Bollywood actresses head to New Year parties outside Mumbai

Mumbai, While many in Bollywood feel New Year celebrations should be scaled down in the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai, a number of actresses are readying to perform at bashes in other cities.Sophie Chowdhary: I hope to perform in Delhi this New Year's eve. Although the general mood is gloomy I truly feel that we should not allow fear to overpower us. Recession and then 26/11...we need to regain our strength and power. Of course, we must not forget the lessons of 26/11. At the same time we mustn't be afraid to live our normal lives. We need to begin 2009 on a happy and positive note.
Malaika Arora: I'll be performing for New Year's eve in Singapore. Performing at a tacky event is a definite no-no. If I'm uncomfortable with the milieu, then the answer is no.
Celina Jaitley: Yes I'll go on stage on New Year's eve in London at the City Pavilion. People ask if it's proper to head to London for New Year's eve revelry when Mumbai is mourning and most actresses have cancelled their gigs. (Actually) It's not the actresses who have cancelled their performances. It's the luxury hotels in Mumbai that have done away with their New Year's eve shows. As for me, I won't be performing in London. I'll just be making an appearance.
Priyanka Chopra: It's a matter of personal choice. I'm not comfortable dancing at a New Year's event. But then I don't want to be judgemental about those who do. This year I've said no. But if some other year I'm presented with an interesting option and a concept, then why not? I did perform at the Nelly Furtado New Year's eve concert two years ago.
Shilpa Shetty: I'm not against dancing in a hotel for New Year's. After all, what's the difference between dancing at an awards nite or at a New Year's eve event? I've danced on Dec 31 in the past, but this time ... no thank you.
I've got five offers to dance this New Year's ... and at unheard-of prices. The fee was tempting, but this year I'm going on a family holiday to Spain. I'd any day sacrifice any kind of money for the family. Today, being in a serious relationship and contemplating marriage, I'm in a different mindspace.
Dia Mirza: I've been getting offers to perform on New Year's eve for years. But I've never been tempted. Honestly the remuneration offered for such performances can weaken your resolve. But I've stuck to my ground. So the answer to the offer of dancing at these year-end affairs remains a firm no. I'd prefer to ring in the new year with family and friends.
Koena Mitra: Like any artist, I love performing in front of a live audience. What better way to ring in the New Year?

Hindi version of Canadian movie for Mumbai terror victims

Mumbai, A Canadian film production house Saturday said it will dedicate the Hindi version of "Robin Hood: The New Zen Warrior" to Mumbai terror attack victims.Production house Zen Duke Entertainment, which is making the movie in English, is shooting the film in 12 different countries, including India.
The version dubbed in Hindi will be titled "Robin Hood: Bodhisattva", said a statement by Zen Duke Entertainment mailed from Beverly Hills, California.
It said the saga of English folk hero Robin Hood has been set against the Buddhist background.
Actor-director Zen Duke, a Canadian of Indian origin, is portrayed "as a leather-clad Buddhist superhero possessing extraordinary prowess in martial arts, who follows the code of Bodhisattva used by the greatest Zen warriors from the Shaolin monks to the Japanese Samurai."
"Expected to be completed next year, the movie pays homage to the Buddhist origins of Kung Fu and explains the strong connection between Indian spirituality and martial arts," the release added.
The movie has elements of the Kama Sutra and features futuristic fashion ensembles as well.

Nandana Sen - The new action queen

Everyone unanimously admitted that Nandana Sen was quite bold owing to her bold nude scenes in ‘Rang Rasiya’. Now, there is another proof to this. The bold and the beautiful lady has performed the most dangerous stunt ever performed by a female actor in any part of the world.

Miss Sen shot this action sequence for a Tips film being directed by debutant Kuki Gulati opposite Viveik Oberoi. She revved - up a mobike and speeded from the rooftop of a 30-storey building right onto the top of an adjacent skyscraper.

Narrating the experience, Nandana says, “They said I don’t have to do it. They were willing to use a body double. But I’m glad I took the leap. It helped me to overcome my vertigo.

I knew how to ride a bicycle. So learning to ride a mo’bike was not that hard. But it wasn’t an easy thing to speed across from one 30-storey building to another. Our action director Alan Amin was fantastic. I flew across one building to another. It was liberating.”

Talking about her role and the transformation it required, she says, “It’s a very Matrix like look and role. I enjoyed the stunts immensely. And this role was a complete antithesis to what I play in Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya. It was wonderful to take up such a challenge.

I play an all-action chick who is an undercover cop. I learn kick-boxing, tai-kwundo and I learnt to shoot guns for real. The five kgs I had gained for Rang Rasiya was quickly lost.”

Nandana Sen feels that the role has helped her evolve as a stronger woman. She says, “I’m quite clumsy in real life so I’m used to calamities. And my threshold for pain is quite high. Yes, the heavy mo’bike did fall on me and my shoulder got hurt. But I continued shooting.

I’m very much a girlie girl. But all this physical action really changed my body language and psychological approach to crowded places..

Even a pointing a gun at an adversary is such an aggressive job. The combat training really came out of my shell. Now I feel less vulnerable in crowds.”

Asin, Ranbir Kapoor & sci-fi flick - Irresistible combination

Asin had been delivering hits down South and was just waiting for the right time and right role to debut in Bollywood. Seems the time is just too right for her coz even before her debut flick ‘Ghajini’ could hit the screens, Asin has bagged in meaty projects with some of the topmost heroes of Bollywood.

The actress is close on the heels of completing her ‘London Dreams’ with Salman Khan and Ajay Devagan. Meanwhile, talks are going on to sign for the biggest projects with Disney and Warner Bros.

Well-known in South, GV Films are all set to produce an untitled film which will be simultaneously made in Tamil and Hindi with Asin as female lead in both the versions. Producers Usha Venkataramani and Mahadevan Ganesh of GV Films have finalized Ranbir Kapoor as the male lead in Hindi version.

Though not much has been disclosed about the film, GV films claim that it would be based on science-fiction like Rajnikanth starrer ‘Endhiran’.