Vidya Balan has a string of movies to her credit- Parineeta, Munnabhai, Salaam-e-ishq, Guru, Eklavya, Heyy Babyy, Halla Bol, Bhool Bhulaiya, Kismet Konnection and most recently Paa. All these movies have given her critical acclaim for her acting talents, but nothing could give the sensuous tag to her the way the most recent ‘Ishqiya’ has given her.

She had been trapped being called as “Behenji” type actress who was constantly being criticized for her dressing style, but with ‘Ishqiya’ she has sent the message through that “she can be seductress too” signaling that she is ready to fit in current trend.

February sees her on the cover story of ‘Verve’ and ‘The Man’. For the latter, she was styled by Vikram Phadnis and her makeup was done by Shreyas Mhatre.

Here is an excerpt from her interview with ‘The Man’:

“I am a good listener but I rarely give advice. When the good times are between two people, the problems too should remain between them. A relationship is never perfect; you have to work at it. You can’t be running in opposite directions at the first sign of dissent.

There is no perfect person you can connect with at all levels. A guy can’t be a looker, intelligent, sensitive, the guy that your friends and family like, a guy who likes the things you like and all that. Sometimes, if he is all that and he is available he may not have a sense of humour. May be he seems perfect on the face of it, but when you get to know him, the problems start. No two human beings are a perfect fit. That’s the joy and beauty of being in a relationship.

When the dressing debacle happened two years ago, I was bothered by it. Until then I’d only been heaped with praises and then suddenly, the criticism came in truckloads. I didn’t know how to deal with it. Then I looked at it objectively — they did have reason to criticise me. Most of it was exaggerated. I am clearly not a fashionista.

As an actor people expect me to look my best all the time. I didn’t realise that people were actually happy seeing me the way I am. It was not just about clothes — I was going through a period of confusion where I was giving a certain vibe. I was unsure, not happy with the way I was looking and trying to be someone I am not.”

Check out Vidya Balan for the two magazines.

Femina has come out with its latest issue which celebrates 50 most beautiful women. The magazine conducted a multi-media poll and guess who emerged as the winner! Obviously and undoubtedly, it was Katrina Kaif who has already been awarded the Best Female Style Icon at IIFA Awards and was the most searched Indian celeb on Google. Other beautiful women in the list included writer Jhumpa Lahiri, actresses Kalki Koechlin and Preity Zinta, shuttler Saina Nehwal, and Priyanka Gandhi.

She accepted her award at the ITC hotel where she also launched the issue of the magazine in which she appears on the cover page. Accepting her award, Katrina said ”All of us are achievers in our own right and this is a celebration of the uniqueness of women. I believe beauty is more than physical attractiveness.”

Vindu Dara Singh may have created nationwide stir after winning the season 3 of the reality show ‘Big Boss’, but his better half, wife Russian model Dina Umarova, wins everyone by her stunning pics in bikini for the 2010 Cloud Nine calendar of the famous fashion photographer Manish Chaturvedi.

Last year, the calendar was shot in Mahabaleshwar. This year, the setting was the sun-kissed beaches of Naigaon (on the outskirts of Mumbai).

Vindu Dara Singh had been earlier married to the Bollywood actress Farah, the elder sister of actress Tabu. They have since divorced and have a son Fateh Randhawa.

After 7 years of his divorce with Farah, he got married to Dina Umarova, a Russian model with whom he has a daughter Amelia.

Check out Dina in bikini for the calendar and also at the launch of the calendar in Mumbai.

When Louis Vuitton came to Mumbai to unveil its latest store at top hotel in Mumbai, top Bollywood stars poured in to attend the store launch and they all were spotted wearing obviously some great LV dresses.

Freida Pinto, who was greeted warmly by Yves Carcelle, the brand’s chairman and CEO, was seen pretty in a knee length salmon dress from LV’s special customized archive collection. Kangana Ranaut and Genelia D’souza were seen sporting a fringe. Black was the choice not only for sexy Malaika Arora Khan’s short dress but also for for Lara Dutta, Dia Mirza, Preity Zinta, Deepika Padukone, Mehr Rampal and Neelam Kothari. Also present were sisters Shilpa and Shamita Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Dino Morea, Abhay Deol, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Kapoor, Diandra Soares, Nina Manuel, Nethra Raghuraman, Carol Gracias, Binal Trivedi and Bhavna Sharma.

Hosted by Vivek Oberoi and very pretty Diya Mirza, the Max Stardust Awards show 2010 took place amidst much glamour and glitter witnessing the presence of who’s who of Bollywood. Adding to the attraction were dazzling performances from the likes of Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan among others. The list of the winners in various categories are:

Superstar Of Tomorrow - Male
Ranbir Kapoor – Wake Up Sid & Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Breakthrough Performance – Male
Abhimanyu Singh – Gulaal

Breakthrough Performance - Female
Shahana Goswami – Firaaq

Hottest Film Of The Year
Love Aaj Kal

Hottest New Director
Ayaan Mukherjee – Wake Up Sid

Exciting New Face
Jacqueline Fernandez – Aladin

Best Actress
Preity Zinta – Videsh

Best Film
Chintuji

Best Director
Ranjit Kapoor – Chintuji

READERS CHOICE AWARDS

Dream Director
Imtiaz Ali – Love Aaj Kal

Best Film Of The Year – Comedy
All The Best

Best Film Of The Year – Action / Thriller
Wanted

Best Film Of The Year – Drama
3 Idiots

Star Of The Year – Male
Amitabh Bachchan – Paa

Star Of The Year – Female
Kareena Kapoor – Kurbaan & 3 Idiots

Best Actor In A Supporting Role
Abhishek Bachchan – Paa

Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Kirron Kher – Kurbaan

Best Actor In A Comedy Role
Ajay Devgn – All The Best

Best Actor – Popular
Akshay Kumar – Blue

Best Actress – Popular
Katrina Kaif – New York, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Check out the exclusive pics from the event at Bollywood-stars.net.

Sonam Kapoor graced the event on 2nd January 2010 when Rio Tinto announced the winners for their month long contest among 24 retail outlets of Anant in Bangalore and 197 retail outlets across India in December 2009 across 13 regions. C. Krishnaih Chetty & Sons was declared the All India Winner with Davanam Jewellers, Commercial Street & Reliance Jewels declared the regional winners for this contest.

Mr. Rajiv Jain, Vice-Chairman, GJEPC, said, “We are overwhelmed with the support and the participation that we have got from our retailers. I congratulate C.K.C. for their exemplary efforts and their belief in GJEPC’s efforts to boost the industry in India.”

Lovely Sonam Kapoor, who is the brand ambassador for the brand, said, “I love diamonds, and I think it’s a thing of beauty that every girl would look forward to. I am here to promote the whole event.”

Talking about her fascination for the city of Bangalore, Zarine said, “I think it’s a lovely place. I love the weather, something that makes this place really different from the others. I love the food too; people are equally great. But, I am just too new to the city to comment a lot about it. I haven’t come here a lot of times. But I look forward to coming here more. I love this city.”

South siren Shriya Saran may not have made it big in Bollywood but the hottie is creating sensations by her sensuous photoshoots. She created stirs at the Chennai International Fashion Week in December when she walked the ramp in a sexy dress that revealed her ample cleavage.

Now, she features on two magazine covers this month. On is on the January edition of the south film magazine ‘South Scope’ where her curly tresses cascade down her nape to her bare back as Shriya holds onto the dress from sliding down. The punchline of the cover aptly says, “Sensuous Shriya bares her soul”.

She is also there on the covers of ‘Jade’ where she exudes a naughty and playful look and says, “Meet Shriya Saran: When success is sexy.”

Check out the two magazine covers with Shriya…..

The 16th annual Nokia Star Screen Awards was held with usual glamour and glitter. Amitabh Bachchan won the award for best actor for his latest film “Paa”, and Vidya Balan won the best actress award for ‘Paa’ again. Best director award was won by Rajkumar Hirani and the best screenplay award was won by Abhijit Joshi each for the film “3 Idiots” which won the best film award.

The best female singer award was won by Kavita Sethi for her song “Ek tara” from “Wake Up Sid”, and the best male singer award was won by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for “Aaj din chadeya” from movie “Love Aaj Kal”. Imitiaz Ali bagged the best story award for “Love Aaj Kal”. A.R. Rahman won the best music award for “Delhi 6?.

The award for the best performance in a comic role went to Omi Vaidya for “3 Idiots”, while the award for the best actor in a negative role went to Boman Irani for “3 idiots”.

‘3 Idiots’ was undoubtedly the star of the ceremony as it bagged the awards in most of the categories. Check out the stars as they dazzle in the Star Screen Awards 2010.

Last year, ace photographer Dabboo Ratnani had shot with 48 stars celebrating the completion of a decade of his calendar. This year he is back with usual count of 24 stars, but in black and white shades. Besides some of his old favorites, there are quite a few new names added to the list.

Talking about the calendar to NDTV.com, Dabboo says, “All the stars are comfortable with whatever I decide. They never question me, because we have faith in each other. So whenever I discuss a concept with them, they are happy to go along. I usually share three or four different ideas with the actor. If they are not convinced, we work on it. It is important to be confident about each other; only when the model is able to relate to the picture will he or she be able to give 100 per cent to it.

I have been doing the calendar for many years now. It makes me push myself to the next level. Way back in 2000 when I first shot the calendar, I gave away just a few to my close friends and people I worked with. But the response was so encouraging that I felt it was something I had to do on a regular basis. Every year the calendar pushes me to outdo my last year’s work. This also helps me evolve as a photographer. All through the year I am shooting for agencies, magazines and movies but the calendar is my creative outlet.

Our space had given you the pics of Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan from the calendar. Now, we bring you some new pics of Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif and Vidya Balan and what Dabboo has to say for each of them.

Ratnani is all praise for Katrina: “She is very attractive and photographs really well. She puts in a lot of effort for every picture she does. She will keep on giving the shot till it is completely done. Katrina will go to any extent to make the pic look stunning.”

He talks about Priyanka Chopra saying, “She is extremely photogenic. She gives her best in ever photoshoot and loves being in front of the camera. We have been working together since Priyanka’s modelling days and the chemistry we share is simply brilliant.”

Ratnani, who makes Vidya Balan too shed her inhibitions, says about the lady, “This is one of the hottest pictures of Vidya ever. I think she is always open to experiment. She trusts me completely and because of this trust she is very comfortable in my working environment.”

In Bollywood, the leading actresses always share a cat-fight with each other. Hardly do we see actresses sharing a comfortable vibe with her competitor. This time, the film magazine ‘Stardust’ has taken an initiative to make two hot Bollywood actresses share a single cover.

Before you wonder how this could be made possible by the magazine, let us tell you that the actresses haven’t shot together for the cover. This January issue of the magazine has actually merged two of their different images convincingly to bring out this unique cover with the title, ‘Kareena & Katrina: Bollywood queens race to the top.’

Temperatures are sure to be soaring with two most desirable ‘K’ ladies together vying for the reader’s attention!

Much awaited star studded annual calendar of the renowned photographer Daboo Ratnani for 2010 has been out and this year it features Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Kangna Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Kajol, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Sonam Kapoor. Imran Khan, Genelia D’Souza and Asin have also posed for the first time in Daboo Ratnani’s calendar which has only black and white pics this year.

The photo which is creating buzz this year is that of the bold and beautiful Deepika Padukone whose pose in the sofa gives an illusion that she is wearing nothing. Last year, Deepika had appeared in the calendar with a saree.

“I wanted to make her look sensual, but aesthetic. Last year, I had shot her in a sari, so this is in total contrast. She strikes a thinking, dreamy pose, and I have used lighting to match her mood,” said Ratnani.

Twinkle Khanna had done quite a few films at the beginning of her career which anyway did not give any boost to her stardom. When she tied knots with Khiladi Akshay Kumar nine years ago, she chose to keep a low profile and dedicated herself to marriage, family and her career as an interior designer. She was also spotted at some fashion events cheering her hubby Akshay Kumar, but never in these nine years have Akshay and Deepika worked together in a professional capacity as husband and wife. L’Officiel’s bridal special edition brings them together as a couple besides having a cover story on the couple. The L’Officiel photoshoot took place in London. Akshay and Twinkle have worn outfits from the Christian Dior fall/winter 2009 collection in the photoshoot. Check out the couple as they exude a sizzling chemistry during the photoshoot.