Udita's canine capers

There is more to Udita Goswami than her stunning looks. The big screen beauty has a heart of gold. A close friend revealed that the Paap star is a dog lover and that includes strays. The friend stated that, she was restless all through out the shooting, thanks to a stray dog who almost got run over and hurt its paw. Udita rushed home from her shoot and not only did she feed the dog but also nursed him back to health…

Bachchans walk for divine intervention

Amitabh Bachchan, with his family, recently walked barefoot to offer prayers at Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Temple. The team of the Bachchans’ forthcoming film Sarkar Raj accompanied them. The Big B, son Abhishek, and daughter-in-law Aishwarya began walking from their residence in the early hours and reached the temple at around 5 am. Jaya Bachchan preferred taking the car though, and joined them at the temple. Abhi-Ash looked quite a twosome walking hand in hand through the walkathon.

According to reports, the actor went to seek the blessings of the deity for the success of his family’s latest film. Accompanying them were Abhishek’s friends Sikander Kher and Apoorva Lakhia. Incidentally, Sikander Kher’s debut film, Woodstock Villa, released just a few days ago, and Apoorva’s Mission Istanbul is on the verge of release. Looks like a collective effort to the deity for success! Wonder why Ram Gopal Verma was missing, considering the last few damp squibs he gave us.

Priyanka on Harman, marriage and films

With six releases, four big banner films plus her off-screen chemistry with beau Harman Baweja and their on-screen pairing in Love Story 2050, 2008 will be a memorable year for Priyanka Chopra.

She still doesn’t say much though. She will not talk about her ‘friendship’ with Harman, she will not disclose anything about her future ventures, she will clam up when marriage is being discussed and so on. While Harman openly admits that Priyanka is his special friend, Piggy Chops says, “I don’t discuss my private life.”

She does admit to being a hardcore romantic though. And, while she refuses to talk about Harman as her beau, she doesn’t mind sharing her opinion on Harman, the actor. Priyanka says, “It was great working with him. I have known him for five years now. It’s nice to see somebody growing as an actor.”

Though she may have found true love in real life, she plays a character in search of it in her forthcoming flick. This is also the first time Priyanka will play a double role. Speaking about the characters she plays, she says, “One is coy, soft spoken, wears lace, writes poetry and paints. The other is a pop star named Zayesh, who is loud, self centred and outgoing. They are both looking for love though.” She also speaks about another character in the film called Boo. “Boo is a cute pink robot with a blue Mohawk. I just love his voice,” gushes Priyanka.

Love Story 2050 was initially offered to Kareena Kapoor, who later walked out of the film. That’s when Priyanka got the offer and immediately took it up. For Piggy Chops, that’s no big deal though. She states, “I have done many films rejected by others. Others have done films rejected by me. Eventually, the film belongs to the person whose name shows in the credits. Love Story 2050 is mine.”

Interestingly, even before Love Story 2050 has released, the Harman-Priyanka pair seems to have caught the attention of filmmakers. The duo will be paired opposite each other in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s next, a comedy titled, What is your Raashi? Apparently, Ashutosh had once said that all heroines he signs on end up tying the knot during filming. Does that mean anything to Priyanka? “Why should it? Just two of his female leads got married. Mamta Kulkarni and Gracy Singh didn’t. Anyway, I don’t want to get married so early. I’m barely 24-25. Someday I will, but not now.” With a career as bright, marriage can surely wait.

Bollywood focus:Emraan Hashmi

Born as Emran Anwar Hashmi on the 24th of March 1979, he later changed his name to Farhaan Hashmi and then reverted back to his original name with an extra ‘a’.

Born as Emran Anwar Hashmi on the 24th of March 1979, he later changed his name to Farhaan Hashmi and then reverted back to his original name with an extra ‘a’. Emraan’s father was a Muslim while his mother a Catholic. The actor has many relatives and close friends in Karachi, Pakistan. Emraan finished his college from Sydenham College where he studied graphics and animation.

Emraan is not new to the glitz of Bollywood as he is the nephew of director Mahesh Bhatt and cousin to Pooja Bhatt. He married Parveen Shahani on 14th December ’06 and held a lavish reception at a posh hotel in Bandra. The event was restricted to only close family members and friends.

Emraan made his debut in the film Footpath in ’03, but the movie was a flop and bombed at the BO. His next film Murder, however was much better and catapulted him to fame, this was his first hit. The next few movies like Zeher, Kalyug and Gangster have also managed to do well at the box office. But the sound tracks of all these films were instant hits and helped the actor create a huge fan base. The play back singer for most of his songs was Himesh Reshammiya, Kunal Ganjawala and Atif Aslam.

Recently Emraan was back in the news with his famous kissing scenes in almost every movie that he did. It was such a rage that he was termed as the ‘serial kisser’ of Bollywood. Apparently in an interview Emraan said that he was nervous about the kissing scene and almost opted out of the film, but after trying it out, it looks like he couldn’t get enough.

Emraan has decided to get rid of his image of lover boy and being the ‘Serial Kisser’ and develop an image of a mature actor. For this purpose he has requested to play the role of a ghost in the movie Raaz 2, however it has not yet been decided as to what role he will get.

Emraan has always been followed by controversies as though the filed he is in has them as a free tag along. Besides this it is rumoured that he charges a total of RS.80 lakh for a film. Hope this hi-paid actor can live up to his new image whatever it may be.

Bollywood focus: Amrita Arora

Amrita Arora emerged from the shadow of her sister Malaika Arora. She began her career with modeling. Amrita won the MTV VJ hunt – an experience she considers memorable.

Amrita Arora emerged from the shadow of her sister Malaika Arora. She began her career with modeling. Amrita won the MTV VJ hunt – an experience she considers memorable. She became a video jockey and hosted shows such as MTV House full and MTV Chillout on MTV India. Around this time she also began appearing in TV commercials for cosmetic companies.

In 2002, Amrita made her debut in Bollywood opposite Fardeen Khan in ‘Kitne Door Kitne Paas’, the two were also romantically linked. Amrita’s second movie was ‘Awara Pagal Deewana’ in which the actress proved her talent as an actress. Amrita started dating model Upen Patel and the two went pretty strong for a year.

Amrita has been more in news for her glamour than her roles in movies. Just like sister Malaika, Amrita has an alluring image; she is also very close to her brother-in-law Arbaaz whom she considers her older brother and also ties him a Rakhi. Amrita is currently dating London based cricketer Usman Afzal. The actress is now getting into serious cinema with Kalpana Lazmi’s next and plays a negative character in Vikram Bhatt’s ‘Red’. Amrita loves socializing and her best buddy is none other than actress Kareena Kapoor.