Don producers make a comeback

Director Sagar Bellary’s (Left) next will be produced by the Irani brothers who made Don in 1978

Nariman Irani's first venture as producer, under the Nariman Films banner in 1978 was the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don.

Even though the film turned out to be a blockbuster, Nariman did not pursue his career in production. It was only 18 years later that his sons, Nadir and Nadeem, revived the banner with Suniel Shetty's Shashtra.

Now, after a 15-year hiatus, the Irani brothers are back to produce Sagar Bellary's next, which will feature Arshad Warsi and Jackky Bhagnani. Apparently, the filmmakers are also in talks with Sanjay Dutt.

When contacted, Bellary confirmed, "Yes, we have signed Jackky and Arshad for the film. It will be a comedy, since I have become synonymous with the genre after Bheja Fry and Hum Tum Aur Shabana. We intend to go on floors, in September, this year."

He also dismissed the rumours of Sanjay Dutt coming on-board for his untitled venture.

Priyanka to play mentally-challenged girl

After creditably essaying seven looks in " 7 Khoon Maaf" and 12 different characters in "What's Your Raashee?", Priyanka Chopra will be seen as a mentally-challenged girl in her upcoming film " Barfee", which she describes as "by far the most challenging role".

"I have started shooting for the film, have shot nearly five days till now. I must admit that it is quite a difficult task," said Priyanka, who was here to unveil the wedding collection by jewellery brand Asmi for the ongoing The Great Indian Wedding Carnival.

"There is a very thin line between caricature and real. But surely, this role is by far the most challenging that I have come across," added the 28-year-old who is reportedly spending time in a mental asylum to get into the skin of the character.

The film is being directed by Anurag Basu and it features Ranbir Kapoor as a deaf and dumb person, while Ileana D'Cruz is set to play a narrator.

Amitabh's superhero film shelved

Vinod Chopra's ambitious project Taalismaan, based on Devaki Nandan Khatri's Chandrakanta has been shelved.

The film, which was to be directed by Ram Madhvani, was announced with much fanfare and was to go on floors this year. In fact, a trailer of the film featuring Amitabh Bachchan in a battle-field, ready for war, was cut a year ago.

The director claims that the film is a no-go because of the weak script. However, the industry is abuzz with speculation that Chopra's vision of an epic adventure fantasy was not financially feasible.

Our source told us, "Taalismaan was planned as the ultimate experience. But many things happened in the interim. It started with James Cameron's Avatar and then Shah Rukh Khan's RA.One, which has taken over the super-hero action-adventure fantasy space.

And now Salman Khan too is dabbling with this genre in Sher Khan. All in all it just seemed impractical to go ahead with Taalismaan."

When contacted, director Madhvani said, "We worked on the project for two years. But the script just didn't gel. It was not as dynamic as we'd have liked.

Rather than go ahead with a flawed script, I decided to tell Vinod that the project should be shelved. To his credit he took it well and agreed that we abort the project, while there was time."

Roadblock for Ranbir's Rockstar

Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri starrer Rockstar faces a roadblock. The producers of this Imtiaz Ali film, Eros International and Shree Ashtavinayak, have had a fallout. In fact, the latter has even filed a legal notice against Eros declaring that they have not honoured their financial commitments till date.

Sources from Eros however, have denied the charges, saying that Ashtavinayak has breached the partnership contract simply because they want to get a new buyer thinking that Rockstar has the potential to generate more money.

M/S Thakore Jariwala & associates, the law firm representing Shree Ashtavinayak issued a public notice last Sunday stating that Ashtavinayak has terminated the agreement with Eros International since the latter has failed to discharge their obligations as per the contract.

An official from Eros International  (on request of anonymity) told Mumbai Mirror,  "We will not let go of the film."

Explaining the terms and conditions of their agreement with Shree Ashtavinayak, the official from Eros International said, "We were supposed to shell out Rs 52 crore for Rockstar. During the course of shooting we were supposed to pay Shree Ashtavinayak Rs 26 crore, which we have already fulfilled. Our signing amount was Rs 6 crore.

The balance is supposed to be paid on delivery. Till date, we have discharged all our obligations. On the contrary, we were quite surprised that they didn't encash our last cheque worth Rs 41 lakh sent to them in February."

"These are arm-twisting tactics. We don't know but it is possible that they are negotiating the film with some other party now. This is definitely not done," he added angrily.

However, the official spokesperson of the company replied saying, "We do not want to elaborate on this. Sunil Lulla, the head honcho remained unavailable for comment.

On the other hand, we got an instant reply from the spokesperson of Shree Ashtavinayak. "No comments," he quipped.

On contacting, Hetal Thakore of M/S Thakore Jariwala said that he was busy and we should text him the story, which he decided not to revert back on.

Imtiaz Ali, who shares a good rapport with Eros, is troubled with the proceedings.

Sohail over Arbaaz for Salman

Salman was recently caught in a quandry having to choose between his filmmaker brothers Arbaaz and Sohail.

The actor, who was slated to work with Arbaaz on Dabangg 2 and with Sohail on Sher Khan, could accommodate only one of the two projects this year.

After some thought, Sallu has made his decision and it seems to be working in Sohail's favour.

Unfortunately, Arbaaz's Dabangg 2, which was to go on floors in January 2012, will be postponed to June as Salman and Sohail start filming Sher Khan by the end of this year.

When asked how Salman made his decision, a source told us, "Right now Salman has to start shooting for YRF's film, which will be directed by Kabir Khan.

His schedule is currently choc-a-bloc. Sher Khan has developed very well in terms of the script and so he is very excited to play the lead character."

Considering Arbaaz's Dabangg was a blockbuster, Sallu's decision to work with Sohail first came as a surprise. However, a source close to Salman quickly defended, "Well, that's the schedule for now."

Salman's decision not only affects Arbaaz but Sonakshi too, who has been very eager to get started on the sequel. We can only wonder how she will react.

"Neil, Asin are very close!"

Asin Thottumkal and Neil Nitin Mukesh have been in the news for over a year now. Soon after his break up with childhood sweetheart Priyanka, Neil had been spotted having cozy dinners with the actress.

In 2010, Asin and Neil were signed up to play the leads in Ravi Chopra's film titled Pocketmaar, which has not yet gone on floors. Then, on his advice, Asin went on to buy the same car as he owns the very same car that was spotted outside her place pretty often. However, the stars, like many others before them chose to maintain that they are 'simply friends'.

Since then, there have been rumours about Neil recommending Asin to many producers.  In fact, Neil had angrily told a section of the media recently, "Asin is a very close friend, and I see no reason why I should shy away from that. I am fond of her and we are good friends, but I don't need to recommend her to anyone."

However, recently, when Hriday Shetty (son of late Shetty, the ace villain) approached Neil to play the male lead in his film, the actor heard him out and also suggested that he ask Asin to play the female lead opposite him. Which negates whatever Neil told the media earlier about not recommending Asin.

Excited with things falling into place, Shetty approached the Ghajini star. "Hriday was shocked when Asin not only refused the offer but also told him the role wouldn't suit Neil either," revealed a source.

Hriday had nothing to say to that. He couldn't imagine what was going on between the two actors. "Asin and Neil have become very close to each other. Their combined decision about the Hriday Shetty film was kind of weird and hard to explain," added our source.

While Neil who is in Russia shooting for Abbas Mustan's Players was unavailable for comment, his spokesperson said, "Neil is not dating Asin. But I am not aware of the Hriday Shetty incident." On the other hand, Asin, who will be seen with Salman Khan in Ready next, chose not to reply to our calls or text messages.

Salman scares Asin

The gorgeous Asin will again sizzle on the big screen with Salman Khan after their stint in London Dreams.

Talking about her experience of working with the hottest Khan in first London Dreams and now Ready, Asin reveals that working with Salman is always fun but one thing about him that always scares her is his habit of playing pranks on her.

In a recent interview Asin talked about a naughty and scary prank that Sallu played on her on the sets of Ready. Asin said, "We were shooting for Ready in Thailand and I was getting ready for the next shot in my vanity van. As soon as I opened the door of my van, Salman popped in front of me with something in his hand.

"It was an ugly looking insect and he insisted that I eat it. I later spotted the crew from Thailand eating those insects. It's like edible insects that people in Thailand binge on. Even some of our Indian crew members try it."

When asked if she also experimented with her palate, Asin said, "Yes I tried one and it was very bland."

Well Asin, we are use you must be thanking god that you weren't shooting in China! For the food out there is as bizarre as it can get.

I have no godfathers in B-Town: Taaha Shah

A few weeks ago he was just another businessman with starry dreams.

Today first time actor Taaha Shah seems to have found household fame thanks to his realistic portrayal in the popcorn flick Luv Ka The End. Taaha who hails from Dubai was in Ahmedabad recently and sprouted that oft heard line after having sampled the local cuisine. "I love the Gujarati thali!"

Predictably he appeared more animated when he had to talk about his film. "Luv Nanda is the stud of the college and every girl's dream guy. Until his applecart topples and his girlfriend chooses to get even with him for cheating on her. What follows next forms the crux of the film," he says. For someone who barely knew the names of a handful of production houses in Bollywood, a "three film contract with Yash Chopra's production house" is just what he could have asked for.

Taaha did lots of modelling assignments in Dubai, but felt that "nothing was working out" for him, considering Dubai is not a hub for movie-making. "I was very keen about becoming an actor and so I caught a flight to Mumbai." In Mumbai like most newcomers he was open to doing print and television commercials. "I have always given my 100 per cent to each audition and I had no option but to be at my best as I had no contacts or no godfather in the Bollywood."

Now, Taaha thinks he's on the verge of becoming a Mumbaikar and is totally in love with the Maximum City!
So what next for Taaha? He says, "I'm on a contract and the production house, so I will decide my next project depending on what role suits me the best. I think I am really lucky to be working with the best in the industry because I know they will offer me something suitable."

Taaha who is fond of, "working out and martial arts" also "loves adventure sports." Unlike his flamboyant screen character Taaha is a quiet guy in real life. "I don't like parties or even talking much. I even stopped going to college because my friends made me feel uncomfortable." The star to be, however, is already committed, so girls eat your hearts out. "I have someone special in my life right from the time I was a struggling actor. My girlfriend has supported me through my darkest phase and she knew me right from when I did my first advertisement campaign which was initially for IPL 3, but, it never was launched," he says.

Not that Taaha needs to worry, because his new film has already taken him on a roller-coaster trip to stardom.

Sonakshi, Sania are bonding!

Sonakshi Sinha and Sania Mirza bond over shopping, dinners, and 'fat' conversations

Sports and celebrities are known to have a connect. And the latest to connect from the two fraternities are Sania Mirza and Sonakshi Sinha. The two who have a common manager, and were present as guests of honour at an event recently where they bonded extremely well, so much so that Sania and Sonakshi are in constant touch.

It is heard that the two speak about everything under the sun: from films, to workout and nutirition tips. They meet up for dinners and even shop together! And they are more than excited to tweet about the experiences on their socio-blogging sites.

If talks are to be believed Sania has even invited Sonakshi Sinha to cheer her at the Wimbledon this year. And Sonakshi will mostly accept the invitation.

Salman gets Rs. 17.5 cr plus!

A banner that has bargained with everyone from Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan to Ranbir Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, never agreeing to pay the Bollywood superstars their full market price has just had to bow to Salman Khan.

Says a source, "This banner is desperate to work with Salman. For their spy thriller, that will be shot in at least seven foreign locations, they have apparently signed him for 17.5 crore plus a share in the profits."
Salman has been getting even better remuneration from many of his other producers. However this price is the highest price paid to an actor by this banner.

Our source clarifies, "Aamir who has worked with this banner in the past and who is working with them again in 2012 is also getting a lucrative price and has a profit-sharing arrangement. However it is Salman's ability to be able to knock out money from these guys which is now the talking point in Naaz Building (Bollywood's stock exchange)."

Incidentally, Ranbir who has done two movies for this production house in the past has allegedly told the scion of this movie empire that for their next project he wants a full-bound script and his full market price which is around 15 crore.

Looks like after Salman's case, actors will start re-negotiating with this banner.

Guess who Kay Kay Menon essays?

The new installment of the Vinay Pathak comic caper, Bheja Fry 2, will feature a certain buisness tycoon known for his flamboyant style albeit in the physical form of Kay Kay Menon.

Menon who has replaced Rajat Kapoor in the new film, portrays a character which is based on the flamboyant businessman.

He plays a rich business tycoon who has various businesses and encounters Vinay Pathak on a cruise.

When contacted Mukul Deora, the producer of the film said, "Kay Kay's character is named Ajit Talwar and he is completely opposite of Bharat Bhushan (Vinay's character).

I would say that Kay Kay's character is what anyone's perception of a rich famous guy would be."

The film is directed by Sagar Bellary and stars Vinay Pathak, Kay Kay Menon and Minisha Lamba.

Vinay piles on kilos for 'Bheja Fry 2'

Actor Vinay Pathak was apprehensive about gaining weight for " Bheja Fry 2" because getting rid of it was a Herculean task for him after the first instalment.

Nevertheless, he agreed after a lot of convincing by producer Milind Deora and director Sagar Ballary.Deora was convinced that the biggest draw in Pathak's character in the movie's first instalment "Bheja Fry" was his chubby look, so he wanted the actor to look plump in part two as well.

"Vinay put in a lot of effort to lose the weight he sported in the first 'Bheja Fry'. However, producer Mukul Deora was convinced that his rolly-polly look in the film is what made his character of Bhushan so lovable. So he went all out to convince Vinay. Vinay finally gave in and let go of his fitness regime and ate to his heart's content for six weeks," said a source.

Vinay had also piled on 12 kgs for his recently released " Chalo Dilli", and was asked to stay away from the gym during the shooting of "Bheja Fry 2".

In "Bheja Fry 2", releasing June 17, Vinay revisits his role as the nerdy Bharat Bhushan. This time, he is back to fulfilling his dream of becoming a singer, and enters a game show hoping to win a cash prize with which he can make his own music album. Eventually, Bhushan goes on to win the competition which also gifts him a free stay on a cruise ship.

"Bheja Fry 2" also features Minissha Lamba.

Amrita Rao and Tusshar Kapoor spread love

Amrita is all for spreading love! Recently the pretty petite girl was spotted with her friend Tusshar Kapoor on the sets of Meri Toh Lag Gayi....Naukri .

The duo was seen hanging out with the young star cast of the show and was spreading their knowledge of love amongst them!

Moreover we overhead Amrita saying how the power of love is the most influential above all and to always follow your heart and not your head!

Ranbir Kapoor follows Salman-Akshay

Like Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar who are known for sitting on the edit of their films, even Ranbir sits on edit of his item song.

Ranbir Kapoor is a bundle of nerves these days! The sexy bachelor who is all geared up for his item number in the upcoming film Chillar Party , is getting pre-release jitters and is getting deeply involved with the edit sessions to leave no stone unturned to perfect the final cut.

This is for the first time that Ranbir Kapoor will be seen doing an item number. It is heard that although Ranbir is very happy with the final dance number choreographed by Bosco Caesar, he wants to sit and watch the song once again, this time under full scrutiny, and make sure that every little move is impeccable and fun to watch. "Ranbir is taking all this pain to make sure that his first item number doesn't meet any glitches and wins him the audience's applauds", says a unit-hand from the film.

Interestingly, Ranbir will be seen shaking a leg or two as a 'Tapori' in the song, where he will be seen dancing for the kids. In fact Ranbir is dedicating this dance number of Chillar Party to father Rishi Kapoor's character in Amar Akbar Anthony and although the genre of this song is completely different with kids involved as well, Ranbir doesn't want his first item song to be included in the league of the current sensation created by Deepika and Katrina but instead in the league of the yesteryears legends, Jeetendra and Mithun.

Exclusive: Pics of Abhishek Bachchan's 'mundan' | Video News

Mallya Jr gifts Deepika handbag worth Rs 25 lakhs! | Video News

Kalki Koechlin gets candid about her sexuality | VideoNews

Nargis, Yana and Veena resort to cheap thrills | Video News

Producer claims that Riya Sen was drunk on sets | Video News

'Ragini MMS', 'Dirty Picture' not porn : Ekta Kapoor | Video News

Mumbaikars upset over vulgar 'Ragini MMS' posters | VideoNews

No time for love, says Priyanka | Video News

First look: Rajinikanth in 'Rana' | Video News

Shor In The City - Review | Video News

Ragini MMS: First look | Video News

Real MMS girl wants compensation from Ekta | Video News

We will get justice: Shiney's wife

Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja''s wife Anupam has said that she has faith in Indian judiciary and believes that her husband will get justice in the alleged rape case.

The ''Woh Lamhe'' star, who was accused of raping his 18-year-old maid in June 2009, is currently on bail and has appealed against the verdict at a higher court.

Despite calling the three-year ordeal ''horrific'', Anupam said that their spirits have not been broken.

While speaking exclusively to tabloid! the economics graduate said she is determined to support her husband until the end.

"I feel as if I have landed in the woods and it''s a long walk to get out of there. I cannot afford to focus on how hard the walk is or if an animal is going to bite me or focus on how tired I am... At such a time, there''s only one thing to do and that''s to keep walking," the Gulf News quoted Anupam as saying.

When asked that what made her decide to support her husband and how was the ordeal, she said, "It was the right thing to do. It wasn''t a choice or a decision to be made. It was the most obvious decision to make.

"You don''t abandon a man who is innocent and you don''t abandon the truth either. It was horrific... this whole thing. But when you know this thing is absolutely false - you don''t walk away. You don''t walk away from people you love. You stand by them when they have been wronged.

"It was that which kept me going and it was that which kept the entire family going. We believe in our judiciary and have faith that we will get justice," she added.

Anupam also said that due to his celebrity status, the actor has been made a soft target and has been framed for some motif.

"Definitely, he was a soft target. With films like Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and Gangster, he had fame but did not have the clout or a network in Bollywood. If anybody were to target him, he is a perfect target - completely soft.

"There was no network beneath that fame. And Shiney being Shiney - he is the kind of guy who has always believed that talent will speak for itself. He kept saying people will buy talent. It was something of a debate between us and I often said that it may make a huge difference if you go out there and meet people.

"The motive could be greed or the motive could be jealousy because of his rising fame. I am not at liberty to speculate now. The fact is that it is a frame up - 100 per cent. At this point, all I can tell you is that there were forces at work to bring him down. I can reveal more after the court case comes to a close," she added.

When asked what is the next move, she replied, "We will go ahead and continue with the legal aspects of fighting the case in the higher courts. In the meantime, it''s going to be a time for rehabilitation for our family. We want to start rebuilding our life and continue walking."

Nehle Pe Dehla : Awards and Nominations and Akash is the winner

Kritika And Akash The final episode of Nahle Pe Dehla

The final episode of Nahle Pe Dehla, a singing reality show telecast on the popular Bhojpuri TV channel Mahuaa made Akash the clear winner. Otherwise no one had ever win convincingly its musical reality shows. First season of Sur-Sangram had a tie, for some unknown reasons, between Alok Kumar of Bihar and Mohan Rathod of UP. The final of second season of Sur Sangram was ended in pandemonium and no result was declared. It has been months and no news regarding the final has come out or Mahuaa, either officially or unofficialy.


However, the “grand” finale of Nehle Pe Dehla was telecast on the evening of 1st May and Akash from Buxar was declared the winner. Second position was awarded to Kritika, aka Lado, from Allahabad. Though she was the front runner from the beginning. One of the judges. Kalpana, had even said that if Lado fails to win this show it will be an insult to music !

I am not a musician and have no knowledge of musical intricacies but as a Bhojpuri lover and layman I can say that Aryanandini was my clear favorit. Hope Aryanandini gets enough opportunities to win the show of real life, mys best wishes are with her.

The most surprising aspect of the show was the absence of Manoj Tiwari, Pawan Singh and Kalpana. These three were associated with the show from the very beginning and their absence from the final was really worrying. I tried to contact Manoj Tiwari and Kalpana but both refused to receive the call, for reasons better known to them.

In the finals the famous music director Dhananjay Mishra awarded the Best Voice of Nehle Pe Dehla award to Aryanandini and that was a big consolation to me. I was not off the mark !