Firoz Nadiawala and Information and Broadcasting Ministry are set to co-produce a film on Tantya Tope. The film will be directed by Vinay Shukla (of ‘Godmother’ fame).

The story is based on 1857 revolt. Besides Tatya Tope, other prominent figures like Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi and Nanasaheb Peshwa (Tope’s good friend) will be part of the film’s story. The tale will be told from the point of view of Tatya Tope and his alliance with Rani Laxmibai and Nanasaheb.

Producer Firoz Nadiadwala has approached Akshay Kumar for the lead role. Akshay has shown keen interest in the role but is yet to sign on the dotted line. The word doing rounds is that Deepika Padukone has been approached for the role of Laxmibai. If all is set, then this will be Deepika’s second flick with Akshay Kumar, the first being ‘Chandni Chowk To China’.

The last day of the Lakme Fashion Week show on March 30 had the final act from actor-turned-show stopper Ranbir Kapoor who walked the ramp for Arjun Khanna in a brown, heavily embroidered sherwani. Not to mention, her current love interest, Deepika Padukone was there to cheer him sitting in the first row bonding well and chatting with mom Neetu Singh.

Ranbir, with his face and hair painted golden started with his signature dance step from the title song of ‘Saawariya’. Then, spotting Deepika in the first row, he gave a romantic twist to the show by blowing a ‘kiss’ straight to her lady love right from the ramp.

”There couldn`t have a better confession of love than this. Ranbir made it clear at the LFW that Deepika is his love interest,” said Rashmi Singh, who attended the show.

“Before I came here I didn’t know that my face would be painted golden. Only when I reached the venue and sat on a chair (backstage) to get the make-up done, I got to know about it. But I enjoyed the whole experience,” Ranbir said about his looks for the show.

Deepika being a successful model and Ranbir being a debutante on the ramp, the obvious one was whether the Kapoor kid took tips from the lady. “No I did not take any tips from Deepika before walking the ramp. I had never walked the ramp before. It was the first time for me but I was quite confident. It proved to be an excellent experience,” Ranbir coolly answered this one.

Mumbai saw Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan unveil the autobiography, ‘My Country My Life’, written by leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani. Big B, as always, was not without her much admired daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Also present were other politicians along with LK Advani himself, Pandit Jasraj, ace art director Nitin Desai and Manoj Kumar.

Where the writing skills of Advani is still to be judged, considering the elite guests who honoured the book launch, this book does promise to make a good read.

Sushmita Sen may not be an iconic Bollywood star, but the lady is sure known for her elegance and poise. These days Sushmita is all but full of talks for her first project ‘Rani Laxmibai’ under her Production House, ‘Tantra Productions’. While ‘Tantra’ is the parent company dealing with various fields of entertainment, ‘Sushmita Sen Productions’ will be producing feature films.

With Sushmita holding the directorial reins of the film herself, not to mention she is very busy these days. Sen has got Manmohan Desai’s son Ketan Desai’s MKD Productions to collaborate with her. Ketan will serve as the executive producer on the project.

Another Desai, Nitin, has been assigned the task of designing the elaborate period sets of the film. For the crucial war scenes Sushmita takes her mixed Indo-British crew to China. Since the film will be in Urdu and Hindi, Sush is working hard in getting her Urdu right. Sushmita will dedicate ‘Rani Laxmibai’ to her dear friend Rajiv Narayan who died of cancer recently.

Nandita Das has carved her own niche in the world of unconventional cinema and now the gal is in news again for yet another parallel cinema but this time with a difference. This time she has crossed the borders and will be seen in the movie ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ under the direction of a Pakistani filmmaker Mehreen Jabar.

The film will also have other television stars from Pakistan television playing important roles in the film. Nandita plays the character Champa, mother of the boy, Ramchand. The story revolves round the hassles faced by the family when the boy and his father accidentally cross the border. The story moves parallel between the father-son in Kutch jail and the mother left in a small village in Pakistan. The film also brings out the differences of being a Hindu dalit in an Indian jail.

Talking about director Mehreen, Nandita says, “I met Mehreen at Kara Film Festival where Bawandar was to be screened. Later on, we became friends and she narrated me this story which I found very powerful. She is a very intelligent and a sensitive director.”

Ramachand Pakistani will be showcased at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Separation from her boyfriend Vikram Bhatt has inspired Amisha Patel to focus more on her career. After landing with a crucial role in Kunal Kohli’s next film under Yashraj banner, the actress has taken a step further and has bagged in a meaty role in Shah Rukh Khan’s home production ‘Billoo Barber’, a comedy to be directed by Priyadarshan.

The film is about two childhood friends – a barber (played by Irrfan Khan) and a rich filmstar (played by SRK himself). The film is apparently inspired from the mythical Krishna-Sudama story. It is reported to be a remake of Malayalam film ‘Katha Parayumbol’.
Amisha Patel has been signed to play Irrfan’s wife. However, she will also be sharing some scenes with Shah Rukh. Tabu was the first choice for the role but she declined the offer to Amisha’s gain.

‘Krazzy 4’ can’t get enough of item numbers. After SRK and Rakhi Sawant, now Hrithik Roshan has shot a red hot item number for the flick. The most interesting part is that both King Khan and Hrithik have danced to the same song ‘Break Free’ and it will definitely be a treat to see two Bollywood’s best bodies shaking to gain an edge over each other.

Director Jaideep Sen says, “Hrithik’s song is on the same tune (as SRK) but there is a slight change in lyrics. He has danced brilliantly as usual and it shows! I am very lucky that two megastars have danced to the title song for my debut film. Rakhi Sawant’s song is for the masses as she is famous through her item songs.”

Hrithik’s number has been choreographed brilliantly by Ganesh Acharya. ‘Krazzy 4’ is a light-hearted comedy starring Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav, Irrfan Khan, Suresh Menon, and Juhi Chawla. It will release on April 11.

With growing competition, professionalism is the word today. However, some actresses refuse to take off their attitude crown not without losses. So, when actress Tanushree Dutta threw tantrums on the sets of ‘Horn Ok Please’ this Wednesday, producer Sami Siddiqui decided not to give in to her attitude, ousted her out of the project and opted for a more professional Rakhi Sawant instead.

It so happened that Tanushree, clad in skimpy clothes, was rehearsing an item song with the film’s choreographer and actor Nana Patekar. Provoked by her outfit some junior artist on the sets passed a lewd comment on Tanushree. To add to the insult, Nana Patekar reportedly said that she should have covered her body up to prevent people from getting provoked. Tanushree was so upset that she refused to perform with Nana. The song is reportedly spicy and Nana was supposed to touch her in some shots. The actress retired to her vanity van refusing to come out of it. This delayed the shoot for over two hours. Irked by Tanushree’s unprofessionalism, the producer cancelled the shoot. Now, the queen of item numbers, Rakhi Sawant, has bagged in the song.

‘Horn Ok Please’ is directed by Rakesh Sarang, and also stars Muzzamil Ibrahim and Rimi Sen.

Image source: GlamSham

This one is the third incident of abuse and insult with Celina Jaitley, friends! This time the devil comes from the guests from across the border.

This Sunday, Celina Jaitley was in Delhi for her performance at the Indian Cricket League’s match between Pakistan and India. However, after she had finished her performance and was leaving with her security personnel around the stadium, she heard loud abuses in Hindi coming out of the Pakistani players’ enclosure.

Though she refuses to share the nastier comments or to put blame on anyone, some of the less abrasive comments she heard included, “Move her away, she is spoiling the mood of the entire match,” and “Why does she need such heavy security? Is she Osama Bin Laden?”

Recalls Celina with a shudder, “At first I couldn’t believe where it was coming from. I still want to give them the benefit of the doubt because it’s so hard to believe they could behave this way.” Celina wanted to rush out of the spot to her car, “But I couldn’t because the security guys wouldn’t let me pass. So I was stuck listening to myself being described in the most colorful language.”

This certainly isn’t a friendly gesture coming from sports to entertainment!

It is stale by now that Urmila Matondkar is playing the challenging role of Kamini for the remake of Subhash Ghai’s ‘Karz’. The role was played by Simi Garewal in the original version. Himesh Reshammiya is playing the lead role in this Satish Kaushik remake which has been named ‘Karzzzz’.

Recently, Himesh and Urmila completed a 40-day outdoor shoot in South Africa and Johannesberg for the movie. The duo is also set to shoot an item song soon. The song which has been sung by queen of item songs Sunidhi Chauhan is called ‘Tandoori Nights’. To be known that this song was not there in the original flick.

Urmila has been given a makeover for her look in the film. Comments Himesh, “Urmila’s glam look has been styled by Manish Malhotra, and producer Bhushan Kumar had a certain concept in mind and he told Manish what he wanted. It’s a blend of elegance and oomph, pastels with shimmer and satin.” Himesh’s look has been designed by his sister Rupa.

This is the first time that Himesh will be seen with Urmila on screen and Himesh is full of praise for his co-star, “She’s a super professional artiste who is always on time and even after working for so many years in the industry she works for a scene like a newcomer; which is commendable.”

The Bachchans’ ‘The Unforgettable Tour’ has suffered yet another setback. After Akshay Kumar, it is now Lara Dutta who has backed out of the much awaited tour. Lara had to do so because of her knee injury.

‘I have injured my knee and have been asked by the doctors not to strain it further. Since I am also doing a big action film this year, going on the tour for three months will only aggravate my injury. So, unfortunately and regretfully I have had to withdraw from the ‘Unforgettable Tour’,’ she said in a press release.

‘The Unforgettable Tour’ was unveiled last year in Toronto and Big B will start touring the world next month along with son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya. Bipasha Basu and Riteish Deshmukh are still there with the Bachchans to add glamour to the show.

Yesteryear superstars Rekha and Rishi Kapoor shot a scene for their upcoming film ‘Sadia’ by Raj Kanwar at The Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday, March 25, 2008. In the scene they cleaned utensils at the ‘langar’ of the temple. A few scenes were also shot in the marbled periphery of the temple and at the Akal Takht, the Sikh temporal seat.

The duo first paid obeisance at its sanctum sanctorum and were later presented replicas of Harmandir Sahib and sets of Sikh religious books by the SGPC.

Not to mention that the crowd of overwhelmed to catch a glimpse of mystic Rekha clad in an off-white salwar-kammez and dupatta around her neck. Also, like every other religious visit, even this one was also not without controversies. Some people showed their displeasure when the actors were offered holy water, which they poured in each others’ mouths, as it is considered taboo inside the shrine premises by the Sikh ‘maryada” (religious code).

Rekha was nonetheless very touched by piety of the temple and said, “It is a pious and religious place for the whole world; not just one community”.

holi was celebrated with full fervor and enjoyment at financial and entertainment capital of the country. People were seen across the Bollywood applying ‘gulal’ and other synthetic colors on each other amidst the festivities of Holi. Some were seen playing holi in eco friendly manner applying herbal colors. In many localities the festival of holi was turned into the water canon arranged “rain dance” party.

Stars were also not far behind in celebrating the festival as many programs were organized across the North West suburbs at homes of film stars. One such party was organized by lyricist Javed Akhtar and his activist-actress wife Shabana Azmi at their home in Juhu. The famous holi celebrations at Bachchans’ residence were cancelled due to the death of Amitabh’s mother Teji this year.

Konkona Sen is eagerly awaiting RituParno Ghosh’s ‘Sunglass’ to hit the screens. With this movie, bubbly Konkona is trying her hand at comedy for the first time and she did love doing it.

“Though Mixed Doubles was a comedy I didn’t have any humorous scenes. Ranveer (Shorey) had the funny scenes. I didn’t. In Sunglass I do have the comedy. And I enjoyed myself. …I wonder when Rituda will release the film! He’s gone to another film Last Lear. We haven’t even dubbed for Sunglass. Me and Jayaji have been at his head to release it,” says Konkona.

Konkona shares the mother-daughter relationship with Jaya Bachchan in the movie. She has already done so with her in ‘Laaga Chunri Mein Daag’ and the two get along very well for sure. Well, for Konkona (credits to her easy going nature), there is no problem with any of her co-stars. She gets along well with all her co-stars, be it Kangana Ranaut in ‘Metro’, Sandhya Mridul and Tara Sharma in ‘Page 3’ or Madhuri Dixit in ‘Aaja Nach Le’.

Bangkok suddenly seems to be have become the second home for Bollywood these days. Saying so, coz recall all the Bollywood stars and half of them are in Bangkok either for work or fun (read pleasure). Neera Vora’s ‘Shortcut’ has let 4 A-stars (Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao) have work and play in this fun city. Also stationed in Bangkok is another A-star, Akshay Kumar, who is shooting for Nikhil Advani’s ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ with pretty and nubile co-star Deepika Padukone.

Talking about Deepika, Ranbir Kapoor could just not be left out. So, instead of leaving his prized possession in the hands of ill famous Bollywood playboy, Akshay Kumar, (Don’t’ mind Twinkle!), the Kapoor prince decided to fly off to Bangkok to guard his lady love. Ranbir got an assignment to do a photoshoot for Filmfare magazine in Bangkok and, knowing that Deepika was already there, the actor lapped it up excitedly.

On Friday, he left for Bangkok for the photoshoot. Now, the love birds are surely painting the city of Bangkok red.

Ponds Femina Miss India Earth, Niharika Singh, can’t wait enough for shooting of her debut venture ‘A Love Iiisshtory’ opposite Himesh Reshammiya. Her role is also quite challenging and she is preparing with all vigour for her part. “I’m attending Barry John’s classes every evening to prepare myself before the shooting starts in April. But this period between being signed and facing the camera is excruciating. I don’t know how other debutantes cope with the waiting period. I’m going nuts,” says this excited 25 year old gal.

The film has Niharika playing the role of an affluent millionaire and business tycoon who has enough money to buy her own private jets in all her favorite colours. However, this no-nonsense heiress refuses to indulge and have fun in her life. It all changes when a street smart guy, played by Himesh, enters her life.

Talking about the role Niharika says, “I don’t know how it happened. I never tried for the role, never approached anyone. I never even thought I was eligible. One fine day I got a call from the director asking me to see him. I think Himesh and John must have seen my ads.”

If the long list was not enough, the next celeb to join the band wagon of actor-turned-producer is hot hot Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. She is all set to produce a yet untitled big budget action-comedy film under her production house S2 Global Productions.

The film will have two heroines with obviously Shilpa playing the one. Search is on for the second role. According to her publicist, Bhagwagar, Shilpa has now become choosy about her roles and takes up only those which give her complete creative satisfaction.

Shilpa’s forthcoming movies include Sunny Deol and Neeraj Pathak’s ‘The Man’, and an international venture titled ‘Hanuman’ with filmmaker Uru Patel. ’The Man’ has Shilpa portraying the role of a simple, dedicated girl who rises to instant global stardom - very similar to her real life experience. In ‘Hanuman’, she would be portraying Goddess Sita.

Our only concern are the tattoos on Shilpa’s body. So, what do we see next? A tattooed Sita?

In this world of competition, where marketing makes all the difference, Yash Raj camps has a unique way to hold it’s own. Yes, talking about the year ‘March-ing’ ahead, Yash Raj Films has unveiled its calendar exhibiting some hottest Bollywood celebs in most imaginative poses. The calendar showcases stars like Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Rani Mukherji, Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor who are all going to hit the screens in the coming days with some of the most awaited Yash Raj Films like ‘Tashan’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, Kunal Kohli’s next, ‘Roadside Romeo’ and Aditya Chopra’s ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ this year. Where the first part of the calendar was mostly focused on the stars from ‘Tashan’, the second part emcompasses much wider range. Have a look at the smouldering pics from the YRF calendar Part II.