Shael’s ready for Bollywood

/photo.cms?msid=2578648
Shael Oswal.

He has to his credit quite a few music albums, the latest being Nasha. But besides music, Shael Oswal, whose father produced the critically acclaimed Pinjar, is set to make it as an actor as well.

The guy will make his acting debut in Feb next year in a comedy to be directed by Praful Parekh, who has written scripts like No Entry and the soon-to-be-released comic caper Welcome. "

Making music is exciting; making films and being a part of the film world is as exciting," says Shael. Is it going to be a warm Welcome or then a No Entry for Shael?

Mallika Shakes Up In Yet Another Item Song!

mallika sherawat

Mallika Shakes Up In Yet Another Item Song!



If Rakhi Sawant uses her assets to make news off the screen.. there's another Bollywood hottie who uses hers to make headlines on the screen!

Yes, we are talking about Mallika Sherawat, the original fantasy girl of many Indian men.

Mallika is now-a-days seen in a yet another item song "Kiya Kiya" of the much anticipated Christmas release of the year, "Welcome", starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Anil Kapoor.

This time her partner is, I bet you can't guess, Nana Patekar… who was never featured with any item girl before in his long Bollywood career. In fact Nana has played dad/uncle to many modern day actresses, more times than even doing lead hero roles… forget 'masala' songs!!

It's also been said that he enjoyed so much shaking his legs with the hot bombshell that he took 15 retakes for a single shot!

So, I guess Mr.Patekar is really enjoying his shift from art-type films to real 'masala' ones!!

After OSO, Bollywood set to challenge Hollywood

/photo.cms?msid=2579165
Om Shanti Om has grossed over 1.5 million pounds to enter the UK Top 10
LONDON: With Om Shanti Om grossing 1.5 million pounds now to enter the UK Top 10 and its distributor, the London Stock Exchange-listed Eros International reporting a 75 per cent jump in its half-year profits on Wednesday, bullishness and Bollywood suddenly appear synonymous.

Eros COO Jyoti Deshpande told TOI on Wednesday that Bollywood's international appeal and scope in 2007 could be compared to "the way Hollywood was in the 1930s and the Chinese industry in 1970".

All this, she stressed, off the back of an upward curve from a film - Om Shanti Om – "that is definitely not crossover".

So why the palpable sense of excitement in the English-speaking world, Hollywood's traditional heartland and this sudden panic that Bollywood may be stealing a march on Hollywood?

Answers Deshpande, Bollywood's time may have come. "In every non-English speaking market, our films have already crossed over. The Germans are watching them, so are the Russians, the Indonesians, the Dutch, the Arabs. From January to November, five per cent of the world Top 10 films have been our releases."

She adds that Om Shanti Om was the number one release worldwide, sans the US charts, trumping the Tom Cruise-starrer Lions and Lambs . "The day is not far off," she says, when Bollywood films too will be grossing $ 100 million".

But Om Shanti Om , she says, is not the start of a new phenomenon of Bollywood bounce, just an expression of it.

Bollywood's forward strategy appears to be almost like a covert military operation. Eros, which broke new ground by listing on the London Stock Exchange in July 2006, says it is now looking to mimic Hollywood's new mantra – "collaborate, rather than compete" – and wants to bring commercial mainstream cinema made in English from India into the English-speaking world.

Reporting positive figures and a sunshine outlook to London's financial district, Eros says it remained "firmly focussed on its content and distribution consolidation strategy, leveraging its leadership position to be at the forefront of the consolidation of the fragmented but rapidly growing $10 billion Indian entertainment industry which is forecast to grow to over $25 billion by 2011 according to Price Waterhouse Coopers."

Pointing to the international success of Bride and Prejudice , Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake over the last two years, Eros CEO Kishore Lulla says Bollywood's onward strategy must now be to bring commercial, rather than authorise films to the international marketplace.

Factor in the numbers and perhaps the Mumbai Dream Factory may have suddenly become more than a gleam in the eye of the entrepreneurial Indian.

I'm not part of the numbers game: Madhuri Dixit

Bollywood has never been very kind to comeback heroines. However, Madhuri Dixit, who is all set to return to the silver screen with Aaja Nachle, says she is not bothered about whether she will make it to the top or not.

Images: Madhuri spins magic with Aaja Nachle

"I have never been a part of the numbers game. We are not racing horses, who should be numbered. Either the work you do is good or bad," Madhuri told IANS.

"I have come back not because I missed the media arc lights or being written about... it's secondary. I missed my craft!" she said on Tuesday, while in Delhi to promote her new film.

Madhuri: Aaja Nachle was scripted for me
 
The actress, who last appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Devdas, agrees that she was a little unsure about making a comeback.

"When Adi [Aditya Chopra] came up with this film the first thing I asked him was 'Is the audience still interested in watching me?' But when I came here the way my friends in the industry and fans responded was heart warming."

Image: Madhuri Dixit on Nach Baliye 3

"The best compliment I have received so far is 'It feels you never went away and now that you've returned don't ever go back'," said Madhuri.

The dhak dhak girl, as she has been fondly named, started her stint in Bollywood with Abodh and gave hits like Tezaab, Dil, Beta, Khalnayak, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Dil To Pagal Hai, to name some.

Image: Madhuri arrives for Aaja Nachle promotion

Asked how she felt while facing the camera after a gap of five years, Madhuri said: "My heart was racing. I was afraid that I would forget the dialogues. Thankfully nothing of this sort happened and once the camera rolled every hesitation and fear of mine just melted."

The versatile actress is playing the role of a choreographer called Dia in the film and feels there could have been no better launch vehicle than this one.

"This film is really close to my heart as it imparts a very important message apart from being an out an out entertainer," she said.

Images: Madhuri Dixit bonds with Lata Mangeshkar

"I feel we are somewhere moving away from our roots. With the onslaught of so many cultures we are forgetting our own culture. It is our treasure and we must nurture it. This film gives the same message. I couldn't have got a much better role than this one," Madhuri said.

"I hope people will like the film as everybody has poured their hearts into it. It is made with all honesty, with no gimmicks and calculations. Nothing has been overdone because it is Madhuri Dixit's film and no one has tried to act smart," she said.