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Although Madhur Bhandarkar is currently shooting his next film Fashion, produced by UTV and Bhandarkar Entertainment, the inside khabar is that the National Award winning director has refused UTV’s upcoming project based on the controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin’s life. The film (untitled as yet) will star Tabu in the lead.

If Madhur had directed the film on Nasrin, this would have been the second time that Madhur and Tabu would have worked together. Earlier, Madhur and Tabu worked together in the muchacclaimed Chandni Bar.

A source close to UTV says, “UTV would have loved if Madhur had said ‘yes’ to the film. Madhur is a realistic filmmaker and a film on Taslima Nasrin requires that kind of treatment.” A source close to Madhur says, “Madhur found the subject too controversial. Hence, he politely turned it down. Frankly, he did not even take a minute before saying ‘no’ to the film based on Taslima Nasrin.”

When contacted, Madhur confirmed that he did not take up the film on Taslima Nasrin, but did not wish to get into the details of why he turned it down. “I don’t want to talk about this,” he says.

A couple of days back, Ram Mirchandani, senior official of the production team met Taslima (who has written books like Lajja and Dwikhandita) in Delhi, to seek permission from her. Our source says, “Producers did not want any problems later. They want to take official permission from Taslima before the project takes off.” Confirming this, Mirchandani says, “The meeting went off very well.”When asked whether Madhur not doing the project is a setback, Mirchandani says, “No, it is not a setback. I am going to announce a very big director, shortly.”

Guess what will be the grand comeback of the New Year? It’s none other than Dimple Kapadia who is making her comeback after a long hiatus. She was last seen in Farhan Akthar’s Dil Chahta Hai, before she went on a sabbatical. And now Dimple will be seen along with Mithun Chakraborty in a film called Pyaar Mein Kabhie and also in the pipeline is another film with Pooja Bhatt and Amrita Singh. Let’s hope we will get to see more of this talented actress in the coming days.

She breezed like a whiff of fresh air in Bollywood, flashing those glorious dimples, after conquering the Ms India pageant in 1999. Since then, this intelligent lady has made her presence felt everywhere-from anchoring, to acting in TV serial and films like Dhoop, Jurm and of course Dor, in which she won critical accolades in the role of Zeenat. Now she’s ready to don a ‘volatile facade’ for her forthcoming film, Manorama Six Feet Under. NT catches up with the pretty woman.

These days Gul is quite excited about her forthcoming film. Ask her what makes it all that special and the gal enthuses, “Manorama Six Feet Under is a whodunit kind of film-a murder mystery, which is set in the backdrop of a small town. It’s an intensely woven film, which is highly believable. I play the role of Nimmia woman with mercurial twists of temper, who’s married to Abhay Deol, a PWD engineer.”

While the plot sounds intriguing enough, does she really think there is audience out there for these kind of films, which are reminiscent of Agatha Christie and Poirot era? Gul repartees, “Thanks to multiplexes, there is a discerning audience available today, which wants to experiment with different intelligent genres.” There’s no denying the fact that Gul is a complete package, with right kind of looks, petite frame and ample amount of talent to boot. What then, kept her away from scaling the skies of popularity in Bollywood? “I agree, that I don’t exactly belong to the top slot because I would just not do the hackneyed stuff to get there-which has been done by 40 people before me and will be repeated by at least 40 after me. I would rather stay there and do consistent good work for a long time.”

She adds philosophically, “The winds of change are flowing in the industry. You can either carve a new path with your own intelligence or merely join the bandwagon and do what everyone else is doing. I have chosen the former.”

What about her relationship with Sikander Kher, that supposedly went kaput a few months back? She answers in that clipped tone, “I have never spoken about my personal life and I don’t intend to begin now.” But what about her views on love? Or is that a taboo topic too? To this Gul finally warms up and says, “Love is an emotion, which evolves with time. I have changed my views on love at least six times in the past and I am sure I have a lot to learn even now. Love is about respecting the vision and ideals of your partner.”

And where does marriage fit into all this? After all, isn’t she going around with a good-looking pilot? “I have deep faith in the institution of marriage and when I do get married, it will be for keeps. But that will have to wait,” she says.

Any Bollywood hunk, that makes her go weak in the knees? She gurgles happily and reveals, “Akshay Kumar with his awesome physique and Shah Rukh with his intelligence, would make any woman swoon. I am no exception!”

How does she cope with all those complements bestowed on her, thanks to her dimples? “That’s the safest compliment that men can give, without seeming to come on too strongly. I take these in my stride. Dimples are dead muscles after all!”

After having turned down Nach Baliye 3, Malaika Arora Khan has just signed a reality-based television show. If sources are to be believed the model-turned-actor is now more keen on hosting shows rather than just wielding the judge’s baton on television. Malaika, who signed the dotted-line last week, starts shooting in January next year. Presently, she is actively participating with channel heads in the process of concept development of the show.

A reliable source from the channel informs, “We have signed on Malaika for a reality television show. Since our channel is going to be operational from next year she will start filming early next year.”

The content of the show has been kept under wraps. However, the format has not been borrowed from any international reality shows.

Of late, Malaika has been flooded with offers. Our sources from another channel informed that they wanted Malaika as to host Jhalak Dikhlaa Ja’s second season. But she turned it down.

Sayali Bhagat confesses that she was a ‘lukkhi’ in college. “I was very active in sports when I was in school and also the head girl of the college. So, I didn’t know much about dressing up and stuff, but when I entered modelling, I had to be more feminine and carry myself accordingly,” she says.

And then she adds with a laugh, “Oh God! I was such a lukkhi. Always doing fun stuff and never studying. That’s some masti time. And then Miss India came along and I had to be all responsible and mature. What a change!” All for the better, it seems, Sayali!

After a very public break-up with cricketer Yuvraj Singh, Kim Sharma has again found her bearings. “Oh, I am loving it,” she squeals. And all that happiness is not a put on act.

As Kim herself reveals, she has never been single for so long. “Being single is liberating. And I am enjoying this feeling for the first time as I have never been single for so long. In the past, if I was not in a relationship, I was either casually dating someone or going out for those casual dinners. But this time, I am really single,” she says.

And what is that one thing that she has learnt from being single? “The meaning of having my own space. I used to feel that it was an overhyped concept. It is only now that I understand the freedom and sense of self worth that it brings in its wake. In fact, now I wonder why I didn’t discover this concept before! I am my own person, I do what I like to do and don’t have to please anyone. I have so much more zest for life and my attitude towards work and people around me has changed.”

And then all that bubbly spirit leads to some introspection. “I have realised that I can enjoy my own company and I don’t need someone around. I am discovering myself right now. I have so many people around me except for that one man who might drive me up the wall. And this is a good thing. Also, I have come to realise that you don’t need people to fill voids because voids are self-created. You need people to complement you.”

And for how long does she plan to be single? “I don’t want to be a spinster for the rest of my life,” she laughs, adding, “I am the kind of person who centres my whole world around that one person. And because of that I lose out on everything else. So right now, it is just me and my girlie gang and a lot of pyjama parties and midnight swims.”

You are hardly surprised when Gul Panag declares that she couldn’t relate to the character she plays in Navdeep Singh’s ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’ opposite Abhay Deol. “Nimmi is one of those millions of middle-class Indian housewives, who get married at the age of 21 to a man after just seeing his photograph. These women give birth to a child in nine months flat, settle down to routine chores and are hardly empowered. So bad!” says Gul at rapid pace.

She certainly must have seen a different upbringing considering her army background? “That’s true. My background has allowed me to make my own decisions, with no questions asked. Nothing was forced upon me,” she shoots. So was it hard to enact ‘Nimmi’? “This is where an actor’s strength comes in,” explains Gul who has worked in diverse films like ‘Dhoop’, ‘Jurm’ and ‘Dor’ so far.

After ‘Dor’, one expects her to be natural in ‘Manorama’ too, which comes very close to reality. “When you are doing jhadu-katka at home, you can’t have the lady in a glam avatar with chiffon sarees,” she.

Should this make one believe that Gul would continue to be seen in more non-glam avtars? “I will don a persona as required by the character I play. That’s why in Atul Agnihotri’s ‘Hello’, you will see an altogether different Gul. For a young woman working at a call center with a high disposable income, my character could afford to be glam, right?” she counters.

First things first! Where was Nikita Anand post the 2003 Miss India pageant? “That’s the irony of the situation. If you are not doing anything related to Bollywood, everyone thinks you aren’t doing anything at all,” says Nikita. While the sheer number of beauty queens stepping into the film world has earned the pageant a ‘direct access’ to Bollywood status, Nikita chose to tread a different path. “I did a lot of anchoring and hosting all this while. That’s what kept me busy,” she says.

However, that didn’t deter her to give a shot to acting, her debut movie ‘Dil Dosti etc’ releasing shortly. “Reason why I didn’t venture into acting earlier is simply because I didn’t think I could act,” explains Nikita. Presently, much more confident of breaking through the clutter, she claims to have a great time shooting for her debut movie. “I was always the butt of all jokes on the sets. While Shreyas couldn’t stop mimicking on one hand, Imaad is this relatively silent fellow who would breeze in and out without anyone even noticing,” she smiles.

Having worked in her debut movie with director Prakash Jha, Nikita claims to be in all awe of movies. “I was always a movie buff and having worked in my first movie, I’m amazed at the small minute details and efforts that go into filmmaking that we as viewers seldom realise. It was a great learning experience,” she smiles.

All set to be a part of the glam quotient in the tinsel town, does she ever get jittery of the fact that success and controversies go hand in hand at times? “Not at all. In fact, recently there was a story linking me with three men simultaneously! At times, you just need to learn to ignore,” states Nikita. So, who does this carefree soul have her heart on? “As of now, no one. However, there will be a time for that as well. For those who say they wouldn’t want to get into a relationship since they don’t have time for it, I think it is nonsense. I don’t believe in it. I am not in any relationship because I choose not to,” adds Nikita at her casual best.

After her role in Traffic Signal, Neetu Chandra is scaling new heights. The actress is now excited about her next film where she insists she has great scope to showcase her talents. And yes, we’re sure she’s also excited about her leading man too - it’s none other than the good-looking Madhawan. So the doubly wide smile on Neetu’s face is quite understandable these days.