First Woody Allen, then Julian Schnabel, closely followed by Tarsem Singh and now the 26 year old ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ star Freida Pinto is all set to play the tragic Tess in Michael Winterbottom’s contemporary Indian version of the Thomas Hardy classic ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. The book itself has been adapted numerous times before, one of which was the 1979 Roman Polanski-directed film Tess starring Natassia Kinski
Freida will star alongside Riz Ahmed (Four Lions) in an Indian version of Thomas Hardy‘s novel, to be directed by Michael Winterbottom. The title is TRISHNA, about “a wealthy property developer who falls for the daughter of an auto rickshaw driver.”
This is the third time Winterbottom has gone for Hardy’s adaptations, the two previous ones being 1996?s Jude starring Kate Winslet, and then 2000?s The Claim. The movie starts its shoot in India in March. Winterbottom has already shot ‘A Mighty Heart’ in India.
Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’ could not get the cash registers ringing at the box office. However, her performance has been appreciated by all. Her next release would be ‘Don 2’ which still has months to go before it hits the screens, but the actress does not mind the waiting period and had taken a holiday abroad after the release of ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’ to give a break to her grueling schedules. It may be recalled here that in the year 2008 she had six mega releases all lined up one after another namely, Love Story 2050, God Tussi Great Ho, Chamku, Drona, Fashion, and Dostana.
“People do ask me that since there is such a wide gap between ’7 Khoon Maaf’ and ‘Don 2′ (which would release on Christmas this year), is a long waiting period hovering in my mind? Well, the answer is ‘not at all’. It is okay because sometimes one full year gone by when you have absolutely no releases in a year. This way I am at least starting and ending a year with a film of mine,” smiles Priyanka.
“In any case as an actor you can’t really plan your releases. Sometimes it is too little, at times too much,” she adds.
At present, Priyanka is busy with the shoot of a couple of films, all of which are promising enough. “Shooting of ‘Agneepath’ (co-starring Hrithik Roshan) has already started. Soon I would be kick starting ‘Barfee’ (with Ranbir Kapoor) which would be followed by ‘Krrish 2′ (with Hrithik again) in September. That should be some exciting work for an entire year. Then I can sit back and see each of these films release one after another,” smiles Priyanka.
Sonakshi Sinha may just be 23, but is mature enough to take the challenge of playing the wife to Kamal Hassan who happens to be 33 years senior to her in Tamil-Telugu director Selvaraghavan’s film.
‘Yes, I’m playing Kamal Haasan’s wife in Selvaraghavan’s film. Why should that be a problem?
Once you are in front of the camera, your age should not matter. I never felt like a child while working with Salman Khan (who is 45) in ‘Dabangg’ and now with Akshay Kumar in ‘Joker’. I will be respectful but an equal on the sets with Mr. Kamal Haasan,’ explains the confident new comer.
‘In real life, age makes no difference in a marriage. On screen too your biological age is of no consequence. I’ve been acknowledged for being different from my female colleagues. Let me enjoy this difference,’ she adds further.
The actress has already started her preparations for the role. To begin with, she has asked the entire crew of Shirish Kunder’s ‘Joker’ in Chandigarh to stop treating her like a child. ‘I’m not letting them treat me with kid’s gloves. I’ve made it very clear that Akshay, Shirish, Farah Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Sanjay Mishra and the entire team are my friends. It’s the only way to work,’ she said.
She is not only taking help from her father to learn Tamil and Telugu, but also intends to watch Kamal Haasan’s film ‘Hey Rama’ where the actor was married to Vasundhara Das, at least 25 years his junior.
Once a hot item girl, Kashmeera Shah’s career seems to be on a downhill these days. Even her bold appearances on reality shows could not do much to revv up her sinking career. As such, the voluptuous beauty has taken a step ahead by posing completely nude for her calendar titled Kashensuous 2011 and claims that it would find a place in every man’s bathroom. Well, the calendar has been launched you check it out for yourself to decide how much score would you give to Shah on her hotness quotient………
When it comes to promoting his projects, Shahrukh Khan believes in taking a step further. He is leaving no stones unturned to create the curiosity for his forthcoming ambitious project ‘Ra.One’. A game, based on the Play station format, is being created in Los Angeles, which will have two main characters as Ra.One and G.one. This fight game will also have other fighters too.
The game has been conceptualized by SRK himself who is taking keen interest in the development of the video game. The game has something unique for every age group at home. It will be available at many outlets even before the film hits the theatres. Shah Rukh has also ensured that Arjun’s and his characters in the game will have not only the same look but also the same weapons, which their characters carry in the film. The flick seems to be a hit even before it hits the screen!!
Shuja Ali is making his directorial debut with a film titled ‘Kuch Log’ based on 26/11 attacks and the role of Ajmal Kasab in the flick is being played by Aarya Babbar (son of actor and politician Raj Babbar).
“Well, I am playing a character inspired by Kasab in the film,” said Aarya adding, “But I’d rather not talk too much about the film and my character.”
”I’ve read a book on Kasab. I’ve also gone through a rigorous rifle shooting training. It’s not a pleasant thing to relive. But I’m happy to take on such a challenging role,” he said further.
Aarya got the part of Kasab because of his command over Urdu and Hindi and for his Afghani-Middle Eastern looks reportedly. “You can say I look the part,” explained the actor.
Aarya has already done flicks like Ab Ke Baras, Guru and Chamku, but none could give that push to his career. Let us see how much of his talent gets noticed by this one!!
IPL tournament is at hand and SRK is leaving no stones unturned to revv up the spirit of his Kolkata Knight Riders which could not prove their might in the three IPL tournaments held so far. However, SRK is high in his spirits and to give a kick to the energy and spirits of the team, he has roped in Latino singer Shakira to feature alongside him in a music video for KKR. The song has been composed by Salim-Suleiman and rendered by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
SRK bonded with Shakira during FIFA World Cup in South Africa last year. SRK has also tied up with Hollywood film-maker Martin Scorsese for a movie that will also star Leonardo DiCaprio.
Well, what Saurabh Ganguly could not do for KKR, we hope that Shakira’s shake does it!!
The most awaited event of the fashion world has already kick started. Talking about Lakme Fashion Week 2011, which is currently on in Mumbai until March 15, Bollywood was present with all its glamour and glitter. On the ramp was Geeta Basara displaying a creation designed by Chaitanya Rao on the first day of the Summer Resort 2011 Lakme Fashion Week. Riya Sen walked the ramp in white for designer Arpan Vohra. Tusshar Kapoor along with his co-star from the movie Shor In The City, Preeti Desai, walked the ramp for designer Sabbah Sharma. Also present for the event were stars Like Kareena Kapoor, Sameera Reddy, Amrita Arora and Sophie Choudhary. Check out some of the snap shots from the event…….
There is no denying the fact that Sonakshi Sinha is perhaps the most promising new face in Bollywood this year. No wonder, she has become the most sought after name in the endorsement world.
So, now we have the Cosmetic brand Fem Fairness Bleach appoint Sonakshi Sinha as the brand ambassador of their product, ‘Fem’, which has been recently acquired by Dabur India. It may be mentioned here that Sonakshi has also been appointed as the brand ambassador for beauty soap ‘Dyna’ replacing Katrina Kaif.
“As a consumer, I have been associated with Dabur for years now. So, it gives me great pleasure to be associated with a large beauty brand with a stature of Fem and be the face for the brand,” said Sonakshi.
In her filmi career, Sonakshi is busy these days with Shirish Kunder’s “Joker” along with Akshay Kumar, an untitled film with Kamal Haasan, Race-2 with Saif Ali Khan, Dabangg-2 and Kick with Salman Khan.
Katrina Kaif and Sonakshi Sinha have earlier been victims of the harassment caused when their morphed pictures went round internet. A few days back, Vidya Balan was shocked to see her morphed bikini clad picture on a website. Though, now it has been clear that the picture was morphed, Vidya has decided not to sit back. The concerned magazine (on whose cover she has apparently been morphed) has been contacted and they have clarified that they have nothing to do with it.
So, Vidya has decided to go ahead with a legal suit if the culprit (who’s behind creating the picture) is pin-pointed or a re-run of such an incident occurs. “She is not going to sit tight if such a thing happens again. We are exploring legal options to stop this malice against actresses of Bollywood,” her spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Vidya is busy these days with Milan Luthria’s ‘Dirty Picture’ which has Vidya playing a role that’s in sharp contrast to her own image. It is on the life of Silk Smitha, the voluptuous bombshell who rose to fame in the 1980s but died a lonely death after financial crisis, heartbreak, and dependency on alcohol.
“It gives me a chance to portray a real life character, Silk Smitha, a person I don’t really understand and that is an exciting thing for me as an actor. That is a challenge, to portray that person with whom you don’t identify at all,” Vidya said on the opening day of the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne.
Post her Twitter controversy where Bipasha Basu sparked child labour issues when she posted the pic of two little girls tying her shoe lace, Bipasha Basu chose to stay away from public forums and events for quite sometime. However, after a long silence, ironically, she made an appearance for the launch of a footwear brand. She looked bright and vibrant in her floral printed dress at the launch of Tommy Hilfiger Footwear and that too sans her beau John Abraham.
It may be mentioned here that following the footsteps of stars like Big B and Shahrukh Khan who chose to stay from Twitter after some bitter controversies, Bips too has taken the same decision and has abandoned the site. Check out Bipasha looking her gorgeous self at the event………….
There is hardly any gossip column which did not go red when Mika Singh and Rakhi Sawant’s kiss controversy struck the limelight. Now, the two have buried their hatchet and Rakhi is doing an item song sung by Mika in her forthcoming flick ‘Qasam Se Qasam Se’. On a recent episode of her comedy show ‘Comedy Circus’, Rakhi Sawant hugged Mika Singh, who had come there as a celebrity judge and publicly declared that they are friends again.
The flick has Rakhi playing a teacher in the film named Delnaz Doodhwala who is born and brought up abroad. She is a sex education teacher in the film and the item song goes something like ‘ Bolne Mein Kya Jaata Hain’. the film is directed by debutante Ashfaque Makrani and will mark the debut of Azim & Faith. In the item song Azim and his gang is trying to grab Rakhi’s attention.
