Amole Gupte is creating waves with his deadly mean underworld goon act in the promo of Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Kaminey'. Amole gets into a talkative mood in the first part of this bollywoodhungama.com exclusive interview with Faridoon Shahryar. He talks about 'Kaminey' but it was 'Taare Zameen Par' that got him in a nostalgic mood. Gupte happens to be the story, script writer and dialogue writer of TZP. He also clears the air on the differences with Aamir Khan.
An MMS showing Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor locking lips three years ago made headlines for months. But what happened afterwards? How exactly did Bebo become Saif’s girl and why did she snub his sister Soha in public? Coming soon to a theatre near you is The Secret life of Karina (that’s how the filmmaker spells it to avoid legal hassles with the actress), a B-grade film that claims to have answers to all these questions.
The film has an alleged budget of Rs 20 crores and is being produced by Spectra Multimedia Films, a production house known for making regional movies. “The film is inspired by the life of Shahid Kapur, Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan,” explains Flynn Remedios, Spectra’s executive producer. “The film will be based mostly on media reports. It’ll show the underbelly of Bollywood. We are not cooking up anything. These stories were published. We will be showing the whole incident of the Shahid-Kareena smooch and even the one when Kareena snubbed Saif’s sister Soha Ali Khan at an event,” he says.
Believe it or not, the pot boiler will also draw some instances from the infamous real life of Bollywood’s bad boy Salman Khan. The lead protagonist in the movie, cleverly named Saifee, is supposedly a mixture of Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan’s personalities.
Remedios says, “Saifee’s character will exhibit traces of Salman’s ‘violent’ love stories with his ex girlfriends, notably Somi Ali and Aishwarya Rai.”
He explains that the film is set to go on the floors next month as the star cast is yet to be finalised.
Shradha Sharma, the actress initially chosen to play the lead role of Karina, has since declined the offer. “I wasn’t comfortable playing this character as I do not want to offend Kareena Kapoor. There was a scene in which Shaheed [the screen name for the actor playing Shahid Kapur’s role] cuts his wrists for the actress and I found all this very uncomfortable,” says Sharma.
When asked to react, Salman’s spokesperson Alok Mathur said that if the production house is openly claiming that the character is that of Salman, “they will get into real trouble”.
“They are just out to get publicity. They can’t get the real Salman, toh Salman ke naam ka faayda uthaaenge. Such films always flop,” said Mathur.
Responding to the matter, Shahid Kapur’s spokesperson said, “Shahid doesn’t know about such a film and is not going to bother. It is a B-grade film and these people are clearly doing it for publicity.”
Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan were not available for comment.
If Aishwarya Rai Bachchan surprised many with her sword fighting act with Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker's period romance Jodhaa Akbar, she is all set to push her body again for her forthcoming sci-fi film Endhiran which also stars the iconic superstar Rajnikanth in the lead.
After Hrs has learnt that Ash has enrolled herself into a karate coaching class to prepare her body to pull off some slick action moves. The actor will lock horns with her co-star as a particular scene will have the duo fighting against each other. Ash has previously done some risky stunts in Dhoom: 2 in which she played the consort of a thief played by Hrithik and also in The Last Legion for which she had to learn sword fighting.
A source says, "A veteran stuntman in the South called Ramesh has been training many stars in karate for the past 30 years. He also owns a Japan Shito-Ryu karate school and it is here that Ash has enrolled herself to learn this ancient martial arts. The film requires her to strain her muscles in some scenes and exhibit her karate skills. She also wants to be fitter as the film supposedly will show her doing some power stunts."
The insider adds, "The movie will have scenes in which Rajnikanth and Aishwarya will be engaged in karate fight sequences. They are even supposed to fight with each other but that's because Rajnikanth is playing Ash's teacher in that scene. He will be shown as someone who takes on the mantle to train karate to his beloved (Ash) as well as some others so that they can protect themselves against evil forces."
The Mirza family have gone to great lengths to keep the function a private affair, away from media glare.
Sania is likely to leave for America later this month to participate in the US Open.
Her father Imran Mirza had earlier said that Sania would pursue the game after her engagement. Sohrab is pursuing MBA in Britain.
The wedding would take place a couple of years later.
Even guests who have been invited have been told not to divulge too many details to the media. Dr KJ Reddy, who treated Sania’s knee injury, confirms that Sania’s father, I m r a n
M i r z a , had given him “a personal invite” and that he’s attending the wedding, but refuses to divulge the venue for “security reasons”.
However, sources reveal that the engagement is slated for this evening at a five-star hotel in Hyderabad and the guest list runs into 600 plus. Delhi-based designer duo Nikhil-Shantanu is designing Sania’s outfit. Nikhil confirmed that he is “designing an outfit for Sania” but wasn’t forthcoming about the details of her dress (for more on Sania’s Delhi connect, turn to page 3).
The speculative guest list doing the rounds includes Hyderabad socialite Pinky Reddy, who’s known to be close to the tennis star, and, of course, Sania’s doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi. Dr K Hari Prasad, CEO, Apollo Health City, who also has been invite d , says that he will not be able to attend the engagement as he is on an official trip to Delhi, but says that “it’s a very happy occasion and personal one too – that should be respected.” Recollecting his interactions with Sania, he describes her as a “very likeable girl, down-to-earth and talented.” On her big day, the ‘Sania mania’ is likely to reach a crescendo and the family’s efforts to keep it all hush-hush seem to have been stepped up, especially since an engineer from Kerala, who was stalking Sania for weeks, has been picked up from the gates of her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad recently.
Imran told us that shortly after the engagement, “Sania is leaving for a two-month tour of the US. This is a very important personal event in her life.
Sizzling beauty and actress Lara Dutta will soon be seen in a red hot avatar for the Indian adaptation of Pizza Hut's famous American campaign promoting Cheesy Bites - the company's global bestselling pizza, now available in India. We bring you a sneak peek into the campaign
Amrita Arora was seen at a gynaecologist's clinic a few days back. She was accompanied by hubby Shakeel Ladhak and her mom Joyce Arora.
The obvious inference would be that the actress who got married last year is in the family way. The actress visited Dr Nozer Sheriyar's clinic at 14th Road, Khar. He is a well-known gynaec and is attached to the Breach Candy hospital — where most B-Town folk deliver their babies.
Good news buzz
Says a source, "As both her husband and mother accompany her to the clinic, there is buzz that it is good news on her front.'' When asked about it, Amu maintains, "It was a routine check-up.''
Amu, of late, has been missing from the B-Town circuit. She was only seen at the Kambakkht Ishq success party on Sunday night. And earlier, at a restobar's anniversary bash. On both occasions, she wore loose-fitting clothes. In the last few months after her marriage in March, she has been keeping a low-profile and playing the role of the devoted wife at home.
The source adds, "Amu has been gelling very well with the Ladhaks. She has made herself very comfortable in her new home. A while back, when her sister-in-law Shabana was out of town, she even went to Bai Avabai Petit School at Pali Hill to pick up the report card of Shabana's daughter.
Shilpa Shetty was face-to-face with Prince Charles on Tuesday evening — and still can't get over the meeting — even though Raj Kundra was there to hold her hand!
Shilpa, who was at his home in Clarence, says laughingly, "I have been very lucky to have met almost all the heads of state in Britain right from the Queen to Tony Blair and now His Highness Prince Charles. I can't believe it!"
Raising funds
"We raised almost half a million pounds at the British Asian Challenge Match played between Middlesex and The Rajasthan Royals at Lords on July 6. The proceeds of the charity went to Prince Charles's charity fund. His charitable trust gives funds to lots of causes and global warming is one of them." Beau Raj and the Rajasthan Royals team were present too.
Shilpa adds that the meeting with Prince Charles was very formal, "I complimented His Highness on the initiative he's taken towards global warming. He's extremely passionate about the cause and asked me if Indians were aware about it. When I said yes we were he told me, 'be sure and tell the Indian media to write more about as it's a very important cause."
Shetty continues, "Global warming is very serious and scary today. I remember Prince Charles had delivered a speech on it at an international awards event in Yorkshire a couple of years ago. He even knew about my crank lamps and how they save energy."
Apart from serious topics, Shilpa was amused when Prince Charles asked her when she was shifting to the UK. She says, "I am so used to the Indian media asking me such questions that when His Highness asked me for a moment, I was stunned. Later, I heard that one of his aides had briefed him about Raj and me and about Raj being a Britain citizen. Initially, I didn't know how to answer the question. Then I said, 'Well it's already my second home'."
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor might be mum about when they would like to get into matrimony as reports suggest both want to concentrate on their career, but Saif's mother Sharmila Tagore wants them to marry as soon as possible.
Say Sharmila, "Saif has not communicated to me anything on marrying Kareena but we (Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila) know that he is very serious about her. We are aware that they both need time before they decide to settle down and we are ready to give them that. Both have come out of their past relationships and we are waiting for them to tell us when they would like to get married. We know that both are very fond of each other and by God's grace their marriage should happen soon. I cannot tell you which year or month as that totally depends on them. As parents, we would like Saif and Kareena to settle down as soon as possible."
But has the Pataudi family spoken to Kareena's parents, particularly Babita, regarding Saif and Kareena's future? "I know Babita very well and our family and Kareena's family both know how serious they are about each other. As parents we have spoken nothing about their marriage yet but we both have no objection to their relationship or marriage," the veteran actor adds.
And what about Soha's marriage? "I don't think arranged marriage will work for Soha. She is an individualistic person and we will respect the decision she
takes."
Says a source, "The duo have kept it hush-hush all this while but now they seem to be throwing caution to the wind. They have been seen dining at suburban restaurants and even attending select events. They look extremely comfortable with each other. A while back, they were spotted together at a Cancer Patients Aid Association event."
On the sets
It is learnt that Anuj first met Neetu on the sets of his film Chase, directed by Jagmohan Mundra. She features in Mundra's other project, Apartment. Unit sources say that the two spent several hours together. She had dropped in to meet Anuj regarding a film he was planning. Earlier, she had visited his Maverick Productions office as she was being considered for a role in his film to launch Chirag Paswan — son of former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Sources also inform that the actress recently moved into a rented apartment at Lokhandwala that is in the same building as Anuj's production office.
Adds the informer, "Anuj has been visiting Neetu's place. As his office is in the same building, no eyebrows were raised about his visiting Neetu's home. Recently, for her birthday, he was among the few who were present at her home."
The doctor-turned-actor was linked with his Kumkum co-star Juhi Parmar during his small screen acting days. He had a short-lived marriage with New Delhi-based Ishmit Dhadial, from whom he is divorced. Meanwhile, there was buzz about Neetu Chandra being friendly with a politician's son from her home state, Bihar.
No big deal
While Saxena refused to comment, Neetu says, "What's the big deal about being seen with him? I am outgoing and have lots of friends. There is nothing more to it. I am acting in Anuj's next film, in which he is launching Chirag Paswan. We have discovered several common aspects about our families — so there are things to talk about. Moreover, Jagmohan Mundra is another common factor — he is directing a film for Anuj and I am acting in Jag's other project."
She adds, "I would rather talk about my work. I have just signed Anees Bazmee's sequel to No Entry, produced by Anil Kapoor. I will be acting opposite Sanjay Dutt. I am looking forward to its shoot in South Africa from July 15."
Women may swoon when John Abraham bares his basics. But a court in Delhi was not so impressed. The Bollywood hunk may get into trouble for a Full Monty photograph from his latest film New York that was published in a city newspaper.
That is not all. Nude John may also land Delhi cops in trouble.
A lower court in Delhi on Tuesday asked the Delhi police to furnish reasons why the complaint by a local NGO in this regard was not entertained.
"Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Agarwals court has given two weeks to the SHO of Moti Nagar police station to file his reply as to why the complaint by an NGO regarding Johns obscene photograph was not entertained. Next hearing of the case has been fixed for July 30," said advocate Ramesh Chhabra, who is representing the NGO.
The photo shoot allegedly took place for the promotion of the movie New York where John is playing the role a Muslim man harassed by American agencies after the 9/11 attack. "In the photograph, the actor is covering his private parts with his hands while his trousers are below his knees. The photo is in very bad taste and the complaint was filed under Sections 292 and 294 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," said Chhabra.
The court took cognizance of the matter after the NGO alleged that the Moti Nagar SHO refused to file a complaint as it concerned a "big film star." "The officers at the police station requested us to directly approach the court as the matter concerned a big movie actor and could create trouble for them. We decided to go to the court of chief metropolitan magistrate where the case was directed to the court of metropolitan magistrate," said Chhabra.
The case could also land John in jail. "Its a non cognizable offence with a jail term of two to five years. Of course the allegations will have to be proved during the course of inquiry and in the court room but proofs are available in plenty as the photographs are available in public," said the advocate.
MiD DAY tried contacting John but calls made to his mobile phone remained unanswered.
As per our source from the industry, “Katrina recently saw a French film which took her heart away and thus she decided to remake it. She has filed for the copyright of that flick and soon will be coming in light about the same.”
“Kat is also planning to play the lead in the film. She is mum about the film that inspired her to take a next step as a producer so that nobody else can go ahead and copy her idea or buys the right for the same, ” adds the source.
Talking about the role; our birdie informs, “She will be playing a business-woman in the film which has a bit of a negative shade. Nothing much can be talked about it as the storyline of the film is still in dark.”
Miss Kaif isn’t it too early to jump in the producer’s pool. Well let the things come in light, till then keep guessing!!!
