Saawariya Vs Om Shanti Om

Two big ambitious projects are ready to hit box-office this festive season. SRK and Farah Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’ and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya’. Taking a close look at them, one realizes that both are following the same marketing target via different routes.




For ‘Om Shanti Om’, everyone is quite aware of SRK’s shirtless ‘Dard-e-disco’ and flaunting six-pack abs. And For ‘Saawariya’, there is a rumour going round that RK Banner’s next big hope, Ranbir Kapoor, will be seen prancing around in a see-through white towel (how RK-ish, remember all those RK heroines wet and white?).




Both the movies have a new female face and where Sonam Kapoor was forbidden to show her face before SLB gave the green signal, Shah Rukh’s co-star Deepika Padukone’s celebrity face was too well-known to be kept in ‘Purdah’.




both the directors have kept mum about their basic storyline. Only producer SRK and director Farah Khan are so friendly and fun-loving and Bhansali is so brusque and bristly that one tends to put them both in different categories.




Hmmm.. whatever marketing strategies maye be, with Ranbir Kapoor’s butt versus SRK’s shirtless abs, Bollywood Box Office is all ready this festive season for some good fireworks

- BollywoodGossips.Net

Jaitley turns prankster

MUMBAI, India - Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley played a practical joke on an unsuspecting New Zealand director by teaching him insults in Hindi language, a news report said Monday.

At a party during the recent filming of "Love Has No Languages" in New Zealand, Jaitley urged Kiwi director Ken Khan to greet Indian guests by saying: "Namaste, tera baap chor hain," or "Greetings, your father is a thief."

Khan fell for it.

"You should have seen the expression on the guests' faces when Ken actually said that to them. They were just stunned and did not know how to react," Jaitley told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper. "Of course, later I told the guests that it was a prank that I had played on him."

The movie about cross-cultural romance has Jaitley playing an Indian girl brought up in New Zealand who falls in love with Kiwi actor Ben Mitchell. The romance sets Jaitley on a collision course with her conservative parents who want her to marry an Indian.

Jaitley is among a growing number of Indian actors starring in overseas productions.

A beauty queen turned actress, Jaitley won the Miss India contest in 2001 and made her Bollywood debut two years later. She has since acted in more than 10 Hindi-language movies.

Abhishek Bachchan paints for kids

Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan tried his hand at painting for ‘India on canvas’, an art-charity project initiated by Delhi based NGO ‘Khushii’.

The charity project was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s wife Gurcharan Kaur, Praful Patel and former cricketer Kapil Dev here yesterday.

‘Khushii’ also opened their ‘art-for-charity’ site, where one can log on and bid for the works of painters like M F Hussain, Tyeb Mehta and Satish Gujral.

The proceeds of the auction will be utilised for a number of projects for children and adolescents run by the NGO. A similar auction last year raised Rs 1.5 crore.

— BollywoodGossips.Net

THE GREAT BOLLYWOOD GOSSIP

They always deny it when the news leaks out, but then shut up and look sheepish when the news goes public. They say that marriages and relationships in Bollywood are easily consumed. Indeed.

These relationships do not last long. So no one wants to talk about it, because they are never sure about it in the first place. They do not know whether a one-night stand would result in an affair, followed by an engagement and a marriage and then even by a divorce. Sex, casting couch, one night stands, second wives, Bollywood denizens have denied them all a little too often.

Tanushree Dutta has still been denying that she and director Aditya Dutt are dating.

Ditto with Mahima Chaudhary, who continued to deny her marriage until she got pregnant and delivered the child of Bobby, a business man.

Mahesh Bhatt has often said that he is a "bastard" as his father Nanabhai Bhatt had married his mother despite having a first wife. Hence he was an illegitimate son. Nanabhai Bhatt denied that Mahesh was illegitimate as his marriage to Mahesh's mother was before 1955, when the Hindu Marriage Act came into place. Strange story!

Aamir Khan kept on denying a little too hard that he had no affair with anyone and that he and first wife Reena were together, till the time the papers of his divorce came out in the open. Interestingly, he even denied that, but went ahead to marry Kiran who is much younger to him.

Rishi Kapoor once said, "We act as if we are in love with each other while doing a few scenes in the films. It is not difficult for two artistes to fall in love with each other." A sentence like that coming from an actor who has acted opposite the maximum newcomers in Bollywood is rather symbolic of the pitfalls the relationships of a married actor has in Bollywood.

Even as Viveik Oberoi's girlfriend Gurpreet cried herself hoarse that Bollywood had consumed her relationship with Viveik, one can remember how Pooja Bedi shouted from the rooftops that Aditya Panscholi had raped her maid and thus ended her relationship with him.

They say that Sushmita Sen broke Vikram Bhatt's house, Rani Mukerji broke Govinda's house, Mahima Chaudhary almost broke Ajay Devgan's marriage to Kajol and now Kiran Rao has broken Aamir Khan's household. It was also said that Meenakshi Seshadri and husband Harish Mysore had broken up. But Meenakshi's father was quick to deny everything, putting things in the right perspective.

Karisma Kapoor must have gone mad trying to deny that she was married to Abhishek Bachchan till the time she got engaged to the lad and the news came out. No one was ready to believe her. Indian film stars like politicians have no credibility. No one wants to believe them. The reason being, all these film stars have lied through their teeth about their affairs, marriage etc.

Raveena Tandon denied that she was engaged to Akshay Kumar. When he got married to Twinkle Khanna after ditching her and later Shilpa Shetty, Raveena had to accept the engagement part.

When Juhi Chawla got pregnant, she had to agree that she was married to industrialist Jai Mehta. She had denied the entire episode till that time. When a journalist broke the news of Boney Kapoor marrying his 'rakhi sister' Sridevi, Kapoor called and abused the journalist. He also asked the newspaper to tender an apology which they refused. A month later when it was discovered that Sridevi was pregnant, Boney Kapoor came around.

But Sridevi never agreed that she was earlier married and then got divorced from the already married Mithun Chakraborthy. They fought and broke up after Mithun in an interview to a gossip journalist revealed that he had married Sridevi.

Saif and Amrita Singh also did not reveal their marriage. When a journalist wrote about it in a popular Mumbai tabloid, they called up and abused the newspaper stating that it was false. Their denials also appeared in the columns of some so-called star columnists. But these columnists too fell flat on their face for supporting Saif and his much older wife when the news was confirmed later.

Denials come very easily to the stars. One can recall the most famous denials of all - Dilip Kumar's lie about his once paramour Asma. He denied his second marriage to Asma. And when his 'nikaahnama' was published as proof, he had no answer!

Ditto with Raj Babbar. He denied his marriage to Smita Patil. But his wife Nadira threatened that she would have him and Smita arrested. At that time Smita delivered a child and died. It was a cruel way of dispelling justice. Smita's child was accepted by Nadira. Later, there was news of Rekha marrying Raj Babbar, which appeared in Evening News, an eveninger from the Times of India group. Rekha denied the wedding, but Babbar preferred to remain silent. Rekha, however, has never denied her love for Amitabh, though Bachchan has never accepted that in public.

Dharmendra's wife Prakash Kaur never said anything when he married Hema Malini. So Dharmendra or Hema never had to deny the marriage. The Zeenat Aman-Sanjay Khan marriage was also denied by the couple. Sanjay alias Abbas Khan was already married to Zarine. The split also happened after Khan beat up Aman in a hotel in full public view. Zeenat then married the much-married Mazhar Khan. The affair was denied till she actually married him.

But Nana Patekar has never denied his relationships. Luckily no one dares to ask him about his affairs thanks to his temperament. He is still married to Neelkanti, though they never live together. He has had affairs with Vaishali Dandekar, Manisha Koirala and Ayesha Jhulka, but never married any of them, as a divorce would affect his son Malhar.

In the Kapoor family Randhir Kapoor and Babita have separated, as they could not get along. But Rishi and Neetu have stayed together, despite the latter alleging that he beat her up often. Raj Kapoor and wife Krishna have been together till the showman's death. Ditto with the maverick Shammi and his first wife Geeta Bali. Shammi is still holding on dearly to his second wife Neela Devi, who he married after Geeta's death. These Kapoors have always been silent about their family matters just like the Deols and the Bachchans who have maintained a studied silence when it comes to their relationships. Strange are the ways of show biz.

Vidya Balan: Up, Close & Personal

‘Parineeta’ some two years back catapulted her to fame and comparisons were instantaneously drawn with the likes of Waheeda Rehman and Meena Kumari. After that, there was no looking back for Vidya Balan.

Critics and audiences alike were floored by her simplicity and girl next door looks and importantly, oodles of old world charm. Films thereafter like ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’, ‘Eklavya’, ‘Guru’ and ‘Salaam-E- Ishq’ further consolidated her position.

Now she has a bevy of interesting films in her kitty. Most interestingly she will be seen in a true blue glam avatar in Sajid Khan’s upcoming ‘Heyy Babyy’.

‘Heyy Babyy’ will be a complete image make over for the beauty. “This film will see a new me. The image that ‘Parineeta’ created was so strong, that in spite of the fact that I have done other films, wherein I didn’t play only very Indian characters, people spoke about ‘Parineeta’.

I think there has never been as much of a departure in my image as it has been in ‘Heyy Babyy’. Not because I have worn Western clothes but because I play a well-to-do girl from a business family in Sydney, who shows comfort in these kinds of clothes.

I am even wearing my hair differently. I want my character to come through and not Vidya Balan.” Here she doesn’t forget to single out Manish Malhotra, the man behind this cool and contemporary look. “Well, I can’t really thank him enough,” she says.

The role she plays is no less interesting. “I am playing the unwed mother of the baby who is being three timed by these three guys –Fardeen, Akshay and Reitesh and to teach them a lesson she dumps the baby on them.

The situation for them gets complicated as the three bachelors are made to look after the baby as well as look for the mother. This was one lovely team with which I had great fun shooting with. The baby too was a real bundle of joy and an absolute delight.”

Not that, she is not kicked up about her upcoming projects. “There is ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ with Priyadarshan which was another joyride. At the moment I am also working on Aziz Mirza’s film alongside Shahid Kapoor. And Raji ji (Raj Kumar Santoshi)’s ‘Halla Bol’ which I hold close to my heart.”

This Raj Kumar Santoshi film might belong to Ajay Devgan but Vidya is very proud of this unique brush with what she calls ‘serious cinema’. Reveals the actress, “I am playing Ajay Devgan’s wife who is a hero in Bollywood.

She is someone who despite being a star’s wife is pretty much the same person as she was before her marriage. It’s a very strong and interesting character which has got a lot of shades and emotions.

The title sounds such that many people have come and inquired if this one is a comedy flick. Only once they see the promos, they will get a whiff of what the film is all about.”

Another unique factor, according to Vidya is the fact that, just like any other Santoshi films, ‘Halla Bol’ conveys a strong message. “There are a whole lot of problems in the society. But people instead of rectifying them choose to avoid them and like playing the blame game.

While doing the film, I really felt enlightened towards many prospects of life. This film would definitely make its viewers more responsible towards the society as it has done with me.”

So impressed was she by the veteran director’s caliber and work, she didn’t even need prior preparations as such. “You don’t have to really prepare if you are working under Raj ji. The way he narrates a scene, it is enough for one to understand its true emotions.

Raj ji has already proved his mettle while I have a long way to go. For me it has only been two years in the industry and getting a chance to work under him so early in my career is a treat for me. He acts as a teacher for every newcomer,” she claims.

And surprisingly Vidya experienced that he was the complete antithesis of his serious image off screen. “He and Ajay are masters at playing pranks. Once he kept on taking re-takes of mine without rolling the camera. He has got a great sense of humour, must say.”

There are also talks about another South Indian beauty, the timeless Sridevi making an appearance in the film. “She is doing a special appearance. But I didn’t have the chance to interact with her as she didn’t have any scene along with me. To have her in the film is nothing short of a big honour,” says the actress.

After her debut in a woman oriented film like ‘Parineeta’, the general feeling was that Vidya is here to fill the void created by Madhuri Dixit’s departure. So what was it that made Vidya play second fiddle yet again after ‘Guru’ and ‘Eklavya’?

“Every other film cannot be a ‘Parineeta’. Yes ‘Halla Bol’ belongs to Ajay (Devgan), but at the same time my character is also very strong. It maybe small but Raj ji has the reputation of doing justice to every character. I am hoping that this small role will lead to a much bigger and stronger one.

Hopefully, after seeing my performance, Raj ji may make a ‘Lajja’ someday with me,” exclaims Vidya.

And there is much more to look forward to from the lass. “There are talks going on with other producers, though it would be too early for me to say anything about them right away. But hopefully a lot of nice things will come my way in the days to come, ”she informs as she signs off.

Tanuja plays a colourful aunty in Haal-E-Dil

Kumar Mangat’s forthcoming film Haal-E-Dil offers an interesting role for veteran actress Tanuja. She plays a very colorful aunty in Mangat’s Home Production. It is believed that Kumar Mangat who is a friend of Ajay Devgan insisted Ajay to talk to Tanuja about this role. Ajay Devgan read the synopsis and found the character very interesting and recommended it to Tanuja. Finally, Tanuja decided to be part of the film after reading the script. According to Mangat, Tanuja’s character is very interesting and people will be amazed to see her in this role. It is something which Tanuja has never done before. Haal-E-Dil is directed by Anil Devgan. The film stars Kumar Mangat’s daughter Amita Mangat and Shekhar Suman’s son Adhyayan in the lead roles. Haal-E-Dil will be releasing by the end of this year.

The hottest Love scene on TV

Till a decade ago, it was films that attracted more attention than television. Today, daily soaps rule in almost every household and television is in no way lagging behind cinema. And following the trend on the big screen, the stories and scenes on the small screen have also become bold.

Love-making scenes are no more a taboo in serials. Meri Doli Tere Angana on Zee is the latest to create a flutter with a love-making scene between Simran and Ruhaan, which a source says is different from all other consummating scenes shown in TV serials to date.

For Priyamvada, who plays Simran in the serial, the scene was a challenge in itself. "I was nervous, very nervous, as it was the first time I was doing a love-making scene. Though it's a normal love scene but performing in front of so many people made me nervous," she admitted.

Thankfully, Priyamvada found a cooperative costar in Gaurav Khanna, who plays Ruhaan. "He kept telling me that it is a part and parcel of the job. That made me much more confident," the actress smiled.

Gaurav feels that such bold scenes on the small screen are inevitable given the changes the medium has undergone over the decade.

"I wasn't nervous as such, It wasn't the first time I was doing a love scene, but I have to admit that this is much bolder than the previous ones I have done," Gaurav said, adding he took it as part of his job as an actor and advised Priyamvada to do the same.

It took three re-takes for the scene to be okayed. A source said: "The actress was wearing a tube top and had a blanket draped on her shoulders. So there wasn't much difficulty as such, but the scene appears very hot."

Amitabh calls me 'Maalkin'...

Not too many people know this. But Mr Bachchan addresses Shefali Shah as 'maalkin'.

"I know!" she laughs. "It's very embarrassing when he called me that all during my husband's film Waqt and now during The Last Lear. Maybe because I was the producer's wife? To my horror he called me that during Last Lear too.

On the first day of the shoot he warned everybody, 'Don't go by her face, Because by and by she'll start changing everything on the sets…Hey,I don't do that! Of course I was critical on Vipul's set. That was my home production. But on another set I wouldn't cross the line. "

After Gandhi My Father Shefali Shah plays her producer Anil Kapoor's wife in the Subhash Ghai production Black & White.

Is she worried about the leap in intention?

"Not really," says Shefali. "Black & White is not a running-around-trees film. It's again a socially relevant film. Anilji is the hero and I'm the conventional leading lady. But I don't wear makeup, good clothes and sing songs."

Shefali informs that it was Anil who recommended Shefali. "But had it not been a good role I wouldn't have done Black & White. But it's not Gandhi My Father. Not at all. …nor is it The Last Lear, the English-language film that I've completed with Rituparno Ghosh."

The vastly talented and grossly under-used Shefali Shah is on the threshold of a new beginning in her career.

Her role as Kasturba in Feroz Abbas Khan's Gandhi My Father is already garnering rave reviews. In fact Akshaye Khanna has gone on-record to say it's the best performance in India by a female actor.

"I know Akshaye said that. And I'm deeply grateful. We've just returned from the film's world premiere and the response was overwhelming. Unfortunately Nelson Mandela couldn't come due to ill health. That was really sad, though he did send a message.

But the South African president and the whole cabinet was there. After the screening there was a stunned silence. They all told me they couldn't believe I look so different in person. A local lady who could barely speak English told me I made her cry.

I feel this film goes beyond boundaries. It's really moving. The premiere was unbelievable. Gandhi My Father is about selfless creation. Every actor and technician believed in what they were doing.

They thought of the film, not of their own interests. We all got an insight into lives that went way beyond art and acting. "

Shefali has been losing weight. "And so has my husband Vipul. I finally look the way I want to."

God forbid, Shefali gets typecast as an old woman after Gandhi My Father, a la Rohini Hattangadi after Attenborough's Gandhi.

"No way!" avers Shefali. "Because I'm the young Kasturba in most of the film. And the cinematographer has made me look look better than ever before….I don't think after this role the industry will typecast me. And even if they do, it's up to me to take or leave their offers. I've always been choosy anyway. Even if I do one film every two years it has to be something special."

Gandhi, she considers, her most important film so far. "Though I feel I could still have done better. I've never been more focused. Obviously I want to be appreciated. And I want the appreciation to be translated into a lot more. I'm at a stage where I think good things will happen to me. People are now willing to cast me in main leads.Somewhere I think I lacked the focus earlier."

Last Lear is another very special for Shefali. "I'm one of the central characters in both Gandhi My Father and The Last Lear. In Ritu's film I play my age and someone who looks after Amitji's character. I must tell you, after Vipul's unit, Ritu's was the most warm and organized unit I've worked with…very caring.

Bade pyar se thande dimaag se kaam hua. I've worked with productions where scenes are written on the sets. Sometimes I've played a character who has nothing to do with the scene given to me."

And yet she did a bit role in Yashraj Films' Mohabbatein.

"I don't regret doing that. It was a small role. But there was one good scene. After Gandhi and The Last Lear I may not do it. I took a break from acting to look after my babies, got back into shape. And now this is like my comeback. I've never felt better."

Priyanka to move with Parents

Priyanka Chopra's new home may not be ready. Time has been at a low premium. But she continues to take interest in its construction and design very carefully. In fact one reason why she hasn't signed any films is because she could never find the time to get her new place ready.

"And now it's now or never," laughs Priyanka. "It will be ready during Diwali. It will be two connecting flats, just like it was earlier on. My family would be staying in one flat while I'd be staying in the other. They've always given me my privacy. I'd never be comfortable without my parents by my side."

Hrithik's wife Susanne is doing up her two new flats. "It's the first time I'm moving into a new place ever since I moved into Bombay. And so far I've had no opportunity to do up my place the way I always wanted to. If you come to my house at the moment you'll see it's very functional."

But now comes Priyanka's dream house. "Having a friend to do the interiors helps a lot. Susanne and I are doing it up the way I had always visualized my home. My parents will be just a door away. I always want my life to be this way. With my family at a place where I can reach out and touch them."

Exposing Mallika & Bipasha's real age

There have been countless debates over many months about Bollywood’s favourite sex bomb Mallika Sherawat’s real age.

While a prominent news channel questioned Mallika’s talll claims of ‘being very young” by digging into her history and exposing her past credentials which included her airhostess job at a certain age and her failed marriage, another one very recently talked about how Mallika lies about being 26 when she is actually 36.

This big question and controversy about Madame M’s real age just refuses to die down. There have always been contrary reports of her age in the media. At times she is 26-28 and at times 35-36. After almost succeeding in hiding her marriage, now it seems Mallika is hell bent on putting her real age under wraps.

Mallika is the front runner here, but she is not exactly alone. Bipasha Basu has convinced everyone that she is 28, while a school junior of hers from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata who is herself actually around that age says, “Bipasha was my senior in school and at least three years older than me. I don’t know how she suddenly cut down so many years”. That makes dear old Bips almost 31!

Wannabe sex kitten and queen of sleazy cinema Sheryln Chopra claims to be only 22, where as sources claim otherwise. ‘Sherlyn has been 22 for many years now”, jokes a source.

Well, there are only a few examples. There are not many (like Ash and Tabu) who admit their age blatantly. For the rest, it all boils down to Indian woman being ‘oh so conscious’ about their ages.

On the other hand, Hollywood divas Madonna, Salma Hayek, Halle Berry, Naomi Watts and co might have admitted to heir ages but that hasn’t belittled their grace, charm, appeal and appearance in any way. Our desi ladies might have emulated them in as many ways as possible but this leaf out of their book has still not been taken and will not be for long, by the looks of it.

Apne - A Movie Review

Cast: Sunny Deol, Dharmendra, Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Kirron Kher, Victor Banerjee, Aryan Vaid
Director: Anil Sharma

Baldev Choudhary (Dharmendra) is an ex-boxer who has never achieved his dream of becoming a champion during his boxing career. This was mainly due to lack of financial support. So now he wants to fulfil his ambitions through his son, Angad's (Sunny Deol) success.

Though Angad pulled through fine, Baldev never forgot who ruined his chance of becoming a winner. Soon, an opportunity arrives for Baldev in the form of a television show.

He is supposed to train a local lad to get into this media hyped boxing show. But he is ditched for a better coach at the last minute.

Baldev's younger son Karan (Bobby Deol) has just launched his first music album. Seeing his father in trouble, he gives up his musical career and decide to take up boxing.

Karan works very hard and wins all the competitions to international levels.

But during his boxing match with the current world heavyweight champion, Karangets hurt.

He ends up paralyzed in a hospital bed. Baldev, who once wanted to achieve his life long ambition, is now about to loose his son.

He feels like killing himself. Angad steps in to turn the game upside down and bring his father the happiness of a lifetime in this touching drama.

Apne sees the all three Deols on the screen for the very first time.

Diya Mirza and Shamita Shetty at DDamas

Bollywood Parties - Diya Mirza and Shamita Shetty at DDamas

Kunal doesn't discuss his girls

The young shaayar that Kunal Kapoor played in ‘Rang De Basanti’ is not far from his real life character.

Besides acting in films, Kunal is deeply passionate about writing. He is particularly fond of poetry. Writing poems in Hindi and English is something he has been doing for good many years now.

Kunal says that deep down he is a shy and reserved person who hates to talk about his intimate feelings and about the people he is close to. This is where poetry fills the gap.

The actor says poetry for him becomes cathartic, an emotional release.

"I find it very hard to talk about my relationships…That's where the poet in me surfaces. Poetry helps me to exteriorise my thoughts," Kunal is quoted as saying.

Kunal adds that he writes only for himself and has no intention of publishing his poems or even showing them to anyone.

On the movie front, Kunal is extremely excited about being part of two forthcoming Yashraj Films – ‘Aaja Nachle’ and ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’.

Both films have Kunal sharing the screen space with his favourite actresses. ‘Aaja Nachle’ has Madhuri Dixit, and ‘Laaga Chunari’ has Jaya Bachchan, of whom Kunal is an ardent fan.

I've no plans to be SRK's dad

Another rumor regarding a forthcoming film of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan bit the dust recently. Contrary to reports being strategically placed in sections of the media, the mighty thespian Dilip Kumar isn't playing SRK's father in the Vivek Vaswani comedy ‘Dulha Mil Gaya’.

The thespian's wife Saira Banu personally denies any such plans for her 84-year old husband. Beyond that the gracious couple refuses to say anything. But a close family friend has a lot to say about such arbitrary and illusory attempts to bring the two Khan superstars together.

Actually the Dilip Kumar–SRK ties go back a long way. Both are Pathans and share a common passion for cinema. There's a more- than- passing facial resemblance between the two.

What clinched the matter was Saira Banu’s declaration some years ago at an awards function that if she and her husband had a son he'd probably look like SRK.

The idea of casting them as father and son must have been born then, but as of now they are not coming together in any film.

‘Dulha Mil Gaya’ was shot in Tobago and Trinidad and the film stars Sushmita Sen and Fardeen Khan. SRK is paired with Sushmita in the film.

It's real-kickass role:Priyanka

Remember those Mata Hari/Catwoman comic-book heroines? Priyanka Chopra harks back to the comic-book heroine of yore in Goldie Behl's Drona.

It's a F-X spectacle done up in the full-on comic-strip mould with Abhishek Bachchan playing a bespectacled nerd in the US.

"And guess what? I play Abhishek's bodyguard. It's a real-kickass role, and a first of its kind since we've never had the leading lady 'protecting' the hero…unless we remember Hemaji in those hunterwalli movies like Jyoti she looked after the hero. "

No wonder Priyanka is often looked on as the new-millennium Hema.

"Really?" Priyanka laughs. "I'm flattered. My entire look in Drona is very virile and aggressive. "

Priyanka learnt a special strain of the martial arts for her unique-dimensional role in Drona. "I had learnt some kung- fu for Don. But this is different. It's a full-on actioner for me, with kicks and somersaults galore. I quite enjoyed the cuts and bruises. "

She agrees her Drona look and body language is unlike anything she has done before. Quite like what stylist Anaita Shroff did with Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom 2.

"Yeah, we've the same stylist. But my character is more action-oriented. In fact for a change it's the leading lady doing more of the dada-giri than the hero," she laughs.

While she has been staying away from signing new films Priyanka has been doing a lot of ads. "I've been taking the time before my next bunch of assignments making money through ads and live shows. What I do next will have to take me beyond Drona. "

Salman is reluctant to Kiss!

Salman, by his own admission, is often tempted to overstep the law and do what he knows to be wrong.

However, he has much greater respect for his ethos. When it comes to kissing his leading ladies he just won't do it, in deference to his culture and upbringing.

Admitting his proclivity to tread over the law, in a recent interview with a newspaper, Salman explained that he had an evil side that he is not very fond of.

"It is my conscious effort to control that and not to go to the evil side. I have got a tremendous evil side that I don't like. I know this is good, this is bad, and what the right way is. And that is my constant battle, my constant fight with myself," he said.

In sharp contrast, when it comes to kissing his leading ladies on screen, Salman is clear headed and categorical - He won't do it!

According to a source, before he signed up for 'Marigold', his next release and first Hollywood film, the yet to be married 42-year-old told Willard Carroll, the director, that he will not kiss on screen. "No kissing scenes, please!" he said.

Carroll confirms Salman made his sign up conditional.

"That's right. Out there in the West, it's different, but the culture in India is different, and I respect it. Salman came and told me, 'what face will I show my father?' Now, who can argue with that?"

Oh! Salman. You make your fans so proud of you!

Hurricane Katrina hits Mallika

Mallika Sherawat has been having problems with Katrina Kaif. Ask the unit hands of the Anees Bazmee film Welcome. Mallika Sherawat was shooting a scene with Katrina.

Mallika's portions were tougher and the actress too was playing second fiddle to Katrina in the film. Ever since the Bipashas and the Aishwaryas started dropping their clothes for films like Doom, Mallika's relevance has come down.

And it was during the shooting of Welcome that certain hard facts hit Mallika like Hurricane Katrina.

Not only was Katrina being pampered for being Salman's girl, a scene where Mallika had tougher lines got more claps for Katrina when the shot was being canned.

Mallika was stunned and she stormed off into the habourage of her make up van and sobbed uncontrollably. Mallika has come to terms with the fact that she is not a unique factor anymore in Bollywood and there are many replacements who can drop clothes, inhibitions etc.

Priyanka Chopra - The Singing Diva

See Priyanka Chopra in her new avatar as the singing diva. Priyanka Chopra and her father did their own special bit by singing for old age music lovers. Priyanka sure is a socially responsible citizen and sings her way straight into our hearts... Way to go supergirl!

Exclusive News : Priyanka Sang at a Charity Function

July 22, 2007 - Actress Priyanka Chopra sang today at a Charity Function in Mumbai this evening along with her dad.

Priyanka Chopra has been found singing in many bollywood movies but that done with the help of playback singers. It was the first time when Priyanka sang before the entire audience and people simply loved with the lyrics of the song

" bar bar mujhe kyon .. satati tumhari yaad kyon ? "

To join Priyanka was her Dad, who song to some classical numbers which included the famous song " ab tumhare hawale watan sathiyo "

Watching Priyanka Chopra sing may inspire many music directors to turn this model turned actress to a singer some day and we gotta wait and watch till it happens.

Kareena Kapoor joins Ash's league

Kareena Kapoor will be part of three films to be made by production house Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision.

Just days after her beau Shahid Kapur signed a two-film deal with UTV, Bebo has clinched a three-film deal with Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision for which she will reportedly be paid Rs 6 crore.

If the amount reported is correct then this deal puts Kareena in the league of top Bollywood heroines with an acting fee approximating Rs. 2 crore per film. Only Aishwarya Rai is the other Bollywood actress who gets as much amount.

As per the deal, Kareena will act in three films to be made under the banner of Shree Ashtavinayak over the period of two years.

The first of these films will be the sequel to comedy ‘Golmaal’. The sequel, appropriately titled ‘Golmaal Returns’, will feature Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade and Tusshar Kapoor.

The three-film deal does not include the movie with director Imtiaz Ali for which Kareena has been shooting lately with boyfriend Shahid. The deal suddenly puts Kareena in the thick of action after a long hiatus.

The shooting of ‘Golmaal Returns’ will begin in November in Dubai.