Sonam Kapoor honing her dancing skills

She was plump and overweight when Sanjay Leela Bhansali told her that she would be his heroine in ‘Saawariya’. She hit the gym with vengeance and transformed herself into an attractive, shapely girl in a matter of months.

Talking about Anil Kapoor’s daughter Sonam Kapoor, the petite girl is debuting with Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya’. Now she is adding to her excellence by learning dances from Latin America. Sonam has been taking dancing lessons in salsa, samba, rumba, cha cha cha and waltz from dance expert Sandip Soparrkar for a couple of months now. Of these, Sonam excels best in rumba, a soft, sensuous dance from Cuba.

Priyanka Chopra suffers a muscle tear

Priyanka Chopra tore a muscle while filming a stunt for her action-packed role in ‘Drona’. “I was doing a somersault when I felt something give way inside my rib cage. I’ve apparently suffered a tear in my abs,” the actress said.

However, the gal is too dedicated to rest and let her work suffer. Her schedule next week has dance scenes and more stunts for the film.“It’s so painful. I’ve no choice but to continue. I don’t know how I’ll manage,” says Chopra.

The movie ‘Drona’ has Priyanka playing a bodyguard skilled in an ancient Sikh martial art, wielding a sword and a kirpan . Abhishek Bachchan plays a superhero, and Kay Kay Menon is the villain.

Sonam Kapoor honing her dancing skills

Prakash Jha’s ‘Dil, Dosti,etc’ which is set to release on September 28 is introducing yet another Miss India to Bollywood. Nikita Anand won the crown in 2003 but stayed away from films coz she was not sure of her acting skills. She kept herself busy with anchoring and show-hosting assignments, instead.

After four years, Nikita is appearing on-screen with Shreyas Talpade. In the film, she plays Prerna, a city-bred girl who comes from a rich family and has a very modern outlook towards life.

Producer Prakash Jha seems pretty impressed by Nikita’s work in the film. He calls her “the new surprise package for Bollywood”.

RGV’s girls: Where are they now?

Ramgopal Varma likes to repeat his heroines to the point of obsession. Not all are talented. Now, take a look at this.

Urmila Matondkar

“The first five films she did with me flopped. Then ‘Rangeela’ worked. Does that mean she didn’t have the potential earlier?” asks Varma. Her last full-fledged role in his films was in ‘Ek Haseena Thi’. She re-appeared in the ‘Mehbooba’ song in ‘Aag’. The effect? Pfft.

Nisha Kothari

“My belief in her won’t change. If anyone is to blame for promoting her, it should be me. I think she has suited the character wherever I have cast her,” says Varma. As we choke on that, chew on this. Seven films with Varma, without a hit, three for others since she came to Mumbai from Kolkata in 2003.

Antara Mali

In her nine-film career, she has done only one that is not produced or directed by Varma. The actress even wrote, co-directed and acted in a film he produced, proving to be a nightmare for her co-workers with her diva demands. Now on the lookout for a publicist and work.

Celina Jaitley gets mischievous

Celina Jaitley is currently working for the director Ken Khan’s movie ‘Love Has No Language’, which is set and shot in New Zealand. Celina and Ken were invited for a party where most of the guests were supposed to be Indians.

Since, Ken doesn’t know Hindi, he asked Celina to teach him how to greet the guest in Hindi. Celina got mischievous and taught him to say: “Namastey, tera baap chor hai!”.

Poor Ken did not realize what the words meant and he learnt them by heart. Later, at the party, he addressed the crowd with the same sentence. Ken realized something was wrong only when he read everyone’s shocked expression.

However, later Celina eased everyone by clarifying the whole issue and accepting that she was the culprit.

Shahrukh khan cheers for the Indian cricket team

The India-Pakistan Twenty-20 finals in Johannesburg, South Africa, took the entire crowd in ecstasy, but one Indian supporter in the VIP stands who kept the camera flashing was superstar Shahrukh Khan along with his son Aryan. SRK, wearing a black suit, constantly clapped when a dot ball was bowled from the Indian side and stood from his seat in joy whenever a Pakistani wicket fell. He even took turns with his son to wave the Indian flag from the stands.

Shahrukh has oft and on shown his patriotism on-screen with movies like Swades, Veer-Zaara, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Dil Se, Pardes and the recent one, Chak De! India. And most appropriately, the DJ played a few lines of the song Chak De…Chak De India from SRK’s recent release Chak De India, when Sohail Tanvir’s wicket fell.

Later, after the victory, SRK went to congratulate the players on the field. He hugged each player individually. Harbhajan Singh, who was completely ecstatic, lifted SRK up when the superstar hugged him.

SRK was heard saying to his son: “They (the Indian players) are the true superstars”. That was one quote from a superstar for other superstars.

Congratulations India and specially MS Dhoni .

Sushmita Sen walks the ramp for Maheka Mirpuri

This Friday night Maheka Mirpuri showcased her latest collection at Taj President aptly titled ‘Khwahish’. The show had top models walking the ramp wearing her designs. The showstopper was Bollywood sexy siren Sushmita Sen as she walked the ramp and bowed to the audience in her trademark style. Socialites and celebrities from different walks of life applauded the fabulous collection and wished Maheka on the occasion. Other eminent personalities gracing the occasion were Dolly Thakore, Monica Vaziralli, Jesse Randhawa, Sucheta Sharma and many more.

Kareena kapoor celebrates her birthday sans Shahid

Gorgeous Kareena Kapoor turned 27 years old this 21st September and she celebrated her birthday with a small get together at designer Aki Narula’s home. Saif along with sister Karisma, Dino Morea, Amrita Arora and her boyfriend Usman Afzal were some of the guests invited for the intimate get together.

This space had informed you that Kareena had celebrated her birthday on the sets of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ along with the launch of the music of ‘Jab We Met’. Adding spice to the news is the fact that after the show ended, Kareena was picked up from the venue by none other than Saif Ali Khan.

Saif was reportedly waiting for a good two hours for Kareena to wrap up the music launch event. He did not attend the event, but immediately after the event, he picked up Kareena from the venue and they drove off together in his car. A source says “Saif waited in his car for nearly two hours till Bebo finished the event, after which they left together.”

Bhool Bhulaiyaa - Amisha Patel ko ‘Bhool’gaya

After ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd’, Amisha Patel will next be seen in the film ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’. Unfortunately Amisha, who plays the lead role opposite Akshay Kumar, is almost absent from the promos and even the posters of the film. This has made Amisha extremely upset with director Priyadarshan and even the producers T. Series.

Infact the posters show Vidya Balan by Akshay’s side while Amisha has been shown with the character actors Asrani, Manoj Joshi, Paresh Raal, etc. Since the music CDs of the film too have the same picture, Amisha has supposedly decided not to attend the music launch of ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’.

Director Priyadarshan apologetically says, “No I am not aware that she is upset. I have though seen the posters and CD’s and if Amisha is hurt and feels let down then she has every right to be.” However the director also maintained that he was unable to see and approve the posters and CDs earlier as he was not in town.

Ben Kingsley reveals his Mumtaz Mahal - Aishwarya Rai bachchan

Sir Ben Kingsley has finally announced the female lead to his movie on the Taj Mahal. And it is Aishwarya rai Bachchan. Ash has been finalized to play the legendary Mumtaz Mahal to Sir Ben’s Shah Jehan. The movie will be shot next year in Agra and Fatehpuri Sikri.

Sir Ben, one of the world’s most honoured actors with four Academy Award nominations for his memorable role of Gandhi, apparently considered Aishwarya over Bengali beauty Bipasha Basu. However, the actor feels that his fans may forget him as Gandhi after his work as Shah Jehan.

“May be for a little while they might,” Kingsley smiles, “but I hope to be remembered as Gandhi forever.”

Sir Ben also disclosed, “The movie is on the building of the Taj Mahal. The romance will also include Shah Jehan’s abject isolation for years in a prison cell. I had spoken to Aishwarya last year while we were working on The Last Legion and she very generously agreed to do the movie with me. My production house is working with a screenwriter on the project. I have very clear ideas about how I want to approach the subject.”

Richard Gere kiss episode still haunting Shilpa Shetty

Shilpa Shetty had kicked off a controversy a few months ago when Hollywood star Richard Gere kissed her in public at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi.

The incident triggered protests, and some people filed cases against her in various courts of the country. Where most of the complainants backed out, a court in Alwar district of Rajasthan issued a ‘look-out notice’ for Shilpa at various airports. The notice said that the actress shouldn’t be allowed to leave the country till the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty case was over. Shilpa appealed to the Supreme Court against this order which ruled out this judgement giving her permission to travel abroad.

However, the immigration officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport were apparently not informed of the Supreme Court clearance due to which Shilpa had to face embarrassment on Wednesday when an immigration official allegedly spoke rudely to her just before she was to leave for Germany for West End musical “Miss Bollywood” leaving Shilpa in tears.

What added to the actor’s embarrassment was a huge crowd that had gathered around at the airport to watch her exchange of words with the immigration personnel.

Her spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar said: “She called me in the middle of the night and was in tears saying an inspector had treated her badly, and told her she could not travel out of the country as there was no clearance order from the court.”

Bhumika Chawla ready for wedding bells

The little birdie in the tinsel town brings in that Bhumika Chawla is set to enter into the bonds of marriage soon. The lady has been dating yoga expert Bharat Thakur for more than two years now. The two first met through a common friend who recommended Bharat’s name to Bhumika for yoga lessons.

According to reports, Bhumika and Bharat will tie the knot on October 25 in Mumbai. The wedding will be on a small scale with family and close friends, including some celebrities from the film industry.

Bhumika was last seen in Feroz Abbas Khan’s movie ‘Gandhi My Father’.

Kajol and Ajay Devgan signed for ‘Toonpur Ka Super Hero’

Eros International, the leading integrated company within the Indian media & entertainment sector has signed Kajol opposite hubby Ajay Devgan for ‘Toonpur Ka Super Hero’ – a 3D film with animation. With this film, this off-screen couple will be seen together on-screen for the 2nd time post marriage, the first being ‘You, Me and Hum’.

Under the direction of ad filmmaker Kireet Khurana, the movie has an exciting storyline where a reel life hero accidentally lands in a world of cartoons and transforms into a real life hero. The film will have Ajay Devgan playing himself.

Sunil Lulla, President, Eros International India said, “Toonpur promises to be a family entertainer with a lot of adventure, romance, fun element and the first 3-D film with animation”.

Junior Bachchan is Aparna Sen’s choice

Bengali ace director Aparna Sen plans to cast Abhishek Bachchan for her first Hindi movie ‘Gulel’. To be known that Abhishek had already given his dates for the film when late Ismail’s Merchant’ nephew Naeem was to produce it. However, the project was shelved due to the death of Ismail. Now, Sen is ready to start again as soon as Abhi gives his dates.

“For ‘Gulel’, I really want Abhishek and I know Abhishek wants to do the role. He has said yes,” said Sen.

Abhishek, too, is keen on working with Aparna, “I’ve worked in two Bengali films with Rituda in ‘Antarmahal’ and in a film called ‘Desh’, directed by Raja Sen in which I played my own mom’s son. It would be delightful to work with Aparna Sen.”

Meanwhile, Aparna Sen is in the process of completing her latest Bengali film “The Japanese Wife”, which is based on Kunal Basu’s short story and stars Rahul Bose and Raima Sen. The film is about a man involved in a relationship with two women simultaneously.

Who will be the chosen one - Bebo or Deepika?

Saif Ali Khan’s home production ‘Vinod Agent’ is juggling between two choices for the female lead: Kareena Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. This movie is supposed to be India’s answer to James Bond.

Where Kareena Kapoor has a favour from Saif Ali Khan( which is but natural given her growing friendship with Chhote Nawab), the only hitch though is that Bebo is not too keen to wear a swim suit which apparently is a perquisite to be a ‘Bond girl’. On the other hand, director Sriram is keen on Deepika, who has already made it clear that she has no qualms about appearing in a bikini.

Initially, the thought was to sign an Indian and an International actress for the movie but, now there seems to be a change in plans as it’s likely that both the actresses could be Indian. While you ponder over the question, which is the better choice, keep watching the space to know which lady finally wins the role.

‘Om Shanti Om’ versus ‘Saawariya’ - Butts versus Abs

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

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?). As for ‘Om Shanti Om’, everyone is quite aware of SRK’s shirtless ‘Dard-e-disco’ and flaunting six-pack abs.

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’.

Also 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.

Well, whatever the marketing approach may be, with Ranbir Kapoor’s butt versus SRK’s shirless abs, the box-office this festive season will have fireworks for sure.

Sawaariya !! Will it be sanjays's another big hit??

Subhash K. Jha speaks about Dil Dosti etc.

There's dude in an Afro hairdo, and a dehati with oily hair. Afro and Oil can never jell well….But hell, the twain do meet in writer-director Manish Tiwari's maiden venture…or do I mean maidaan venture, considering the two young protagonists are constantly playing the field.

Afro has a roving eye. Oily wants to be a student leader. And we want to know why Tiwari with all his creative and other natural resources (authentic locales, in-sync music and credible players) couldn't come up with a film that compares favourably with other films about coming of age….and rage.

Work ‘n’ Workout come first for Amisha Patel

Amisha Patel, while shooting for Kunal Kohli’s film, pulled a leg muscle. But never mind with the injury and pain, Amisha still continued with her daily workouts. It was only when the trainer asked her why she was in such agony that she informed him of her injury. Worried about her health, the trainer insisted that the lady should rest for a couple of days before she starts shooting again. She followed the instructions religiously but after a couple of days’ rest, she was back at the gym with a venegeance. Talk about sweating it out.

Abhishek Bachchan to Do Dilli 6

Abhishek Bachchan will be doing Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s next project Dilli 6.The Rang De Basanti director is back with another interesting project. The magic has worked well for Amir Khan and now it will be Abhishek Bachchan creating the same magic. Abhishek is all set to get back to work after his high profile wedding with Aishwarya Rai. Reportedly the director had approached starts like Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Siddarth and Ranbir Kapoor for the role but eventually it was Abhishek who accepted the role gracefully.Actually Abhishek was the Mehra’s first choice but things didn’t work out then, later it was Abhishek who agreed to do the role.

People definitely will have lot of expectation from Mehra this time because his Rang De Basanti had rocked the world and Dilli 6 certainly should match it. Well, lets see if Dilli 6 proves to be as good as Rang De Basanti or better than Rang De Basanti????

Bipasha to play Ben Kingsley's daughter

In all probability Bipasha Basu’s first international project will be a Moghul historical featuring Ben Kingsley and Aishwarya Rai. And she's playing Shah Jahan’s (Ben Kingsley) devoted daughter Jahanara Beghum. "Yes, there's another role in the film," Bipsha reveals softly. "And Ben Kingsley has asked me to do it. We've already spoken about it. And now we just need to work out the dates." While Ben Kingsley and Aishwarya will play Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal respectively, Bipasha says, "There's a very special character which Ben has asked me to play." The idea of Bipasha being part of Sir Ben's production on the building of the Taj Mahal germinated when they met at the 7Wonders event in Lisbon. "We hit it off like a house on fire. Ben's so much fun. And when he offered me this role I was fascinated." Back home, on the work front Bipasha has just completed Abbas-Mustan's Race with Saif Ali Khan and is looking forward to Goal with John. "Race has shaped up so well in spite of the delay. I’m looking forward to its release. It's my first comedy. As time passes I’m getting greedier by the day. I now want to do something exotic, like the project with Ben Kingsley. I really want Rituparno Ghosh to start Draupadi with me. I know I can play Draupadi convincingly."