Bollywood Zone : Blog, Movies, Celebs

It was Vikram Phadnis’s long-cherished ambition to direct Madhuri Dixit in his film, but now the lead role in his directorial debut has gone to Tabu. A source close to Vikram says, “Vikram was keen on having Madhuri as the lead and was in talks with her. It all looked great until Madhuri’s manager declared that he would like to produce the film. Vikram wasn’t too happy about the idea and somehow the deal fizzled out.”

Madhuri’s denial did not deter the designer’s determination to direct a film. Vikram says, “I have been a huge fan of Madhuri for many years and when it came to my film, she was obviously the first option. Although things didn’t work out between us, I had to continue. My film is highly emotional in nature. Contrary to what might be believed of a designer’s film, it is minus the glamour bit but visually beautiful.” Vikram has an equally great equation with Tabu. He says, “I have known Tabu for a long time now and we are comfortable with each other. She is like my midnight friend. I also designed her costumes for Cheeni Kum. Tabu was the one who always told me to get into film-making, ‘You must direct a film,’ she always told me. Our association has been so strong and she understood my script and requirements very well. She suits the script hand in glove and agreed to do the film within ten seconds of the narration.”

Vikram believes he has made the right choice. He says, “I have been a huge fan of Madhuri and I haven’t come across a single person who is not a Madhuri fan but I also haven’t come across anybody who says, ‘Tabu achhi nahin lagti.’ So I’ve got the best!”

It seems like only yesterday when Nisha Kothari had entered Bollywood. She was, and still is Ram Gopal Varma’s blue-eyed gal. Having done films like Sarkar, James and Shiva, the actress is currently shooting for yet another film from Ramu’s stable titled Go. When we visited her on the sets at Filmistan recently, the actress threw up quite a fuss as the photographers got their cameras ready. Dressed in a mini skirt, Nisha instructed that no one click her in that particular attire and changed into something more ‘decent’ and ‘less revealing’. Since when has the girl become so conscious about ‘exposing’, we wonder. But good for her, we say. The actress re-emerged wearing a red jacket. And off went the mini-skirt and on came a pair of denim capris. This sexy gal has surely become a ‘covergirl’ of sorts. She likes being covered up and all na?

Geeta Basra’s last film ‘The Train’ might have sunk without trace but the girl is thrilled to bits as she has just received an offer to appear for an interview on the most prestigious channel in UK, ITV.

Geeta, who hails from the UK says, “I couldn’t believe my luck. They got in touch with my parents who are in the UK to request my appearance on their extremely popular morning show – it has had big names like Tom Cruise and Catherine Zeta Jones appearing on it. It’s a huge honour.” However, Geeta is trying to figure out the date when she can appear on the show. She says, “I’ve committed my dates but I am trying to get at least two days out to fly to London for this. I am sure I will be able to manage it soon.” Surprisingly even Shilpa Shetty who is currently UK’s darling has not been invited for this show yet.

TV anchor Mandira Bedi, who brought noodle strap tops into serious cricket talk, says many of the controversies that she has attracted has to do with her being a woman in the maledominated world of sports.

“People have loved me and people have hated me. I’m aware of the brickbats that came along with the bouquets,” says Mandira.

Despite scathing remarks against her, the presenter has survived four years in the sports industry. “Sports is a chauvinistic, male-dominated field. I have managed to change the minds of some people and I know there are some who will never accept me in this position.”

Mandira, who shot to fame as an anchor with the show ‘Extra Innings’, says, “I had no inhibitions wearing the clothes that I do. Those were the kind of clothes I personally wore and I took them to the show. Frankly speaking, they were nothing sensational.”

“It was just a woman sitting on a cricket panel, wearing saris and bright colours where normally a woman would wear a blazer or asexual clothes. It was not intentional. I was surprised at how people reacted.”

Mandira, 35, says she has been pulled into unnecessary controversies. Many an eyebrow was raised when she got a symbol sacred to Sikhs tattooed on her body and also when she wore a sari with the Indian flag printed at its bottom. “I have not drawn controversies. They have come my way I’m not a believer that good publicity or bad publicity works,” she says.

Mandira has acted in the film ‘Meerabai Not Out’, in which she plays the role of a crazy cricket fan. However, Mandira is no stranger to Bollywood, having worked in around 10 films. She says the cricket-centric film was supposed to be released during the World Cup but India’s dismal performance delayed the film’s opening.

The movie is now expected to release in August. “The film was actually for the World Cup. We made it really quick to coincide its release with the tournament. But we all know what happened (India was out of the tournament in the early stages). So we decided to wait for people to start liking cricket again and then release it.”

Mandira says she also has some offers from the South Indian film industry. Apart from doing theatre, Mandira is also set to host a television show, shooting for which will begin in August. She, however, declines to divulge the details of the show.

Bollywood has seen a lot of mommy’s gals, and here’s another one – Ayesha Takia. Her mom usually accompanies her on the sets, and the onlookers might rib her about it, but the gal is comfortable with being a mommy’s li’l gal. So everywhere she goes, she feels at home with all that TLC that comes with having mom around. In fact, some crew members of her unit say that after long grueling shots, Ayesha rushes to her mom who waits patiently in her van, only to spend a few minutes with her. And when she’s back on the sets, she’s her sprightly, chatty self again. Well, as long as it works for her, no one’s complaining. For some, Bollywood is a still a big, bad world, right?

Meanwhile, Ajay Devgan literally harrowed his female colleagues (read Esha Deol, Dia Mirza and Shamita Shetty) while filming for Cash in Cape Town. The prankster that he is, he resorted to trick toys and other means to scare the actresses in between shots. On most occasions, Shamita Shetty was at the receiving end.

Talking of one such incident, Ajay went shopping with Zayed Khan over a weekend and came back with a bag full of trick toys. He handed out an iPod lookalike with headphones et al to Shamita. The actress was delighted at the sight of her second iPod. Ajay then urged her to listen to a special track that he had recorded. Eventually, when Shamita switched on to hear the music, she got a shock. And we are speaking literally. When quizzed about it, Shamita says: “Ajay and Zayed asked me to listen to a new track from the film on this on this sleek iPod. But the moment I turned it on, I got the shock of my life! It was actually a device that gave out electric shocks and currents. I was totally freaked out!”

She’s the baby of the family, indeed. On home-ground and the on the sets, too. Tanisha is the youngest member on the sets of One Two Three, and being the cute, bubbly girl she is – she’s quite pampered by most of the crew. And obviously assistant to the Devgans and producer of the film – Kumar Mangat, is taking special care of Ajay’s saali. Big-sis, Kajol, who doesn’t really believe in showing up for the customary filmi dos (mahurats, parties, et al), was present at the mahurat of this film. After all, bending rules for her li’l sis is no big deal. And with Kajol around, no one dare mess with Tanisha, okay!

She’s just made her debut in The Train and Sayali Bhagat is already being snapped up by some of the top filmmakers. Apparently, she already has Rajkumar Santoshi’s Halla Bol and Keshu Ramsay’s Good Luck in her kitty, and she is being offered more exciting projects. “I feel blessed to be working in Keshuji and Santoshiji’s films. It’s truly exciting to work with good filmmakers,” says Sayali, who is obviously more than delighted. Must say, this is one actress to watch out for!

Actress Ayesha Takia doesn’t believe in ‘short cuts’. No, the actress is not trying to get philosophical. It’s hair she is talking about here. “I love long hair and I think every girl should have long hair. It’s so beautiful and so feminine. I can’t ever see myself cutting my hair short. Ladies with long hair have a completely different charm – and if I may say so, they look so Indian!” says Ayesha. Now that’s some ‘long’ story!