Katrina finds new love

Serene beauty Katrina Kaif is flying high these days with one after another hit. Now she has developed a new love for speed. Very few know that Kat has a great fascination for cars.

Katrina says, “I always had a passion for cars. I loved the thought of owning luxury cars. I told myself that the day I’d earn money I’d buy expensive sports cars.”

Today Katrina is hitting the headlines for her role in Rajneeti where she is playing the role of congress president Sonia Gandhi. In this film, Kat will get enough scope to showcase her acting talent. To fit to the role, she has undergone voice modulation also.

She will be in ‘never seen before’ avatar with devoid of glamour. A clipping of Kat playing Sonia has been leaked in the media where she is looking very simple wrapped in saffron sari therefore donning the look of a perfect politician. At present she is shooting with Ranbir Kapoor for Rajkumar Santhosi’s Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahini.

Mugdha laughs away rivalry with Rohit Shetty

The news has spread like wild fire that hot-n-happening Mugdha Godse has been roped in as a female lead for Rohit Shetty's next film (yet untitled) which is an Ajay Devgan production.

While Mugdha is grinning from ear to ear after bagging this true blue multi starrer that stars the likes of Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu and Fardeen Khan, there was a time when she was in rivalry with Rohit Shetty.

Well almost, and for a brief period!  Says Mugdha after a hearty laugh, "Omigawsh, you make it look like a big scandal when there was hardly anything like a rivalry between Rohit and me. Come on, why would a newcomer like me have problems with an established film maker like Rohit?"

Well, let us bring out the reason then. Last year when her high profile film Fashion released on 29th October, even Rohit Shetty directed Golmaal Returns arrived on the same day. Fortunately for both the films, they survived well at the box office and did the kind of business that was expected out of them.

Apparently, Mugdha had made it a point that she won't watch Golmaal Returns in theaters since that would have meant joining the competition. "Come on now, stop finding so much of 'what's happening behind the curtains' thing here. Ok, so I didn't go to theaters to watch Golmaal Returns but I did catch it eventually on the DVD"", says the glamorous young woman who has been making quite a name for herself ever since she began work on Fashion last year.

If she says that she loved Golmaal Returns, it hardly brings with it a surprise element. "I really loved the way Rohit involves his audience in the narrative. He kept the gag element on throughout Golmaal Returns which says a lot about him knowing the pulse of the audience. In real life also he is quite some fun to interact with.

He is very humorous", she talks fondly about her director, "He is someone who has Bollywood deep into his veins. He thinks completely commercial. Whenever you talk to him, you realize that he is so filmy. No wonder, I am looking forward to begin shooting for his film".

Shilpa Shetty all set to shoot the music video for her IPL team

When Shilpa Shetty stepped into the IPL arena along with her beau Raj Kundra, it was quite evident that glamour would seep into the cricket field. Shilpa has kept her promise of making a music video for the team and the theme song for the Rajasthan Royals will be composed Anand Raj Anand who is a close friend of the lady.

Apparently, the basic song of the Rajasthan Royals (’Halla Bol’) will remain unchanged, but the music that accompanies it will be changed. The lyrics of the anthem will be some what like, ‘Phir vahi lalkar hai, phir kanon mein goonj rahi jeet ki jhankar hai.’ The song will be sung by Anand Raj Anand himself along with Monali Thakur with Shilpa shooting a sizzling music video to promote her cricket team on the choreography of Ken Ghosh. The buzz is around that approx. 3 crores will be spent on the music video.

Says Shilpa excitedly. “I’m so glad Ken is making an exception for me. We chose Anand Raj Anand because he’s an expert at catchy folk songs. I first worked in a film with his music when he scored for Pardesi Babu. I was simply bowled over by the numbers. Today when I hear the song he has composed for our team I feel deeply enthused.”

Lekha Washington steps into Bollywood

It is the time for South beauties to rule Bollywood now. After Asin took everyone by surprise bagging some plum projects with big Khans of Bollywood, Lekha Washington is the latest south side actress to join Bollywood. Lekha has been chosen to star opposite Rajeev Khandelwal in UTV’s new film, ‘Peter Gaya Kaam Se‘. She was chosen since UTV needed a heroine who could play football, ride the bike, look like a super model, do martial arts, and be everything from cold-hearted to a girl next door.

An NID graduate, Lekha is a powerhouse of talents being associated with theatre, adventure sports, sculpting, and hosting travel shows. Apart from being a qualified documentary filmmaker, Lekha co-hosted the first season of the Indian Premier League with Ajay Jadeja on Sony Max. A Maharashtran Burmese Italian Punjabi hybrid, Lekha Washington is quite a known name in Tamil Cinema.

In October 2008, Lekha had hosted the Al Barakha Canada Cup Twenty20 tournament on international television. She has also hosted travel shows around the world, and been an active theatre enthusiast for much of the last eight years, directing her theatre group Khel.

 

 

Amrita Arora gets candid in ‘Grazia’

That Amrita Arora broke up with her last boyfriend Usmaan and is currently in the arms of the sauve businessman Shakeel Ladak is stale now. What the latest issue of ‘Grazia’ has to offer is the candid confession and revelation of her relationship from this bold and sexy girl.

Amrita graces the cover of the magazine looking more charming than ever and proclaims, “Yes, I am crazy about Shakeel. I am completely cuckoo about him and we love being together. He is extremely stable, extremely responsible, and not at all wishy-washy about anything”.

She goes on to describe the qualities of her beau as, “Shakeel is a fiercely private person and though he understands that all the media attention is a part of being with me, he chooses to stay away from it. If people want to take potshots at my relationship, I can’t do much about it, but I won’t learn from it. My boyfriend is going to come with me to events, I won’t compromise on that!”

Kajol does not come easy for Karan Johar

Now, this is definitely an impossible dream for any married actress, but we are talking here about Kajol who can surely make anything possible. Even after marriage, Kajol is in a position to make choices and also command price for her movies. She has reportedly charged 1.5 crores for Kunal Kohli’s ‘Fanaa’ and the film was a huge hit. Thereafter, she appeared in hubby Ajay Devgan’s directorial debut ‘U Me Aur Hum’.

Now, the news doing rounds is that Kajol is charging a whopping Rs 2.5 crore for Karan Johar’s next movie ‘My Name Is Khan’. Karan managed to convince Kajol to do this movie only after much persuasion and readily agreed to pay the price which other top Bollywood actresses are commanding at present. Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif charge about 2 crores or more for their movies.

In ‘My Name Is Khan’ Karan is repeating the sizzling on-screen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol for the third time. In fact, Kajol is playing a full-fledged role in Karan’s film after a gap of 8 years.

 

 

Juhi Chawla in a new blonde look

Juhi Chawla is one actress who is known for her versatility and bubbly nature and this time again, she is there to shock everyone with a completely different blonde look for her role in Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Luck By Chance’. In fact, it was the look of the character which impressed Juhi more than the length of the role in the film. Her blonde look has been designed by B Blunt’s Avan Contractor.

Juhi plays the character of Minty Rolly, the producer’s (Rishi Kapoor) wife.
“When Zoya offered me the role I was extremely thrilled, even though I was told it was not a big role, I dint mind, it was different from all the other characters I have played before, and that was the most exciting part. Playing Minty was so much fun! And moreover I got to color my hair blonde, which also was something I had never done before.” says Juhi.

Luck By Chance is produced by Excel Entertainment in association with Big Pictures and marks the directorial debut of Zoya Akhtar and stars Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Isha Sharvani, Sanjay Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia and Hrithik Roshan. It is slated to release on the 30th of January 2009.

Payal Rohatgi at the launch of her website

Payal Rohatgi shot into limelight from the oblivion with ‘Big Boss 2’, though we need not mention here the cat-fight she had with Sambhavna Seth and the way Sambhavna gave her the hell of a time on the exit interview with Pooja Bedi on Bigg Boss 2 . Sambhavna had written down the names of her notorious movies and was defending her “down market” remarks made by Payal during the show.

None the less Payal swore that its all in the past and now has buried the past by launching her official website. This was just the right time to launch her website when ‘Big Boss 2’ made her noticed and her role as a ‘full of life’ yoga instructor in the movie ‘Dil Kabaddi’ got her critical acclaim.

Check out the pics of an all green Payal Rohatgi at the launch of her website..

Govinda to launch his daughter Narmada

Govinda’s career graph is on a downhill now and since her daughter Narmada is now ready to face the camera and the anxious father has decided to produce her debut film himself.

‘Narmada will launch her film career anytime in 2009. I feel today she is emotionally ready to face the camera,’ said Govinda adding, “After weighing all the pros and cons, I decided I’m the best person to produce my daughter’s debut film. I don’t want anyone else, no matter how well-meaning, to take the credit for launching my daughter.”

Govinda is considering Nikhil Advani and Shaad Ali for directing the film. “Ideally, I’d have liked Narmada to be launched by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He is among our best. But since that is not possible, we’re looking at some other names. My daughter has to be directed by someone who has a vision and an aesthetic sense and also respects the work that I do,” said the actor.

As for himself, Govinda wants to slow down his pace and has stopped signing new films or taking up rputine roles. He has decided to work only with directors who are as organised and disciplined as Mani Ratnam.

 

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009

January 18 was the day when the stars of Bollywood decided to give glamour a backseat for their favorite causes. They took to the streets and created awareness about social issues in their own way at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009. John Abraham, Arjun Rampal, Vidya Balan, Soha Ali Khan, Rahul Bose, Om Puri, Tina Ambani, Gulshan Grover, Sharmila Tagore- all were seen on the streets under the catchline: Mumbai runs to secure its future.

Arjun Rampal was there to support the participants of the Nina Foundation for spinal cord injury. Vidya Balan was there to cheer the runners from the NGO Nanhi Kali. Former India test team skipper Anil Kumble also decided to take part in the Mumbai Marathon in support of a cause taken up by actor Rahul Bose’s NGO, The Foundation. Besides all these causes, it was terror which topped the marathon agenda.

Milind Soman, a familiar face in the pack, set off for the entire 42-km distance, while others preferred to let their voice do the talking rather than their feet. Actor John Abraham, who participated in the marathon said that it was an excellent display of Mumbai’s spirit and he was proud to be a part of it.

A dream come true for Tusshar Kapoor

Having one’s own house in the dream city of Mumbai is perhaps the dream of everyone in this tinsel town and our Tusshar Kapoor is no exception to it, but this new year brought a pleasant surprise for Tusshar when his parents, Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor, surprised him by gifting him a penthouse at Juhu in Mumbai. The duo bought the house a few years ago and recently began furnishing it for their son.

Jeetu and Shobha had the house custom designed prior to gifting it to son Tusshar. They handed over the keys to their son on the 31st; Tusshar was so thrilled with his gift that he immediately arranged a small party for close friends at his new bachelor pad.

Tusshar had long nurtured his dream of owning a house in Mumbai and even with this dream come true, the actor insists that he shall continue to stay with his parents and only use the house for get together with friends and family, and for time-offs.

Celina Jaitley as the cover girl of ‘Stuff’

There is no denying the fact that our Bollywood hotbod has been truly gifted by God as a perfect beauty. And when a gorgeous beauty comes alongside latest gadgets, the combination goes deadly. So, get ready for this deadly combo in the latest issue of ‘Stuff’ where Celina shows her stuff on the cover and inside pages and the way she displays her love for the latest gadgets gizmos like iPhone and ipod. Check out looking dazzling in a green dress with dangling red earrings on the covers of ‘Stuff’.

 

When John & Katrina were bounced back from the nightclub

Currently, Katrina Kaif and John Abraham are in US shooting for director Kabir Khan’s film ‘New York’. It so happened that during the shoot, one of the crew members threw a party at a nightclub and invited Katrina, John and the director to the party. However, when John and Katrina, along with Kabir Khan, got to the club, they were denied entry because they were reportedly not carrying proper identification proofs. They even told the bouncers that they were known stars from India, but the argument apparently cut no ice with the American bouncers.

So, while everyone else were partying hard inside, John and Katrina found themselves bounced out of the nightclub. They even drove back to their hotel and returned with ID proofs. But it was too late by then and the party had already died down.

 

Kingfisher airlines gone global with release of Calendar 2009

As Vijay Malaya name is synonymous to the life style and fashion in India, thus it would be routine exercise for Malaya to host glamour event like 2009 Kingfisher Calendar release party as attended by celebrity from the glamour world like Arjun Rampal, Ritu Kumar and Rahul Dev.

Like other year’s calendars this year models were also dressed in designer wears from Jean Paul Gaultier, Dean von Furstenberg, and Moschino.  Atul Kasbekar shot the calendar at exquisite locations of, Thailand. This year’s calendar featured models e Moni Kangana Dutta from India, Tamara Moss (Holland and India), Nargis Fakhri (Czech Republic and Pakistan), Suisa Jongsawat (Thailand), Katya Melnikova (Russia), and Mimi Blix (Norway and Uganda).

In the own words of Mallya, “As one of the most well known and respected consumer brands in the country, Kingfisher has become synonymous with a lifestyle that encompasses some of the finest things in life.  With our airline going global, this was the right time to present some of the finest models from around the globe. I am sure this year to the calendar will be a much coveted possession for one and all.”!

Just have a glimpse of some of the models from the fashion calendar.

 

siclub Swimsuit Calendar, a cheering welcome to 2009

New air arrival comes on fashion scene with glamorous calendar release showcasing models in either swimsuit or Bikini at least each model for a month to be hanged around on the wall of your drawing room. After the so talked about release of Kingfisher fashion calendar’s release. Next is the number of Desiclub Swimsuit Calendar designed by desiclub.com, a leading networking portal for Indians in the United States.

This year’s calendar has models of ethnic Indian origin. According to the words of Tania Mehra one of the models in this calendar, “Ask me about the Krebs cycle or various Biological processes and I’ll be sure to fill you in but ask me to figure out how to put those intricate swimsuits on and you’ll have me stumped”. She seems quite frank about her appearance on the calendar.

Anyway enjoy the hot pics form the calendar.

Adhyayan Suman celebrates his birthday

Adhyayan Suman celebrated his birthday in style. First, it was a surprise birthday gift from his parents, Shekhar and Alka Suman, a brand new car, which was gifted to him the night before his birthday. Then, it was a grand party at piano bar to celebrate the birthday as well as promote Adhyayan’s forthcoming film Raaz 2.

The impressive guest list included Imran Khan, Emraan Hashmi, Shekhar Suman, Mukesh Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt, Monica Bedi, Mohit Suri and others. And of course, there was Kangana Ranaut who was spotted standing very close to Adhyayan all the time.

A golden ‘Ghajini’ statue for Aamir Khan

‘Ghajini’ had everything new about it- be it a very unique storyline, be it Aamir’s new hairstyle, be it the innovative way of promoting it, be it the launch of Van Huesen ‘Ghajini’ line and the latest being the never before heard gesture of appreciation from producer Madhu Mantena to Aamir Khan.

Madhu Mantena presented a solid-gold statue to Aamir designed specially to resemble Aamir’s Ghajini look at the party held to celebrate the film’s success earlier this week.

“8 abs included. We can see all 8 of them on the statue,” Mantena states proudly.

The statuette is pure gold and probably cost the producer close to Rs. 70-80 lakhs though he isn’t telling.

“It has certain amount of other metal to make it malleable. Solid gold wouldn’t allow the identical Ghajini shape to be done in gold. But the idea was to create an Oscar-sized statue exclusively for Ghajini. Aamir knew he was getting a trophy. But he didn’t know it would be golden and with his Ghajini’s look. He was overwhelmed,” says Mantena.

Director Murugadoss was also given a statue, though far less hefty and golden than Aamir’s, but of course including the 8-abs.