Aamir apologises to Shah Rukh

In keeping with his penchant for doing things in a unique way, Aamir Khan went to seek the blessings of lucky mascot Shammi Kapoor earlier this week. He went there with the first music CD of his forthcoming film as a producer. He was accompanied by his cousin Mansoor Khan, nephew Imraan Khan, Imraan’s mother Nuzhat, director Abbas Tyrewala, Genelia D’Souza, AR Rahman and his wife Kiran Rao.

Speaking about why he wanted Shammi to bless the film and its music, Aamir said, “He’s my lucky mascot. It has been a trend I have been following since Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Every film of mine that he blesses is a huge hit.” Spoken straight from the heart, in true Aamir Khan style.

The actor was at his chattiest best as he fielded questions about his stunts in a forthcoming film, a song rumoured to be a spoof on Salman Khan and, most famously, his catty blogging off-late. What’s more, he also hummed a few lines from his favourite track off the film!

It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for both families. Shammi Kapoor was busy introducing his granddaughters to Mansoor Khan and Aamir, who he admires a lot as an actor. Shammi’s wife is a huge fan of Rahman and was very happy to meet the musician. On the other hand, Rahman loved the piano Shammi owns, and tried his hand at it. For Mansoor and his sister Nuzhat, it was a meeting with the man responsible for their parents’ marriage!

The stars of the film, Imraan and Genelia, refrained from saying much, letting Aamir and Mansoor do most of the talking. Imraan was heard saying, “While it’s flattering to be compared to Aamir uncle, it’s also a huge responsibility to live up to what he has achieved.” Joining the cast on their big day were Bhushan Kumar and Ajay Bijli.

How original is Mere Baap Pehle Aap?

Recently on the sets of Mere Baap Pehle Aap, the star of the film went missing. Akshaye Khanna and Genelia D’souza were busy shooting for a dream sequence. As soon as a break was announced, Akshaye did a vanishing act and everyone on the sets was busy looking for him.

Apparently, Akshaye had walked over to another set nearby where Govinda and Amisha Patel were shooting. Finally, director Priyadarshan had to come over and ask Akshaye to return.

Priyadarshan was recently in the news regarding the same film. Vicky Ranaut had filed a case against Priyan saying the latter has stolen his script. This made Priyan change the title, Mere Baap Ki Shaadi to Mere Baap, Pehle Aap. While the actors feign ignorance about this issue, Priyan says, “This is the remake of a Malayalam film called Ishtam. Once he (Vicky) makes the film, for all you know he may get sued by makers of the original.” Well, looks like there is a solid dearth of original scripts. First, we had only Priyan making remakes of Malayalam films. Now there are many others joining the group.

The winner: Big B or SRK?

Call it media hype or the actors’ genuine interest in the each others’ lives, competition definitely exists between Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan. While the big war between the Badshah and Shahenshah of Bollywood is ripe and happening, it’s difficult to pin the Number One slot to either. Be it television shows or brand endorsements, the rivalry appears to be full on.

Last year, Big B’s Nishabd, Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag and Eklavya didn’t do well. Even semi-hits like Cheeni Kum and Shootout At Lokhandwala didn’t have the expected magic. At the same time, 2007 was a year of hits for King Khan. Though he had only two films to his credit, both Chak De! India and Om Shanti Om did extremely well, in India and abroad.

This year, while Bachchan has already had a release, Bhoothnath with SRK, he is awaiting the launch of Sarkar Raj with his son and daughter-in-law. As for Shah Rukh’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, the film will have a late 2008 release.
Adman and lyricist Prasoon Joshi said, “Both SRK and Big B have a fan following. Their market value just depends on their latest hit. Whosever’s film works gets more popularity.”

Another common factor is that Amitabh and Shah Rukh have their own production houses. However, while ABCL’s is hardly making any films, Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies is on a film-churning spree. Now, while Shah Rukh leads in the race in Bollywood, Big B seems to have a better impact on people considering the number of endorsements he gets. To this, Komal Nahta, a renowned critic and trade analyst says, “That’s natural. There’s a difference of 20 to 22 years in age, between them. Obviously, they can’t have similar ads.” Here’s more on the two contending superstars.

Emraan Hashmi: Lucky for many?

A day before the release of Jannat, its stars, Emraan Hashmi and newcomer Sonal Chauhan, were seen at a leading clothing outlet. As a promotional endeavour for the film, Emraan and Sonal interacted with audiences and gave away prizes to winners of a contest. Director Mahesh Bhatt was also present.

Emraan has, in just a few years, established himself in the industry. He has marked out his audiences and caters to their sensibilities. What’s surprising is most of his projects have done well at the box-office despite an on-off tarnished image. However, it’s not just Emraan and his producers who’ve had a good time thanks to the various tags (serial kisser being one) that have made him popular. The burgeoning set of wannabe actresses has also benefited. His popularity has assured a successful debut for many a young starlet like Tanushree Dutta in Aashiq Banaya Apne, Kangana Ranaut in Gangster, Geeta Basra in Dil Diya Hain, Sayali Bhagat in The Train and now Sonal Chauhan in Jannat. Emraan says, “It’s nice for the audience to see fresh faces. Most of the actresses who have starred with me are very talented.”
As for his latest release, a special screening of Jannat was held in Pakistan and was well appreciated, especially by the cricket fraternity. Will it be as welcomed in India?

System be damned, SRK is unstoppable

It’s going to take much more than uncouth remarks by colleagues, a series of losses by his team and an ICC ban to pull this man down. Shah Rukh Khan is noticeably upset but as calm as ever and raring to go. At a recent press conference, King Khan made it all sound humorous, as he took swipes at the ICC’s supposed code of conduct. Shah Rukh smiled that confident smile and made witty retorts. All alleged monetary motives, promotional gains, etc were dispelled by the Badshah with ease. But the best bit arrived when he openly dared all governing bodies to try and stop him from meeting his players at Kolkata. Too cheeky? Not for Shah Rukh. Catch it from the horse’s mouth.

Bollywood focus:Kajol

Great people are made of small beginnings. And that’s what gives them the lacquered edge over the rest. Kajol’s entry onto the silver screen was a blurred image on memory screens - with ‘Bekhudi’, opposite Kamal Sadanah, the doe-eyed Bong beauty made her foray in to Bollywood.

It was in the genes, and it was predestined. The daughter of actor Shomu Mukherjee and Tanuja, the niece of unsullied beauty, Nutan, and the grand-daughter of Shobhna Samarth, Kajol took charge of her territory in the first few years of stardom; it was almost like she had swallowed the secret gems of success right in the womb. ‘Bazigaar’ in 1993, followed by ‘Yeh Dillagi’ in 1994 established that Kajol had inherited nothing but the best from her illustrious filmi lineage.

But, of course, what catapulted Kajol into the top rung was ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge’ in 1995, with Badshaah Khan – Shah Rukh. With her self-effacing, endearing, and lifelike performance, Kajol tiptoed into the hearts of millions of Indian fans.

At a time when most actresses in her league would evade any unconventional or negative role, Kajol made an unwavering move to tread onto the road less travelled. Her resplendent portrayal of a dark character in ‘Gupt’ made other actresses revise their own benchmarks. Then, again, her twin-role in ‘Dushman’ gave the audiences hair-rising entertainment.

Spontaneity and versatility are two virtues that have set apart Kajol from the rest of her kin. She could dissolve herself into the character of Simran in ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge’, draped in chiffons, silks and sarees, with as much dexterity she could transform in to the tom-boy Anjali in ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, sporting sneakers, track-pants, caps and a short-crop hair-cut. Her stellar performance in ‘KKHH’ is indeed one of her best she has delivered so far.

One wonders why Kajol did ever did films like ‘Karan Arjun’ and ‘Hamesha’, ‘Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya’, as they didn’t conform to her natural acumen and piquancy for bagging the perfect roles. However, to err is human, and when a star is riding on a meteor of accolades, a slip here ‘n’ there is worthy of the audiences’ amnesty. At the zenith of her career, when most actresses would single-mindedly drive their careers into the fast lane, Kajol plunged into marital bliss. She married her co-star and sweet-heart, Ajay Devgan. Perhaps the couple took their first film together ‘Ishq’ too seriously? Soon after, motherhood beckoned Kajol, and the couple went on to have their first – a baby girl, Nysa.

The myth that marriage and motherhood affect the popularity of actresses’ was condemned by the actress. While she didn’t go to any lengths to prove this wrong, her popularity did. And even she couldn’t be blind to this fact. Her inexorable, soaring popularity and the resolute demand of her fans and filmmakers urged Kajol to come back to the limelight. And ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ and Fanaa, Kajol set the screen on fire yet again with her beguiling presence. Kajol reaches for the stars, yet for her sky is not the limit.

Testing: Yana Gupta’s vocal chords

The definition of the new-age Bollywood item number changed when the urbane Yana Gupta rode a bullock and danced alongside unruly men, with natural ease. Audiences loved watching the absurdity on screen, Yana clicked and there was no looking back. Despite film offers pouring in, Yana stuck to item songs and, somewhere down the line, got typecast as an item girl. She had a pleasant surprise in store though, when she recently took on the role of singer. The Czech beauty is crooning for an international album and has also penned the lyrics to her songs. From here on, Yana’s fans, especially the men, had better start working on their ‘listening skills’.

Ritesh plays journo for a day

Prankster Ritesh Deshmukh recently took on a new role, of a journalist. He interrogated the vibrant Ayesha Takia, chocolate boy Aftab Shivdasani and gorgeous Rimi Sen — his co-stars in the upcoming film De Taali. Deshmukh asked them intriguing questions about the movie and also had them in splits with his comic timing and excellent one-liners.

Bollywood focus: Fardeen Khan

Bollywood actor Feroz Khan’s and Sundri Khan’s son Fardeen was born on the 8th of March 1974. He was born in India but has since studied abroad.

Bollywood actor Feroz Khan’s and Sundri Khan’s son Fardeen AKhan was born on the 8th of March 1974. He was born in India but has since studied abroad. Fardeen completed his education in Business Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the USA.

After he finished his education Fardeen returned to Mumbai to enter the film industry. He made his debut with Prem Aggan which released in ’98. The movie , unfortunately, was a flop and failed miserably at the box office. His second film, directed by Ram Gopal Verma, titled Jungle, was a hit and served to launch his career in Bollywood.

After this success, his next couple of films went unnoticed and he made a come back in 2003 with Khushi. This film too flopped but his performance made an impact on the critics. In 2004 his performance in the movie Dev with Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri and Kareena Kapoor. He received critical acclaim for it. Fardeen's No Entry in2005 was one of the greatest hits and was also the year’s highest grossing films. Post No Entry, none of his films have fared well at the box office .

Before getting married, Fardeen dated Ruheen Jaiswal for five years, following which he married Natasha Madhwani. She is the daughter of former actress Mumtaz and business tycoon Mayur Madhawani based in Uganda. On May 6th 2005, the two were engaged in London and the marriage took place on the 14th of December 2005 via a registeration service. Apparently the wedding festivities lasted for three whole days and was held at the Hyatt and JW Marriott hotels. The ceremony followed traditional Muslim and Hindu rites and was attended by the who’s who of filmistan. Fardeen’s wife’s mother Mumtaz and his father Feroz have played lovers onscreen many a times in the ’70.

In an unfortunate event, Fardeen who is considered as today’s youth icon was caught red handed while trying to buy cocaine from a drug peddler at an ATM in Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme. The police caught the duo with a total of 9gm of the drug.