumdog

Slumdog Millionaire has finally put India on the global map, as it swept away four Golden Globes, however our Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan was supposed to be an important part of the flick, he was the original choice of director Danny Boyle to play the host of Who Wants to be the Millionaire show, which was later played by Anil Kapoor.

However Shahrukh Khan does not regret missing out on the movie, he says, ” No. I know Danny felt bad about it. But he is such a good human being. And his love for India is something very special. After I saw the film, I thought Anil had done a fabulous job and deserves every bit of the success.”

Shahrukh Khan even refused some biggies like Lagaan, Munnabhai and more recent 3 Idiots, ask him about it and he says, “There shouldn’t be any afterthought once a decision is made. Nobody could have done a better job than Sanjay Dutt in Munnabhai… Yes, I was keen to do Lagaan, but Ashutosh and I didn’t get a producer at that time. I wasn’t into production then. And I didn’t do 3 Idiots which Aamir is doing now. Looks like Aamir was destined to do both the roles. He is brilliant, no doubt. Everything isn’t made for me alone. God has given me enough, I’d better be happy and contented. “

Do you think Shahrukh Khan would have been better than Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire?

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Salman’s turn to take a leaf out of Aamir’s book

It was Aamir Khan first to follow Salman ’s footsteps and get that beefed-up look for Ghajini . Now it’s Salman’s turn to take a leaf out of Aamir’s book.

The way ‘Ghajini’ was marketed started a different trend in Bollywood. Aamir’s marketing strategy for the film received plaudits from Bollywood fraternity. And the one who was and is full of admiration for perfectionist Aamir’s promotion stunts, is his friend Salman Khan , who wants to follow the example set by Aamir to promote his upcoming film Wanted Dead And Alive .

It’s been reported Salman has been highly impressed with publicity gimmick of Aamir’s movie, when the multiplex staffers sported the Ghajini hair-cut. And the way Aamir, being a media shy person, interacted with media, and even went to the length of chopping hairs and shaving people’s heads.

Salman has, in fact, told producer Boney Kapoor to promote ‘Wanted Dead And Alive’ in a similarly unique way. A photo session has already been planned and a huge set is erected for it.

‘Wanted Dead And Alive’ is a Hindi remake of hit Tamil film Pokkiri that starred Vijay and Asin . The Hindi version stars Salman and Ayesha Takia as lead pair and is directed by Prabhu Deva .

‘Pokkiri’ rocked the Tamil box office. So the makers don’t want to leave any stone unturned to make it as successful in Hindi as its Tamil counterpart.

While Slumdog Millionaire is the toast of the media all over the world, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has made headlines by publicly slamming it. The superstar was upset with the way India’s poverty had been highlighted in the picture. This has upset the film’s actor Irrfan Khan who plays a cop in the movie.


“I don’t know why some Indians feel shy to accept that India is a poor country. We are still a developing country. More than half of population is still poor. Everyone is not a superstar or rich. In India kids still die because of malnutrition. So what if one movie shows poverty in India? The film doesn’t show that Indians are bad…it only shows the life in the slums" says Irrfan Khan.

The actor goes on to add that the film is based on a book written by an Indian and that the film has only put on reel what is mentioned in the book.

"I guess Mr. Bachchan has not read the book which is actually written by an Indian writer called Vikas Swaroop. And it is not that the book talks about children who are staying at Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel, Bandra’s Pali Hill. In the book only it was about slum children. It’s not like the book has something different and he (Danny Boyle) has shown something else. He has not done any imaginary thing with this film…it’s the book which he put into his film,” argues Irrfan, “It is not possible for him to show children from a rich family becoming millionaire. And I guess Danny has done a wonderful job in the film. Inspite of arguing or saying that he has shown only poverty we should be proud that he has brought a Golden Globe Award for India. It is because of him only that Indian movies have reached those doors which earlier were not possible."

Even Anil Kapoor who bagged the role of the quiz master after Boyle was unable to reach Shah Rukh Khan or get Amitabh’s dates is upset with the comments made.“India is a democratic country and we all had a right to say what we think and even you can show your review about the film after watching it. So what Mr. Bachchan has done is that he has just presented his views about the film,” says Anil diplomatically.

Royal battle between Deepika, Kareena and Priyanka

Now that Shahrukh Khan has roped in three screen sizzlers for three different item songs in Billu Barber, a battle royale seems to be brewing among them as to who jives and sizzles the best with Shahrukh Khan. At the moment Kareena has the edge. Or so she seems to think. “My song with Shahrukh is awesome. That’s why it’s the first song to go on air on television. Shahrukh and I have done an item song before. So we share the required vibes,” says Kareena whose ‘Yeh Mera Dil’ track with SRK in Don was talked-about for months.

Kareena has a point to prove. In ‘Yeh Mera Dil’ she was criticized for her dress, weight and even the remixed song which many (including the singer Sunidhi Chauhan) thought lacked verve. This time says Kareena, she wanted every component in the item song to be perfect. Farah Khan who had choreographed the ‘Yeh Mera Dil’ number in Don was this time assigned Deepika Padukone’s item song in Billu Barber.

Kareena got herself a brand new choreographer. “He’s Prasanna a choreographer from the South. And what innovative movements he has given to Pritam’s song which just rocks. I think I’ve always been lucky with my item songs .Whether it was ‘Yeh Mera Dil’ or ‘It’s Rocking’, they’ve always rocked. The fact that mine is the first song to be in the promos does say something.” Though Kareena won’t talk about the money she says, “Saif and I both love Shahrukh and his wife Gauri. They’re like family.”

Priyanka, on the other hand, describes herself as an unabashed fan of Shahrukh Khan. “I’m his biggest fan. There’s no way I’d say no to him for anything. All he had to do was ask and I was on. In fact people ask me why I wasn’t there in the song featuring all the heroines with Shahrukh in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Actually, I wasn’t asked. If I was, do you think I wouldn’t be in the song?”

Since Deepika, the third item queen in Billu Barber has bagged Farah Khan as her choreographer, it puts an end to the talks of a fall-out between the director-choreographer during the making of Om Shanti Om. “I don’t know why there’s all this talk of fall-out. I’m very fond of Farah and she of me. We can never fall out”, says Deepika. With all three Bollywood hotties vying to be in Shahrukh’s good books, the item songs in Billu Barber are bound to be the film’s USP.

Comment on this news that who in your opinion is best with Shahrukh khan...

Aditiya Chopra May Re-shoot Rani Mukerji and Shahid Kapur Starrer

After Yash Raj Films’ Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi did not live up to expectations, the YRF banner is being doubly sure and leaving no stone unturned to get a quality product. It now seems that the YRF’s untitled Rani Mukerji and Shahid Kapur starrer directed by debutant Anuraag Singh, is jinxed. Everyone involved with the film is unhappy and now the film will have to be reshot.

After reports that Rani Mukerji was ghost-directing the film, there are reports that Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra are unhappy with the 60 percent of the film, which has been shot.

An insider told this reporter, “Anuraag Singh has been associated with Aditya Chopra for a long time and Adi was very keen to give him a film to direct. However, there have been constant reports about Adi being unhappy with the way the film was being shot. First, his lady love (Rani) objected to the ways of Singh so she was ghost-directing the film. Later, Adi and Yashji saw the film and did not approve of it. They felt that the film was not up to the YRF standards. Now that Rab Ne… has released, Adi saw the shot portions once again and feels that the film should be reshot.” Our source assured that there was no bitterness or animosity between Adi and Anuraag. He added, “Anuraag holds Adi in high esteem and has understood his point of view. Majority of the portions will be reshot now.”

Denying the reports, Aashish Singh, VP Productions YRF, said, “Not true. There is no re-shooting. The shootings are happening on schedule.”

According to reports, Rani plays the character of a cricket enthusiast, who is obsessed with the sport, so much so that she will go to any level to play it. Her obsession with the game pushes her to disguise herself as a sardar and enter an all-male cricket squad.

Sunil Shetty is the brand ambassador for Ford

Ford India has signed actor Suniel Shetty as the brand ambassador for its SUV - the Endeavor. Ford India will roll out a new leadership Endeavor print campaign will start 23 January 2009 in newspapers across India, with Suniel Shetty. Ad campaign that will strengthen the brand positioning for the Endeavor, is reflected in its new slogan.
"Cars have always ranked high on the priority list, and Ford Endeavor is a dream for every car Buff looking for a true blue SUV," said chief executive Shetty.Ford marketing sales and service Nigel Wark added: "Endeavor has been the highest selling SUV in 2008. This premium SUV is synonymous with style, power, success, results and adventurous, qualities that formed the basis for an appropriate brand association. Suniel Shetty is not only a proud Ford customer, but is an expression of these key attributes Endeavor perfect.

Sunil Shetty & SUV - the Endeavor with Ford car.


Sunil Shetty & SUV - the Endeavor with Ford car.


Actor Suniel Shetty is brand ambassador for Ford.


Actor Suniel Shetty is brand ambassador for Ford.

Sunil Shetty & SUV - the Endeavor with Ford car.


Actor Suniel Shetty is brand ambassador for Ford.


Sunil Shetty & SUV - the Endeavor with Ford car.


Actor Suniel Shetty is brand ambassador for Ford.

Brooke Johnston enters Bollywood

Brooke Johnston, Miss UK-Universe 2005, is set to act in a Bollywood film.

She is a student of archeology and journalism and spent last year covering the US Presidential elections. Now, Brooke Johnston, the Brit beauty, is headed for Bollywood shores.

The lanky blonde will be seen acting in actor-director Puneet Issar’s film “Nishchay Kar Apni Jeet Karoon” (Determined, I get triumphant). The movie will have Brooke pairing with a new Sikh actor Gulzar Chahal. Bollywood actress Tulip Joshi also plays an important role in the film.

Speaking about the circumstances in which she signed the film, Brooke told a news agency: “I met Puneet (Issar) through some friends in the US. He told me about the film and I liked its concept. I also liked the idea of coming to India. Bollywood tempted me to pick up this assignment. It looks like there is scope.”

Brooke is learnt to be honing her Hindi diction nowadays.

In the past, Brooke has worked in several TV shows and has also campaigned for PETA. In 2006, she posed in a skimpy bikini made of lettuce leaves.

Brooke is a thorough vegetarian. She stopped eating meat at age 14 when she learned about how animals suffer in factory farms.

We are Bollywood’s ‘Three Idiots’ says Aamir

As Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini we to capture audience attention, in India it is once again the clash of titans at the box-office.

Both Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan claim their right to stardom’s ace seat. But as far as “three idiots” which incidentally is what Aamir next film is called, is concerned, the actor says the title should go to the three Khans of Bollywood.

“My next film Three Idiots will have me play the character of an idiot along with Sharman and Madhavan but Shah Rukh Khan, Salman KHAN and me are the three idiots of the film industry,” Aamir joked on a tour to the capital to promote Ghajini.

The actor tried to avoid questions about the infamous fight between Shah Rukh and Salman.

The actor, who gave special haircuts to fans joked,” I am promoting Shah Rukh’s film Billo Barber.”

‘Bollywood babe’ to play burqa-wearing Muslim sparks lawsuit

Andrabi was furious because Basu is known for revealing her voluptuous curves, playing vamps who scheme to steal other women husbands, and her long-term affair with heart-throb actor and male model John Abraham.

Bipasha Basu

Andrabi decided to sue the makers of Lamhaa, a Bollywood blockbuster about the plight of Kashmir and the lives of militants fighting Indian rule, when she discovered Basu had been cast to play her character.

She had held a number of earlier meetings with the film’s producer, she said, in which he reassured her she would be truthfully portrayed and sympathetic to the struggle of Kashmiri separatists.

Andrabi became a militant women leader in the early 1980s and formed her own group, Dukhtaran e Millat (Daughters of the Nation) to campaign against families who married off their poor daughters, the payment of dowries and pornography. She led a group of activists who defaced Bollywood billboards showing revealing pictures of actresses like Basu.

She believes Kashmir should be allowed to leave the Indian union and join Pakistan, though she says there are only two countries in the world – “Muslims and non-Muslims” – and advocates jihad to advance the power of Islam.

In her private life, she is married to a notorious Kashmiri militant, with whom she has two children, she observes purdah and wears a burqa in public. She has said that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, cooking for her family.

She consulted lawyers when she read newspaper reports that she would be played by Basu in the film. Her worst fears were confirmed when Basu arrived in the Kashmiri capital Srinagar with Bollywood leading man Sanjay Dutt to begin filming.

Andrabi was furious because Basu is known for revealing her voluptuous curves, playing vamps who scheme to steal other women husbands, and her long-term affair with heart-throb actor and male model John Abraham. Playing Andrabi will be her most challenging role yet.

“I don’t want to see my character played by a woman like Bipasha Basu who prefers to be seminude most of the times. She might be glamorous but she is an undignified woman and is part of the immorality spreading industry – Bollywood. I am a religious woman who believes in Islamic values, observes purdah and refrains from evil deeds. More importantly I am the only Asiya Andrabi on this earth, so let it be just one,” she said.

According to Andrabi, the director has reneged on his earlier promise to show her a copy of the script before shooting it.

Basu is reported to have walked out on the director last week, claiming she was in danger but had not been given sufficient security to feel safe. The producers have denied that any character in the film is based on Andrabi.

Jodha Akbar rigged Bollywood awards says Akshay

While other actors make a mad scramble for awards, Akshay kumar gave everyone a lesson in humility by refusing an award at the Star Screen awards function on Wednesday.

The trade and organizer behind Bollywood awards such as Screen, Film fare, Zee, IIFAs etc have a long been suspected to be manipulating the awards based on political or other agendas, instead of rewarding objectively difficult to enact performance reflective of India.

This was highlighted this year when Aishwarya Rai who did not get expected best actress award for a 50-year character arc span performance in the box office super hit guru was seen given an allegedly 'best popular' award for a lesser role in Jodha Akbar, a controversial movie. which record will show despite being a huge budget and unprecedented open run failed break box office benchmarks and in fact was banned in many parts of India, and whose screening was allowed not by popular uprising but by its producer pleading the supreme court on legal grounds.

Actors such as Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan,Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan have also at various points inferred the same at various occasions, with many outright skipping the award shoes altogether.

However this opinion of the bollywood awards was more directly confirmed by super star Akshay Kumar after this year's screen awards. Kumar has now reportedly put the story on award shows out in the open, saying "I get calls from lot of awards"they say please perform at our award night at half the price we will give you the award... it's a very simple deal. I don't want awards which are manipulated. There are so many awards nights today. Around 12 to 14 award nights. Awards Ki koi value hi nahi rahe

'Ghajini' to become india's biggest grosser

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini which released to packed house on December 25, is on the way to create history by taking over the mantle of the biggest domestic earner so far, leaving behind "Dilwale Dulhania Le jayenge"

Ghajini a romantic action thriller that explores the life of a rich businessman who suffers from short-term memory loss following a violent incident, has earned Rs 2 billion ($41 million)in less than two weeks from its release.

The film has grossed Rs 1.62 billion in domestic markets an Rs 390 million have come from over seas markets till end of second week. The film is still running to packed houses and may cross more milestones.

'Ghajini', a film introduced Asin to hindi cinema opposite bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, was realeased with 1,200 prints in the domestic market and in alot of small towns where films are not often released in the first week.

In the overseas market, it is now second only to Karan Johar's "Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham" collected Rs 440 million.