Bollywood Zone : Blog, Movies, Celebs

London – one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Not necessarily romantic, but for actor Zayed Khan and his wife Malaika, it certainly is. Having been on an exhausting whirlwind concert tour across the US, UK and Canada for the last 45 days, Zayed still swears it’s more like they are on their honeymoon, although they’ve not yet gone on their official one!

When we caught up with the very-much-in-love couple in London, the first thing that Zayed said was, “The best thing about this trip is my beautiful wife!” To which Malaika said, “The time we’re getting to spend together is a well deserved extended honeymoon.” Although Malaika and Zayed have “been with each other 24/7 during this trip”, Malaika can’t get enough of her husband. “Zayed is the most handsome and dashing performer on stage. After his brother-in-law Hrithik, I think he’s simply the most charismatic one.” How is Malaika handling the adulation from his female fans? “I’d be worried if girls didn’t like my husband!” she laughs.

Zayed mischievously adds, “The more female fan following, the better, as the ‘hot’ quotient and the market value of the actor soars. And that’s not saying there is no temptation around. The world is full of temptations but one has to exercise restraint!” London holds special memories for the couple as both of them have spent a good number of years there together during their student days. Of course, when you’re in England, you do as the Brits do and get caught up in the soccer World Cup frenzy. “I love football and my favourite player is Brazil’s Ronaldinho. Football means beer, boys and the telly and I am having a blast doing that.” Malaika, of course, is not one to be left behind. “I love watching football, with or without Zayed. My favourite player is English player Michael Owen and I was so happy when they won!” she signs off.

He has carved a niche of his own in both acting and filmmaking, and in real life he is the ultimate dreamer! He sees dreams and has the ability to transform them into reality too. Yes, he is Rajat Kapoor who had the strength to struggle for years without money, that too when he had a wife and two kids to support. But, even during those dark days of struggle and poverty, he held on and strived relentlessly to make his dream come true i.e. making a film. His efforts bore fruits and his dreams came true. Still, he hasn’t forgotten the old poverty-stricken days, when he travelled by public transport. In fact, the actor-filmmaker still comes to NFAI in an auto.

Days in FTII
Although my memories of FTII days are wonderful, some of the them were miserable too. I was just 25-year-old and staying away from home was quite tough. I used to feel very lonely. But, otherwise I had a very good time making and watching films. During those days, I was completely into cinemas. FTII teaches you the art and you have to figure out the aesthetics.

Struggling days!
First eight years of my career was my struggling period and was very hard as far as money is concerned. So much so that after I got married and had a child, I didn’t have any money to pay even my electricity bills. In those days I used to work in theatre, but I kept writing scripts for money sake. Of course, those days played a great role in my life as they made me reach the place where I am today. Two National Awards, about five plays and one daughter came along in those years of poverty.

Actor or filmmaker?
Although, I love both acting and filmmaking, filmmaking is my first love. I enjoy acting, but still making a film gives you a different high. Presently, I’ve just finished shooting for Corporate. Now, I will be busy making my next film, I won’t be able to act for the next 8 months.

Naseer and Me
Nasiruddin Shah has always been a great support. He suggested my name to Meera Nair for Monsoon Wedding. Even when he came to know that I didn’t have funds for Raghu Romeo, he immediately gave me a cheque of Rs 5,00,000. Apart from a good human being, Naseer is a great actor and I look to him with great respect.

Life is an accident
I see my life as a series of accidents. In fact, even I met my wife, Meenal, accidentally. I met her on the Churchgate Station. I find this co-incidence bizarre. Today, after being together for 12 years Meenal and I share a great relationship.

At the outset Shiney Ahuja looks relaxed, but there is obviously a lot on his ever-active mind. “I am always thinking,” he says with a mysterious smile. Shiney is on a roll with his performance in ‘Gangster’ being much appreciated. “I feel great and am glad I did a film with the Bhatts. They know how to publicise the film and set it in the right place. It is so important that a film is marketed well, otherwise all your efforts are wasted.”

He should be used to appreciation as not so long ago, his performance in ‘Hazaron Khwahishe Aisi’ (HKA) was also lauded. “Yes, but my roles in both the films are so different. In ‘HKA’ I play a normal guy who runs away at the sight of anything dangerous and in ‘Gangster’ I am just the opposite. Hence, it was a great challenge.”

Now, he’s all set to play a doctor in BAG films’ ‘Zindaggi Rocks’ and what’s more, Sushmita Sen plays his love interest. “Sushmita is one of the warmest people I have met in the industry. She is very friendly but she’s also very sensitive. If I was troubled or tense about something, she would know it without me having to tell her. She would directly ask me, ‘Hey, what’s wrong with you?’ That’s amazing.”

Shiney who has Sudhir Mishra’s next film and Mahesh Bhatt’s upcoming ‘Woh Lamhe’ in hand says the thing that he likes best about the film industry is its forgiving nature. “I have made many mistakes, but the industry has given me second and third chances. I love this place for accepting me the way I am.” He says he isn’t averse to playing up to the right people if it helps his career, “I don’t see anything wrong with being nice to people. I always try and say positive things, as every individual likes hearing nice things about oneself.”

Shiney’s personal life may have taken a bit of a backseat as his wife is in USA, practising medicine. “Why can’t long distance marriages work? Ours does,” he says, rubbishing rumours of his being involved with a woman director. “My wife is brilliant at what she does. I don’t want her to sit at home , doing nothing, just because she is married to me,” he adds. As for his mantra, Shiney says, “Most things are possible if you put your heart into it. Just the other day someone told me I should be grateful to my parents for my looks. I said, ‘I am grateful to my parents but a lot has to do with me too. I do so much to maintain my looks.”

Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty have had a history of arguments, with the latter accusing the former of editing his roles. However, barely a week before the release of Phir Hera Pheri, it got extremely ugly. Apparently, each felt that his performance was better than the other’s in the film.

So, when they came face-to-face with each other at Empire Studios a week ago, they got into a heated argument and exchanged some not-so-pleasant words and apparently even vowed never to work with each other again.

When contacted, Shetty had denied the news. Kumar, who was in Spain, was unavailable for comment. However, producer Firoz Nadiadwala confirmed the news. He says, “Basically both felt that the other person’s role was meatier than his own. So, they had a very heated argument about it at Empire Studios around a week ago. When someone called me from the studios, I rushed there only to find that both had left and vowed never to work with each other again.”

The frantic producer tried to contact the two. But Kumar was already overseas with his family. So, he simply chose to wait till the two cooled down. Nadiadwala adds, “I called them and sensed an evident tension. So, I had to put them both on a conference call. We spoke for about 30 minutes. I told them that they were both very good in the film and that ours was the first film to be selected for the Oscar library even before its release. Eventually, they made up.” But ask him if they will work in the future, and he says, “I don’t know. I am trying my best to get them together again. I hope, for the sake of their friendship and for my next film, they agree.”

However, Nadiadwala is happy with the way the film has opened at the box office. Himesh has done a wonderful job and I am really happy with Bipasha too. And although this is the first time I have worked with her, I am sure we will work in many more films to come.”

The world tour that John Abraham and Salman Khan were on created all kinds of talk. In the beginning, there was panic that the shows might get called off because of Salman Khan’s legal case. To iron out all the mayhem, Salman flew off a few days before the rest of the Bollywood gang, and the organisers breathed a sigh of relief. Soon after, rumours of a tiff between Shahid and Salman caught everybody’s attention. That then took a backseat, and gossip about a clash between Salman and John Abraham started doing the rounds. In spite of these rumours coming from different quarters, all the stars – from Kareena, Shahid to John and Esha were overwhelmed by the success of the shows. In fact, even with a slightly wounded leg, John said he had one of the best experiences he’s had so far. And contrary to rumours, the two macho men – Salman and John, hit it off really well during the string of shows. Sure, they had a lot of stuff to talk about like biceps, bikes and babes. Anything else, guys?

After being conspicuous by his absence for a considerable period of time, there will soon be a lot more of Jackie Shroff one will get to see. A spate of films starring Jackie are lined up for release in September and October. But if you ask him what he would ideally like to do, he says he’d chill in his house in Goa. “I love that place. I’ll probably go there in August,” he says.

So, what made him sign so many films suddenly? “I love acting. I’d never like to retire but I’d probably be working less if I had more money. I probably wouldn’t have signed all the films I’ve signed right now.” He elaborates further, “Piracy killed Boom. No distributor was willing to touch the film, but some friends helped me out. I lost more than Rs 5 crore in one go.” Considering this huge loss will he shy away from production? “Not so soon, not till I pay back my creditors and things get back to normal. By the grace of God things are improving every day. But I’ll never compromise on producing films based on social issues.”

With considerable passion he relates story ideas for films on polio and environment problems which he has developed along with a friend who is an ad-film maker. “Everyone only talks about AIDS these days. I want people to be aware of other issues as well,” he says. So what kind of films would he like to do in the future? “I would love to do films with children,” he says. “I think there’s very little entertainment for children. In fact, of all my movies I feel King Uncle is the one I loved the most! It was special.” Jackie is the father to two grown up children. Krishna, his daughter and Tiger, his son are growing up fast. Have they shown any inclination towards joining films? “Well, there have been many offers but I just don’t think they are interested,” says Jackie.

The man who made quite an interesting entry with Tum Bin and followed it up with films like Pinjar, has had his share of debacles with Woh, Madhoshi and Koi Mere Dil Mein Hai. “It takes a long time for a good script like Pinjar to come your way. But now, I’m branching out and trying new roles,” says Priyanshu Chatterjee. The actor has already worked with talents like Aishwarya Rai, Urmila Matondkar and Bipasha Basu and says that he would like to work with Rani Mukherji too. The Bond connection? “Well, the Bong actors are doing really well in Bollywood and it’s time we guys learn from them,” he smiles.

Arjun Rampal is getting into film production and a source tells us the film is a love story titled I See You. Vivek Agarwal, who assisted cinematographer-director Ashok Mehta in Moksha, makes his directorial debut with this one. While Rampal will be playing the lead, he and Agarwal are on the lookout for a new girl for the film. Scheduled to go on the floors in the next couple of months, it will be shot in a start-to-finish spell in London. Wonder which aspiring actress will get lucky!

While Sammir Dattani is all set to romance an older woman in Mani Shankar’s next film, Dino Morea will be doing the same in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Deh. Shankar’s movie is loosely based on Summer Of 42. Says producer Sudhir Rambhotla, “We believe the audiences’ tastes are changing. No one wants to see teenyboppers running around trees.” In fact, young men falling in love with older women is not a new theme in Hindi cinema. We’ve seen Akshaye Khanna in Dil Chahta Hai, Amol Mhatre in Leela and more recently Saif Ali Khan in Being Cyrus. Earlier Raj Kapoor shocked the world when he allowed little Rishi Kapoor to fall for Simi Garewal in Mera Naam Joker. But the question is, would audiences watch the unconventional jodi without a squirm? “Why not?” shoots back Dino,”I’ve done a beautiful romance with an older woman played by Jaya Prada. It all depends on the treatment.” Sammir Dattani feels it’s all about the aesthetics. “Such attractions are not uncommon. When I was in school I had a crush a teacher. Younger men always find older women fascinating, and that’s also true of the girls. I’m looking forward to doing the film. Hopefully my co-star will be Shabana Azmi or Dimple Kapadia,” he says.