Aishwarya Rai pumps up the Brand Bachchan value

With the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai entering the Bachchan family-fold, the “Bachchan brand” value has now crossed the above Rs 700 crore mark.

According to financial analysts and trade experts, the Bachchan brand value is worth Rs 700 crore as Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek Bachchan are brand ambassadors for various products.

Ash, becoming a part of the family now, could add to that value by several crores.

Among the actors who endorse products, Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are the highest paid stars who charge between Rs 4-5 crore for a single brand.

Ash, who was chosen by Time magazine’s Asia edition as one of Asia’s ‘100 most influential people’, is the brand ambassador for products like L’Oreal, Nakshatra Diamonds and Lux, to name a few.

Bachchan endorses products such as Reid & Taylor, ICICI Bank, Nerolac, Dabur India, Pepsi, Parker pens and Cadbury chocolates.

Abhishek endorses Ford Fiesta, Omega, Radio Big 92.7 FM, Motorola, LG Home Appliances, and American Express, among others.

Bachchan charges upto Rs 5 crore per ad, followed by Ash with Rs 3 crore per ad while Abhishek is not far behind. Abhishek’s brand value has recently gone up after delivering hits like Guru and Bunty Aur Babli .

The three stars have their own clientele and cashing in on the marriage, L’Oreal has introduced a limited edition lipstick shade under its colour riche range, tender beige for their brand ambassador Ash.

“This is the first time we have done something like this. We have never done this before,” says a L’Oreal spokesperson. The lipstick will be launched later across the country.

The more the Bachchans keep the marriage details a secret, the more people are going crazy. Brands are falling over each other to get the elusive Bachchans and their new bahu together.

Some of the other cricketers/ filmstars who have their own successful brands include Kajol and Ajay Devgan , M S Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Akshay Kumar to name a few.

The Bachchans have a huge fan following and whatever they do, fans emulate them. The products endorsed by them will be purchased by fans, adman Prahlad Kakkar said.

According to the trend today, filmstar marriages not only have entertainment value but are profitable business ventures worth several crores.

The case in point being the recent Elizabeth Hurley - Arun Nayar wedding held in Jaipur, the rights of which were sold to Hello! magazine for one million pounds.

But amidst all this the Bachchans are the main beneficiaries who will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Avoid John, Salman to Katrina

We thought that they had patched up but after watching John talking about Salman at Koffee with Karan the truce between the Bollywood hunks seems like a distant dream

At the show John stated, “If you ask me today also what the problem is between us, honestly, I don’t know, but it’s unfortunate that there is a problem.. And if things get okay it will be nice.”

Neither John nor Salman have spoken openly about the reasons behind their silent war but members of the ‘Rockstar’ team say, “There was definitely a problem between the two on this show and a lot of it was in Salman’s head. You see, Salman had appointed himself the unofficial rock star of the concerts.

But John kept getting as much frenzied applaud on stage as Salman did, if not more. This hurt Salman’s ego. Also the fact that John kept to his own space, hung around with his best friend whom he had taken along on the tour, instead of joining Salman’s coterie, really hurt Salman. He’s basically like a child who wants and needs constant attention.”

He made his dislike for John even more evident, when he recently blamed the second half of Baabul as responsible for the film’s bad performance at the box-office. Incidentally, Salman is present only in the first half of the film and the second half revolves around John. And when asked if he had stopped talking to John, he retorted, “But when did we start talking?”

Salman also seems to be having second thoughts about doing Rituparno Ghosh’s remake of the 1962 classic Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam for which Ghosh has finalised Salman, John and Priyanka Chopra.

Taking the rivalry a step further, Salman has reportedly instructed girlfriend Katrina Kaif not to work opposite John in any film. Kaif, caught between her beau and her career, had to apparently turn down two films opposite John. Katrina had to let go of the UTV produced film Rockstar and the T.Series produced film Chandramukhi.

Not only this, Salman even included John’s girlfriend Bipasha Basu in the enmity. Salman snubbed old friend Bipasha when she greeted him at the GIFA awards in Malaysia. According to sources “Bipasha is irritated with Salman’s childish attitude and has decided not to give a damn either.”

But commendable is the fact that John is still trying to make things fall in place. Perhaps because the last thing he prefers is to get into controversies.

On ‘Koffee with Karan’, John tried to clear his stand, “I think I used to say hello... but he is kind of upset with me... He is a senior...so I don’t get into the way of things... it’s important that I understand that I have come here to work. I have not come here to make enemies. I don’t want to get into the middle of any controversies.”

It was interesting to see the modest John biting his tongue, when one of his fans said that he is the only actor who makes them forget the ultimate macho Salman Khan.

But he tried his best to appease Salman by grading Khan’s physique better than his, in the rapid fire round later. And when Karan asked him which actor comes to his mind when he hears the tagline ‘Just Do It!’ John mischievously replied “Salman Khan”. We hope Salman is listening.

Katrina Kaif Wallpapers

Aishwarya and Abhishek Honeymoon Pictures

Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan walking in California, United States of America during honeymoon

Aishwarya and Abhishek Honeymoon Pictures

Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan walking in California, United States of America during honeymoon

Neha Dhupia is Blacklisted forever

Sanjay Gupta seems to be constantly losing his cool with the women around him. The latest victim of his wrath is Aarti Chabria who has triggered off yet another controversy.

"We already had three cases against our film. Now today we've the fourth. Thanks to Ms Chabria's unthinking statement, the real-life bar girl Tarannum has taken us to court. Aarti went overboard claiming she researched her character on the real Tarannum.

So the real Tarannum who must have been a schoolgirl when the actual shootout happened in 1991, thinks Aarti's character is based on her. Was the real Tarannum dancing as a school girl? I admit Aarti is named Tarannum. And she's a bar girl."

Sanjay Gupta has blacklisted Neha Dhupia from his production company White Faeather. "Her conduct has been thoroughly unprofessional. When we needed her here to promote the film with the rest of the cast she left us in a lurch to strut at some fashion parade, in spite of being given dates and schedules."

Reacting to accusations of bad behaviour with Neha, Sanjay protests, "I'm not capable of behaving badly with any woman. I don't swear and abuse when women are around, forget raising my hand. I'm much too conservative in my attitude to women.

I was very clear in my dealings with Neha. I've completely cut her out of my life and profession. I haven't been taking her calls. She won't work for us again. I know it's no loss for her.And it's no loss for us either."

Another lady. Another controversy.

"You mean Mandira Bedi? There's no controversy there. She couldn't do Alibaug because our dates kept getting shifted since June last year."

As for rumours of his involvement with Ms Bedi, Gupta is pretty much in the dark about their whereabouts. "Mandira and I pretty much hung about in the same group. I'm very grateful to my well-wishers for giving me a girlfriend every day. But it's affecting my efforts to woo my wife back."

To stay away from the womanizer's reputation Gupta has stopped partying and socializing. "Though I love my drinks I don't go out with women any longer. The other night I was out with pals Rohit Roy and Suddhanhu Pande. We went to a club where they played retro music, had our drinks and came home quietly."

So far Gupta has only been able to convince his wife for an occasional lunch, or to accompany him on a road trip to Pune to promote Shootout At Lokhandwala.

"She hasn't budged from her stance to stay separately. She did come with us on the bus to Pune to promote Shootout…We had great fun playing dumb charadeand antakshari"

At Pune the entire cast and crew had to sing.

"Aanchal Dutta who's singing extensively in my films (and mark my words, this girl is going to be a huge singer) led the singing party. But all of us including Diya Mirza and my wife Anu took a turn at the mike.

All the boys –Rohit Roy, Vivek, Tusshar and Shabbir—sang the entire Ganpat song together. Then we danced till 4 am. My wife of course retired early."

As for Chota Rajan disapproving of Shootout. "He hasn't seen the film. Nobody has. Let me clarify. All the characters except Sanju Dutt's, are fictionalized. I'm just sitting back and quietly enjoying the tamasha."

Cheeni Kum - A Movie Review

Be it a soldier, a flamboyant father or a 60 plus photographer in love with a teenager - Amitabh Bachchan comfortably slips into roles that are as different as chalk and cheese. And he dons a new avatar yet again in "Cheeni Kum", a comic love story.

Amitabh plays a 64-year-old arrogant, acerbic chef of London's top restaurant who falls in love and wants to marry a simple 34-year-old woman visiting London, played by Tabu.

Ad guru R. Balakrishnan, who makes his directorial debut with this film, says he scripted it with the one and only Big B and Tabu in mind.

"The idea came to me when I was shooting an ad film for Lifebuoy soap. I met Bachchan and told him about it. He liked it and after that I scripted the story. From the very first day I wanted to make this film with him and Tabu. I don't know what they are in their personal lives, but they were absolutely perfect to play the characters in my film," told Balakrishnan.

The director is not the only one who is in awe of the superstar. Despite the fact that his face is splashed everywhere, his fans across the country are eagerly waiting to see him in "Cheeni Kum".

"Just when you get tired of seeing Amitabh in yet another ad or film, he manages to bounce right back by experimenting with a new character or genre. And at his age too! I Am waiting to see 'Cheeni Kum'," said Ritika Ganguly, a college student.

Well-known film critic Anupama Chopra expressed the same sentiments saying: "It looks like a real fun film. I would love to see Big B with Tabu."

Earlier, Ram Gopal Varma made a film on a similar subject titled "Nishabd" - which shows a man falling for a girl as old as his daughter - with Amitabh in the lead. But audiences rejected the film.

This may not be the case with "Cheeni Kum" though as the Amitabh-Tabu pairing looks exciting.

"I would love to see 'Cheeni Kum' because I love the way Amitabh woos Tabu, who is eons younger to him. He does it very convincingly and does not look out of place and his scenes with Paresh Rawal (shown in the promos) look hilarious," said Anupama, who works with a publishing house.

"Amitabh's new look ponytail doesn't look bad either!" she adds.

Balakrishnan believes the audiences never reject a subject. "They reject the film in totality. It's all about communication. You have to have every shot in place to build a proper communication with your audience," he said.

At the same time, he denies any similarity between "Nishabd" and "Cheeni Kum".

"I really liked Ram Gopal Varma's film. I cant' comment on why it didn't work. But there is no similarity between the two films. Mine is out and out comedy."

The current lot of young directors are vying with each other to cast the Big B in their films. They are scripting stories for him. In fact, he seems to have left younger stars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan far behind in this race.

"He is a terrific actor. His talent has withstood time. And it's a dream to direct him. I can imagine all these new directors, who grew up with his films, dying to direct him," said film critic Chopra.

Commenting on the Big B craze, Balakrishnan said: "He is a star actor that the country has ever seen before. He is much more than an actor. Even if he comes on screen and just stands there without saying a single word, people would like to see him like that again and again," said.

The actor has quite a few interesting releases lined up, including Shaad Ali's "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom".

Hrithik Roshan sweats to complete Jodhaa Akbar in Aishwarya's absence

Aishwarya Bachchan's honeymoon and visit to Cannes have messed up the schedule of this film but it has not deterred Hrithik from perfecting his part of the film.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan in a still from Dhoom 2

18 May 2007 (Sawf News) - One of Bollywood sincerest superstars, Hrithik is following a punishing schedule of work to complete Jodhaa Akbar, Ashutosh Gowarikar's magnum opus, says Bombay Times,

"He has to wear extremely heavy amour to look convincing as Emperor Akbar but he carries the weight all day. He wakes up at 5 am every day to reach the location in Karjat (near Mumbai) in time for the shoot and returns home beating the traffic to spend dinnertime with family. He sleeps early to repeat the routine next day."

Aishwarya Bachchan's honeymoon and visit to Cannes have messed up the schedule of this film but it has not deterred Hrithik from perfecting his part of the film.

Source : Sawf