Katrina Kaif follows in the footsteps of Salman Khan

Mumbai, Feb 23 -  Katrina Kaif, one of Bollywood’s most sought after actresses is always in the news. Kat is one of the finest actresses of today, and a perfect blend of British and Indian beauty. This glamour queen’s popularity is soaring by the day, and is the root of worry for her contemporaries. She is better known for her candy floss roles, but has recently proved her abilities to handles crucial roles smoothly. Glam doll Kat, is one of the highest paid Indian actresses.

Her ex-boy friend Salman khan is famous for his social works and charity. Even though, this duo broke up, but it is visible that Salman was able to instill in her, kindness and benevolence. She will be seen doing cameo roles in “Main krishna hoon” and “Joker” without charging a penny. Pomila Hunter, who is the producer of the film “Main krishna Hoon”, is Katrina’s hair dresser. Kat will appear in the film, in the second half of the movie. Also she will be seen in Shirish Kunder’s “Joker” which stars Akshay kumar, Sonakshi sinha.

But this is not the first time, such an example of generosity is being set. Earlier Amitabh Bachchan, was seen in the Bhojpuri flick “Ganga” by Deepak Sawant, who is the make-up man of Mr. Bachchan for a long time. He signed the film for free. And certainly, Salman Khan was also seen helping his associates by acting in a few films for free.

Salman Khan jumps from 10,000 feet

New Delhi, Feb 23 – Bollywood’s “Dabangg” actor Salman Khan will be seen doing a daredevil stunt in PepsiCo’s new Mountain Dew ad – he jumps from 10,000 feet in a “wingsuit” from which a parachute springs open.

 

“Everyone is afraid of something or the other at some point of his or her life. But if you try to run away from fear, you’d be tired and eventually fear will win. So the best way to overcome fear is to face it, run through it because ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai’,” Salman said in a statement.

Salman was initially not so sure about the stunt but he eventually did it. Wingsuit flying is a new sport of flying through the air in a special jumpsuit and pulling the parachute’s ripcord as one apporaches the ground.

He is said to be the first celebrity brand ambassador roped in by Mountain Dew.

Alpana Titus, category marketing director (flavoured carbonated drinks), PepsiCo India Beverages, says the new campaign is quite big in terms of quality and budget.

“Salman has jumped from a mountain which was 10,000 feet high. He did have jitters initially but was confident it would work out well and he would be able to overcome his fears in turn,” she said.

When asked why Salman was chosen out of all the known faces, Titus said: “Salman was our first choice because he embodies our (Mountain Dew’s) tagline ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai’ accurately and he also has a nationwide fan following. People in not only the metros but also the remote areas follow him.”

The 45-second TV commercial will air from Friday and a 60-second commercial will be shown in theatres.

Four cars, 5 kg gold and 4 houses are part of Hema Malini’s asset

New Delhi, 23 Feb -  Hema malini, the evergreen beauty, has been the origin of inspiration for many poets and shayars. She is the quintessential Dream Girl of bollywood. Bollywood has welcomed her with open arms. She stunned the silver screen with her performance. She is an actress, director, producer and Bharatnatyam dance-choreographer. She debuted in the hindi film industry in “Sapno ka saaudagar”(1968) and since then, she has acted in several blockbusters. She has made it to the top, and she is rightly called one of the most successful actresses of bollywood, who starred both in commercial as well as in art films.

Nowadays she spends most of her time in social activities, along with playing some brief roles in films. She has recently filed nomination papers for Rajya sabha for Mar 3 polls from Karnataka. According to what she mentioned while filing nomination, is that she has got 5 kg of gold approximately, 4 houses worth of Rs 35 crore or little more, and 4 cars. To be more specific, she has 3779 gms of twenty carat gold and 969.86 grams of eighteen carat, 25.51 kg of silver and 116.850 carat diamonds. The all total valuation of all this is Rs 1.40 crore. She has lot of other assets like claims and interests worth Rs 23 crore nearly and a huge liability of Rs seventeen crore to be repaid to ICICI and IDBI banks.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan mulls legal action against Indian officials

Islamabad, Feb 23 – Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who was arrested at the Delhi airport for carrying undeclared foreign currency, is contemplating legal action against the Indian authorities for allegedly confiscating his money. 

Rahat was arrested at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport Feb 13 for carrying undeclared foreign currency worth more than $124,000. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) investigated him for more than a week before returning his passport and fining him and his manager Rs.1.5 million each. 

“To get back the confiscated amount is my right. It can’t be taken away from me,” he said at a press conference Wednesday evening in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. 

“I am taking legal advice and also discussing the issue with my friends,” Rahat, who returned to Pakistan, said. “The decision to take legal course will be taken accordingly.” 

“I have also paid the fine of Rs.1.5 million from my own pocket,” he said. 

“This was a case of Customs Act and I did not know about this earlier,” he said, adding that “all transaction of the money earned in India earlier was from bank to bank”. “This is the first time that I was paid in cash,” he claimed. 

“I have fully cooperated during the investigation and have no complaints against the authorities,” he said. 

“During this troubled time, the Indian government and particularly Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt supported me a lot,” he recalled. 

Rahat said he also found a lot of love from the Indian public during his visits. 

“There are all kinds of people everywhere but my experience has been good,” he said while urging other Pakistani artistes working in India “to remain aware of the government laws and respect them”. 

Rahat, the nephew of legendary singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is popular both in India and Pakistan. Several of his hit songs from Indian films are a rage on both sides of the border, for which he has won several awards, including the recent Filmfare award for “Dil to Bachcha Hai Jee”.

‘X-Factor’ is beyond the mediocracy of talent shows: Sonu Nigam

Mumbai, Feb 23 – Singer-composer Sonu Niigaam, who will be judging a show after six years, says he agreed to be part of Sony’s music reality show “X-Factor” because he feels the concept is beyond the mediocracy of other such shows. 
 

“It would be very, very big, dynamic and a very well thought show. For example, we have love stories in Bollywood for 60-70 years, but we still love to see a love story which is written differently. We discard love stories that are made half-heartedly. 

“This show is beyond the mediocracy of (other) talent shows. India definitely needs a show that is as great as grand as ‘X-Factor’,” Sonu told IANS at the launch of the show here Wednesday.

“I am part of this show because it is as truthful as I believe I am, as rebellious as I feel I am, as contagious as I feel I am. I am pretty glad to be part of this show,” he added.

Sonu, who hosted music reality “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” in 1995, stayed away from judging reality shows after he judged the second season of singing talent show “Indian Idol” in 2006.

“X-Factor” is a talent show franchise that originated in Britain and has now come to India.

Unlike other talent shows, “X-Factor” will not have any upper age limit for the contestants.

“You will get to see a huge variety of singers of all age starting from 16-year-olds to whatever,” said Sonu.

With the band culture being in vogue, “X-Factor” will have a group singers segment along with traditional solo and duet singing sections. 

Asked about his criteria while judging the contestants, he said: “X-factors are like X-rays. You can’t see them, you will have to feel from heart. You will know it. If anyone could explain X-factor then it would have been an available commodity. Let’s not go with any pre-conceived notions.” 

What is Sonu’s X-factor?

“As a person, I am absolutely true to myself, absolutely original. I don’t see myself like anyone else in the world. I have lot of inspirations in my life – from (Mohammad) Rafi saab to Michael Jackson to Lataji (Lata Mangeshkar) to Ashaji (Asha Bhosle). As a human being, I adore a lot of people, but I don’t follow anyone and that is what I believe is my X-factor.” 

To be hosted by Aditya Narayan, the show will have two more judges but their names have not yet been revealed.

Katrina Kaif steps down as IPL Royal Challengers brand ambassador

Mumbai, Feb 23 – Actress Katrina Kaif has stepped down as the brand ambassador of Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore because she feels she will not be able to do justice to her responsibilities towards the team due to the IPL-4 matches clashing with her shooting schedule.
 

The Banglaore IPL team had extended her appointment as the brand ambassador for seasons three and four, but she is unable to continue as she would be shooting for Yash Raj Film’s “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” during IPL-4 beginning April 8.

The film’s shooting is in Agra and, therefore, it won’t be possible for her to make appearances to support the team and hence the decision to step down as brand ambassador, a press statement said.

“Katrina Kaif is a thorough professional and believes in giving her 100 percent to all her commitments. She is an avid sport’s enthusiast and wanted to be present for all of the team’s matches to cheer them on,” said a source.

“However, since she will be shooting during IPL-4, she has decided to opt out of the Royal Challengers since she wouldn’t be doing justice to them,” the source added.

“Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” is Ali Abbas Zafar’s directorial debut and Katrina has teamed up with actor Imran Khan and Pakistani singer-actor Ali Zafar in the movie.

“Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” is scheduled to release worldwide in July.

Playboy girl makes Bollywood debut

Playboy covergirl Candice Boucher will make her Bollywood debut as a sand artist in director Prashant Chadha's " Aazaan".

Acclaimed sand artist Alexandra Konofalskaya was flown down from Belarus to train Candice for her role.

"I never imagined myself in a Bollywood film but now I'm looking forward to its premiere. I love your country and I want to see a lot of India," she said in a press statement.

"Aazaan" is an international espionage film about an informant who has to go undercover beyond enemy lines to save the nation from destruction by biological warfare.

"While scripting the film, I felt that Candice would make the perfect mystery miss. Given that she's a Playboy covergirl, the instant connect is, 'She must be hot.' She is but there's also a certain vulnerability that makes her more appealing," said Chadha, who made his directorial debut with Himesh Reshammiyaa starrer "Aap Ka Surroor".

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Malaika braves fever

Malaika Arora Khan was down with fever last week but that didn't stop her from slogging it out.

We hear that the Munni of Bollywood did not even cancel a single appointment despite suffering from high temperature and even did three to four shoots that were already planned.

She did not want people to go through unnecessary stress because of her health issue. Malaika did full day shoots too despite being weak and on medication.

Shailendra Singh wants to make Jannat 2

The Commissioner" was an attempt to make a film on Lalit Modi after the controversy that caused the former IPL strongman to flee the country.

But Shamin Desai, the director of the film, tragically passed away some time ago, and producer Shailendra Singh is certain that the project cannot be revived because the guy who worked on it for so long is gone. ""The Commissioner" is gone, I worked a lot on it with Shamin, but he's gone, and Modi is not an exciting agenda anymore," says Singh.

However, Singh is planning another film on cricket, though a very different one. This one is going to be a "light-hearted comedy, which I've been researching," says Singh. "Boria Majumdar is my first choice, once he comes back from the World Cup – he's said yes in principle, and he's going to write it for me in terms of the facts." Boria is a Rhodes scholar, a research fellow at LA Trobe University, Melbourne, and a well-known cricket historian and writer.

Says Singh, "The film is going to be called "BCCI", short for " Board Of Cricket Controversies In India"! We've registered the title. It's a small documentary, in the Michael Moore, "Fahrenheit" kind of space. We're going from how things rolled out in the BCCI post-IPL till now. It's not derogatory, but funny, and will be interesting from the fans' perspective."

There are other cricket-meets-Bollywood plans – Singh wants to make "Jannat 2". "I'm just dying to do Jannat 2. We've gone back to the Bhatts for it."

But while on quirky plots, here's another – a bunch of men in a waiting room, all of whom have come for an HIV test, but are trying to conceal that from each other. Singh says the film is called "Be Positive" and is being made by Priyadarshan. " Aamir Khan, contrary to what people have heard, is not on board. He will be given a full screenplay by Priyan, who'll take two more weeks, and then Aamir will decide," says Singh.

Sonam's got a big heart

Sonam Kapoor is deeply concerned about Tarun Mansukhani's friend who is suffering from leukaemia.

Tarun's friend needs an urgent bone marrow transplant and we hear that Sonam has been talking to people about it.

The director-actress duo has also been very active on their social networking sites urging people to come forward and help out the girl in distress.

KJo signs Robin Slater for Agneepath

Karan Johar has thrilled for two reasons: one, about remaking Agneepath, a cult classic that his father Yash Johar made and two, about signing Hollywood make-up artist Robin Slater, who happens to be a two-time Oscar nominee.

Slater will design the look for both Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt in the remake. Slater is not new to Bollywood though. Our source said, "Robin has known Karan for some time now. She also worked on SRK's look in My name Is Khan."

The late Mukul S Anand directed the 1990 original, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty and Danny Denzongpa in the lead roles. The remake will be directed by Karan Malhotra and is already on floors.

The source added, "To design a special look for Vijay Deenanath Chauhan's character and that of Kancha Cheena's played by Hrithik and Sanju respectively, Robin was chosen again."

Apparently, Slater is currently in Mumbai and is working on both Hrithik's and Sanjay's looks. And guess what? Both their looks will be very different from the looks sported by Amitabh Bachchan and Danny in the original.

The shooting has already begun, they say, but the looks are being kept under wraps.

When contacted, Karan Malhotra, the director of the film, confirmed the news and said, "Yes, Robin Slater is on board." However he refused to divulge any further details about the looks of the cast.

Robin Slater has been the make-up artist for many Hollywood blockbusters, including Just Married, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Planet of The Apes and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas apart from others.

Akki to endorse Canada Tourism?

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has reportedly been offered to be the brand ambassador of Canada Tourism and if this happens, Akki will be the first Indian celebrity who will endorse Canada Tourism.

Akshay Kumar has visited Canada quite a number of times and was also the honorary guest of Canadian Prime Minister during G-20 summit in June 2010.

However, official announcements are yet to be made. The High Commissioner-Designate of Canada to India, Mr. Stewart Beck is planning to visit New Delhi on February 25, 2011 and it is believed that he'll make the announcements then only.

We wish Akshay Kumar all the best for his new adventure!

Lisa Ray spotted lunching in Kochi

Lisa Ray is back in India after her vacation and she certainly wants to live life king size. She has been spotted lunching at a cafe in Kochi all by herself.

We hear that Lisa is currently in the middle of filming a food show and is touring different cities across India, tasting the cuisine and handpicking the places she would like to feature.

Eyewitnesses say that Lisa is in the pink of her health having battled and won against cancer. She was seen sporting casuals and savoured her lunch for about an hour.

Gwen Stefani takes her sons for manicures

Gwen Stefani spends quality time with her sons, Kingston and Zuma, at the salon where they all get their nails done.

"They're so young it's just all about spending time together," the rock star and L.A.M.B designer told Elle .

"So if I have to get my nails done, I drag them with me and they get theirs done too."

Stefani, who recently took on the role of L'Oreal spokesmodel, admits its tough to cram in enough time with her sons– so they come along wherever she goes, reports the New York Daily News .

"It's just hard to do it all and spend time with them so I try to take them along with me wherever I go," she said.

Moss asked for passport at Fashion Week

Kate Moss might be one of the most recognisable women in the world, but she apparently had to show her passport to gain entry at the London Fashion Week reception at Downing Street on Monday.

The 37-year-old supermodel had to brandish her official documents to get past police vetting guests arriving at the do, hosted by British Prime Minister's wife Samantha Cameron to celebrate the UK's fashion industry, reports the Daily Mail.

Moss had certainly scrubbed up for the occasion, looking immaculate in a black sequinned dress, with matching black jacket, tights and stilettos, with just a slash of fuchsia pink lipstick by way of colour.

Legendary photographer Mario Testino squired the star into the event just before hostess Samantha arrived back from the afternoon's Burberry show in Kensington.

The First Lady quickly changed from her casual outfit of an Osman beige shirt-jacket, cream sill Whistles shirt, charcoal cropped trousers and Zara shoes from earlier in the day into a sleek black frock to welcome her fashionista guests for cocktails and canapes.

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Morning shoots unlucky for Salman!

Believe it or not but Salman Khan needs seven men to wake him up and get him 'ready', while shooting for a film by the same name. 

In Bangkok, the team of Aneez Bazmee's Ready has been trying innumerable ways to get Sallu to reach the sets at 9 am, but to no avail. Though they have been shooting there not for too long, they are already exhausted with the actor's tantrums.

Asin stars opposite Salman in the film. According to our source, while all the other actors and she are up and ready to shoot every day, Sallu just refuses to wake up. As a result, he reports three hours late on the sets and the cameras don't start rolling before noon. The unit continues to bear it all silently. "Salman se kaun panga lega?" says the source. They fear the actor quite a lot, we hear.

A group of seven to eight people, they are petrified of waking him up in the mornings. "Waise call time 9 am ka hota hai, but every day, adjustments have to be made since Salman doesn't want to shoot early morning," says a source. Why? Revealing what Salman tells the unit our source says, "He tells us, 'Please don't make me shoot in the mornings. I shot for Main Aur Mrs Khanna mostly in the mornings and it bombed very badly'."

Wonder if all the Veer shoots were morning ones as well... You wonder if there is a possibility of keeping morning shoots only for the scenes that don't have him. "Well, let's not even go there. He is almost in every scene in Ready," says the source. In one of his interviews, Salman had once said, "Actually I don't get too much of sleep at night, so normally I go to sleep very late.

Adds the source, "That's still happening. This man is wide-awake till 2 am every day, irrespective of whether he has had a hard day at work or not." While the problem still persists, it seems Sallu has tried to mend his ways. "Pehle woh 2 pm ke pehle set pe nahin aata tha. Ever since Wanted happened, he tries not to come that late."

But if Wanted moved the clock from 2 back to 12, Dabangg should have done better. Something doesn't quite add up, Sallu...

Katrina tries singing now!

Katrina is all set to sing in Yash Raj Films' Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. And mind you, the actress is no stranger to the art; she lent her voice to A R Rahman's album of nursery rhymes last year. 

Though some may call that recitation, it was a start nevertheless, Kat! Apparently, Kat's co-star in the film Ali Zafar convinced Katrina to sing in the film. Said a source, "Katrina was not really in the mood to try out something new.

She has just started to get a grasp over her spoken Hindi. It was Ali who convinced her." Katrina chose not to comment but Sohail Sen, who composed the music for the film said, "We still haven't decided on the singers."

The source however maintained, "Ali Zafar has sung three songs in the film and Katrina has sung one of the tracks composed by Sohail Sen."

Interestingly, Katrina is the first actress of her generation to try playback singing. From the earlier generation of actresses Kareena sang for Aadesh Shrivastava in Govind Nihalani's Dev. Let's wait and watch how Kat fares; she's out of the cradle for sure.

I feel extremely lucky: Bips

Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu, whose journey in showbiz began in 1996 after winning the Cinthol supermodel contest, says she is extremely lucky and proud of her achievements. 

"I just realised my journey has been quiet a long one, from 1996 to 2011. It's only me who knows how much hard work and dedication has gone behind everything. I have been honest with my profession and brought the best of me on the screen," Bipasha told reporters here.

Dressed in a formal white outfit with black beads and sequin work on it, she came for the the launch of Versace collection of watches in collaboration with Timex Group.

"I feel extremely lucky when I look behind in my life. I am proud of myself and also proud of what I am today. I used to dream of having such luxury brands and now I effortlessly own so many of them," said the 32-year-old, who has a fetish for watches.

"The one object that I love the most is the watch. It is a must have possession for everybody. It is also my favourite gifting option.

"All the watches that (actor) John (Abraham) owns are gifted by me. Now I think his collection is set to have a Versace watch," she said.

Salman leaves Katrina frustrated

The actress who was keen to work with SRK, Hrithik finds herself sharing screenspace with Salman again!

B-Town has gone berserk contemplating if Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif will actually work together in Kabir Khan's (of 'New York' fame) next directorial venture produced by Yash Raj Films. Now, not many know that though Katrina was always on board, Salman Khan wasn't the production house' first choice to play lead actor.

Apparently, Shah Rukh Khan was offered the role first, Hrithik Roshan was next in line... However, 'date problems' was a cause of concern and the script ultimately landed in Salman Khan's lap. So while Salman Khan is taking his time in negotiating his price with Yash Raj Films, Katrina, we hear, isn't the happiest person.

A source close to the actress tells us, "Katrina has worked with Salman before. She was looking forward to working with some new actors. Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan would've been a great opportunity, she thought." However, she is now all set to romance ex-boyfriend Salman Khan on screen - that is if he agrees to do the movie in the first place.

Hrithik helps out Sussanne

Just a day before Hrithik Roshan started filming for the ambitious remake of Agneepath, he was spotted in Andheri with his wife Sussanne trying to oversee the business venture that she is rolling out.

Eyewitnesses inform TOI that Hrithik has been a regular at this part of the suburb for the last 15 days. On probing, we learned that the actor is hands on with his wife's business plan.

"He has been seen in Andheri almost every single day. Hrithik's wife has been with him and they have been overseeing the work that is going on for Sussanne's business venture. He is very passionate about what his wife is doing and is extremely proud telling the world about it. Sussanne's business will have a grand launch soon and Hrithik wanted to make sure that he is on top of things and completes as much important work as he can before he starts Agneepath," says a source close of the star.

Hrithik had told TOI, "I will be a constant support for Sussanne. I'm very happy and proud that she has decided to do something like this. It has been her dream and I will be there beside her to make sure that things are always in place."

Sussanne's gang of girls Gauri Khan, Mehr Jessia, Nandita Mahtani among others certainly will be the prime feature among many others at the launch.

Nandita opts out Midnight’s Children

Balancing motherhood with a career is a tricky one and Nandita Das has made a choice by opting out of old friend Deepa Mehta's adaptation of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

It's a film that has been jinxed with actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Om Puri etc. opting out of the film. Though signed on to play a pivotal role, Nandita opted out. She says, "With little Vihaan, who is 6 months old now and so delightful, I didnt think I would have been able to do justice to both the roles and would have felt quite torn.

Pity, but as Deepa says, there is Kamagathamaru, where I am playing the female lead and as I say, there is a time for everything!" Nandita was also supposed to do Deepa Mehta's Water but was apparently not informed about her ouster from the project.

This led to a cold war between them, which ended when they met in New York two years ago. For Midnight's Children Mehta offered Das a guest appearance as well. Says Das, "Even that didn't make sense as it would have been neither here nor there. I have made the decision."

Ranbir, Katrina on a date!

Kat has been cribbing how the press goes on and on about her relationship with Ranbir without any photographic evidence. So we did the needful

On Monday, we read in a section of the media that she is genuinely tired of news reports of her proximity to Ranbir Kapoor and she says the reports are even more disturbing because no one really has any photographic evidence of them together.

As soon as we read this, we sent our sleuths scouting for the evidence, which Katrina so categorically wished to be presented.

Well, here it is, Katrina! A few days ago you were with Ranbir at a 5-star hotel in Santacruz East.

You were seated to his right.

Both of you looked rather happy in each other's company.

A few days prior to this, you were again with him having coffee and cold drinks.

Both of you again looked very happy in each other's company.

To add to our practicals we had told you that you spent quality time with Ranbir at a Juhu nightspot.

We had an eyewitness report, which we are sure you read. Over to you now, Katz.

Have we mirrored your relationship well enough? And please don't bring out that old toy called 'We're just good friends'.