Bollywood latest news

Aamir Khan is all set to introduce his nephew Imran Khan in his film Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na. The actor, producer and director is leaving no stone unturned to see that Imran makes it to the top. He has gone out of his way to introduce him to Bollywood just as he was launched with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT).

Aamir and Imran are often being compared to each other in every way. Mention it to Aamir and he differs. “We never planned it that way,” he says, “Jaane Tu… was earlier being produced by Jhamu Sugandh, along with two other films. Unfortunately, there was a financial crisis and Jaane Tu… was left without a producer. When Imran and Abbas narrated the script to me, I just fell in love with it. As a producer and an actor, I put my name and money on it. I want the audience to identify the film as quality cinema. After I decided to produce the film, I went through all the auditions and only then did I approve of Imran. But now that the film is ready, it brings back emotional memories of chachajaan (Nasir Hussain), launching me in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. We are a close-knit family and we have grown together — Mansoor, Nuzhat, Nikhat, and me. All my formative years were spent at their house.”

The actor has been ridiculed and applauded for his views on his blog when he mentioned Shah Rukh Khan licking his feet — Shah Rukh being a dog. Aamir laughs and says, “Shah Rukh and I keep joking with each other. We are at such a comfortable level that we realise the gist of the joke. He has made fun of me several times in the past and I have understood that as a joke. However, most of our fans did not appreciate the humour, so I apologised to them for hurting their feelings. Infact, we spoke couple of days back. I had called him to invite him for the premiere of the film.”

Aamir has not only invited Shah Rukh, but also Amitabh Bachchan for the premiere of the film. “It is an emotional moment for the family and I know that chachajaan would have wanted to call the film fraternity,” he says.

The Bachchans’ upcoming Unforgettable world tour has something to look forward to — leggy lass Shilpa Shetty is all set to team up with the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai for two performances.

Shilpa is all set to dance the night away with Aishwarya, Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan in London on August 23-24 at the prestigious 02 Arena, earlier known as the Millennium Dome.

But this is not Shilpa’s first show with Amitabh. “I’ve been on a world tour with Amitji earlier, but not with the rest of the family. And Preity Zinta, who will also be coming along, is a terrific, hassle-free girl. As for Aishwarya, we’re both from Mangalore. I’m looking forward to going on stage with her,” says Shilpa.

Shilpa’s popularity soared in Britain after her stint in reality show The Big Brother, which she went on to win. And what made Shilpa join the Unforgettable tour at the eleventh hour? “It’s not a last-minute thing at all,” said Shilpa, “I had been negotiating to join the tour for a while. It finally worked out now. I’m excited about going on stage with the Bachchans.”

While Shilpa will join the Bachchans in London, Madhuri Dixit is expected to perform in the US and Canada and Akshay Kumar will be seen at the inaugural show in Toronto on July 18

After finishing Mission Istanbul, Apoorva Lakhia is set to direct a film for Ekta Kapoor and has finalised the cast. But, surprisingly, his good pal, Abhishek Bachchan’s name is missing from the list. Asked why Abhishek is not part of the cast, Lakhia said, “Not in this one. I need to work with actors I haven’t worked with before.”

The director says, “Tusshar Kapoor couldn’t do my Mission Istanbul. So I’d want to work with him this time even if this wasn’t his home production. Zayed (Khan) is someone I’ve watched evolve as an actor during Mission Istanbul. I’d like to take him forward.”

Lakhia’s next film will also launch the duo from Ekta’s reality show Kissko Milega Ticket To Bollywood. “It will also have Sanjay Dutt besides the two newcomers from the reality show,” he said.

Going back to Abhishek, Lakhia said, “In the second-half of 2009, I’m doing a film with Abhishek as the solo hero for producer Vashu Bhagnani.”

Lakhia started his career with the Abhishek starrer Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost, which didn’t do well at the box office. After that he made Ek Ajnabee with the Big B, which was once again rejected by critics and audiences. Lakhia hit the jackpot with Shootout At Lokhandwala, which had both Abhishek and Amitabh.

Apparently, it’s Abhishek who got Lakhia the Bhagnani project. “That’s right,” conceded Lakhia. “When Vashuji asked Abhishek to do a film for him, Abhishek suggested that I direct it.” “Last time Abhishek did Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya for me, but it didn’t work. This time I want to make sure the audiences go home with a smile on their face,” said Vashu about Lakhia’s film.

Rahul Bose is a busy man. When he’s not busy shooting films, or reading passages from literary author’s books, the actor loves to play his favourite game — rugby. Rahul has just come back to Mumbai after playing at the World Cup qualifier for the Asian zone rugby tournament in Bangkok recently. The best 32 nations in the world play at the World Cup and India is ranked at 83 after being recognised only 10 years ago. Rahul’s team beat the Pakistan team hollow at the quadrangular tournament where Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan, apart from India were the other participating countries. Rahul, who has been injured playing the sport many a time resulting in broken fingers and his nose, is very passionate about the game as he is about films.

The actor’s Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam with Mallika Sherawat is up for release soon. The queen of oomph, Mallika, and he made a very unusual screen pair in their first film together, Pyar Ke Side Effects, which did well at the box office

Mugdha Godse considers herself really lucky as she bagged Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion for her debut film. “I play the character of a Catholic model in the film. Since I started my career modelling and I can relate to the role really well,” says Mugdha. “Modelling just happened to me. However, there was no growth after a certain point of time. Thus, films became the obvious next step,” she adds.

Mugdha is quite brazen when it comes to talking about skin show on screen. “I have a perfect body, so I am very confident about wearing a bikini on screen. If you don’t have a good figure then you have to compromise and make a choice,” she says. She is averse to the idea of being labelled an item girl. “I have some very good offers coming my way. So I don’t want to ruin my chances of making it big in the industry by doing item numbers,” she explains. Mugdha sees nothing wrong in kissing on screen. “Times have changed. If a script demands it then what’s the harm on kissing on screen?” she says

Priyanka Chopra is going to be the surprise package in Goldie Behl’s forthcoming directorial venture Drona, which is touted to be one of the biggest films of the year. Sources reveal that Priyanka has done some amazing stunt sequences in the film overtaking Abhishek Bachchan in most of the scenes.

A source revealed, “Abhishek will hardly be seen in the scenes of the film and all the action scenes have been done by Priyanka. The film is a magnum opus where a lot of money has been spent on the action and special effects of the film. The sets that have also been constructed for the film are huge and dynamic. But what is surprising is that Abhishek will be a disappointment to the audience.”

Those who have seen the rushes of the film say that it has a Rs 90 crore budget.However, it’s not upto the expectations of the audiences. Abhishek will be seen in smaller footages and even the climax scenes of the film have been totally overtaken by Priyanka with her action scenes

priyanka

Shahid Kapur and Vidya Balan have been constantly in the news for their alleged romance that blossomed on the sets of Kismat Konnection. The actor believes that now that he is single, he is going to be linked with every co-star. “People have been talking about it. I don’t think I need to clarify anything. We spent 15 days together in Toronto on the shoot and became very good friends, but we didn’t have much of a choice,” he says.

About his first-time pairing with Vidya, Shahid adds, “People were skeptical about how Vidya and I would look together. But the way the film has turned out shows that it’s all good. It has been cast according to its requirement and I think that is the strength of the movie. If script and characters are good people like films. People liked my character in Jab We Met. They liked my pairing with Kareena. It’s the same with Kismat Konnection — people will like our characters and our pairing too. Shahid is also a big believer in luck, “Yes, I believe in luck because I feel that it plays important part in our lives.”

The Jab We Met actor received a lot of praise for his work in the film and though people would like to see him in more romantic comedies, Shahid would like variety.

“I am very happy that people like me in romantic comedies. But at the same time, I feel that if I do too much of the same thing, people will get bored. They want to see me in different roles. I would get bored of myself, so I try to mix and match. I am trying to do different kind of roles now,” he says.

Tanuja Chandra has always loved to write and direct issue-based films. However, for the first time, she will be directing a romantic film. “I will be directing my mother, Kaamna Chandra’s script. It is a complete romantic film — something I have never done before. I am yet to finalise the title for the film. Selecting a title is always a challenge for me because I am always looking for something unique,” says Tanuja.

Tanuja’s last release Hope And Little Sugar, starring Anupam Kher and Mahima Chaudhary, was not able to make waves at the box office. “The film was produced by two New York-based producers Glenn Russow and Scott Pardo. It was a cross-cultural collaboration. It was never meant for the larger masses. The film was screened at many film festivals and it was appreciated there. India was always a small territory for this film. This was an offbeat film and I consider it a very good experience for myself,” says the director.

How important is box office success for Tanuja? “I want my films to be well-received. And critics these days are too quick to pass judgment. They don’t even think what the director’s perspective may be,” she says.

Tanuja draws inspiration from what happens in real life for her movies. “What happens in real life is much more dramatic than something fictional. I draw a lot of inspiration from true-life incidents and women-related issues. I personally feel every film must have message at the end,” she explains.

Is she satisfied with the films she has been directing? “I believe that the day I am satisfied with what I do, will be time for me to retire. Till the time you are unsatisfied you will be striving for more. I want to achieve a lot more, so it’s going to take me a long time before I am satisfied,” she says.

Director Saurabh Kabra is so enamoured with actor Sanjay Dutt, that the director can’t stop singing praises about him. Saurabh, who is directing Popcorn Entertainment’s EMI says that he has never met a dedicated actor like Sanjay.

He says, “Sanjay is so accommodating as an actor. He is one actor who has worked with a lot of new directors and he is very understanding. Recently, we had to reshoot a few sequences in EMI. We had to add a few extra scenes in the film. When Sanjay saw the rushes, he told me to give him two days since he wanted to grow a beard for a particular scene. I was surprised. We suggested that he use a false beard. But Sanjay wanted it to be authentic and told me that he would grow a beard and shoot the scenes.”

EMI is a modern day film and deals with life of a common man, who always takes loans to fulfill his dreams. “Sanjay plays the role of a recovery agent. He is so superb that I could not have asked for more. Everyday was a new experience for me while working with him. I am also doing my next film with him. We will announce the details very soon,” says Saurabh.

Debutant director Rajkumar Gupta says he had to struggle to get the rights of American pop singer Peggy Lee’s song for his film Aamir. “From the time I heard Peggy Lee sing It’s a Good Day, I wanted it as the preamble for Aamir. It so ably and ironically defined my protagonist’s day and what it eventually does not turn to be, that I was just not willing to let it go,” Gupta said. Thus began the chase to get the song.

“Since Peggy Lee died in 2002, it wasn’t easy. We finally tracked it down to the source but the price quoted was far too much for our budget. We finally had to pay something around Rs 800,000. Considering our film’s budget was Rs 20 million, that was a fortune for us, especially since we weren’t allowed to use the song in our soundtrack,” said Gupta. The struggle to get Peggy Lee’s song wasn’t the only copyright crisis for Aamir.

“Halfway through the making, someone informed us that Aamir looked suspiciously like Filipino director Neill dela Llana’s Cavite. I died. We didn’t want to take any chances.” Gupta said. “We immediately got in touch with the makers of Cavite and told them what we were making and asked if we should proceed with our project or scrap it. They were gracious enough to give us an all-clear signal saying two works of art somewhere or the other are bound to resemble one another,” Gupta said.

“Imagine if a new director’s first film got scrapped! I was sure I’d be in the clear because my script was ready a good two years before Cavite was released,” said the director. Gupta’s execution of the subject has earned him critical acclaim. “So far the response has been more than what Rajeev and I had hoped for,” Gupta said.