It is not very common to see the Bachchan Bahu at the audio release of a film. But the occasion was special here as it was the audio launch of Tamil film “Rettachuzhi” produced by Shankar, who is directing her in “Endhiran: The Robot”.

Aishwarya looked ravishing as ever in a white saree at Sathyam Cinemas Monday evening.

“When we explained to her the significance of ‘Rettachuzhi’ and the cast of the film, she immediately agreed. It’s not just her beauty but her commitment towards her profession, which has made her a great actress,” said Shankar who was obviously thrilled to have her at the occasion.

Ash released the audio cassettes and CDs of “Rettachuzhi” which were accepted by noted lyricist Vairamuthu. Ash had once been described by Vairamuthu as a “Taj Mahal weighing 50 kilograms” in one of his lyrics for the film “Jeans”.

The fans were elated when Ash spoke in fluent Tamil and later switched backed to English.

“It’s an honour for me to have been present at this place among legends like Balachander and Bharathiraaja and I feel proud about it. I also feel happy that a woman is treated so respectfully at a public function like this,” she said.

“I can never forget the Tamil film industry and director Shankar in my life. Shankar’s ‘Jeans’ was my first successful film. The many things I learnt during the making of the film gave me enough self-confidence that I could continue to act for a few more years.

“I feel even more proud to be part of Shankar’s ‘Endhiran’ opposite superstar Rajnikanth…I watched a few songs and some sequences from ‘Rettachuzhi’…I think Karthick Raaja’s music and tunes are excellent. I would surely watch the film in future,” she added.

In the style of Hollywood’s Razzies, the second Golden Kela awards was held this Friday night where actor Harman Baweja won the Worst Actor award for his performance in “What’s Your Raashee?” and Kareena Kapoor got the worst actress title for her role in “Kambakkht Ishq”. Interestingly, even Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards won the “Baawra Ho Gaya Hai Ke” (Have you gone muts) Award for participating in “Kambakkht Ishq” alongside Kareena and Akshay Kumar. The movie also won the worst film award, thus bagging in the highest number of ‘worst’ awards.

Abhishek Bachchan won the Dara Singh Award for worst accent in “Delhi-6″. Sporting as Abhishek is, he posted on twitter, “Another milestone in my career. I won the Golden Kela award for worst accent in ‘Delhi 6′. Chalo at least ‘Delhi-6′ won something. I’m overjoyed!”

The chief guest of the evening was Bollywood funnyman Cyrus Broacha, who was awarded the Cyrus Broacha Memorial Award. “It’s great. I’m thrilled. I hope to win this award every year,” Cyrus said.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar won the “Bas Kijiye Bahut Ho Gaya (Please stop its Enough) Award”!, asking him to stop making films. Ashutosh Gowariker was declared worst director for “What’s Your Raashee?” Jackky Bhagnani and Shruti Haasan were declared the worst newcomer actors for their roles in “Kal Kissne Dekha” and “Luck” respectively.

As expected, none of the stars named for the awards were present at the event.

Despite the fact that IPL Season 3 is in its fullest swing, the team owners of Rajasthan Royals, Shilpa Shetty and her beau Raj Kundra, are not neglecting their other business interests. They recently announced the opening of their new nightclub called ‘Royalty’ in Mumbai at the same place where popular hotspot ‘Poison’ was earlier situated.

In the bash thrown at the club on Saturday, Shilpa and Raj invited who’s who of Bollywood including Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Harman Baweja, Ameesha, Kabir Bedi, Shamita Shetty and Jackie Shroff along with Neha Dupia, Manish Malhotra, Karan Johar, Rocky S, Kabir Bedi, Arpita Khan, Rahul Bose, Jackie Shroff, Claudia Celsia, Chunky Pandey, Adnan Sami, Ila Arun and many other small screen stars. Few cricketers from Rajasthan Royals team had also graced the launch.

Lakme Fashion Week kicked off the Summer/Resort 2010 Collections with Rocky S who came up in a palette of pastel hues  like  pink,  peach,  nude  and  turquoise  and  then moved  to  luxurious  shaded  tones  which  finally  ended  with  ivory  and  black….and lots of gold trim and embellishment.  All of it accessorized with diamonds from a new collection ‘Queenie for Giantti’ (a new line from sponsor Gitanjali Lifestyle) and the well known Bombay jewelry designer, socialiter and columnist. The showstopper for Rocky S was his all time favorite Bipasha Basu.

Deepika Padukone was the showstopper for the designers Shantanu and Nikhil who entered the sports arena with their new S&N label for Adidas Style Essentials. The collection called “Motochic” included track pants, shirts, muscle sleeve and body hugging Tees, skirts, tunics as well as trendy bags, belts and wallets, footwear and accessories.  The entire collection was in (NYC) taxi cab yellow, black and white….and was presented on a runway/roadway, with flashing lights, road detours and the white line down the middle– keeping the models in and out of the traffic.

Check out Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone as they sizzle on the ramp for Lakme Fashion Week 2010.

The ‘Smack That’ singer Akon is on a three-day visit to Mumbai to compose and record a song for SRK’s ‘Ra 1’ and Shahrukh is leaving no stones unturned to give the singer a very warm welcome. Akon got a traditional Indian welcome from Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor during a press meet in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Akon has also worked with A R Rahman on the album Freedom is Beautiful.

Asked whether he plans to work with other artists too, Akon replied, “I have worked extensively in America and after America, India will be my next big focus because I have got so much support here. Soon you will see me working with other groups too. I am planning a world tour and hopefully we will have a number of shows in India.”

For Ra One, I will be composing and singing a song. I will also appear in it. I want to give Shah Rukh different versions of the same song to choose from,” he added.

Again, SRK hosted a bash at JW Marriot for Akon. The party was more in news due to the absence of SRK’s one time very close friend Farah Khan. It was Gauri Khan who approved the guest list and insiders have it that the Morani brothers, who organised the party, were specifically told to leave out Farah’s and her husband Shirish Kunder’s names.

However, as soon as Khan became aware of this blunder, he told Moranis to invite Farah, but it was too late by then.

The party had glittering celeb list including Sherlyn Chopra, Riya Sen, Poonam Dhillon, Claudia Ciesla, Aarti Chhabria, Gauhar Khan, Anushka Manchanda, Sonal Chauhan, Rannvijay Singh, Madhu, Gaurav Chopra and Vidhu Dara Singh among others.

Finally, Rahul Mahajan found his life partner in Bong beauty Dimpy Ganguly whom he tied knots with in the Bengali-style wedding which was held in a luxurious Mumbai suburban hotel and the couple wore outfits designed by famous fashion designers Ashley Rebello, Neeta Lulla and Vikram Phadnis.

Dimpy managed to win Rahul’s heart over other finalists Nikunj Malik, 25 and Harpreet, 21, apart from over 16,500 applicants from across the country to be Rahul’s wife. Dimpy makes it clear that she will continue to work after marriage as well.

‘Rahul doesn’t want me to be a housewife. So I’ll work. But I don’t know yet what I will be doing,’ she says.

However, she wants her husband to pursue a political career like his father, late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan, rather than be in show business.

‘I really want him (Rahul) to pursue a political career,’ Dimpy told the reporters on Saturday night after exchanging wedding vows with Rahul on Imagine TV’s ‘Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega’.

Rahul decided to go ahead with his wedding despite the recent death of his uncle Praveen Mahajan, who was convicted for killing his politician father Pramod Mahajan in 2006. Rahul’s mother Rekha Mahajan, Dimpy’s family members as well as several TV celebrities attended the event at the Leela Kempinski Hotel here

Rahul, who’s facing drug abuse charges, had earlier requested a Delhi court for releasing his passport so that his wife and he could spend their honeymoon in Maldives.

“Its a great feeling. I am both excited and nervous. I really believe marriages are made in heaven and this time I’ll give whatever I have to make my wife happy. It is going to be happily ever after,” Rahul had said.

As an answer to Dimpy’s wishes of Rahul joining politics, he says, “Politics is in my blood but entertainment is my livelihood. You don’t get paid that much as an MP. Showbiz is a huge business and I am looking forward to exploring it. Be it TV or films. Moreover it has a mass appeal and gives me an opportunity to get connected with people.”

Holi songs have always been a hot favorite among Bollywood makers because they symbolize masti, colors, music, entertainment and fun-n-frolic. As the festival of ‘Holi’ knocks at the door yet again this season, lets have a look at some of the most popular Holi songs from Bollywood without which any holi bash seems to be incomplete.

Rang Barse:
One of the most memorable and cherished songs from Bollywood which ranks the top among all other songs is undoubtedly Rang Barse which displays clear chemistry and sparks between the ex-lovers Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha along with Jaya Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar.

Holi Ke din dil khil jaate hain:
This song featuring Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan is from the blockbuster hit ‘Sholay’ which is known for its simple joyful celebrations and the message of social harmony and love.

Are Jaa Re Hat Natkhat:
Though belonging to 1950’s era, this is the longest Holi song starring Sandhya and is still one of the most popular and loved holi song which has a religious note attached to it.

Aaj Na Chhodenge Bus Humjoli:
This song from Kati Patang features Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh and is famous for its naughtiness and the note of fun and masti underlying the entire song.

Holi Khele Raghuveera:
Amitabh Bachchan created a landmark with his Rang Barse song in Silsila. Three decades post Silsila he has tried to re-create the magic with the holi song in the same style as such in ‘Baghban’, this time with Hema Malini. Not to mention here that he has been quite successful in pleasing his fans, though only to some extent.

‘Paa’ and ‘Ishqiya’ have given a new push to Vidya Balan’s career and a perfect answer to the critics who dubbed her as boring and not sexy. Talking about her new found success, Vidya said, “It feels good as I can sense a certain vindication in my father’s eyes. When I was being written about in not so polite terms, there were times when I lost heart and he would tell me ‘things will change’. ‘No one can take your performance away from you and no one can give you a performance. So if that is yours, just hold on to it and that will take you places’. These words of my family gave me strength when I was a little shaky.”

Vidya was in Kolkata this Saturday to promote Airtel Kolkata Marathon where she will be flagging off the groups for the Airtel Kolkata Marathon 2010 with Deepak Srivastava, CEO, Bharti Airtel Limited from Red Road (Opposite West Bengal Basket Ball Courts) starting 7 am onwards today on Sunday. Bangla Band will perform at the venue, while Tollywood celebrities Rituparna Sengupta, Locket Chatterjee, Arindam Sil and Sabyasachi Chakraborty will add to the glitz.

Vidya’s next promising venture will be ‘No One Killed Jessica’ about which she says, “I could do a mad comedy as long as my role is substantial. But don’t make it floozy. A lot of women’s roles in Hindi cinema are very apologetic, but I am glad to be representing the changing face of Indian women since I have always portrayed strong female characters.”

All we can say is ‘All the Best, Girl!!”

The DNA After Hrs Style awards were held on Wednesday February 17th which witnessed the presence of the country’s beautiful people come together under one roof. The awards were presented by Volkswagen at The Intercontinental, the Lalit. The panel of judges comprised of filmmaker Karan Johar, designer Manish Malhotra, supermodel Ujjwala Raut and author and columnist Shobhaa De. There were over 20 awards in various categories.

The whos who of Bollywood fraternity attended the award function in their style quotient. Shilpa Shetty came attired in a silver and pink sari which she paired with a silver Leiber minaudiere. Sonam Kapoor wore a vintage Victor Costa dress along with ankle booties. Sushmita Sen who also won the style award stuck to her comfortable black zone. Shahid Kapoor sported a casual do and also swept away a style award for his fashion sense.

Check out Shilpa Shetty and Sushmita Sen beaming with smile with their awards in their hand!!

After Shilpa Shetty, Bipasha Basu too has come out with her fitness DVD titled ‘BB Love Yourself’. The first release from Bips will be Fit & Fabulous, a do-it-yourself DVD devised for a 25-minute workout which promises to cut fat and tone up muscles.

Bipasha Basu, who has always been a fitness freak says, “Love yourself is my philosophy in life, hence the brand’s name. It is not a narcissist attitude (to use her initials) because I truly believe that we all must love ourselves before we set out to achieve anything, whether it’s a work goal or a relationship and the first step here is to get fit, as everyone wants to look good.”

Fitness is what Bipasha believes in and the entire concept of this DVD is hers inspired by this belief in health and fitness. “Films, fitness and fashion are my passions,” she says, “this is the first time that I will be doing something professional for the latter two. The focus is on health, and it has a scientific approach.”

“It is very compact, targeting people who are busy, who don’t like to go to the gym or don’t have time,” says the actress.  “It is entirely my baby, from the script to shooting it, the camera angles and lighting. But I did have fitness expert Deanne Pandey on board when the initial groundwork was done. He is my dear friend,” she adds.

Check out Bipasha with beau John Abraham at the launch of the DVD.

On Tuesday afternoon Katrina along with her ‘Rajneeti’ co-stars Arjun Rampal and Manoj Tiwari flew into Patna in a private jet hired by Prakash Jha. They headed straight from the airport to Jha’s residence in the suburbs. The reason was the inauguration of her director Prakash Jha’s news channel at Patna’s Shri Krishna Memorial Auditorium amidst other big names like Manoj Tiwari and Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Katrina’s presence on the stage made the crowd nostalgic. Even Nitish Kumar had to admit that his presence was not required with Katrina around.

The best part of the entire event was Katrina wooing her audience with her Bhojpuri dialogues trained by Prakash Jha who admits it wasn’t easy coaching Katrina to speak a few line in Bhojpuri. “But it worked, and how. Katrina had the whole of Bihar eating out of her hands. It was so unexpected from someone who has the reputation of barely managing her Hindi,” chuckles Jha.

Prakash cannot just stop praising Katrina and says, “Katrina had no idea of her popularity in Bihar. She has a very deep connect with audiences. She has the kind of image that Hema Malini has. Not one cheap remark, no jostling crowds, no. They now call her Bihar Ki Beti.”

Katrina, Arjun and Manoj flew back to Mumbai late Tuesday night. Prakash Jha intends to hold the premiere of ‘Rajneeti’ in Patna instead of Mumbai.

Rahul Mahajan, son of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan, will begin his quest for a bride on TV starting Monday. He will choose his bride from 15 women who were selected after much scrutiny from over 16,000 applicants from across the country. Among the 15 girls who will participate on the show, we introduce you to five of them.

Nikunj Mallik:

This 25-year-old girl is an established accessory designer. Having done her Masters in accessory design and fashion management from NIFT, she has worked with established companies like Wills Lifestyle and Lee Cooper. She wants to marry Rahul because she finds him to be a courageous man.

Harpreet Chabra:

21-yr-Harpreet from Delhi is a model and anchor by profession. She is very religious and goes to the Gurudwara everyday. Harpreet feels her nature and personality are very compatible with Rahul.

Twinkle Mukherjee:

22-year-old Twinkle is a qualified engineer from West Bengal University of Technology. She is an avid sports enthusiast, biker and a part time cricket commentator. Her reason for participating in the show is that she always wanted to marry a Rahul as ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ is her favourite film.

Rajshree Mishra:

26-yr-old Rajshree Mishra from Kolkatta is a model-cum-actress by profession. She is a member of Brahmakumari, a spiritual organisation that teaches anger management and meditation. She admires the fact that Rahul is an honest and down to earth person despite his high profile family background.

Dimpy Ganguly:

21-yr-old Dimpy gave up a lead role with a leading Bengali filmmaker to come on RDLJ to marry Rahul. Her actual name is Soumasri which means “as beautiful as the moon”, but since childhood she has had very cute dimples which got her the name Dimpy. She finds Rahul to be a very nice, friendly and clean-hearted guy.

Besides these, other participants include Mrinmayi Kolwalker, Tanu Bhatia from Faridabad, Priyadarshani Singh from Varanasi, Sonia Kaur from Jammu, and Rupa Khurana from Rajendra Nagar Delhi