Mumbai, Nov 2 Saif Ali Khan became the first Bollywood producer to shoot his spy thriller ''Agent Vinod in Latvia.

The actor who stars along with girlfriend Kareena Kapoor in the movie, is busy preparing for the Mumbai schedule after completing a grueling two month shoot in Latvia.

"The landscape in Latvia is exceptionally breath taking. We shot in many different locations across the different cities. We got access to some heritage structures, like old ruins, churches and museums. We tried to cover as much variety as the landscape offers," director Sriram Raghavan said.

Though the director managed to capture some breath taking shots but that did not come easy as entire team struggled through the language barrier which turned out to be quite a challenge.

"It was very difficult to understand their language since not many Latvians speak English. But we had a great team of locals who helped us communicate. They ensured we had a smooth schedule and a great stay," adds Raghavan.

''Agent Vinod'' will also be shot in Moscow, Morocco and Paris.

Govinda's daughter Narmada Ahuja, whose debut film has been delayed, says the script has been finalised and the project will hit the production stage early next year.

"The status of that project is we have finalised the script. Everything is done and we are now working on it. Most probably the first schedule of the film will go on the floor in January or maximum February," Narmada, 20.

The daughter of Bollywood's popular funny man Govinda, Narmada too will start her acting journey with a romantic comedy.

"The film is a young, fresh romantic comedy. Even the production house is not new, but they are coming out with a film after a gap of a few years. That's what made me keen on doing this film. I already have another film lined up after this.

"I can't talk about the project because they will announce the film according to their own convenience. They'll do that probably at the end of this year," said the youngster who learnt the ropes of acting at the London Film Institute.

When asked about her co-actor in the film, Narmada said: "All I can say is that my co-star in the film is not a newcomer. I can't reveal any other detail."

She says her father's suggestions helped her in making up her mind about her career.

"Every father gives tips to their kids before they start their profession. My father too gave me a couple of tips. The most important thing that he told me was that no matter what you do, do it with your full heart; give it your 500 percent; and do it only if you are passionate about it because it shows on camera if you are not really into your work.

"That's one thing that really made me focussed about my career and made me more professional about it," said Narmada.

Since she will be working in a romantic comedy, does she have her father's comic timing?

"I really can't judge that right now because I have not started shooting. But you never know, I might come up with something like he does, once we start working on the film," said Narmada who enjoys her father's hits like "Deewana Mastana", "Swarg", "Hero No. 1" and "Partner".

Narmada also defies the notion that star kids get things easily in Hindi filmdom.

"I don't think it's easy for us to enter the industry. At least it was not easy for me because I myself didn't want to get into the industry without any preparation. Once you know that you are well groomed and you're sure you can deliver, then only you should go for it. That grooming part is not very easy," said the upcoming actress.

He is known as the perfectionist in Bollywood and for good reason. When Aamir Khan decides on making a film or for that matter, starring in one, the audience can take heart that the film will not be just an entertainer, but will be one of the best when it releases.

After the success of 3 Idiots, Aamir had been inundated with scripts. However, being the man that he is, he took his time and has finally selected the script for his next film. The star will be next work on a film directed by Reema Kagti, of Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.

Kagti, who co-wrote the script of the as yet untitled film with Zoya Akhtar, has informed that it will be a suspense drama and will see two actresses cast opposite Khan. The project will also see the reunion of the Dil Chahta Hai team – it is a joint venture between Aamir Khan Productions and Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment.

Gone are the days when Bollywood's Bebo will go out on a crash diet to get a lean mean look for her films. Kareena Kapoor has visibly bulked up and like before is not shy to flaunt her newly acquired body. In a statement released to the media, Kareena Kapoor says that she is all set to burn the big screen with her new sexy image in her forthcoming Bollywood ventures.

Is the new look the result of boyfriend Saif Ali Khan's insistence? If reports are to be believed, Nawab Khan has worked hard to convince Bebo to get back to her previous self and following his advice, Kareena Kapoor has bid a happy farewell to her diet and workout, opting for yoga instead. Bebo and Saif Ali Khan are presently busy shooting for a shoe commercial, where apparently the actress' legs were looking plumper than it should. However, Kareena Kapoor herself was not bothered. In fact the girl feels that she looks better in her bulky avatar, when compared to her previous Size Zero self!

Upcoming films featuring Kareena Kapoor in the lead role, will reportedly see the actress in a sexy avatar, promises the Bollywood lass. Films like Ra.One, Bodyguard and Agent Vinod will bring back the old bubbly Kareena Kapoor back to the Bollywood screen.

Priyanka Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan have topped a Diwali poll and are named as Bollywood "Patakha" and "Bomb" repectively. The online edition of MSN India invited its readers to vote for their favourite Bollywood stars in various firecracker categories like Patakhas, Phuljhadis, Bombs, Grenades and Dhamakas this Diwali.

Priyanka Chopra won two titles - "Bollywood Pathaka" and "Bollywood Phuljhadi" for the hottest actress and the best actress respectively and Katrina Kaif came on the second spot in both the categories, said a press release.

While in the hottest actor or "Bollywood Bomb" category Shah Rukh Khan emerged the winner, Aamir Khan topped the best actor or "Bollywood Grenade" category beating the likes of SRK, Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan.

In the best film category titled "Bollywood Dhamaka", Salman Khan starrer "Dabangg" was the clear winner, beating "My Name Is Khan" and "Robot".

Bollywood beauty Bipasha Basu is all set to romance Pearl Harbor star Josh Hartnett in her first international film Singularity.

Set in different time periods and directed by Roland Joffe, famous for his movies City of Joy, The Killing Fields and Captivity, the new film will see Bipasha playing an Indian she-warrior, named Tulaja.

The script has been written by Ajey Jhankar and other than Bipasha and Abhay Deol, the movie has a host of international stars including Star Trek actor Chris Pine, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko and Christopher Egan among others. Bipasha will fly to Brisbane soon to rehearse with Hartnett and then start filming from 3rd week of November through last week of December, a statement said.

Joffe was in India in September for the casting of the epic romance and plans to shoot a major portion of the film in the country since the story revolves around Marathas in 1780s. The movie traces an impossible love set across two time periods and continents centered around four characters a British officer in colonial India, the Indian woman he falls in love with, an American marine biologist and his lover, who is a researcher trapped in a wrecked British merchant ship. Only the power of a ring can transcend time and save a life. Joffe, who captured the life of Kolkata's slums in City of Joy starring Shabana Azmi, Patrick Swayze and Om Puri, hopes to release the film by next year.

Paul Breuls' Belgian production is producing the film while Corsan World Sales is handling international sales. Anchor Bay holds the distribution rights for the US, UK and Australia.

Earlier, Aishwarya Rai was rumoured to star in the $33 million project.

Film: Golmaal 3

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Kunal Khemu, Mithun Chakraborty

Director: Rohit Shetty

Cinematography:  Dudley

Story & Screenplay : Yunus Sajawal and Farhad-Sajid

Dialogues: Farhad- Sajid & Bunty Rathore

Music : Pritam

Lyrics: Kumar

Editor: Steven. H. Bernard

Art Director:  Narendra Rahurikar

Action Director : Jai Singh Nijjar

Diwali season has traditionally been the bumper season for Bollywood releases. Understandably, the biggest movies release during this time. This year two big films Golmaal 3 (Starring Kareena Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Tushar Kapoor) and Action Replayy (Starring Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai) will release on 5th November, a day before Diwali.

The third part comes back with a new storyline and some additions in the star cast, Mithun Chakraborty the most prominent among them. The story centers around a family who live together, eat together and pray together, but at the same time cannot stand the sight of each other! And while the siblings are busy venting their anger on each other, their respective acts will provide for some rib-tickling moments in the movie. While "Golmaal 3" is more about fun and laughter, there are also dollops of love and other emotions in between, promises Rohit Shetty, thus making "Golmaal 3" an ideal family entertainer.

After sizzling on Bollywood screen for almost a decade, dusky beauty Bipasha Basu has signed her first international project -- English-French director Roland Joffe's Singularity. The 31-year-old is extremely excited and admits she does have butterflies in her stomach. "I am very excited...but have to admit that I am also a little nervous. Everything happened really fast," Bipasha told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

Bipasha met Joffe in a chance encounter at the Taj Land's End Hotel in Mumbai in September.

The $33 million movie, written by Ajey Jhankar, is a riveting tale of an impossible love set across two time periods and continents.

It is set in the backdrop of the First Anglo-Maratha War of the 18th century and revolves around four characters - a British officer in colonial India and the Indian woman he falls in love with, an American marine biologist and his researcher lover -- who gets trapped in a wrecked British merchant ship.

The film will be shot in Australia and India. Bipasha will be flying to Brisbane in the first week of November.

Bipasha, who will be missing Diwali for the initial rehearsals for the film, says she would have loved to get some more time to prepare for her role.

"I am not getting much of preparation time right now. I have been given just eight days to prepare for underwater scenes and horse riding...I wish I had at least a month's time for preparation," she said.

As much as she would have liked to, Bipasha is also not getting much time to brush up on her history.

"There is just no time before I fly out! I have finished all my pending endorsement assignments and now I will try and grasp whatever I can there itself," she said.

Nevertheless, she is looking forward to working with Hollywood actors.

"The script is fantastic. They have a lot of expertise in their field...it's going to be a whole lot of hard work, and it's going to be great fun to adapt to their system of working," she said.

Singularity also stars Bollywood actor Abhay Deol besides Hollywood stars Chris Pine, Josh Hartnett, Olga Kurylenko, Christopher Egan and Shane Briant, among others.

Bipasha will shoot from the third week of November till the last week of December in Brisbane.

Her upcoming Indian projects include Dum Maaro Dum and Abbas-Mustan's Players.

Bipasha is glad that Abbas-Mustan, who gave her a launchpad with 2001 film Ajnabee, were accommodating enough to adjust their dates so that she could give her nod to Singularity.

The film is tentatively slated for a 2011 release.

Bollywood star Ajay Devgn may have appeared in Kaun Banega Crorepati to promote his forthcoming comedy Golmaal 3, but he actually opposes the new marketing gimmick of using TV shows to market movies.

"I am always under the producer's pressure to do such things to promote films. If one is doing it, then another has to do it as well because it becomes a habit for the audience to watch such things," Ajay told IANS in an interview.

He joined Arshad Warsi, Kunal Khemu, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor and director Rohit Shetty on the quiz show hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan for Sony. The film is releasing this Diwali.

Special efforts are made to create space for movie stars in television programmes, says Ajay.

"Scenes are written to incorporate the stars of the respective film to promote it (through serials). It's not a good idea. I don't know where it will meet its end. But one can't stop it, will have to do it unanimously. I always do it indifferently," said the 41-year-old.

He had earlier appeared on Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma and also featured in an episode of Crime Patrol to promote Aakrosh, a film about honour killings.

The trend was started by Abhishek Bachchan when he appeared on the hit series Balika Vadhu to promote his 2008 release Drona. In recent times, Akshay Kumar joined the cast of Sasural Genda Phool for the marketing of Khatta Meetha; Salman Khan appeared on Laagi Tujhse Lagan for his recent mega hit Dabangg; and Neetu and Rishi Kapoor featured on the comedy show Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma to introduce their film Do Dooni Chaar.

Promotion strategy notwithstanding, Ajay says Golmaal 3 is a fulsome Diwali treat to the audience and what sets it apart from the last two instalments of the brainless comedies is that this time they have a story to tell.

"The only intention of making sequels of Golmaal is to entertain people, not to find logic. We planned to release it during Diwali because that's the festive season and people want to enjoy a movie with family. That's why we try keeping Golmaal clean.

"There is a very interesting story this time. It's complicated in the sense that there are two groups and how they fight and get together. There is a nice emotional angle to it. With laughs throughout the movie, somewhere it touches your heart and again resumes to be a full-fledged comedy," said Ajay.

Talking about his character, he said: "My character is little crazy and mad. He has got a bad temper, which makes the character completely different from the first two. That's why the character is given a very edgy look."

The actor says in real he is not at all like the character in the movie. "I am not a mad person. That character is too short tempered."

The ensemble cast also includes actor Kareena Kapoor. "In this film we needed more characters. Kunal has done a good job in the film," said Ajay.

The national award winning actor, who featured in three different movies this year - comedy Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?, political thriller Raajneeti and underworld saga Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai - has always garnered rave reviews for his varied performances.

"I feel I am very lucky because firstly I got to work in different genres with good directors at the right time. Secondly, I am very happy that people have liked those films. So, I can do different genres and I think acting keeps getting better with experience," he said.

After the fiasco that was London Dreams, you would think Salman Khan would steer clear of films co-starring the Ghajini girl Asin. Not so! 

Not only did Bollywood's macho man readily include Asin in Anees Bazmi's Ready, he was also all set to sign another film — Bodyguard — his sister Alvira's production, with Asin! 

According to a source, "Salman was bowled over after he saw the rushes of Kavalan, which has Vijay and Asin in the lead. He wanted to do the Hindi remake and wanted Asin opposite him." 

However, we hear, Asin declined the offer. Says the source, "Asin said a polite 'no' to the Kavalan remake for two reasons. After Ghajini, in which she starred in both the Tamil and Hindi versions, another Tamil-to-Hindi remake seemed monotonous to Asin. Moreover, three films in a row with Salman (after London Dreams and Ready) would've sent out wrong signals to Bollywood. Asin would like to work with other stars now." 

Reports indicate that the actress is on the verge of signing Hindi films with Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan. Surprisingly, Salman completely understands her point of view. The two have decided not to do any more films together until Asin finds her way in Bollywood. 

Asin is guarded in her response to questions about the films she has said no to in Bollywood. "It isn't right to talk about films I didn't do. But yes, I've just wrapped up the Tamil film Kavalan. Salman's sister is remaking it as Bodyguard in Hindi, and I'm not part of it. In fact, when the director — Siddique — made the same film in Malayalam two years ago, I couldn't be part of that. I had promised him I'd do the Tamil version and I did it," the actress clarifies. 

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a clothes horse. The former Miss World has been setting trends since the start of her career in Bollywood. 

Even her detractors agree that though she was at the receiving end of some nasty barbs for her wardrobe blunders when she appeared on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival, her fan following remains intact. And she has had Indian women across the globe borrowing styles from her personal and film wardrobes. 

Taking this aspect into account, film-maker Vipul Shah has given Aishwarya an extensive fashion line in his film Action Replayy which releases this Friday. Says Vipul, "When you define beauty, the first name that comes to mind is that of Aishwarya. She looks equally stunning in western and traditional outfits.'' The film-maker says his cool romantic comedy, set in 70s offered him scope to dress his leading lady in a variety of styles. 

Manish Malhotra actually spent months studying the various retro/contemporary designs to give Aishwarya the perfect look for the various situations in Action Replayy. And it now turns out that Ash's wardrobe in the film has become the talking point. 

Vipul says, "There will be many women across the globe who will want to ape her style. Not only is she looking hip and cool in the western outfits, even her look in the Holi song is stunning." 

Aishwarya has been getting compliments galore for her bright yellow dress in the song Nakhre. The song Nakhre captures the essence of this romantic comedy. And it was felt that a bright colour would suit the robust mood of the song. In other words, a lot of thought has gone into the dress code. 

Chaan Ke Mohalla, the holi song in Action Replayy, where Aishwarya is wearing a traditional salwar-kurta, is set in the 70s and it's the first time when Aditya Roy Kapur sees her. Incidentally a Holi song is a must with Vipul. His films Waqt — The Race Against Times, Namastey London, Singh is Kingg and now Action Replayy, all have a Holi song sequence. 

Director Zoya Akhtar has reportedly been asked to remove scenes featuring Spain's running of the bulls from Zindagi Milegi Na Dobora.

Parts of the film, which stars Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif, were shot in Pamplona, Spain during the famous event.

According to Frontier India, Hindu scholars have asked the filmmakers to delete any scenes showing the sport. 

The site quotes Zed Rajan, President of Universal Society of Hinduism as saying: "Cruelty to helpless animals should not be glorified in a mainstream feature film like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara meant for viewing by families." 

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobar is scheduled for release in April 2011

Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai's traditional outfits in the film Raavanan are finding many takers in Malaysia with Deepavali shopping at it's peak.

The original outfits, long-sleeved salwar kameez (tunic) and chudidar pants, were created by Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and imitations have flooded the shops here with many shopper's asking for the Aishwarya masakali.

The suits have been in the market since early this year after the release of the movie but sales have peaked as Deepavali approaches, reported New Straits Time.

The salwar kameez also comes with transparent sleeves and multi-coloured dupattas (stoles) to suit the tastes of the individual shoppers.

Malaysia is home to 2.1 million ethnic Indians, a bulk of them are from Tamil Nadu and fans of Tamils films and film stars.

The Hindi version of the film Raavan failed to create magic at the box office, but Raavanan, in Tamil, became an instant hit in Malaysia.

Harekrishna Silk's managing director Thiyananthan Bathumalai said most of the masakali suits in the market today were inspired by movie stars.

"For example, we now have Robo masakali, which was inspired from the movie Enthiran (in which Aishwarya acted) and Raavan masakali, which was inspired by Raavan," he said.

"Every year, we have customers asking for a particular sari or suit that was worn by an actress in a movie. This year, everyone is asking for masakali suits which were worn by Aishwarya Rai," he added.

Monikangana Dutta, who will debut in Bollywood with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish, is all set to join the league of supermodels Heidi Klum and Gisele Bundchen, as she has been selected to become a Victoria's Secret Angel. "I have not given up modelling. I have been selected as one of the six Victoria's Secret Angels," she said.

Monikangana, who earlier appeared in fashion magazines like Elle and Vogue, is the first Indian model to become an Angel (main model) of the high-profile lingerie brand. The others include the likes of Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio and Miranda Kerr.

Coming back to Guzaarish, the model-turned-actress refused to divulge details about her character Estella Francis in the movie starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

However, she said she has a dance with Hrithik in the movie for which the director had put her in a dancing school.

"The character is very much like what I have gone through in my personal life. When Sanjay sir narrated the character to me, I said I have to do this role," she said.

Moni, who hails from Guwahati and started her modelling career in Paris, does not feel "overshadowed" though she is not included in the movie promos.

"I was in the initial promos that went on air. I do not know if anybody noticed me in it or not. I do not feel insecure or overshadowed by the movie's lead stars. In fact, I would always like to be overshadowed by people like, Hrithik, Ash and SLB, who are my favourites," she said.

Hrithik Roshan's getting a lot of compliments ever since the promos of 'Guzaarish' hit screens. The actor who plays a paraplegic in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film informs that his fans are particularly looking forward to see the ball dance in the film. 

  

The flawless dancer with all humbleness says that he feels blessed that his fans love him for his dancing, but admits there is a greater dancer in Bollywood whom he admires and can't ever beat. 

  

Hrithik says that he is a huge fan of 60s heartthrob Shammi Kapoor. He feels that Kapoor is a great combination of madness, passion and romance which always reflects from his dance. 

  

Speaking about him he said "There have been and will be many great dancers, but will there ever be another Shammi Kapoor? The madness, passion and romance! No steps, just pure rhythm. Unbelievable! He is surely one of the greatest dancers ever. Salute." he signs off. 

Mumbai – Bollywood actress Dia Mirza walked the ramp for designer Rocky S during the ongoing India Bridal Week collection in Mumbai.

The event not only showcased traditional dresses such as lehengas and saris but it also displayed modern dresses for women.

Male models also walked the ramp showing tailored suits for the formal evening.

"I feel today we are out of the typical Indian colours. We are now a new generation. If you will see the collection, we have styled very modern. It does not have to be completely Indian. We are today's people and I feel today we can dress up in a much different manner than just wearing a typical lehenga or a salwar-kameez," said Rocky S.

Dia Mirza walked the ramp in a beautiful white bridal lehenga.

"To see an Indian girl in a white outfit or white lehenga is so ethereal and beautiful. The garment is so stunning. I think that in itself is a reflection of the line. I think what Rocky is trying to do with this collection is to say that why stick with the mould, brocade? Try something new, and I think it works really well because I felt beautiful. The garment is stunning," said Mirza.

The India Bridal Week that kicked off on Friday will focus on wedding clothes, jewellery and accessories.

The ongoing five-day event is held under the aegis of the Fashion and Design Promotion Council (FDPC). 

Bollywood's A-list was nowhere in the vicinity; but that didn't take the sparkle away from Vivek Oberoi and Priyanka Alva's nuptials, at the Alva residence, a few kilometers away from Bangalore city. The only A-lister seen at the wedding was Sushmita Sen.

At the Mumbai reception this evening, Akshay Kumar is likely to mark his presence.

However, all stops were pulled out for the wedding in Bangalore.

As many as 5,000 guests attended the pre-phera party.

Seventy guests flew in from abroad; most of them Priyanka's friends.

Others who attended the wedding were director Apoorva Lakhia, Poonam Dhillon, Kookie Gulati (who directed Vivek in Prince) and Kumar Taurani (the producer of Prince).

Chiranjeevi came in as did the Kannada star Sudeep.

The bride performed a Bharat Natyam recital at the sangeet, and eventually the couple ended the show with a slow dance.

Vivek's father Suresh Oberoi was the compere for the evening.

A guest was overheard saying: "The Alva residence has an Olympic-sized swimming-pool, a baseball court, a football field and acres and acres of greenery.

And that's just the outdoors. Vivek seems to have married an heiress!"

Let's hope the turnout at the reception is impressive enough to convince the bride she has actually married a star.

From Berlin to Beijing, the world's certainly becoming a smaller place for Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan. 

Presently shooting Farhan Akhtar's film Don 2 in Berlin, Shahrukh will now head to Beijing in China for the premiere of his film My Name Is Khan that had the worldwide release earlier this year. 

China has a very strict policy toward foreign films. Every year, just 20 foreign films get released in the country. This year, My Name Is Khan has the honour of being one of them. It's also the first Hindi film to release in China in the last three decades. So the honour is all the more special. 

Reports say the film will be premiered in Beijing on November 30. Director Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan are most certain to visit, but it's unsure if Kajol, the film's female lead, would join them. 

We also hear that Karan Johar will himself design SRK's costume which will be a mix of Indian and Chinese style. 

After all, aren't Hindi, Cheeni bhai bhai?

Bollywood beauty Dia Mirza looked stunning in a white wedding lehenga as the showstopper for designer Rocky S. on the opening day of the Aamby Valley India Bridal Week here.

Giving an unconventional approach to his collection, Rocky used white for his showstopper -- a colour not usually used for weddings.

"What is interesting is to see an Indian bride in a white lehenga. So surreal and beautiful. The garment is stunning and I think that in itself is a reflection of the line. What Rocky is trying to do with this collection is asking why stick with the mould? Break it and try something new," Dia told IANS late Friday.

"And I think it works very well because wearing it I felt beautiful. The garment is stunning and quite honestly, if I were to be getting married, white could be quite a colour for me," the actress said.

Rocky's collection also entailed other shades including maroon, red, burgundy, beige, brown, pink, peach, grey and black along with a few more whites.

"The signature colours were black and white but I have used a lot of other hues too. I feel today we are out of the typical Indian colours. We are now in a new generation, when you see the collection you will realise that it is styled in a very modern way," said Rocky.

"Just because it is a bridal collection, we don't have to be completely Indian in our approach. We are today's people and we dress up in a very different manner than just wearing a typical lehenga or a salwar kameez," he added.

The designer's collection, along with Indian lehenga's and sarees, also included varied cocktail dresses and westernised kurtis and tights.

The show also had something for the men. Male models showcased what a bridegroom can look forward to this wedding season. Velvet blazers, bright, embroidered and plain sherwanis and classic tuxedos completed the men's collection.

The show, however, did face a slight glitch, when a model sporting a net sari, slipped while coming down the stairs.

At the Kingfisher Calendar swimsuit model hunt 2011, Siddharth Mallya surprised his beau Deepika Padukone by picking Priyanka Chopra instead of Deepika for "the one having a perfect body in Bollywood".

When reporters asked the question to Siddharth about "who he thought has the perfect body in Bollywood"? He without hesitating named Priyanka Chopra. "I think all of them are very beautiful and have great looking bodies but I feel Priyanka is particularly stunning," he said.

Deepika also present at the moment, was not expecting such a reply from her beau but she sportily accepted saying, "I think I am blessed with a great face and body but her (Priyanka's) mental state and strength makes her successful and how she carries herself."

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who happens to be girlfriend of liquor baron Vijay Mallya's son Sidhartha Mallya was one of the judges to choose 15 girls for the Kingfisher calendar 2011. She was there to support her beau on choosing the models on Tuesday.

Deepika was one among 15 girls that made to the Kingfisher calendar in 2006 and on Tuesday she felt elated to choose the best 15 for the Kingfisher calendar. She was looking smashingly beautiful in a blushing pink draped short dress.

Deepika as a judge said that she'll be looking for beauty with brains. "I think apart from just a great body and a great face, it's also very important for the girls to be smart, witty and intelligent…It's not the way you look but the entire package that matters. I think that being smart and intelligent takes one forward in life if you really want to become successful. So, I am looking for someone who is not just good looking but also very, very intelligent," said Padukone.

Hrithik Roshan and his gorgeous wifey Suzzane Roshan stepped out for a cause, and in sizzling style, for the premiere of Breast Cancer docudrama "1 a Minute" in Mumbai on Wednesday, October 27.

Dressed in a black Velvet jacket, faded jeans and white tee, Hrithik sent hearts aflutter. While his gorgeous wife Sussanne looked an absolute stunner in a single shoulder dress and animal print shoes.

The film's premiere was organized by Priya Dutt in association with Nargis Dutt Memorial Charity Trust (NDMCT), but Priya's brother Sanjay Dutt was a no show.

Portions of profits from each ticket sale of "1 a Minute" will be donated to NDMCT with the aim to raise awareness and supporting the social cause in India.

The Namrata Singh Gujral directed and produced film will release on October 29 across PVR cinemas.

The movie stars Breast cancer survivors like Lisa Ray, Barbara Mori (Kites), Mumtaz (yester years Bollywood sensational actress), Namrata Singh Gujral (Americanizing Shelley and The Agency), Olivia Newton-John (Grease), Jaclyn Smith (Charlie's Angels), Melissa Etheridge (An Inconvenient Truth), Diahann Carroll (Claudine), brothers Billy Baldwin (Backdraft) and Danny Baldwin (VAMPIRES), whose mother is a survivor and finally Priya Dutt, whose mother, the famous Bollywood star Nargis Dutt, died of cancer.

Fifteen days after being convicted in a case of rash and negligent driving and for injuring two people, Bollywood actor John Abraham, on Friday, filed an appeal in the sessions court against his conviction. The Bandra metropolitan magistrate court had sentenced Abraham to 15 days of simple imprisonment on October 14.

"The lower court ought to have seen that either a person has committed a rash act or has been criminally negligent. He can't do both," said Abraham in his appeal.

Further, he added that the 'judge has misconstrued and has, without applying the principles relating to the acts of rashness and criminal negligence, convicted the applicant (Abraham)'.

The appeal also stated that though the police had recorded the statements of various witnesses at the time of the incident, except for the evidence of one of the victims, 'no other witnesses have been examined in respect to the alleged incident'.

According to Abraham, even the victim 'has not made out a case of either criminal negligence or rashness against him.

"The lower court has relied upon hearsay evidence in convicting the appellant (Abraham), said the actor in his appeal.

The incident dates back to April 8, 2006, when Abraham had rammed his Suzuki Hayabusa bike into two youngsters on a bicycle at around 11.15 pm on Carter Road, Bandra.

After the accident, Abraham took the victims — Shyam Kasbe, 22, and Tanmay Majhi, 19, both working at Judo Wine shop at Pali Naka — to Bhabha Hospital.

Abraham, who was also injured, later got himself admitted to Lilavati Hospital.

According to the police, Abraham was returning from Maureen Wadia's Gladrags show, while both the youngsters were returning after closing the shop.

The police later booked the actor under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.

Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu today launched Aircel GSM mobile in Rajasthan completing pan-India footprint for the service provider with lowest rates and packages, including pocket internet.

Basu, who made her first call from the newly-launched phone to Aircel chief operating officer Gurdeep Singh, said Rajasthan has made tremendous development and growth in IT sector, and will welcome this very service.

Singh said Rajasthan was the last destination to come with Aircel, and it will cover 23 districts with an investment of Rs500 crore in first phase, and Rs300 crore more in 2011-12.

Singh said Aircel would be providing innovative pocket internet cards to customers for unlimited browsing for a period of 30 days at Rs98.

He also announced the first 'Pocketapps Store' in association with Infosys this year, with a weekly charge of Rs7 with free download.

Besides, pre-paid, post-paid, inbult vas and data, international calling cards, and business pack for SMEs would be provided with new plans on competitive prices, Singh said.

Talking about her love for the state, Basu said: "Rajasthan's food, dresses and designs are great. We all love Rajasthan. It is full of culture, beauty and I always love to visit the desert state."

On Aircel's 'Save Our Tigers' campaign, she said that it was cruel that tiger population is dwindling due to alleged poaching. The programme needscomplete support of the government and non-government organisations.

"I am sure the new generation must be catching up with the campaign," she said.

When asked whether she comes on Facebook, Basu said social networking is her passion, as it keeps her hooked to her audience.

NEW DELHI: Bollywood hunk Akshay Kumar will no longer be able to say 'It twinkles!' on television while his wife Twinkle Khanna flashes a Micromax Bling phone. 

The Delhi High Court has restrained India's second largest mobile phone brand, Micromax, from selling or advertising one of its largest-selling women-oriented mobile phones 'Bling' as it acceded to a trademark violation filed by Delhi-based mobile phone maker Bling Telecom. 

According to the order, a copy of which is with ET, the court restrained Micromax, including its employees, agents, representatives, or anyone acting on their behalf, from using the trademark 'Bling' or any other name confusingly similar till the next date of hearing, February 8, 2011. 

The court order dated October 19, restrains the company from displaying the Bling ads on TV and print, for which Micromax paid a hefty undisclosed amount to Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna. Costing about . 6500, the Swarovski elements-embedded Bling is one of the largest selling women-oriented phones in the market from Micromax. 

The ad campaign, which has Twinkle Khanna displaying her shiny 'Bling' phone during a high street fashion show, was aimed at changing Micromax's image of a low cost handset company into a branded high fashion phone company. 

Micromax declined comment to ET on the issue. Bling Telecom chairman Rajiv Khanna said the company had filed for the trademark in July 2009 and has since introduced six models under the brand name. "We are the prior users of the trademark 'Bling' in relation to telecom goods," he said.

Deepika Padukone would never have dreamt that her off-the record boyfriend Sidhartha Mallya would choose Priyanka Chopra over her. At the launch of the Kingfisher calendar girls hunt 2011, Sid was asked who he thought has the perfect body in bollywood? While one hoped he would say Deepika, he surprised one and all.

"I think all of them are very beautiful and have great looking bodies but I feel Priyanka is particularly stunning." Deepika took the news sportingly: "I think I am blessed with a great face and body but her (Priyanka's) mental state and strength makes her successful and how she carries herself." Deepika also said she was glad to be chosen as a Calendar Girl before the company began the selection process via a contest.

Trisha is not disappointed with the mixed reviews that received for her performance in Bollywood film Khatta Meeta. She feels that the movie is not a flop movie as the media channels are projecting. Well about losing some of the Bollywood offers, the actress says that she is not worried, as the Hindi film industry is not her main concern.

Trisha says, "I am looking forward for the best offers irrespective of regional factors. I am really surprised to hear about media stories, which claim that Khatta Meeta is a flop movie. Well, I have got nothing to do with the film's results as everyone has their own roles in determining the film's results, not just the actresses."

The actress also utters that she has now started signing films that delineated her in a substantial character. It was very much illustrious with her previous film Abhiyum Naanum. She is currently busy with Ajith Kumar's 50th film Mangaatha and Telugu movie Kushiga, which is a remake of Bollywood movie Love Aaj Kal.

Howeever, she has already completed shooting for her next Tamil movie Manmadhan Ambu, in which she shares screen space with Kamal Hassan and Madhavan.

AHMEDABAD: It was a message on the alleged killer's Facebook profile that helped cops solve the Priyanka Ramanuj murder mystery. 

The storyline is more like a Bollywood film. Priyanka's fiance, Mahendra Sadhu, was forced to get engaged with her by his family. Priyanka had already faced a broken engagement prior to this. 

Mahendra had a chance encounter with an old flame at a garba venue during the Navratri festival. This was enough to get him planning Priyanka's murder. Mahendra wanted his old girl friend back but could not reject Priyanka without facing strong opposition from his own family. 

Priyanka, an MBA student, went missing on October 21 and her body was fished out of a sewage canal near Gota a couple of days later. According to cops, the body was decomposed and they could not find any external marks of injury. 

The cops got suspicious after learning from one of Mahendra's friends that he was romantically linked with another girl. The first breakthrough was literally posted on a social networking website. Cops read messages of Mahendra's lover. 

"Further investigations revealed that Mahendra had a romantic relationship with this girl in the past. The messages on his profile revealed that the romance had been rekindled. We then put Mahendra under the scanner," said Sandeep Singh, superintendent of police, Ahmedabad rural. 

Officials said that after killing Priyanka on October 21, Mahendra had got one of his friends to call up the other girl. Mahendra had told her not to contact him until the matter cools down. "We have found the girl's message of anguish from Mahendra's profile. She had blamed him for cutting off all contacts with her," said police investigators. 

Barring an odd 'Khakee' where Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai were not conventionally paired opposite each other, the two actors have never shared screen space together. In fact it is surprising that none of the existing film makers ever thought of bringing the two together. This is the reason why it is reason to celebrate with Vipul Shah making it possible with 'Action Replayy'.

Since off screen, Akshay is known for being pretty rooted and grounded while Ash is a classic beauty with a Diva image to boast, was it really convincing for Vipul since he had to handle complete opposites on the sets?

"See that's the entire point", says Vipul who has earlier worked with Akshay in 'Aankhen', 'Waqt', 'Namastey London' and 'Singh Is Kinng', "The words that you have used to describe Ash – classic beauty – are absolutely right. For 'Action Replayy', I indeed wanted someone who boasted of classic beauty."

No wonder, Vipul's reference point was Hema Malini, who has lived on to be a dream girl for decades.

"Since the film is set in the 70s, if I had to think of someone who was a classical beauty in the era gone by, it had to be Hema Malini", reasons Vipul, "She was yesterday's dream girl, Ash is today's. Both have an Indian face and can look Western when required. It is so fantastic that I got what I needed."

Now all one hopes is that audience too get what they want. After all one expects some real conventional romance between Akshay and Ash this time around, especially due to the fact that in 'Khakee', it turned out to be an anti climax after all.

Laughs Vipul, "Don't worry on that aspect. In fact within our team, we have always maintained that Akshay is today's Dharmendra. Now when Ash is being seen opposite him, we all believe that it is back to seeing a Dharam-Hema pairing. Nothing can beat that."

Well, one looks forward to audience sharing a similar sentiment as well once the film hits the screens on 5th November.

Early life

Neha Sharma was born on the 21st of November,1987 in the district of Bhagalpur,Bihar.She has completed her high school from Mount Assisi School,Mahatma Gandhi Path, Bhagalpur. She is daughter of Mr. Ajit Sharma,one of the renounced personality in Bhagalpur. She is a scorpion by her zodiac sign.She has done a course on Fashion Designing from SRM's, Bareilly.

Film background

New into Bollywood, Neha, however, isn't someone who is new to the arc lights though. She has been on the film circuit for a while after doing a couple of films in Telugu as the leading lady.

She made her entry into movies with a Telugu film Chirutha, opposite Ram Charan Teja,son of Chiranjeevi. She made her entry in bollywood in 2010 with Crook (film). Chirutha was the debut movie for both Neha Sharma and Ram Charan Teja. The movie was released on 28 September 2007 and did good business in spite of mixed reviews. Neha Sharma got good recognition for her looks, dancing and acting skills.

Crook: It's Good To Be Bad is a Bollywood thriller film directed by Mohit Suri. Emraan Hashmi and Neha Sharma play pivotal roles in the film. The film was released on October 8, 2010 .

Name: Zarine Khan

Location: Mumbai, India

DOB: 25 May

Eye color: Blue

Hairstyle: very American

Height: 174 cm

Workplace / job: Modeling / Acting

Favorite drink: Pepsi Max

Favorite Fast food: McDonald and Serrano

Favorite place: Indian film industry Bollywood, feels like she do in the Palace

The best Indian band: Pop singers

Channel 2 or 1 screen: Both good

Best Web: Google.com

Her favorite models: Sash and Kate Moss

Most beautiful person in the world: My mother, but she has always quite a crush on Salman Khan!

Indian men are: Rather handsome men!

Zarine Khan want to be: So rich that she can credited to her all the shoes in the world

She go to sleep in: socks, so she will not feel cold

Zarine Khan planning on: Moving to New York and then heading into Hollywood.

She is off the frenzy: To her it is very little difference how others look at her

Motto: If the shoes fit, buy one in every color

Boyfriend: If she could say Salman Khan, then she would do it

The hot topic of the matter, which came out from the promos of Salman Khan's Veer is the leading lady of the movie Zarine Khan. Can be called it coincidence or whatever, it is hard to neglect that Zarine's eerie resemblance to Katrina Kaif is something. But to say that she is just a twin of Katrina, would be doing gross unfairness to someone who is all set for starting steps into the world of acting.

Below the exclusive interview transcript with Zarine is given, the clock is rewinded and you are taken too back in time to give you an insight on how a single phone call changed Zarine Khan's life completely.

Her Background:

She is a pucca Mumbai girl. She used to live in Santacruz during her childhood and she is living in Bandra now. She had a very normal childhood. She used to be a quiet little girl with hardly any tantrums. She used to be a very good student in school, always scoring in the range of 90% and a complete teacher's favorite. Since she was such a good student, her mother wanted her to become a doctor. So she took up science and joined Rizvi College. However, she could not complete her education due to certain family and financial problems.

Early days of struggle:

Due to financial pressures, at a very young age, the responsibility of running the house came on her shoulders. At that time, she had to give up studies and start working. She always had a tom-boy streak to her personality. Most of her friends in school and college were boys. She actually became the 'Man of the house' when the situation demanded. She was fat and weighed almost 100 kgs in college time. She had never in her wildest dreams that she or her friends thought, she would enter the glamor world. She was just another happy go-lucky-girl enjoying her chocolates and junk food. However, when her family was going through financial chaos, she became more responsible. She knew that she had to take charge of the house since there were her mom and younger sister to look after. At that time, she started taking life seriously and began to focus on losing weight and getting into shape. She gave up on sweets, chocolates, started serious work-out and lost a lot of weight eventually. Since she had not completed her education, she could not really get a high-profile job and that is when she began modeling. She did quite a few small assignments that fetched her enough money to run the house.

Bagging Veer - Her First Big Break:

She got a call one day from someone at Mukta Arts and they asked her to come to the sets of Yuvvraaj during her modeling days. She did not ask too many questions for being a struggling model and immediately left for the venue. When she reached on the sets, she saw Salman Khan, a man whom she was a big fan for a long time. After the shoot, she got a chance to speak to him and told him that she was a big fan of his and even requested for his autograph. He obliged her with his autograph but also told her, 'Sweetheart, very soon you will be signing autographs'. She did not quite understand what he meant but understood about it later when she was offered for the movie Veer.

Growing up on Bollywood:

She is a huge Bollywood buff and watches all sorts of movies. In fact, even the movies which flopped badly have been seen by her too in the theatre. She was watching a movie, despite of the theatres used to be all empty. When she was a small kid, she used to be like Dharmendra because of his He-Man image. She likes strong and well-built men.

She's got the 'K' factor in her life. It's not the Kapoor title we're talking about, it's the Khan, dearies. Kareena Kapoor's a favourite of all the big Khans in Bollywood. 

But recently, during an interview when she called Aamir the 'God of Acting', she didn't hear the end of it from good friend SRK. He's been ribbing her ever since, all in good humour, of course. More recently, when we quizzed her again about it, she was well on her guard and politically correct. Well, almost painfully perfect, we must say. 

"Shah Rukh is a king himself, in fact, both Aamir and SRK are Kings in their own right. It's difficult to choose one of them. I am the luckiest actress as I've worked with all the four Khans, and all of them have their own distinct personalities. So it will be bad on my part to compare and chose one of them," said Kareena. 

Well, what's interesting here is the way the gal stressed on the fourth Khan — Saif Ali Khan, of course. We know where that's coming from Bebo, we blame it on love. And yes, the fourth Khan is quite a rock-star too. Okay, stop blushing now. Lol! 

Hrithik Roshan has reportedly flown to Berlin to shoot a special role in Don 2 - The Chase Continues. 

According to Mid Day, producers Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani felt Roshan was ideal for the featured part in the project.

A source for the newspaper commented: "Roshan's character is a stylised one with interesting shades and they felt only he could do justice to it. But Farhan and Ritesh want to keep Hrithik's role hidden till the film's release as it's one of the highlights of Don 2."

Producers are also said to be excited about Roshan appearing opposite lead actor Shah Rukh Khan after they worked together in 2001.

"Hrithik and Shah Rukh will come together again in Don 2 after Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. They shared an amazing chemistry and are close friends even today," added the source. 

The green-eyed actor has recently filmed with Farhan Akhtar in Spain for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara.

Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and his to-be bride Priyanka Alva both sported matching shades of crimson at their mehendi ceremony today, which took place at a sprawling farm house in Bangalore.

The couple will tie the knot in a traditional ceremony tomorrow and celebrations are already afoot.

Priyanka, a 28-year-old management graduate from London, was dressed in an orange ghagra choli for the mehendi ceremony which was attended by friends and relatives.

Priyanka, daughter of former Karnataka minister, late Jeevraj Alva, will tie the knot with 34-year-old Vivek tomorrow.

Vivek, who arrived in Bangalore after a hectic schedule to promote his film Rakth Charitra, appeared relaxed and comfortable in his crimson apparel as he mixed with the invitees at the pre-wedding events.

The afternoon lunch saw a spread of culinary delights from Italy, apart from some light refreshments, sources said.

A part of the venue bustled with activity as chefs went about preparing the elaborate menu, a fusion of Punjabi and South Indian cuisine with some special dishes thrown in, for the party that will begin here late evening.

Long white drapes, lush greenery, flowers and scented oils set the ambience for the evening.

Guests, including close family members and relatives of the couples who arrived here and others set the festive mood for the wedding.

Invitees would be treated to a performance by drummer Sivamani tonight.

DJ Jasmeet is expected to add some punch to the event by belting out the latest numbers of Rakht Charitra and other Bollywood songs from Vivek's films.

Tomorrow morning would see the marriage puja commencing at the Alva house before moving to the Chancery Pavilion, venue for the rest of events.

The traditional haldi ceremony and chura ceremony would be followed by the the sehra bandhi and the milni and jaymala.

The couple who will both sport designer Tarun Tahilani's creations would be blessed at the ceremony by close family friends and relatives.

Though the Bollywood turnout is not expected to be large tomorrow, there would be many of them at the reception at Mumbai on October

Is Mega Star Chiranjeevi's son Ram Charan Tej preparing to make his Bollywood debut? Sources are saying yes to this question.  

There was a heavy buzz in the early 2010 (January) that Ram Charan has been signed by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment for a Hindi Film. But, that was calmed down when the filmmakers said that they had no such plans. 

Sources now say that Ram Charan had signed for a Bollywood film 'Welcome to the Jungle' that will be directed by Faruk Kabir (the director of yet to be released film 'Allah Ke Banday').   

Earlier, it was said that Bollywood Star Hrithik Roshan would play the lead role in 'Welcome to the Jungle', which is supposed to be an action thriller. As per the script, the film requires protagonist to perform many stunts. And now with Hrithik stepping out of the project, Ram Charan was considered apt for the role and roped in. Major part of the film will be shot in Amazon forest. 

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, known for her performances in films like Kal Ho Naa Ho and Veer Zaara, will be conferred a doctorate by a leading UK university.

Zinta, who has the unique distinction of addressing the Oxford Union yesterday, will receive the doctorate from the University of East London at a function tomorrow. 

Later in the evening, the star will attend the Loomba Foundation Diwali dinner at the Guild Hall where the deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Lord Navnit Dholakia, deputy leader of the Lib Dem at the House of Lords will also be present. 

A versatile actress, Preity has acted in over 30 films in Bollywood as well as in Telugu, Punjabi and English language films. 

The 35-year-old star made her acting debut with Mani Ratnam's 'Dil Se' in 1998 followed by a role in 'Soldier' the same year. These performances earned her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, and she was later recognised for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000). 

Preity received her first Filmfare Best Actress Award in 2003 for her performance in the drama Kal Ho Naa Ho. She went on to play the lead female role in two consecutive annual top-grossing films in India: the science fiction film Koi... Mil Gaya and cross border romance Veer-Zaara, which earned her critical acclaim. 

Her first international film role was in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth, for which she was awarded the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.

Now we know why this Spring-Summer edition of the Wills India Fashion Week was devoid of any Bollywood star on the ramp. It was all being saved up for designer Tarun Tahiliani's finale where actresses Shilpa Shetty and Chitrangada Singh upped the glam quotient.

The absence of B-town celebs at this five-day extravaganza came as a surprise to many, but the Grand Finale last night compensated for it all with a double dose of 'filmi' glamour.

While 'Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi' star Chitrangada walked the ramp in a blush-coloured sequinned sari, Tahiliani's muse and longtime patron Shilpa sashayed down in a tulle bodice and a heavy paneled lehenga in malkha.

"Tarun reinvents me every time he designs something for me. Its fabulous to see a new me each time I walk the ramp for him. I am such an admirer of his clothes which are a nice fusion of Indo-Western," said Shilpa.

Her mehendi-adorned hands attracted the eye, which invited questions as to her celebrating 'Karva Chauth' the previous day.

"Yes, it was my first Karva Chauth and I have got mehendi on my feet too!" said Shilpa, who tied the knot with businessman Raj Kundra earlier this year.

Incidentally, Tahiliani had designed the 35-year-old star's wedding trousseau as well.

"The best thing about Tarun's clothes is that they are timeless. Clothes I bought from him seven years ago are still in my closet," said Shilpa.

Tahiliani's show was a spectacle in itself with diffused light falling on white shredded ribbons lined up all around the hall creating a dreamy ambience. Adding to it was a curtain of smoke at the foot of the ramp from where models made their entry.

The show began with a display of light on two huge white structures made of ribbons followed by the models walking down in Tahiliani's creations.

"This is my first Grand Finale at WIFW and I wanted to create a different ambience for it. A fashion show is all about creating a mood which is reflected in the clothes," said Tahiliani.

A group of Rajasthani folk singers crooning 'Ali Maula' as the models broke into a jig on the ramp, brought the show to an end.

The designer's collection comprised saris, paneled lehengas and kurtis, jodhpurs and jackets in fabrics like silk, gauze, tulle, malkha and chiffon in earthy colours of sand, charcoal, beige and taupe.

"The idea was to create a handloom mood and so the colours used were very natural. Fashion these days is all about juxtaposing two different things so we have something like a traditional lehenga teamed with a net top," said Tahiliani. 

Basically, Karva-Chauth is performed by married women for the long life of their husband but recently the tradition is fast growing among the unmarried girls. Our Bollywood stars are also not behind in performing the rituals. Unmarried Kareena Kapoor in spite of hectic schedule kept her first fasting for her beau Saif Ali Khan.

She was busy promoting her latest flick, 'Golmaal 3' with her co-actors but she was determined to keep vrath for Saiffu dear. Last year too, she was willingly to keep the fast but she was very sick and was under medication.

This year, despite her professional commitments, she remained without food and water the entire day. After she wrapped up the promotional activities, she rushed to Pataudi before the moon rise up. She dressed up, prepared the thali and performed the ritual.

Saif Ali Khan gifted Bebo a fabulous jewelry set after the ritual. Kareena loves diamonds so he has gifted her necklace and earrings made of diamonds and emeralds. After the rituals, they headed for Delhi to spend time with Karisma Kapoor.

It all started at a forum at the MAMI film festival in Mumbai. Adman Prahlad Kakkar was one of the speakers discussing the way Bollywood works. Taking a pot shot at Abhishek Bachchan, Kakkar said, "Men stars in Bollywood are usually useless nephews and sons." 

Further taking a dig at the young Bachchan scion Kakkar said, " Abhishek Bachchan has 17 flops in a row and is still going strong. He is unique and should be in the Guinness Book of Records." His comment garnered an uproarious laughter from the audience, but Abhishek wasn't ready to take it lying low. 

A fan brought Prahlad Kakkar's comment to Abhishek's notice and he retorted, "I love Prahlad Kakkar, he should be a stand-up comic not an ad-filmmaker. Maybe then someone will take him seriously! This coming from a man who makes commercials with his own son." 

Further setting the record straight, Abhi pointed out, "Oh ya, Prahlad, I'm already in the Guinness Book of World Records and a very proud son. I hope you give your sons an opportunity to say the same someday." The actor is in the Guinness Book for making maximum public appearances in 12 hours while promoting his film 2009 ' Delhi 6'. We wonder what Prahlad Kakkar has to say after this... 

Bollywood, abounding with elephantine egos, is known for its ugly spats. But it is also known for its patch-ups. This patch-up though is special. 

Last week, when his family was so very tied up with his wedding preparations, Vivek Oberoi went across to Mehboob Studios in Bandra to invite his ex Aishwarya Rai's husband, Abhishek Bachchan, for his wedding reception on October 31 in Mumbai. 

A few days prior to inviting Bachchan Jr, Oberoi Jr also mended fences with Sanjay Dutt, when he went across to Dutt's residence for a Mata ki chowki pooja. Sanjay Dutt knew that Vivek was coming to his house with Lakhia. 

Director Apoorva Lakhia accompanied Oberoi Jr to both Bachchan Jr's set at Mehboob Studios and Dutt's residence at Pali Hill. According to a source, Vivek called up Lakhia, who is very close to Bachchan Jr and Dutt, and informed him that he wanted to invite Bachchan Jr and Dutt for his shaadi. 

The Oberois and the Bachchans had always had bad vibes between them, especially after Vivek's acrimonious split with Aishwarya in 2005. Even though Oberoi Jr has been trying to mend his relationship with the Bachchans for sometime and was successful in striking up a conversation with Bachchan Sr and Jaya at an award function in January 2010, he hadn't made much headway with Bachchan Jr. 

Ditto for bad energy between Oberoi Jr and Dutt. Sanju Baba had been terribly miffed with Oberoi Jr when Oberoi Jr had allegedly made some uncharitable remarks about his wife Manyata. Though Sanju Baba did hug Oberoi Jr at an event in June 2010, there was still some awkwardness between the two whenever they came across one another after this. 

Says the source, "Now, let bygones be bygones, All the concerned individuals have moved on with their lives. Vivek is busy with his career; Abhishek-Aishwarya and Sanjay-Manyata are leading peaceful lives. Toh phir jhagda kis baat ka? And this is exactly what Vivek feels. 

Frankly, he wants to start life afresh and put the past behind him. He is in a very happy space, now that he is getting married to Priyanka Alva. Though it is an arranged marriage, Vivek and Priyanka have been bonding very, very well ever since they got engaged," adds the source. 

When contacted, Lakhia however said, "I didn't take Vivek to Mehboob Studios. I had gone to meet Abhishek, who was shooting there for Rohan Sippy's film Dum Maro Dum." But he soon added, "I made Abhishek and Vivek talk on the phone, which is when Vivek invited Abhishek for his wedding." At the time of printing this, we were unable to confirm if Vivek has stepped into Galaxy Apartments on the way back from Mehboob Studios. It's a stone's throw away, after all. 

Anushka Sharma and her co-star Ranvir Singh boarded the flight to Delhi to promote their latest flick, 'Band Baja Baraat' but on reaching at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Ranvir Singh created a scene at the airport. He claimed that a passenger sitting on the back row was clicking their photographs and also video recording their movements on the flight.

On reaching at the airport, Ranvir caught the passenger and both had a heated argument. The passenger refused to show his mobile to Ranvir and claim the he is an IAS officer and will show his mobile only to airport authority.

The passenger denied clicking any photographs of the actors, "The passenger said he had not taken any picture or filmed them on his mobile and refused to show them the clippings," an airport source said.

Later the problem has been solved at Delhi airport. When asked, DCP (Airport) O P Mishra said, "No complaint has been received by the police in this regard."

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By movietalkies 

He's half Malayali, half Parsi and a total delight. John Abraham speaks German, regrets not learning Malayalam, desires yet another fancy bike and admits to being sexually progressive. AJIT RAMACHANDDRAN explores facets of the hunkster who's turned all geek for his forthcoming flick 'Jhootha Hi Sahi'….

He's one helluva drool worthy dude. Eyeballs pop, heads turn and thrills peak as a figure togged up in a black tee, denims and smart shoes strides into the confines of a five star hotel in suburban Mumbai.

John Abraham.

Stylish swagger. Dimpled smile. Sexy stubble. And loads of charm.

Minutes later, the actor is affably beaming away for keepsake pics alongside the hotel staff, who are clearly smitten by JA.

The actor's physicality, which soared and scored with 'Dostana', has catapulted him to top bracket and John Abraham has consistently showed up in all possible lists of good looking smashers in Asia.

And yet, he's turned all ordinary, and truly more of a nerd for Abbas Tyrewala's 'Jhootha Hi Sahi', which illumines John as a habitual liar alongside Pakhi. From good looking to geek? Without wasting moments, you initiate the actor into inter phew mode, quizzing him about this volte face… and lots more.

Excerpts from a chat with the Sagittarian star…

'Dostana' made you a gay icon and Bipasha mentioned that the increasing male attention was making her insecure. Assuming Bipasha acted in a lesbian film and gained a lot of female attention, would you feel insecure?

I would love it! I find one woman beautiful. I would find two women even more beautiful. I find nothing wrong and respect people's feelings; there is a community out there we should respect. I feel rather happy that I am liked by everyone. I take it as a big compliment. I need to connect to my whole audience and not just one community.

But you've gone from good looking to geek in 'Jhootha Hi Sahi'. How would you describe your character Siddharth in the film?

Siddharth was a guy who was probably fat when he was a kid. He grows up to be very shy. When he sees a woman he stammers and can't really speak up his mind and he ends up lying and lying more to cover up his one lie. They say you have to lie a 1000 times to cover up your one lie and that's what Siddharth does. I was pretty much like that when I was young I never really knew how to approach a woman. I think it's a common Indian man trait as we are all scared of rejection. So I guess Siddharth is someone who is very relatable to the public.

Two months prior to the filming of 'JHS', Abbas Tyrewala gifted you this book called 'The Art Of Lying'. Besides, you've stated that he also helped you become a better liar. Give me three tips to becoming a good liar….

How to be a good liar..? Just look straight faced into the other person's face. Do not bat an eyelid. Do not blink, just look there. Don't raise your voice when you're speaking to the other person, you sound less convincing… speak at a normal pace. Keep smiling.

The film was earlier titled '1 800 LOVE' and now it's 'Jhoota Hi Sahi.' Whose idea was it?

Well, '1 800 LOVE ' was the most popular concept among my producer, director and me and we wanted to go with the title till we came back to India after the shoot. The media, just like all of you, asked us how was it shooting '18000 LOVE' or '8000 LOVE' or '1800 LOVE' and we realised that the concept doesn't exist in our country, people aren't really familiar with the term of '1 800 LOVE' which is a toll free number. So we decided to change the title to 'Jhoota Hi Sahi'.

What attracted you to the script in the first place, considering you're the co producer of the film too?

What attracted me to the script was the idea itself. It was a brilliant idea, a great story and I said who better than Abbas Tyerwala to direct the film. It's just a perfect marriage of a great script and great director.

What do you feel is Abbas's strongpoint as a director?

Abbas' strength as a director is his intuitiveness to understand what his actor wants. If his actor wants space, he will give his actor space. If his actor wants time, he'll give him time. He comes and sits with the actor and looks into the actor's eyes, explains the entire process, the script narration lines, the scene to the actor and he does not want the actor to be disturbed. So I would say Abbas' biggest strength is that just like I believe I am a director's actor, Abbas is an actor's director. He's a dream director.

Usually an actor gets to work with a director's girlfriend or mistress. This time around, its the director's wife. Was it a little unsettling for you as an actor?

No. In fact, I asked Pakhi to be cast in the film because I just loved the way she narrated the film to me and when my producer, my good friend Madhu Mantena, asked me who do you think should be cast in the film I said why not this pretty girl who narrated the film to us? That was Pakhi and it was perfect casting. We needed this pretty cute girl who works in a DVD store next door and Pakhi just suited that absolutely right. Also, with Pakhi there was no question of home work because she wrote the film and she understood the skin of the characer very well.

What would you say is the USP of the film?

I would say the film in totality is the USP of this film. It's not a proposal, it's not about actors coming together with great music, etc. It's an honest film, it's not a first three day con job and I think people will learn to appreciate a good film.

How would you describe Pakhi as a co actor and as a person?

Oh, Pakhi is a sweet heart and she kept calling me 'John Sir', I don't understand why. She is a lovely person but Pakhi had her point of view because she has written the script. She would see Siddharth going in a certain way and she would say Siddharth is straying away, but not once did she correct me. Pakhi would go to my director and whisper into his ears. She'd say this is not the way. Then the director would come and talk to me. I think she demarcated both the spaces very well as an actress… she was there in front of me performing as a writer, she was there for my director and last she was his wife. That was third on her list of priorities and wasn't important.

Any unforgettable memory associated with the making of 'Jhootha Hi Sahi'?

One in my mind is the climax scene where I am running on the road, the camera is in front of me and my friends are in the car and I jump into the car. It was very life threatening because had I jumped wrong, I would have been below the car. So my friends are breathing a sigh of relief. That's one of the best shots in the film because we have actually captured those expressions where Raghu my best friend in the film, he's called Omar says, 'What the hell where you doing'. It's exactly that because I get carried away with the action and just get excited. There are many such scenes like that. We had a lot of good times in the film.

The film also explored and showed to the world a new side of you as a doodler, a cartoonist, a caricaturist. You created 'Jhootha John'. How did that happen?

I just subconsciously sketched something and from there on my producer said 'it's very interesting'. I said 'ya ya, make it into a comic strip' and he really made it into a comic strip because he takes my words very literally! He also did that with the launch of the name 'Jhootha Hi Sahi' when we launched it the first time, the billboard. He said 'John you got to go to the bookstore and tear the cover out' and I said 'Are you crazy? I want to tear the canopy of a billboard'. Next I knew, I was on the billboard tearing off the canopy! So my producer is very literal and I must say Madhu Mantena and HMV have been absolutely wonderful producers. Given an opportunity I would love to work with them again, if they would like to work with me.

Your bookstore in the movie is called 'Kagaz Ke Phool'. If you were to go back in time and be reborn as a yesteryear hero who would it be and why?

I would say Guru Dutt as there is certain angst in the way in which he performed and there is a certain look in his eyes. I think the romance and the tragedy in his expressions was most, most, most amazing.

You had started of as a media planner in Enterprise Nexus, you did your MBA too, but all your devising strategies and media planning have come in rather late. Don't you think you should have started off earlier?

I am a late bloomer in everything. I age late, I grew up late, everything happens probably five to ten years late in my life for me and that's good, because I believe I will live five to ten years later than the others. My friend's kids will be calling me 'John' and will be calling their father's friends as 'Uncle' and I feel great to be young.

In 1999, you were the first runner up at the Gladrags contest…

No, I was the winner. 1999 I won Gladrags, I was the first runner up in the 'International Man Hunt' in Manila.

Your personal website mentions you as "first runner up in the Gladrags" contest…

(frowns) Really… need to check on that one…

September 2002 you were called by Mahesh Bhatt to do 'Jism' but in the interim you were also called for a Pritish Nandy film. Is that true? Whatever happened to that film?

Yes, that's true. Well, that film was directed by Rahul Rawail. We shot a few frames, shot for a few days and then the film got cancelled because of some problems with the producer. In the meanwhile, Vikram Bhatt called me for Mahesh Bhatt and he said he wanted to do a film with me called 'Aitbaar' which had Bipasha Basu. 'Jism' was supposed to be shot with Diana Hayden and Diana Hayden was finalised for the film and Bipasha Basu was supposed to go for a world tour and her world tour got cancelled. Pooja Bhatt said I want Bipasha Basu for this film and luckily for me, Bipasha Basu did 'Jism' or I wouldn't be where I am today, because I completely owe the success of 'Jism' to Bipasha Basu. She was there and we did the film, but 'Aitbaar' was the first film I signed with her.

You have 90 per cent blockages in your nose… and a breathing problem? Your brother Alan dropped you when you were child and you fell flat on your nose. Is that how this whole problem came about?

Oh wow, that kind of information is amazing! No, I guess I don't know whether that's the reason. But I have got something called DNS… Deviated Nasal Septum. So I have got a practically closed nose and so I breathe with my mouth. That's why I'm always breathing heavily. But yes, my brother carried me on his shoulders and dropped me on my nose. That is why I have got a crooked nose and I blame him for it. Honestly, for my brother and me… looks are subjective. People feel I'm an averagely decent enough looking, but I think my brother is the real good looking guy of the lot.

Would you like to bring Alan into films?

He was offered a role and then he disappeared from our lives for a long time, because he cannot stand in front of the camera!

So we have lost another good looking hero?

I think we have lost one good looking man in the industry and he is 6.2½.

You're associated with PETA and 'Make a Wish Foundation'. Which are the other organisations you would like to work for?

I am also working for 'Habitat For Humanity' which is a Jimmy Carter Work Foundation. We build homes for the poor across villages, we feel the need better homes and a town planning. Last year, we built homes for about 50,000 people, but it's very important to say I have got a brigade called 'John's Brigade' which are a group of youngsters who actually come and build homes. I must give credit to Mrs. Rajshree Birla because she is responsible for convening the meetings and giving all the raw materials like cement, etc. for the homes. And Ask Financials Chairman, that is Asit Koticha who has given 10 million$! Nobody gives that kind of money today because our human nature is when you get money, you want to keep more. But this man gives generously, I think it's great to be associated with 'Habitat'.

You have four bikes already. Which is the one bike you would like to have which you don't have as yet?

I would like to have an MV Agusta F4, it's a super bike and it's the fastest production motorbike in the world. It has speeds of about 130 to 140 km/hr. whether I can go that fast or no is immaterial. I just want to have that bike and I want to hear the sound of the engine.

You've mentioned 'dhansak' and 'patra ni machchi' from Parsi cuisine as your comfort foods. How come you don't mention 'avial' the dish from Kerala cuisine which used to be one of your favourites earlier?

Oh no, I always mention that Kerala breakfast is my most favorite breakfast and 'puttu' is my most favorite dish in the world. I also love all kinds of 'appams'. If you ask me, I could just live on Kerala breakfast alone and that's my Mallu breakfast. My mom is not a Mallu, but she makes the best 'aviyal' in the world. I love my mom's 'aviyal.'

You speak fluent German… is that true?

I could understand a little German before and now I speak a little German now, so I can just about understand. I learnt German a long time ago (speaks a few lines in German).

Your dad is a Malayali Syrian Christian. How much of Malayalam do you know?

Korechu korechu (meaning little, little)

Why only korechu korechu?

That's the one thing I really regret in life. Being born and bought up in Mumbai, I was closer to my mother's side. I can speak Guajarati fluently, but I haven't really had an opportunity to speak to my father's side and my father and mother always spoke in English. I still regret not being able to learn Malayalam though I would love to learn Malayalam and would also love to do a film down south.

Have you been offered a full fledged Malayalam film, or maybe a special or guest appearance? There was something to that effect… but it did not happen…

You're a method actor in commercial cinema.. you lost 20kgs for 'Aashayein', smoked 80 cigarettes for 'No Smoking' and worked out for five to six hours religiously for two of your films, which lead to muscle fatigue, as per media reports. Were you advised by doctors to stop training and exercising?

There was a misrepresentation in the Press that I have got muscle fatigue and that doctors said that could lead to neurological disorders. When I was asked what the problem was, all I said was that I'm only tired of working out. I just need a two day break. I take my fitness seriously. I know when my body is damaged. Now, I'm at the fittest stage of my life. I have been through a lot of bone damage and I credit myself for have bodily reached where I have with all the handicaps.

You designed a game called 'Velocity' for mobile phones. Any more of such ones on the cards?

'Velocity' was a game that I designed very long ago. I was the first one to conceptualise that game and it didn't happen the way I wanted it to. Today, you see the advent of games. I was also the first guy to have a website in 1997 98.

Turning model from an MBA background must have been quite a cultural shock for you, because models are generally dudes who're considered to be idiots…

(laughs) I think you put it pretty bluntly. But yes, I was treated as someone who has got no brains when I entered modelling. It took me a while to put forth to people that I am educated, after which I got a lot of respect from them. Also, my projection as an actor has been very subtle. That's the reason I have always been underrated as an actor, it's always been the case that I had done the role then but the perception is changing now. I believe it's important to be a trend setter rather than a follower.

You had Deepa Mehta as a director for 'Water', the first 'woman director', so to say. Is that a different experience as an actor? What does a woman bring to the craft of direction that is so different from that of a male director?

Experience is great. I think women directors, especially women writers are exceptional and I love to work with them. Pooja Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt have just asked me whether I would like to do 'Jism 2' and very impulsively I said 'Yes'. Very soon I am going to listen to the script and I hope I like it and get to do it.

Most actors like to shed off their middle class image, once they've made it big. But you seem to hold on to the 'middle class hero' bit…

I think it is my upbringing and the values given to me by my parents, the education they have given me and I don't think a few extra rupees is going to change the way I think. I am a middle class person in my head. I am very proud to be in the film industry, but I am also proud to be the general representation of the audience in the industry. The audience feels that one of us is standing out there and that is John Abraham and that makes me very proud. My parents have worked very hard to reach where they are and me too. I thank my audience and they are just outstanding people to have supported me.

Considering you don't come from a film background at all, in retrospect, are you happy with the career moves that you you've taken?

I don't regret anything. I think regret is a passé thing. Learn from your mistakes rather than regret. I think now I'm not going to be doing films that are proposals. I am going to be doing films that are going to appeal to my gut on the first instinct, as all films that have appealed to my gut on the first instinct have worked.