Khiladi Akshay to represent India at Winter Olympics

Bollywood’s Khiladi No. 1 Akshay Kumar feels privileged as well as nervous to run with the XXI Winter Olympics torch on Thursday in Canada. The XXI Winter Olympics are slated to start from on February 12,
2010 in which around 80 countries are participating. The competition includes eight sports, like ice hockey, figure skating and Alpine skiing. Last time in 2006, India had sent a team of four members to the competition held in Turin, Italy for sports luge, cross-country skiing and Alpine skiing, but India didn’t win any medal. So it seems like the pride of the nation is in Akshay’s hand this time.


When we wonder how an actor is chosen for the honour, Akshay explained, “I definitely didn’t get nominated because of my cricket skills. I may be a celebrity, but with great power comes even greater responsibility. I have put a lot of effort over the years supporting and being brand ambassador for the ‘Special Olympics’ in India. I would go to any lengths to promote sport in my country, my efforts have been appreciated worldwide, and I am touched that India shares my enthusiasm. To be honoured to carry the Olympic torch is so prestigious in every country; you can’t ask for this honour, you can only be recognised for your true love and dedication to children, to sport, to bettering your country’s involvement in the world. You can’t imagine how grateful I am. And how nervous as well!”

Akshay will be the only actor among 14 other international celebrities to run with the torch.

Bollywood Star Salman Khan Wallpaper

                            Bollywood Star Salman Khan Wallpaper

Youngsters look up to Shahid’s hairstyle

Be it Shahid Kapoor’s hairstyle in Kismat Konnection, Kaminey or the latest short hair cut he is sporting for
director Parmeet Sethi’s film, every youngster is looking forward to it. Ask his hairstylist, Dilshad Pastakia. In fact, this has been keeping the hairstylist busy these days.

“I used to get requests from people since his Kismat Konnection days for the ‘SK haircut’, but with Kaminey the demand for ‘Charlie hair’ suddenly exploded and people from places as far as Chandigarh, Indore and Delhi wanted his style, said Dilshad.

“Now that he has changed his hair again, the new short crop is just as popular, especially with the 17 to 22-year-olds who like to stay trendy, she added.

By the way, Shahid and Shah Rukh Khan share the same hairstylist.

Ranbir wanted to be like Hrithik

When Ranbir Kapoor was planning to make a entry into the world of Bollywood, his idol was not his grandfather or any other Kapoor, it was Hrithik Roshan.

When Ranbir saw Kaho Na Pyaar Hai as a young lad, he came across a fan who saw Hrithik and said, “Yeh to heera hai, heera”.
since then Ranbir wanted to be like Hrithik, and when he made his debut with Saawariya he wanted his staff to call him Heera.
To encourage Ranbir, his spot boy, Inder after every shot Ranbir gave, he said, “Yeh to Heera hai, Heera”
Well after hits like Wake up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, we will also say – Yeh to Heera hai, Heera!

Newcomer Pratik made Aamir to wait

Everyone knows that Aamir Khan is perfectionist and no one dare to mess with him when it comes to work. However, Pratik Babbar who is just one film old and also the son of Raj Babbar and Smita Patil dare to do this recently on the sets of Dhobi Ghat. He made the film unit wait endlessly on the sets of the film. Not only
that but he didn’t even inform anybody about his absence for the day. Eventually, the days shooting was called off and Aamir had to go back home. Dhobi Ghat is Aamir’s wife Kiran Rao’s directorial debut.
Revealing about the incident, a unit member said, “Frantic efforts to trace Pratik were made, but of no avail. Officials from Aamir Khan Productions made repeated calls to Pratik’s mobile, but nobody could trace him that day.”
After some time, the film unit got to know that the actor is in Goa. Moreover, the film’s shooting was cancelled for next two days due to his absence. “It was very strange of Pratik to go to Goa. He is often spaced-out,” added the source.
However on his return, Aamir gave him a piece of words. He said, “Aise kaam nahin chalega. Please try and understand.” Then onwards Pratik has not dared to skip informally.

Hello! Saif

Saif Ali Khan features on the front cover of Hello! magazine’s latest issue along with a horse.In the issue,
Saif’s mother Sharmila pens a letter to him. Like it?

Looking 20 at 44: Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots

Just happened to see the trailer of 3 Idiots and I was surprised to see Aamir look so young. Its amazing how he has managed to play a 20yr old at 44, with so much of zeal and elan.

Apart from the face, even the lean look, the hairstyle, body language, gait and even mannerisms. Aamir seems have worked on everything to make his character
look real on screen.
The best thing about Aamir whenever he takes up a role and involves himself in it, he completely leaves out traces of his own personality out. He is so effortless and natural with his acting that you never feel you are watching a ’superstar enact the role’ as it happens with say Shahrukh and Salman who just cannot forget their ’superstar’ tag for even once while acting – its so evident in their performances!

You never feel that you have seen Aamir in a similar performance before. It is probably this passion that makes him undoubtedly the best actor in India. Not about rivalries folks but professionally – as an actor, on grounds of passion, dedication and hard-work – Aamir definitely has an edge over all the other actors!
Agree?

Salman Khan & Asin at London Dreams Premier Dubai

Dressed in a green Falguni and Shane Peacock gown, Asin made all the ladies in Dubai go green with envy when she walked arm in arm with Salman Khan on the red carpet of London Dream’s Dubai Premiere. Salman looked
debonair in a semi formal attire. Watch out for London Dreams folks… it surely seems worth a dekko!

Ken Ghosh’s next is finally titled ‘Chance Pe Dance’

Mumbai, After a musical chair of titles that ranged from “Star” to “Yahoo”, director Ken Ghosh’s next film, which has Shahid Kapoor in the lead, has finally been titled “Chance Pe Dance”.

“Yes, my film would be called ‘Chance Pe Dance’. It’s final and in fact the first ever title for which I am giving a confirmation. Everything else before this, whether it was ‘Star’ or ‘Yahoo’, was merely speculation and, as you would have noticed, no one attached to the cast or the crew ever gave an official statement,” Ghosh told IANS.

“Now hopefully all rumours would die as the film would hereby be known as
‘Chance Pe Dance’,” he added.

Since information about the title being “Chance Pe Dance” was leaked earlier, why didn’t he confirm the news then itself?

“Because we hadn’t got it on paper yet. Someone else was holding the title and we couldn’t have announced it as ours till all the formalities were carried out.

“We also had to be careful since the entire bargaining thing comes into the picture when the party that holds the title gets to know that it has been leaked out. However, all is well that ends well since on the Saturday gone by, we finally had ‘Chance Pe Dance’ as our title,” said Ghosh.

Considering the fact that the film, which also stars Genelia D’Souza, is a musical, a title like “Chance Pe Dance” does make sense.

“You can’t ignore the relevance of the word ‘chance’ here though. Life just gives you one chance and you have to grab it with both hands. This is what happens to my protagonist in the film too who makes best use of the chance available to him. He dances on it…pun intended, and what happens to him from thereon is to be seen in the film,” the director explained.

Ghosh had launched Shahid with his “Ishq Vishk” and the director is happy that his protege’s “Kaminey” has not only done well at the box office but sky-rocketed him into the top league.

“Well, such things do work in favour of your film for sure. But eventually it’s the product that matters. His ‘Dil Bole Hadippa’ is looking good as well and it would be nice to have two successful films behind Shahid when ‘Chance Pe Dance’ releases”, said Ghosh.

So when is the movie set to release?

“Well, it could be in November or December but, yes, the movie is releasing this year for sure,” he said.

No Hrithik or Abhishek yet for ‘Agneepath’ remake: Karan Johar

Mumbai, There have been speculations about who will play the male lead in the remake of the 1990 hit “Agneepath”. While the names of Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan popped up, filmmaker Karan Johar clarifies that no one has been finalised to play the part Amitabh Bachchan immortalised in the original.

“I haven’t made any statement whatsoever around the man who would eventually be playing the role of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan that was made
iconic by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. All I have said is that, yes, we are going ahead with a remake of ‘Agneepath’ and that’s about it,” Johar told IANS.

Whether it is Hrithik, Abhishek or someone else, Johar must be having a wish list?

“Well, the wish list is to get the screenplay right. For the moment nothing else is more important than that,” he said.

Even though the film is being produced under the banner of Dharma Productions, Johar won’t be going behind the camera for the movie.

“True, I would be stepping aside and the film would be directed by Karan Malhotra, who has assisted me on ‘My Name Is Khan’. That’s the only thing which has been finalised… everything else you hear is mere speculation. We will finalise the cast once the script is locked. Currently, it is still in the process of being written,” he added.

Malhotra is not really a novice when it comes to filmmaking. He has earlier worked as an assistant director with Ashutosh Gowariker on “Jodhaa Akbar”, Farah Khan on “Main Hoon Na”, Farhan Akhtar on “Lakshya” and Raj Kumar Santoshi “Lajja and Pukar” amongst others.

Since it is close to two decades since the release of “Agneepath”, would the remake have a different milieu to it?

“Certainly! We are adapting the film from the original, but ours would be a new age version that would fit in well with today’s time. We really hope that we are able to do justice to the original and make the remake exciting for today’s generation,” Johar said.

Dharma Productions, meanwhile, has as many as seven films that are in different stages of production. These are “My Name Is Khan”, “Wake Up Sid”, “Kurbaan”, “Koochie Koochie Hota Hai”, remakes of Hollywood flick “Stepmom” and “Agneepath” and “I Hate Love Stories”.

How is he managing it all?

“Believe me, it’s not difficult at all. All you have to do is to follow a three-point mantra – delegation, outsourcing and trust. Along with that, if you have the right vision and infrastructure in place, which we do have in Dharma Productions, it isn’t difficult to crack it all.

“That’s the way you manage things and I have been fortunate enough to have a team with which it has become possible to helm a number of projects at the same time,” said Johar.

Among the seven films, three are ready to hit the screens.

“‘Wake Up Sid’ is all set to arrive on Oct 2. ‘Kurbaan’ will come in late November. Other than that, we are looking at an early 2010 release for ‘My Name Is Khan’. Yes, these have been busy and really exciting times,” the filmmaker said.

Bollywood on self-healing path with four hits

New Delhi, Energetic openings to Bollywood’s four recent releases, “New York”, “Kambakkht Ishq”, “Love Aaj Kal” and “Kaminey”, have succeeded in getting the business perk up. Wounded by a long strike earlier this year, the film industry is perhaps on a self-healing path now, say trade pundits.

The two-month-long stand-off between the producers-distributors and multiplex owners over revenue sharing, which was resolved June 5, led to a whopping Rs.300 crore (Rs.3 billion) loss to the Hindi film industry.

The dry spell was broken by Kabir Khan’s “New York” that released June 26 followed by the other three films — “Kambakkht Ishq” that came July 3, “Love Aaj Kal” July 31 and
“Kaminey” Aug 14 — raking in a net profit close to almost half the losses so far this year.

“These four films will do a net business of Rs.150 crore (Rs.1.5 billion) put together,” revealed an industry insider.

Said trade analyst Taran Adarsh: “The industry is definitely on a recovery path… it is getting better now, but we do need a big number of hits to follow as even an A-list movie like ‘Luck’ bombed.

“Every movie has a luck of its own. For example, a small-budget film like ‘A Wednesday’ had a moderate release last year but proved to be a dark horse. At the end of the day it’s the content that will win.”

Film critic Omar Qureshi had something similar to say.

“The industry is healing. Everyone was deprived of movies. There was a desperation to watch films and the audiences couldn’t handle it. So they took multiplexes by storm once good movies hit the screens and the result is worth watching,” said Qureshi.

“But that doesn’t mean mediocre movies will win the race too… it’ll only take big-budget and big-banner movies with a good story to make up for the losses and bring in footfalls,” he added.

The stand-off between producers-distributors and multiplex owners started in February over revenue-sharing. While the producers demanded a flat 50 percent share of all film revenues irrespective of the stars, budget and box-office collection, the exhibitors stressed on sharing profits based on the movie’s earnings.

As a result the producers declared a strike from April 4 onwards, which saw no big Bollywood releases in multiplexes across the country.

Now all eyes are set on an array of big releases after the lull.

The line-up includes Shahid Kapoor-Rani Mukerji starrer “Dil Bole Hadippa”, three movies of Salman Khan — “Wanted”, “Main Aur Mrs Khanna” and “London Dreams” — two Ranbir Kapoor-starrers “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani” and “Rocket Singh – Salesman of The Year”, and Aamir Khan’s “3 Idiots”.

Apart from these, there are also Hrithik Roshan’s much-talked-about action thriller “Kites”, Priyanka Chopra’s “What’s Your Raashee?”, two movies starring Amitabh Bachchan — “Aladdin” and “Pa” — Akshay Kumar’s “De Dana Dan”, Govinda’s “Hook Ya Crook” and Neil Nitin Mukesh’s “Jail”.

Ajay Devgan’s unique proposal to Bipasha Basu

After the underwater proposal made by Akshay Kumar to Kareena Kapoor in ‘Kambakkht Ishq’, Ajay Devgan is all set to propose Bipasha Basu from mid-air in director Rohit Shetty’s upcoming comedy ‘All The Best’. The scene has Ajay seated in a sports car dangling 8 feet above the ground and giving out a rose to Bipasha standing on the
road.

The scene being risky and difficult took two days planning and an entire day for shoot. The car, being suspended from mid air and Ajay’s need to balance his weight, there was extra precaution needed as Bipasha was standing below the car and nothing could go wrong. To add to it, it had to look completely romantic. The scene has been successfully shot.
Thankfully, everything went fine and the scene was shot during the course of a day.

Besides Ajay and Bipasha, ‘All The Best’ also features Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan and Mugdha Godse. The film is set for Diwali release.

Shahid Kapoor: superstar on the ascendant

New Delhi, It’s all about Shahid Kapoor these days. His portrayal of the morally-incompatible twins – the ruffian with the endearing lisp and the simpleton who stammers – in “Kaminey” has catapulted the chocolate hero into an A-lister and audiences can’t stop raving.

And just so we don’t forget the romantic hero, promos of his forthcoming “Dil Bole Hadippa” are all over the place.

Six years after his debut in “Ishq Vishk”, Shahid has finally got his due.

“Shahid is one of the most promising actors on the block. With ‘Vivaah’ and ‘Jab We Met’ he established himself as a very good actor and a star. Now with ‘Kaminey’, he is in the A-league; he is definitely someone who will compete for the number one throne at a later date,” Meena Iyer, national Bollywood editor, The Times of India, told IANS.

“This is the most exciting phase of Shahid’s career. He has good work coming in ‘Dil Bole Hadippa’, Ken Ghosh’s tentatively titled ‘Yahoo’ and the new Parmeet Sethi film. If he chooses his future assignments with care, he will always be in a comfortable position,” she said.

“He has age on his side and the fact that he is a super-duper dancer and competent actor makes him a good bet for a reigning Hindi film hero,” she added.

Shahid wowed critics and fans alike with his portrayal of the shy groom in “Vivaah” and as the intense business tycoon in “Jab We Met”. But nothing has worked for him quite like Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Kaminey”, the dark thriller about gangsters, rebel soldiers, rogue politicians and crooked cops.

The Charlie-Guddu roles have shattered the conception that he was just the romantic. And critics believe the 28-year-old son of seasoned actor Pankaj Kapoor has made it to the big league.

“Shahid is going to be the next big thing…he has arrived. From a good-looking boy and a romantic hero, he has graduated to a star,” said film critic Omar Quereshi.

Added another noted film critic, Anupama Chopra: “This is the role – or roles – of a lifetime and Shahid Kapoor, best known for innocuous chocolate-boy romances, sinks his teeth into it. ‘Kaminey’ does for him what ‘Omkara’ did for Saif Ali Khan. A star has evolved into an actor.”

The star is taking the accolades in his stride.

“Yes, various tags have been given to me since the success of ‘Kaminey’. And I am very happy to hear them, but the most important thing is to keep doing good work and surprising the audience every now and then. That to me is the biggest reward,” Shahid told IANS.

“I can never be like my father (in terms of acting)…he is way beyond anyone to be like him. I don’t even have any aspirations to be like him because I know that’s not happening. I just hope whenever my father sees my films, he likes my work,” Shahid said.

Shah Rukh’s questioning talk of India Day parade in US

New York, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s questioning at Newark Liberty International Airport by immigration officials was the talk of the annual India Day parade here. The parade is held to celebrate India’s independence.

Even before the 29th parade started at Madison Avenue and 41st Street Sunday, Mehal Kadakia, 26, a business analyst, and two friends had spent the drive to the city discussing whether Khan should have been singled out, New York Times reported Monday.

“In my opinion, they were doing their job,” Kadakia was quoted as saying at a festival next to Madison Square Park after the parade.

“I’m sure as an actor travelling, he has a lot of luggage, and if that seemed suspicious, I’d rather have them check and make sure he’s OK.”

Kadakia observed it’s not as if being stopped at the airport in the post-Sep 11 world is new to anyone.

“I’ve been stopped many times,” he said.

Santripti Vellody, 30, a business development manager for a South Asian satellite television channel, said she was disappointed that one of India’s biggest stars had been subjected to such blatant profiling.

“It’s absolutely disrespectful to him,” she said, “and it’s only based on his religion and last name — he has a Muslim name — and I don’t think that’s right.”

Vellody said that her husband, Mohamed Roshman Manoli, also has a Muslim name and that each of the last four times that they had flown out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, he had been stopped for questioning.

“I never get stopped but I have to wait for him for two hours every single time,” she said. “It’s not random.”

Shah Rukh Khan’s latest film “My Name is Khan” — produced by Shah Rukh and director Karan Johar — is set against the Sep 11, 2001 terror attacks and examines their impact on an Indian Muslim living in the US.

Miki Patel, chairwoman of the culture committee of the Federation of Indian Association that held the parade, said that she learned about Khan’s questioning during a meeting of parade organisers Saturday.

“I personally feel that the rules should apply to each and every one who enters this country — the law is the law,” said Patel, 53, a dance instructor from Edison, New Jersey.

Shah Rukh’s detention has Bollywood shocked, disgusted

New Delhi, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s two-hour detention at Newark airport in the US over his surname had members of the Indian film industry fuming. Karan Johar was “shocked”, actress Priyanka said it was “downright disgraceful” and filmmaker Kabir Khan termed it “harassment”.

The 43-year-old actor was detained while he was on his way to Chicago to attend an event related to India’s Independence Day and was freed only after Indian diplomats intervened.

Here’s what King Khan’s friends and colleagues had to say:

Karan Johar: I am shocked and upset…feeling terrible for Shah Rukh.

Priyanka Chopra: Shocking, disturbing and downright disgraceful. It’s such behaviour that fuels hatred and racism. Shah Rukh Khan is a world figure for god’s sake. Get real!

Kabir Khan: When I heard this news, I was so surprised…it has almost become a routine. If you have a Muslim name you are bound to be questioned. It happened with me thrice in the US. I was stopped by immigration officials for three to five hours… they don’t care whether you are a celebrity or whoever.

But when it comes to Shah Rukh, it doesn’t take more than 20 seconds to figure out who he is any search engine (on the Internet) will give more information on him than Hollywood stars Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt and despite that if it took them two hours to figure out, then its harassment.

Post 9/11 it is prejudice to have a person’s name and religion checked and it is very discouraging as well.

Pritish Nandy: This is the problem with law enforcers worldwide…Truly obnoxious. Cops don’t want to recognise anybody. They love to show their power and authority, especially in the US.

Kunal Kohli: It’s really disgusting. Even if they had done a Google search on their mobiles, they would have seen who he is. What were they checking for two hours on their super computers? To detain him for two hours is ridiculous, disgusting and an insult to us Indians.

Arindam Chaudhari: Shah Rukh has just finished his film “My Name Is Khan” in which his character tries to prove to the Americans that he is not a terrorist. I’m sure he never thought it would happen in real life too…What a shame! It’s shocking and shameful because I am sure Shah Rukh would have had to explain who he is.

It’s Shah Rukh so it’s become big news. But there many who constantly go through this everyday. It’s really sad.

Eesha Koppikhar: I am not sure of the exact events but if he was detained just because he is a Muslim with Khan as a last name, it is very wrong.

A sneek-peak into ‘My Name Is Khan’

‘My Nmae is Khan’ under the co-production of Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan has made a record for being the film sold for the highest amount so far. Fox Star Studios have bought the marketing and distribution rights for the film a whopping Rs 100 Crore, thus surpassing Rs. 90 crore deal for Aamir Khan starrer ‘Ghajini’ and Rs 70 Crore deal for ‘Om Shanti Om’.

The film has been made with a budget of 55 Crore and has SRK and Kajol in the main lead. SRK here plays the role of a Muslim who suffers from the Asperger syndrome, a form of autism that impacts social interaction abilities. Things show the plight of the character when he is arrested as a suspected terrorist in post 9/11 Los Angeles after the authorities mistake his disability as suspicious behaviour.