Bollywood Zone : Blog, Movies, Celebs

Bipasha Basu is getting bigger. If the current event of things is anything to go by, than, the sultry actress is flying high. Though she may have grabbed eyeballs for her cosy pictures with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in a Lisbon nightclub, all the fame is now translating into concrete stuff. Simone Sheffield, Aishwarya Rai‘s manager for international projects, has now taken up Bipasha’s work too. She will be handling all works and meetings of the actress in Hollywood. “Yes, from now on, I will be representing Bipasha in the international market. There are already lots of meetings lined up for Bipasha. She’s got a bright prospect here. With her kind of striking looks and demeanor to go with it, there’s no doubt that Bipasha has enough potential here,” says Simone.

It was Shah Rukh Khan‘s show alright. SRK fever swept the UK as thousands of dedicated fans queued for hours for a mere glimpse, a chance to meet, their favourite star in London. Not even the UK’s biggest sports weekend, Wimbledon tennis finals, the British F1 Grand Prix or the Live Earth concert and all the road closures around London could dampen the enthusiasm of these SRK fans. Shah Rukh’s special visit three-day weekend saw more than 25,000 visitors, which was attended by SRK on July 7 and 8. Fans got a life time opportunity to get up close and personal as he signed autographs, appeared on the two huge stages at the venue, charmed and interacted with the crowds, enacted his favourite dialogues from Don, a scene from Devdas, and even sung a few lines from his all time favourite movie – Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge. Everyone was pleased with the way he treated his fans. He met as many people as he could and spent a lot of time with his fans.

Her debut film is all ready for release, but Urvashi Sharma isn’t worried about the lack of publicity – producer Ramesh Taurani is keeping her under wraps for now. But the undercurrent on the lady is quite strong. In fact, Taurani has gone ahead and signed her for an eight-film contract with his company. Even directors Abbas Mustan want to repeat her in two more films. And we hear the lady’s getting plenty of offers which she’s keeping on hold until the release of her debut Naqaab. Ask Taurani what ticks and the man who’s launched such names as Preity Zinta, Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao says, “Urvashi’s a very sincere girl, mark my words she will go a long way. Urvashi’s character is integral to the central plot of Naqaab, and so we have kept her under wraps. We want the audience to judge her performance unbiased.” Now that’s fair enough we think. Let’s reserve our verdict until the audience gets a taste of this bombshell.

Ameesha Patel cherishes her on screen moments with two special men. Her first co-star, Hrithik Roshan, followed by Sunny Deol. Both her films with them (Kaho Na Pyar Hai and Gadar) were runaway hits. But strangely, she hasn’t been paired with them in years; in fact Gadar was the only time she’s worked with Bollywood‘s muscle power, Sunny. “I think Sunny is one of the most charming actors. I would love to work with him again, but we need an amazing script because fans are waiting to see us team up again. We can’t disappoint them,” she says. We hope ‘sun’ny shines in her life soon!

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!”

We all know what a perfectionist the Hrithik Roshan is and this is not the first time he’s hurt himself in the bargain. Apparently, while practising some stunts, he hurt his knee badly. Without risking life and limb further, he let all his work come to a halt, since he was obviously in ‘k’need of some love and care. Besides, being at home is always a pleasure – on one hand he gets pampered by Suzanne, and on the other, he’s cuddling baby Hrehaan to the hilt. Even superheroes need a bit of TLC, na?

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?

She’s come a long way from her bikini clad roles to serious character roles in her stint in Bollywood. Of late, Neha Dhupia is quite thrilled that her new film, Mithya, directed by Rajat Kapur (of Bheja Fry fame), is going to be screened at a forthcoming film festival.

Talking about the film Neha says, “Mithya been beautifully made and I am really excited about it.” The movie is a comedy based on the life of a bad actor who is desperately looking for work. Neha’s co-stars in the film include Naseerudin Shah and Ranveer Shorey.

Next, with movies like Saurabh Shukla’s I am 24, Kuch Love Kuch Drama (with Anupam Kher and Rajpal Yadav) and Dus Kahaniyan in her kitty, things are definitely looking up for this Punjabi kudi.

There’s something about this angry young man, Shiney Ahuja. The actor, who is presently shooting for Hijack in Mauritius, has been demanding bigger vanity vans and desi khana. Reportedly, the temperamental actor often engages in verbal fights with helping hands on the sets, if his demands are not met with. Obviously, his latest endeavours have only added to the misery of director Kunal Shivdasani and other crew members.

Our source from Mauritius says, “Shiney is extremely stubborn. He is not ready to compromise on anything. If he doesn’t get his way, he keeps screaming at our assistant directors. He wants bigger vanity vans and he is having a lot of problems with the food that we serve.”

Shiney’s spokesperson, however, terms his demands as ‘a basic necessity’. “As far as I know, Shiney does not take any injustice lying down. What’s wrong in asking for Indian food? We all have our individual eating habits and there’s nothing wrong with it. And he needs more space that’s why he has asked for a bigger vanity van,” says the spokesperson.

The story goes that Shiney (who has already acquired the label of ‘a difficult actor’) was very cordial at the outset. He religiously attended workshops and spent time in a flying simulator to get a hang of the role as the film revolves around a hijacked aircraft. But, once he started filming, Shiney emerged from his cocoon and often showed displeasure about his dialogues and costumes. Needless to say, the actor has become unpopular on the sets.

If sources are to be believed co-star Esha Deol is not too fond of Shiney either. After the day’s shoot the duo retire to their respective rooms without interacting with each other.

Hijack is the story of a troubled father (Shiney) who makes attempts to save his daughter from the clutches of hijackers. Shiney works at an airport and the hijackers eventually land at this airport to refuel the aircraft.