Has Akshay Kumar lost his comic touch?

The failure of Nikhil Advani's "Chandni Chowk To China" has put a question mark on Akshay Kumar's comic journey. While some filmmakers say he tends to interfere in the director's job, his staunch supporters in Bollywood feel he should not be written off because of one flop.

There were reports that the comic element in his next big release "Kambakht Ishq" were revamped after the disastrous results of "Chandni Chowk..." at the box office. But "Kambakht Ishq" producer Sajid Nadiadwala shoots down the reports.

"Why would I do that? The film is what it is. I don't work with my actors based on how their last film did. 'Kambakht Ishq' will have a lot to offer, " Nadiadwala told.

In "Kambakht Ishq", Akshay is paired with Kareena Kapoor. Some parts of the film were shot in Hollywood and stars like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brandon Routh feature in the movie.

"It's an out-and-out romantic comedy with stunts of an international order. And why are we jumping the gun just because one of his films hasn't lived up to expectations? There could be so many reasons for it. Why should Akshay be blamed for it? Why so much negativity about him? Is he the first superstar to disappoint audiences?"

On the downside, Akshay's pairing with Kareena has hardly ever worked at the box office. Suneel Darshan's "Talaash", Dharmesh Darshan's "Bewafaa" and Yash Raj Films' "Tashan" are a few examples.

Some filmmakers would like him to end his protracted attempts at comedy.

"Akshay has become progressively active in the process of writing scripts and shooting films. He freely makes suggestions some of which, I've to admit, are good. But quite often he wants to take over the project. When I went to him with another project, he offered to co-produce it and get someone to re-write portions. It's obvious a lot of scenes in 'Chandni Chowk...' were re-written. The result shows, " a director said on condition of anonymity.

"It's the Govinda factor at work again, " said another director who preferred to remain anonymous. "He did so much buffoonery on screen that Govinda made people forget there was more to him than meets the eye."

However, Akshay's staunch producer-director friends are more than happy to stand by him.

Said Vipul Shah, who will launch his next with Akshay and Aishwarya Rai in March: "I don't think the failure of 'Chandni Chowk To China' means that audiences have rejected him in the comic avatar. The backlash is totally uncalled for. And it looks motivated by reasons other than the box office. Many people have been waiting to pounce on Akshay. This is their opportunity."

But Shah, whose last two films with Akshay - "Singh Is Kinng" and "Namastey London" - were romantic comedies, has decided to keep away from the genre in the next venture.

It is believed that apart from Priyadarshan's "De Dana Dan", which is an out-and-out comedy, the comic element is being cut down or dowplayed in Akshay's forthcoming projects.

A R Rahman wins Golden Globe Award as a best composer for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

A R Rahman is one the great musicians in Bollywood Film Industry and generally known as the finest Indian film composer.

Rahman produced music for nearly 35 wide-screen releases during his first five years in the industry. He has worked with many Indian’s brightest music stars like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain and L. Shankar.

Now he has achieved another achievement winning the Best Music Composer award for the unique background score for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

A R Rahman’s song Jai Ho has been written by none other than Gulzar. The movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has got three awards. Danny Boyle got Best Director award while Best Screenplay award has been received by Simon Beaufoy and Rahman won the award of Best Original Music Score.

The shooting of the movie was done at different places in Mumbai including Railway Victoria Terminus where terrorists were attacked. The story of the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is based on a novel by Indian diplomat Vikash Swarup. Bollywood actors Irfan Khan and anil kapoor are playing lead roles in the movie.

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Kareena and Saif United at United States

Work has often kept Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor away from each other. But for this one time, the lovers are united by work.

After accompanying Saif on the sets of Imtiaz Ali’s film in London for about a week, Kareena had gone to Los Angeles to shoot Kambakht Ishq with Akshay Kumar while Saif continued shooting in London. The lovers were separated again by work. But now, Saif is also headed to the US.

However, this time it is not exclusively to be with Bebo (as he has done umpteen times in the past) but to shoot the second schedule of his first home production with Imtiaz Ali in San Francisco.

While in the US, though Saif and Bebo won’t be in the same city, whenever they miss each other all they have to do is catch a flight and they could be together again within hours.

In fact, the buzz is that Saif deliberately planned a US schedule for his movie because he knew that Bebo would be shooting there around the same time. However, director Imtiaz Ali denies this. He says the US schedule was planned long way back.

After the US schedule, the film’s shooting would be about 90 percent complete. The remaining portions will be shot in North India.

The movie stars Deepika Padukone opposite Saif.

Engagement Photos of Konkona Sen and Ranvir Shorey

Rumours are rife that Ranvir Shorey and Konkona Sen-Sharma are as engaged to one another as can be, but neither party is willing to talk about it.

When Ranvir was asked why the secrecy, he said: “It’s a personal choice. We like to keep our personal life away from the limelight. All I can say is I’m very content with my life and career.”

Ranvir would much rather talk about his film with US-based Indian filmmaker Mira Nair. Titled How Can It Be, it also has Konkona. They’ve worked together before in a wife-swapping film, Mixed Doubles, and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Traffic Signal.

“But this project is very special. It is a short film - part of a series on human rights made by the likes of Jane Campion<, Gus Van Sant and Jim Wenders. Mira's film is about women's emancipation and we shot it in New York. Konkona plays the central character, but my role is no less pivotal," Ranvir revealed. The role went to Ranvir after Mira's favourite Irrfan Khan turned it down. "So I believe," says Ranvir. "I think he refused it. But Mira says I was always her first choice. In fact, I met Irrfan in New York when we shot with Mira. He was doing another short film with Mira co-starring Natalie Portman." Konkona was all but signed to play Tabu's role in Mira Nair's The Namesake. She had opted out because the dates clashed with her mother Aparna Sen's 17 Park Avenue. Ranvir says working with Konkona is an easy experience. "It's an advantage to work with a friend. You can speak your mind freely without the fear of offending the other party." But it wasn't same with his Ugly Aur Pagli co-star Mallika Sherawat. "There were a couple of times when we had ugly run-ins. But overall she has been very nice to me. Once, when I was ill, she got me food. Mallika is the star of Ugly Aur Pagli. Not me."

Deepika Padukone has now a flat near Ranbir.

The fact that Deepika Padukone, the heroine of “Om Santi Om“ and daughter of famous badminton player Prakash Padukone has bought an apartment at Palli Hill, is not news.

What is news is that the bungalow is a stones throw away from the house where Saawariya Ranbir Kapoor stays with his family. The house in which Ranbir stays is the house where Raj Kapoor and his wife Krishna had stayed for some time. Now his grandson Ranbir stays there with his family.

Grapevines are abuzz with news of their alleged affair. It seems that after returning from Australia both Deepika and Ranbir are keen to spend much of their time together. In fact in the coming year their shooting schedules are so planned that they stay close to each other for most part of the year. Since the beginning of their love story Ranbir made it clear that he was keen that Deepika stayed close by. So it was quite natural that Deepika was in search of an apartment, which is very near of Ranbir house.

A common friend of the couple said that Deepika had visited the Kapoor family several times and they, especially Neetu Kapoor (mother of Ranbir) had liked her very much. Neetu Kapoor helped her when Deepika began looking for a house. As per sources the apartment which Deepika bought is priced at

Aamir sports a new role, says he is a Marathi

Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan on Monday called himself a Marathi and warned people against politicians who he said were dividing the country on the basis of region and culture.

Aamir was asked if he considered Marathi people were lucky for him as two of his films had the contribution of Maharashtrians and were India’s official entry for Oscars: Lagaan, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and Taare Zameen Par, whose script was written by Amole Gupte.

He replied: "I am a Marathi. I am born and brought up in Maharashtra. I am lucky for myself." Aamir cautioned people to stay away from the political leaders who try to divide the country on the basis of religion, caste or community.

He made the statement while responding to a question on the recent controversy between Maharashtra Navnirman leader Raj Thackeray and actress and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan.

"People should stay away from politicians and leaders who try to divide the masses on the basis of religion, caste or community,” said Aamir.

"It is harmful to the country and does no good to anyone. Any leader who tries to divide people on that line does that for his own personal gain and people should understand his intentions and stay away from him.”

Without naming any political party leader, Aamir said, "I always tell my friends and myself that we have to be alert and keep off politicians who try to divide us on the basis of language, religion, caste. We have to support leaders who are progressive and positive and who bring people closer."

Aamir was addressing a press conference on his film Taare Zameen Par’s selection as the Indian official entry to the Oscars.

Bollywood is slowly catching up Hollywood films. Sex sells and babes know how to make the guys feel weak.

They say sex sells. And yes, it sells like hot . The naked truth is hot babes know how to make the guys feel weak in the knees and take away their reasoning power with steamy moves. Moreover, hot shakes make hot bucks.

You hardly find Hollywood films sans sleaze these days, and Bollywood is slowly but surely catching up. Item numbers have become an inseparable part of Bollywood today with almost every film carrying a raunchy number. So, you can't blame grandmas and grandpas when they refuse to watch a film or two with you because they may feel uncomfortable watching skimpily clad girls appearing on the big screens as if they are too poor to buy good and warm . The irony is these girls are paid handsomely for appearing in minimum attire. This is why Bollywood actresses have no qualms taking up item numbers though they demand maximum flesh show.

Including sexy number to a film irrespective of its relevance to the story started way back in 1960s when actress Helen danced to such numbers. She danced to the number "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" in the film Caravan in 1971 and then did a more. Then many actresses followed her footsteps. There is a long line of actresses who have done item numbers like Shilpa Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai,Rakhi Sawant, Koena Mitra, Lara Datta, Kareena Kapoor, Shamita Shetty, Dia Mirza,Bipasha Basu and Mallika Sherawat. There are also professional item girls like Malaika Arora Khan and Yana Gupta. Actors are also not lagging behind. Abhishek Bachchan had done an item number in Rakht and Shah Rukh Khan in Kaal. But there is a huge difference in the content and purpose of item numbers then and now.

Only small time heroines who had not much offers in store used to take up item numbers when it first started. But as time went by, it started changing its face along with the content and purpose. Today, struggling actors and newcomers take it up as a springboard to instant stardom. Another interesting aspect is that even established heroines have no inhibition to join the party. The simple reason is it makes quick money. Moreover, item girls are no longer looked down by the audience as it did years ago.

The trend still continues and it is unlikely to die down in the near future. Bollywood sex bomb Mallika Sherawat had recently set the screens on fire in the number "Mayya Mayya" in Guru, starring Bachchan and Aishwarya in the lead pair. Kapoor's sizzling dance number "It's Rocking" in Kya Love Story Hai is currently rocking on the television screens. The fact is there are people who enjoy watching pretty girls making steamy moves.

Anyway, nobody can complain as long as they do not cross the red line. Supply will be there as long as demand exists. And of course it will experience a slow death once the demand falls.

Deepika Padukone feeling ecstatic after being called the hottest girl

Model-turned-actress Deepika Padukone, who is set for her second release Bachna Ae Haseeno, is feeling ecstatic after being called the hottest girl, according to a recent magazine poll.

“I really didn't expect it. I'm really excited. People always used to call me either cute or pretty, but no one ever called me sexy. I take it as a compliment,” Deepika said. Although the young actress is flattered by the title, she did not feel even a tad embarrassed.

Bachna Ae Haseeno, Bollywood s new star is Ranbir Kapoor

Ranbir Kapoor is here. The new Bollywood star is here. The new age Dilwale Dulhaniya proves to a “love”ly entertainer and new “Raj” of Bollywood, Ranbir Kapoor shines through the 2 and half hours of the Yash Chopra entertainer.

The movie refers to DDLJ in places to show how it affected “Mahi”, Minisha Lamba, who is waiting for her eternal love, Raj. Ranbir and Minisha romance through the Swiss Alps in usual Yash Chopra style. Next comes Bipasha Basu, the small town girl who is in Mumbai striving for a career. “Live in” relationships are very much the part of this new age DDLJ. And finally is Deepika Padukone, an independent thinking career oriented part time cabbie in Australia.

I saw glimpses of brilliance in Ranbir Kapoor’s acting in the super boring Sawaariya.

Salman and Aamir's arty dosti

Over the past two days, the atmosphere at Salman Khan’s house has been festive, thanks to Katrina Kaif’s birthday yesterday. Salman Khan and his family started celebrating Kat’s birthday at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday.

And it wasn’t just the Khan family that was excited about Kat’s birthday but also Aamir Khan. Katrina got a surprise visit from Aamir Khan who wished her on Tuesday night. Salman was so happy over Aamir’s visit that he gifted him a painting.

Our source says, “Aamir Khan had no clue that a private party was going on at Salman’s house to bring in Katrina’s birthday. It was a private ceremony and only Salman’s family members had got together for a little celebration at Salman’s residence in Galaxy Apartment at Band Stand in Mumbai.

Arbaaz Khan as well as Salman’s sister Alvira had brought a cake. Apart from them, Sohail Khan, Atul Agnihotri and designer Rocky S were also present at the dinner party. Salman called Aamir at around 1.30 am and asked him to come over.

Aamir immediately obliged. When he reached Salman’s house he was surprised to see that a party was on in full swing. Aamir wished Katrina and spent some time with all of them. Salman then showed him some of his recent paintings, and Aamir loved them. In fact, only Salman and Aamir went to the former’s room and had a long chat.

Aamir was impressed with Salman’s creativity. Sallu immediately took a pen and paper and made a sketch of Aamir in his Ghajini look. Aamir was present there for about four hours and was seen leaving the Khan residence at 5.30 am on Wednesday morning.”

The Salman-Aamir friendship certainly seems to be going from strength to strength.

'Three Idiots' begins the journey

Another clean comedy filled movie to be enjoyed by the whole family is on its way.

No other description can be better suited for a film being made by Rajkumar Hirani.

The movie is 'Three Idiots' which has none other than Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor and Boman Irani doing the main roles.

With this wonderful star cast, the film produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra is going to corner a huge chunk of media space in the coming days.

Shantanu Moitra is the music composer, Abhijat Joshi along with the director has written the screenplay and the lyrics are by Swanand Kirkire.

Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi had ganged up before and proved to share a great chemistry in the blockbuster 'Rang De Basanti'.

Right now only the portions which do not need the lead actors are being shot.

The leading cast members will start shooting their parts in September and as of now the shooting is being planned to get over by December.

The main shooting locations are Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Ladakh.

Shahid: Aziz Mirza’s New SRK

After being loyal for quite a while, to his favourite star, SRK, Aziz Mirza has now changed his taste. The man now has a new fav: Shahid Kapoor. Aziz Mirza has shot many movies with the badshah of which Raju Ban Gaya Gentle Man, Chalte Chalte, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani…etc are some of the commendable ones. But his latest film “Kismet Konnection” involves the new chocolate boy, Shahid Kapoor.

“Shah Rukh is too old for the role in Kismat Konnection . The role is about the life of a 26-year-old and Shah Rukh is 40 plus. It doesn’t suit him,” said Aziz Mirza.

Too bad to see our Shahrukh getting old….finally…:(

Shilpa Wins Global Cultural Diversity Award!!!

Shilpa Shetty recently added another honour to her list by receiveng the Global Cultural Diversity Award in London. Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton was another celeb to receive this award. Shilpa was overwhelmed to receive such and honour and flew to London to receive the award and then back to Goa to shoot for Sunny Paaji’s “The Man”.

“It’s given to people from different parts of the world who’ve made a difference to global cultural dynamics. It felt…disorienting,” explained Shilpa moved by the gesture.

Way to go girl!!!

Ghajini Release Dates Announced!!!

Amir’s new film, which has been in news after he was found sporting the new hairstyle, has finally earned itself a release date. The much awaited movie, Ghajini which also stars Jiah Khan along with ace Aamir Khan has announced it’s release date to be 28th November. The movie is a remake from the Tollywood (South Indian cinema).
Now that’s a good news for all u Aamir fans.

Akshay kumar as legendary hero in Rani Laxmibhai

A few days ago, Sushmita Sen called up Akshay Kumar. Nature of the call: strictly professional. Sush asked Akki if he would like to play the legendary hero of India’s first freedom struggle — Tantya Tope, in her dream project, Rani Laxmibai.

Says a source, “Sushmita is keen that Akshay plays Tantya Tope. She thinks that he fits the bill. She called up Akshay, and they spoke at length.”
The film in question will be Sush’s directorial debut and a period film on the life of the queen. Reportedly her ‘good friend’ scriptwriter-turned-director Mudassar Aziz is helping her with the script.

So, how did Akshay respond to Sush? Confirming her call to Akshay, a friend of the actor tells us, “Akshay is quite interested in the project. In a few days’ time, he will reply to Sushmita.”

Has Kumar made it a habit to play Tantya Tope, we asked? Isn’t Kumar supposed to play Tantya Tope in the co-production between the Indian government and producer Firoz Nadiadwala? “No, he is no longer playing Tantya Tope in that film,” Akshay’s friend reveals.

SRK and Sonam Kapoor in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

One question that everyone has been asking lately is will Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra be able to create the same magic as that of 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' once more?

The B-town will get the answer to this question on December 12 when 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' will be released. This movie also will be the coming back movie for Aditya Chopra as a director after eight years.

Insiders says us that superstar Shah Rukh Khan will begin shooting for 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' in May. Big B too plays a significant role in this movie. Sonam Kapoor will be playing the love interest of King Khan.

Different rumours about the storyline of the film are poping up each day, but from what we have heard this flick will zoom in on the love story between a 40-year-old and a teenaged girl.

Shahid Kapoor and kareena Phir Milenge

If you thought you saw the last of Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor together on the big screen in Jab We Met , think again.

The duo will be seen playing a romantic couple again in Boney Kapoor’s long-in-the-making film Milenge Milenge .

In fact, Shahid and Kareena shot for this film before they did ‘Jab We Met’ together. But ‘Milenge Milenge’ got stuck in post-production stages for over a year and could not make it to the theatres. It was even speculated that the film was shelved.

But things changed after the success of ‘Jab We Met’. Since then, Boney Kapoor , the film’s producer, has been trying to get the movie completed.

Now, much to Boney’s relief, he has got Shahid and Kareena to spare a few days to dub for the film. Shahid has already begun dubbing his portions. Kareena will dub next. And there are also scenes in the film that require the two actors to dub together. That would bring the former lovers together again, even if in a dubbing studio.
Directed by Satish Kaushik , ‘Milenge Milenge’ is apparently inspired from Hollywood flick ‘Serendipity’.

Mallika Shrewat's humour on the sets of Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam

Mallika Sherawat seems to be enjoying working in director Sanjay Chhel’s film Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam .

On the movie’s shooting sets, Mallika shares an incredibly good rapport with her co-stars Rahul Bose , Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay Menon .

There is always some good-humoured banter going on between Mallika and Bose on the sets. The two have been good friends since they worked together in Pyar Ke Side Effects . Mallika often teases Rahul of being “an art-house actor” and tells him that he got his first hit film (PKSE) with her. Playing to Mallika’s tune, Rahul often jokingly admits that he is just a junior in front of her.

With Paresh Rawal, Mallika grooves in very well. Since Paresh plays an actor enacting emperor Akbar and Mallika plays an actress enacting Anarkarli in the film, she would often address Paresh as “Badshah-e-Alam” on the sets.

Kay Kay Menon, who used to be somewhat reclusive on the sets, was also not spared of Mallika’s antics. She would deliberately flirt with him to make him conscious.

Director Sanjay Chhel admits that during the shooting of the film, whenever things got tense, Mallika would crack a joke or show a few Anarkali dance steps to lighten up everyone’s mood.

Chhel also recalls a funny incident that happened when he and Paresh Rawal were discussing the weather in Gujarat.

‘Ghajini’ will hit the screens from October

Actor Aamir Khan, who is recovering from an injury, will soon resume shooting for Hindi remake of ‘Ghajini’.

'We hope to launch the film by October,' director A R Murugadas said.

With A R Rahman scoring music for the remake, the director, who originally planned to have just one melody number, has included another one.

Asin plays Aamir's heroine in the movie. She was part of the original too.

I was hurt, I was angry: Emraan Hashmi

A success works wonders. Especially if you your last few films don't work. And if it's a solo hit, well, the joy knows no bounds.

Post JANNAT, Emraan Hashmi is grinning from ear to ear. JANNAT has come as a breather for Mukesh Bhatt, as also for debutante director Kunal Deshmukh and debutante writer Vishesh Bhatt, whose careers depended on how JANNAT fared.

"I was hurt, I was angry after AWARAPAN," Emraan admits, "The film hadn't worked and people had written me off. I had to prove the detractors wrong. The lull that followed only helped. I wanted to come back with a vengeance."

And it has been a terrific comeback for the talented actor. Three weeks ago, the presence of Akshay, Saif and Kareena couldn't ensure a terrific start for TASHAN. Big B and SRK's presence in BHOOTHNATH didn't help the film open to full houses either. But the excellent start of JANNAT did catch the traders by complete surprise.

"I was shocked as well. See, what went in favor of JANNAT were various factors. The buzz was very strong. Plus, a promo with content or even an attractive poster grabs your attention instantly. The first jhalak counts and JANNAT benefited for the aforesaid reasons," Emraan tells me.

What about his popularity with the youth? "Everything falls into place if the film is good. And I always had the gut that JANNAT would click in a big way," he states modestly.
Source : IndiaFM