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Ever since Welcome To Sajjanpur was declared a box office success, Amrita Rao is on a new high. The actress says she is overwhelmed by the huge success of the film. “The audience has welcomed the film with open arms and the entire team of Sajjanpur has enjoyed the process. The house-full boards and the three stars were an added bonus. We are thankful to the audience,” says Amrita.

Renowned painter M.F. Hussain has also praised Amrita’s role in the film and plans a series of paintings based on it. Amrita laughs and says, “Yes he has watched it three times and any film which portrays Indian culture appeals to him. He liked Vivaah too. I was apprehensive about this film because it was in stark contrast to Vivaah. There I was educated, hailing from a good background. Here my role was diametrically opposite. I am uneducated in the film. Since Hussain saab was born and brought up in Kolhapur, he was pleased to see me as a potter in the film. He is fond of pottery. His first film Ghajagamini was based on pottery. After 11 years, he has declared me his next muse and that’s the biggest compliment I have ever got in my life. He has immortalised me on his canvas. When I look back at my career, this is certainly going to be one of the landmark features in my profile.”

Practically all of Shyam Benegal’s films have won National Awards. Amrita hopes Sajjanpur will be the next. “My greatest award was given by Shyam Benegal himself. I more than met his expectations and the role has been special to me. I had to take up a lot of challenges and I have enjoyed the process of living Kamla. Getting a National Award will be a dream come true. It’s one of the biggest awards and which actor would not like to be nominated? Sajjanpur was a commercial hit and it stands a good chance for the award,” she says

Bhagyashree is playing the role of Suniel Shetty’s wife in Red Alert – The War Within. The actress reveals a funny incident on the sets of the film. “I play the role of a poverty-stricken woman. So naturally, I had to be a plain jane for the film. When I turned up for the shoot in Khandala, I came on the sets with slight makeup and dull lipstick,” she says.

This made the producer and director see red. “They were so irritated that I had put makeup that they asked me to go and clean my face. I tried to explain that it was only to subdue my complexion and fresh look, but they would not listen. Therefore, I went and removed my makeup. Guess what? When they saw me, they told me to put the makeup back on because I was not looking undernourished and unhappy. My complexion is naturally glowing. So it took me another half an hour to put the makeup back and dull my face,” says Bhagyashree.

Even her cotton sari was crumpled further to give her the dismal look. Red Alert is the true story of Narsimha, a farm labourer, who desperately needed money to fund the education of his children. He finds himself in the midst of Naxalites where his mission becomes a mere subset of a greater cause that the militants pursue.

The film is directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan and, written by Aruna Raje. It also stars Sameera Reddy, Ayesha Dharker, Seema Biswas, Makrand Deshpande, Gulshan Grover, Naseeruddin Shah and Vinod Khanna.

Director Madhur Bhandarkar wrapped up the final schedule of his forthcoming movie Fashion in Hyderabad with the entire star cast last week. Priyanka Chopra, who was also shooting, became very emotional as the shoot ended. Priyanka had become very attached to the entire team and was moved to tears when she realised they would all go their separate ways after the shoot. Madhur says, “We have been shooting on and off for almost a year now and as a unit, we have become very close to each other. Priyanka and Kangana Ranaut will always be very special. They have been amazingly focused and intelligent. When I saw them on the ramp, I realised that I had to put in some powerful scenes between them. I incorporated some powerful confrontational scenes between the two actresses. They have been fabulous together. So were Mughda Godse and Arjan Bajwa. It was a sad day for us when the shoot ended. We were all very emotional and Priyanka actually met and thanked everyone individually.” Fashion is a blend of fiction and real life characters. The film highlights the rise and fall of models

Konkona Sen Sharma will once again be seen in the role of a journalist and social activist in Rohan Sippy’s forthcoming venture The President is Coming. Sources reveal that it is an English film based on a comedy play. The small budget film is almost complete and will be released soon. It talks about a Bengali writer and social activist. The story is set in the time when President Bush made a visit to India, an official visit of a US head of state to the country in a long time. One of his main goals was to meet some of the young faces responsible for shaping the new India.

This will be the third time Konkana will be playing the role of a journalist. The first time was in Page 3 and then 15 Park Avenue. The film also stars Shernaz Patel, Ira Dubey, Anand Tiwari and Shivani Tanksale in interesting roles.

They say that life inspires art, but for Anjori Alagh, it is art that makes life worthwhile. “Because while doing artistic things you get to learn so many new things that you would never have otherwise bothered to do in real life,” explains Anjori. Citing an example, Anjori says, “My character in Vikram Bhatt’s 1920 plays the piano. I had never played a piano in real life before. Vikram was keen that I learn the art for authenticity. I learnt to play the tune played by a piano teacher. I thoroughly rehearsed it for ten days. By the end of the shoot, I was so hooked on to the piano that I wanted to pursue the art further. The piano scene has been deleted from the film, but the piano has found a permanent place in my life. Today I am mastering the art of playing the piano in real life which I would never have done, had it not been used in the film.”

Kunal Khemu, who created a lot of buzz with his films Kalyug, Traffic Signal and Super Star, has vanished from the scene for quite some time now. But the actor is now back with a completely new look. He has cropped his trademark long tresses. “I needed a change,” he says, adding, “This new look is for my next venture 99 with Soha Ali Khan.

Hairstylist Suraj, son of Bharat and Dorris, has designed this new look for me.”  Kunal adds that this look was needed “to make me look mature. “Earlier I grew my hair hoping that it made me look mature. Now I cut it short to achieve the look. Maturity has come with age now. I don’t need such support to look older!” he laughs.  Aditya Shastri and Anupam Mittal of People Pictures have produced the flick 99.

With Kidnap and EMI all set for release, Sanjay Dutt has been busy with the movies’ promotion. The actor has had a close relationship with Suneil Shetty for a long time now. It was reported that the Munnabhai star had demanded more than his usual renumeration from Shetty for EMI. “My association with Suneil Shetty goes a long way. We are like brothers. So why not demand from a brother?” said Sanjay. “He is a great actor and producer. He has a very large heart and in spite of all the professionalism, he is a very emotional human being,” he added.

About his latest role, Sanjay revealed, “My role in EMI is very similar to my character Munnabhai. Here I am called Sattarbhai who is very funny but at the same time he’s an emotional character too. However, I wish bankers go and watch the film. They should realise how people who take loans survive — the kind of crises they face in real life.”

However, the actor denies ever taking a loan in real life himself. “All I remember is taking loans from my parents. They used to give me Rs 200 as pocket money,” he said.

Dutt also said EMI is a “lovable” film.” There’s so much violence going on in the country. It is so sad. I want people to see such films and forget the hatred we have for each other. We are one country where people come together in crises. We should not get influenced by bad forces.”

Asked what star he’d take a loan from, Sanjay laughed and said, “Definitely from Akshay Kumar. I heard he has signed a film for Rs 71 crore. It was all over the newspapers recently.”

Speaking about his image as a bhai in many of his films, Sanjay said, “I played a bhai in Vaastav, then I became Munnabhai, and now Sattarbhai but my characters have been adored by my audience and fans. I am very thankful to them. They lovingly call me baba and I will always be Sanju baba for them.”

Sanjay is currently shooting for his next venture Blue in the Bahamas. “It’s a film with a lot of underwater stunts. After being in the water for so long I dread going near it now,” he said.

Bollywood actor Dino Morea, who recently started his own production house called Clockworks, says he plans to launch his younger brother Santino as a director to fulfill his grandfather’s wish. “My grandfather used to watch a lot of films and he always wanted my younger brother to become a director. He had this dream that Santino would one day become a big director. He said this to my father before his death and my father asked my brother to get into films,” Dino said in an interview.

Santino, who is also a model, is currently assisting Karan Johar. “I want my brother to learn about filmmaking and be a good director. Once he learns about it properly, I will be launching him in a big way,” Dino said.

“We are planning a big movie, which he (Santino) will be directing. The story will be about my grandfather, and my father might play a small role in it,” the actor added. But Santino’s film won’t be Dino’s first project as producer. He plans to foray into film production with an adaptation of a successful play from Britain by theatre director Pravesh Kumar. And Pravesh has been signed on as director for Dino’s film too.

Asked about the status of the film, Dino said, “We are looking for tie-ups with presenters. Once that is done, we will go (ahead) with the film.” Has Kareena Kapoor been roped in for his maiden production? “I have a wish list of people, but nothing has been finalised. We will be starting with pre-production; once we are through with the tie-ups, then everything will be finalised. Pravesh, who is abroad, is also expected by next month and then we will take a call on the casting,” Dino said.

The actor, who has worked in films like Raaz and Holiday, has big plans for Clockworks, but said he would take one step at a time. “We will start with one film and then slowly increase the number of our productions in a year. I aim to have at least 10 films a year later,” Dino said.

After turning producer, Dino said he’s become more selective about signing movies as an actor. “I will be signing films with big banners only.

Small screen star Prachi Desai, who has made her way to Bollywood with Rock On, says she may not be returning to television any time soon.

The 20-year-old plays director-turned-actor Farhan Akhtar’s leading lady in the movie that releases August 29. “I don’t know when I will go back to TV. If my films don’t do well, I will have to go back. But right now I’m doing films and I hope it takes me somewhere,” Prachi says.

“It is not that I don’t want to go back to my TV image of wearing saris, but it is too early to do all that again. I have other films in hand also. So TV will wait for now,” she added.

Apart from Rock On, Prachi is doing Abbas-Mustan’s Life Partner in which she will be sharing screen space with actors like Fardeen Khan, Govinda, Tusshar Kapoor and Genelia D’Souza. The young actress walked her way to success with her portrayal of Bani in TV soap Kasamh Se.

For her debut film Rock On, she has undergone an image makeover. She gives all credit to director Abhishek Kapoor for her new look. “What I was doing on TV was very regressive. I have done nothing for my looks in the film. It was all Abhishek’s vision. It was all that he wanted me to do in the film and all thanks to the people who have worked on my styling. I just had to carry the character,” said Prachi.

About her role in the film, Prachi said, “My character’s name is Sakshi and I play Aditya’s (Farhan’s) wife in the film. It is very unlike what you have seen me do on TV. I play a more sophisticated character who is a mature girl and very positive of course. Somebody who can do anything to see her husband happy.”

The film narrates the story of four friends who put together a rock band Magik but fail to make it a success. Years later, fate brings them back together and sets them on a journey back to where they left off, only to live their cherished dream. Other actors in the film include Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Shahana Goswami and Koel Puri.

Although Priyanka Chopra had decided not to do a lip lock or don a bikini on screen, she has agreed to get into a swimsuit for Karan Johar’s romantic comedy Dostana. “Karan didn’t ask me to wear a bikini. But this is a beach movie. So it’s only natural that I get into beachwear. And I don’t mind at all. Because everyone else will be wearing even tinier clothes,” said Priyanka. The Bollywood beauty says she had a ball with co-stars Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham. “I’ve worked with Abhishek and John before. But never like this. Their bonding is infectious. Dostana was one big party. It’s a beachside, sporty film. And I’m very much a water babe. The director Tarun Mansukhani is new but his wit sparkles. He’s written a really urbane, tongue-in-cheek comedy.”

Priyanka can’t stop raving about the new love in her life. “No, his name isn’t Harman Baweja. It’s someone called Boo, a pet robot teddy bear who accompanies me everywhere in Love Story 2050. He’s all pink and the cutest creature on earth. I want to take him home.