Bachchans’s most ‘Unforgettable’ gift to the world

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan-led extravaganza of Indian cinema, 'Unforgettable', will provide solar lanterns to 100 villages across the world by February 2009.

’Thirty Three per cent of the universe is without electricity and a large part of this is in India,’ Amitabh Bachchan told newspersons on the eve of the UK leg of the show to be held at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday.

’We have taken up the cause of providing electricity in 100 villages (across the world by Feb 2009) and through this tour, hopefully, we will be able to contribute towards providing solar lantern to at least one village in India. As the tour moves we would like to increase the number of villages that we can lend our support to,’ he said.

’In an attempt to fight the global challenge of Climate Change, the Unforgettable Stars and the producers of have pledged their unflinching support to this worthy cause,’ Bachchan added.

On being asked as to what prompted him to take up the issue of climate change, he said it was at the IIFA event in Yorkshire two years ago that they joined hands with Global Cool.

’USA and other developed countries might have caused the global emission but all of us are victims and hence it's time we take preventive measures. When it is a global challenge at hand, the Indian Film Fraternity sure does sit up and take notice,’ Bachchan said.

In association with The Energy Resources Institute of India (TERI) led by Nobel Laureate R K Pachauri and the Green Globe Foundation, 'Unforgettable' has committed to promote the 'Light a Billion Lives' campaign which envisions to provide clean lighting to people across the world who don't have access to electricity and modern lighting, the organisers of the tour said.

’The show strives to use its global platform and the phenomenal reach of the 'Unforgettable' stars to campaign for this noble cause. Through the campaign the stars welcome contributions from millions of Indian Cinema fans from across the world, whereby people can contribute to the cause by purchasing single solar lanterns or adopting a village.’

The 'Lighting a Billion Lives' campaign will reach out to nine states in India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Maldives and the African Continent focusing on Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi, the organisers added.

Amitabh Bachchan along with wife Jaya, son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, co-stars Preity Zinta and Riteish Deshmukh arrived in London from New York after their successful and "fantastic" shows in Toranto, Trinidad, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New Jersey, Chicago and New York.

’We had a wonderful trip so far and we are on the last leg of the tour here where we hope to give a little bit extra - running the extra mile,’ Bachchan said at a press conference held at Tata's Crown Plaza hotel where music director duo Vishal-Shekhar were also present with other team members.

Is Tusshar in good Kkompany?

Directors, producers, actors, musicians, dance choreographers... the press conference of Balaji Motion Pictures’s C KKompany at BJN Banquets on Tuesday night saw all these people and a lot of entertainment. The night kickstarted with an audio-visual presentation of the movie after which debutante director Sachin Yardi spoke about his firsttime experience of directing a film. Director Mahesh Bhatt then expelled a few (or should we say lots) of his words of wisdom, and was later seen enjoying the evening with Anupam Kher.

Jeetendra was fielded with questions about the ‘K’ factor even in this venture, to which he smiled and said, “As you can see, we haven’t left the ‘K’ out this time either!” He was then asked about the absence of his daughter Ekta at the event, to which he smugly smiled again. “She’s extremely busy these days with other assignments, and she’s not really required here, we are managing quite well on our own!” Point noted. His son Tusshar Kapoor was then asked about his role in the film — that of a journalist, and a crime reporter at that.

The guests, that also included music director Bappi Lahiri and his son Bappa Ramesh Sippy, CEO Balaji Motion Pictures, Poonam Bijlani of the BJN Group and choreographers Rajeev Goswami and Bosco-Ceaser all appreciated the music and enjoyed the C(KK)ompany!

Now, Singh Is Kinng sets a trend

Singh Is Kinng seems to be in the news for more reasons than one. Not only has it allegedly replaced Shah Rukh Khan from the position of being the King of Bollywood, but it has also set a new trend here. Now, playing a sardar will no longer mean being portrayed as a comic character. Akshay Kumar’s character of Happy Singh seems to have made such an impact on filmmakers.

In the recent release, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Kunal Kapoor plays a romantic sardar, madly in love with Minissha Lamba’s character. Now, reports are that the blue eyed, Ranbir Kapoor will be playing a sardar in his forthcoming film. He’ll be playing the lead role in the film titled Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year. Even Salman Khan is touted to play a Sikh military officer in Heroes, co-starring Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol and Sunny Deol.

In mainstream films, only a handful of actors have played lead roles as a Sikh. Typically, apart from laughing and being laughed at, Sikh characters also play intense patriotic roles. Sunny Deol for instance has played some intense roles in films like Border, Gadar and Jo Bole So Nihaal. Now, with the trend changing looks like, we’ll have more of Sikh characters running around trees and romancing the heroine.

Rambo comes to Bollywood

One would have thought an Italian stallion like Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone would have his fair share of problems speaking Hindi. Think again! The macho star not only said a few words at the Kodak Theatre sets in LA for Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kambhakht Ishq, he also showed off some impressive research done on Bollywood.
Speaking to The Bombay Times from Hollywood, Sajid said, “It was the high point of my career to have the iconic Sylvester Stallone being called for a shot on my sets.”
Elaborating on the emotional moment, the filmmaker said, “I couldn’t believe the research Stallone had done on Bollywood. He knew that Akshay Kumar (who plays the lead in Kambhakht Ishq opposite Kareena Kapoor) doesn’t lift weights and that he is into the fitness activity called Parkour. Stallone also knew most of my films were made with Salman and Akshay and that I had six back-to-back hits over the past six years. Except for my latest film Heyy Babby, he had to struggle with the names of the rest, and his Hindi was atrociously cute!”
Sajid’s shoot with the superstar was completed in three days. “I met him at his house and my designer Sabina Khan did his fittings there. We had problems with his size, so Stallone produced costumes he had worn in Rocky and Rambo. We decided to let him wear his own suit for a sequence on the Academy Awards,” said Sajid.
Apparently, Stallone and Akshay also hit it off well. “It was as if they had known each other for a long time,” said Sajid. “Stallone was impressed by Akshay’s physique and exercise routine. They enthusiastically exchanged a lot of fitness tips.” At Paramount Studios, where Stallone performed a Rambo-like action sequence, the actor was bowled over by Kareena Kapoor. “He told her she was pretty,’” added Sajid.
The scene was co-ordinated by Hollywood action-director Spiro Razatos, who has done films like Vantage Point and Bad Boys 2. Stallone’s dialogues are in English, but there is a scene where he speaks in Hindi too. “He came to the sets fully prepared with his lines,” said Sajid. Now if only some of our own established stars could be as professional.

Minding their business…

Drop dead gorgeous looks may not last forever, but a bankable brand name will continue to reap benefits for years. Tinsel town beauties are probably aware of the fact and have been bitten hard by the business bug. Bachchan Bahu- Aishwarya’s character in Sarkar Raj may not have been successful in setting up a power plant in the film. But in real life, Ash is all set to make a big investment in the alternative energy department. What’s interesting is that no assistance of any sort has been taken from her influential in-laws. Aishwarya, as a matter of fact, may give tough competition to the Bachchan parivar by starting her own production house too. Sigh! Just when things for ABCL started to look a tad better.

Actresses Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu are ready to take the fashion industry by storm. The two don’t exactly share a liking for each other, but they sure do share a likeness. Both of them have taken on as brand ambassadors of their signature clothing and apparel lines. Ayesha Takia has already been polishing her hospitality skills by investing in restaurants in Mumbai and Goa. The pretty actress will partner boyfriend Farhan Azmi in starting a chain of hotels across India. That Preity Zinta is a gifted businesswoman is no secret post the Indian Premier League. Everyone watched in awe as Preity and her Kings XI team hugged their way to the important semi final position of the tourney.

While Sushmita Sen is busy crafting a film on Rani Laxmibai under her production banner, actress turned star wife Twinkle Khanna’s tending to a flourishing candle making business. Bollywood actresses’ entrepreneurial incline isn’t a new phenomenon though. Interestingly, a little known actress of the 50s is the inspiration behind it all. Watch the video to find out whodunit!

Katrina’s Big, Fat Birthday Bash

If you’re wondering where Bollywood was partying at on Wednesday night, well, practically the entire industry was at a Bandra nightspot. The occasion was Katrina Kaif’s birthday, and beau Salman Khan hosted a special party for his lady. Now when Sallu invites you, you don’t say no! So everyone from the other two Khans — Shah Rukh and Aamir — to Govinda, Rishi Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, even Karisma Kapur (who looked stunning) were all there. Karisma had come with good friends Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor while Gauri Khan was accompanied by Karan Johar. Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone came hand in hand. Neha Dhupia was seen with ‘good friend’ squash champ Ritwik Bhattachrya. The list of directors and producers who attended was endless too: Rajkumar Santoshi, David Dhawan, Subhash Ghai, Kunal Kohli, Prakash Jha.

Of course, the entire Khan parivar was there too, right from papa Salim Khan to Salma Khan to Helen to Sohail and Seema Khan to Alvira and Atull Agnihotri to Arpita Khan. Birthday girl Katrina came with her mother and her sister, and refused to be photographed... she even tried to cover her face, but in vain!

Other faces spotted in the crowd included Parmeshwar Godrej, Anu and Sunny Dewan, Arti Surendranath, Dino Morea (who looked rather thin), Inder Kumar, designer Anna Singh, Atul Kasbekar and Niketan Madhok. The party rocked on (not surprising, considering the guest list!) as the guests danced away till half past two. This was certainly one wild night!
Parmeshwar Godrej

From Chennai to Japan: Rajnikanth

Rajnikanth is going to Japan! In, and probably with, his new film Kuselan that was completed in a record five months, and in which the ageing actor has a rocking new image. Rushes from the film that has Japanese subtitles show that the flamboyant star looks younger and more dynamic than what he did in Sivaji — The Boss a year ago.
Rajnikanth has never been to Japan but the South superstar is already quite an iconic figure there. The Japanese believe he’s India’s answer to Jackie Chan. An actor who delights the audience with his exciting fighting skills, energetic dancing, and abundant talent for comedy, drama and emotion. No wonder they call him the Dancing Maharaja!

Japan has a sizeable South Indian population that, naturally, worships Rajnikanth; but surprisingly, the Southie legend’s following is also huge among the Japanese. Local stores have DVDs of all his movies. And the release of a new Rajnikanth film, is cause for celebration. Ten year ago his film Muthu ran for 23 weeks at a Tokyo theatre and was seen by over 1,27,000 Japanese.
Now Rajnikanth, at the invitation of the Tokyo International Film Festival, is preparing to take Kuselan to Japan. In it, he changes 20 costumes in two songs, which should amuse the Japanese considerably. But better still, Rajnikanth romances nine Japanese models in one song, and that should make him a household name.Modestly, the actor told BT from his home in Chennai, “I don’t know whether I can make it to Tokyo. It’ll be great if I can. Otherwise, I’m excited that the Japanese are waiting for Kuselan with as much passion as they had for my films a decade ago. They are high on emotional content and comic action, it’s a treat to be watched by them.”

Kuselan, incidentally, is also being made in Hindi as Billoo Barber with Shah Rukh Khan playing Rajnikanth’s role. Both films are based on friendship and are slated for release internationally in the first week of August to coincide with World Friendship Day.

Romance is my contribution: Katrina

Katrina Kaif has been a part of some super successful films in the past year or so. But it is alleged that her films almost completely rely on her co-actors — more often than not Akshay Kumar — for their commercial success. Katrina, according to the masses, is just eye candy. What does she have to say about starring in male-dominated, action-packed films like Singh is Kinng, with not much to do except gyrate and look beautiful? “Action and comedy undoubtedly make a film work, but Indian audiences are always looking for a romantic track, and that’s what I’m there for. My contribution is the romance,” she says pensively.
Kats is also looking forward, more precisely “hoping and praying” for a box office hat-trick with Namastey London, Welcome and now Singh is Kinng. “I’ve seen the film, it’s turned out wonderfully,” she says. We quickly move on to her regular, famous on-screen pairing with Akshay Kumar. Why is it that the duo’s first film together, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, did so badly? She makes no effort to defend the dud in any way. “First and foremost, the film was too long. If we had the answers to why a film works and why it doesn’t, there would never be any flops.” We prodded her further with the regular on-screen pairing thing. Getting paired with biggies like Shah Rukh, Aamir and Hrithik is apparently more difficult for her than we thought. “Only actors like Akshay, Salman and Saif are regularly doing films. Actors like Shah Rukh and Hrithik only do one film a year, whereas Aamir does one film every two to three years. You have to be a part of the industry by working with people who are available.”

Meet Salman Painter Khan, says Aamir

Apart from his acting talents it’s only the Media, Art galleries and a few of Salman Khan’s fans who know about his inclination towards Painting and Arts. Recently, at girlfriend Katrina’s Birthday Bash, Aamir was in for a good surprise from Sallu. Apparently, after watching a couple of Salman’s art work during the party, Aamir was left speechless and couldn’t believe that it was Salman’s handiwork.

To this, Salman took a canvas and painted Aamir in his Ghajini look, then and there. The disbelieving Aamir walked home believingly!

‘Kiss’ for a cause

Recently, leggy lass Shilpa Shetty received the prestigious Global Cultural Diversity Award in UK. However, after receiving such a big honour she was enthusiastic to ‘give’ something back. And, she did that by offering the bidders an opportunity to kiss her while promoting a charity auction in London. It is believed that, at the dinner with British Prime Minister, she climbed up to the stage, took the mike and told her audience "Come on people - this is for charity. The winner will get a kiss from me! But it will be on the cheek. I don't want my effigies burnt again."

Truly, a kiss from a star can do so much!

Pretty Preity denies ugly rumours

Cracks are apparently showing in the so far hunky-dory relationship between Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia. Rumour is that the pert Bollywood actress, who has been dating the suave industrialist son of Maureen and Nusli Wadia for the past few years, is reportedly on the verge of another break-up. And the reason being given by Bollywood insiders is Preity’s popularity and apparent rise on the social circuit as co-owner of Team Mohali during the recent IPL cricket tournament. That, plus her seeming fondness for Team Mohali’s casanova skipper Yuvraj Singh appears not to have gone down too well with her reticent beau. Further, Ness’s investment in the IPL also reportedly suffered a beating and what the Wadia scion’s views on this must be is anybody’s guess. That there are regular spats between the feisty Preity and quiet Ness is known. But as for the recent controversy, the actress who is back to work and dubbing for Jahnu Barua’s film Har Pal in addition to attending rehearsals for the Bachchans’s world tour, said heatedly, “What rumours are you talking about? Which couple doesn’t have its ups and downs? Ness and I are no exception. You don’t go ahead and break-up just because you fight.”

Marriage is not even a talking point in her life currently. “Even my family is not concerned about my marriage. It’s not happening in the near future,” retorted the actress shortly. As for Yuvraj Singh, the industry grapevine suggests a flirtatious liaison between the dashing cricketer and pretty actress did flicker briefly during the IPL but has died down now. Neither will talk about it, of course.

Abhishek: No song-n-dance with Vivek

The makers of Mission Istanbul have been desperately trying to promote their venture, right from the days of its filming. One of the many types of bait thrown to lure the unsuspecting audience was that Abhishek Bachchan will dance along with Vivek Oberoi for an item number in this action based film. Now, who will not want to watch Aishwarya Rai’s ex-lover and current husband shaking a leg together? Just imagine the hype that could possibly rise courtesy some alleged tiff they had while shooting?

Unfortunately (or otherwise?), at a recent event, Abhi cleared the air of all the rumours of an item number with Vivek. Considering that Apoorva Lakhia and Abhishek are close friends, the denial was indeed surprising. So was Apoorva just taking advantage of his closeness with the Bachchans? Here is what Abhishek said: “Apoorva considers me as a lucky mascot for his film. When he approached me, I did agree to do a song in the film. However, I have no idea if I’ll be sharing screen space with any other actor. I’d be more than happy to do it with anybody.” There, the Bachchan brat wriggled his way out of this one too!

Finally, Rakhi’s item wins her a title

Rakhi Sawant is a survivor. She has finally won a reality dance show and is on the top of the world. After the mayhem over losing out to Aamir Ali and Sanjeeda Sheikh in Nach Baliye, this must have been a victory to remember. Leaving behind the likes of Ronit Roy and Hussain, Rakhi got the Number One slot and her beefcake boyfriend Abhishek Awasthi was around to celebrate her victory. She gave all the credit to her team, ‘Chillar Party’, a bunch of kids who worked with her.

The controversy queen and item girl expressed her feelings after the show. “I never thought I would even come to the finals, as I had to work with kids,” she said. “But now I know these kids were no less than gods.” She added, “I had lost all hopes of winning after losing the Nach Baliye title.”akhi, who was quite turned off by reality shows after the Nach Baliye fiasco, admittedly did this for the money. Take a look at the drama queen speaking her mind.

Being Shilpa Shetty!

At last, somebody has given Shilpa Shetty the role of a lifetime. The sexy actress, who couldn’t make much headway in Bollywood despite breaking ground internationally, plays herself in Sunny Deol’s film The Man. “When I heard the script, I went ‘Wow!’,” said Shilpa of the film co-starring Sunny and which is being shot in UK, Egypt and Russia. “My character Natasha is a Bollywood star who becomes an international celebrity and is constantly under the media eye.” There’s more, naturally, that Shilpa would not like to reveal. Like the many controversies she has got herself into. “Well, there are lots of parallels drawn from my life,” she reluctantly agreed. “The Richard Gere controversy has been touched upon in the film.I still feel so much was made out of just a simple kiss. The media instead should have highlighted the AIDS issue which was more important.

The media’s role is big in Sunny’s film.” And what about Jade Goody and Big Brother? “Hmnn, the script has another huge controversy, but I don’t want to let it out now,” said Shilpa refusing to be drawn into discussion on Big Brother. Instead, she said her role offered her the opportunity to emote heady success, downfall, reactions to link-ups, gossip and much more. “A film star’s life looks exciting from outside but it’s excruciatingly painful to smile and go through all this most of the time. It’s like living hell and heaven in this life only.” Sunny Deol has also boldly explored the myth behind the casting couch in a big way. “But the highpoint of the film is the dignity that the actress maintains all through even while dealing with the casting couch, break-ups and other stuff that happens in the industry. It’s all about the actress finding love at the end and the similarity ends there,” laughed Shilpa who herself is finally and happily in love with UK businessman Raj Kunder.

The latest 'buzz' in Bollywood

The crew cut’s in, dude! Check out our Bollywood hunks who are sporting the buzz cut. Right from Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna to Ronit Roy and even Sudhanshu Pandey, all have gone for the short crop. And they all are teaming it with a stubble to get that rugged look. The hairstyle is also best when you want to beat the heat or don’t want to fuss over your hair every morning. Akshay Kumar has maintained this look ever since his Bhool Bhulaiyya days. He sported the crew cut in Tashan, too, and now that he’s doing Singh is Kingg, he must be wearing his turban not on his long tresses but on his short crop! But all said and done, the look suits his personality, that of a tough, macho man just right. Aamir Khan, on the other hand, has got his hair shaved for his new film Ghajini. The criss-cross scar on his scalp, feels his wife Kiran Rao, makes him look ‘hot’.

Apparently, it was Kiran who wanted him to go for the buzz cut. Then there are others like Akshaye Khanna who must be making the most of the latest trend, considering he has a receding hairline! Bollywood hairstylist Sapna Bhavnani feels it’s a welcome change from the long, rebonded hair that men had been sporting. “But then it doesn’t suit everyone,” adds Sapna, “only those who have a round head should go for the look. Just because the look’s in, doesn’t mean all should sport it. Those with a flat head should particularly avoid going for the buzz cut.”

On tour with the Bachchans

At the IIFA weekend, we caught much-in-love-couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan together, yet again. Both were speaking about their impending Unforgettable Tour. It will be their first international tour as a family post the Abhi-Ash wedding. According to Abhishek, “Seeing dad alone is going to be an unforgettable experience.”

Despite stars like Lara Dutta and Bipasha Basu backing out of the show, the Bachchans still have solid backing from the film fraternity. The latest to join their troupe is Akshay Kumar. Abhishek said, “Luckily we have a star cast full of dear friends. There’s Vishal-Shekhar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Preity Zinta and many more.” Ash added, “I am looking forward to working with them all as we are all friends and genuinely enjoy doing what we do.” Well, that surely means we have something to watch out for, not that we needed convincing.

Rani Mukherjee: Thoda Pyar, Thoda Gussa

Rani Mukherjee’s latest release is taking her places. Titled Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, she was recently spotted in the capital city at a promotional press conference for the film. Accompanied by Kunal Kohli, the director of this family entertainer Rani seemed at ease, at least till questions to do with her alleged engagement with Aditya Chopra cropped up. The queen bee was evidently irked and lashed back in her trademark style.

One of the most power packed performers, Rani obviously chose to speak only about the film. While Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic is touted as a family entertainer, the recent promos of a skimpily clad Ameesha romancing with Saif Ali Khan by a pool side have raised quite a few eye brows. Apparently, there was a fall-out between Rani and Ameesha on the sets and the latter even backed out of the film’s promotions. Again, when questions of their fall-out were raked up, Rani became edgy. Well, we thought it was totally relevant to the film.

Talking about her role in the film, Rani said, “I am playing an angel and I just loved the experience.” Despite that, the angel seemed slightly harrowed. Perhaps, it was just the mounting pressure of her film’s promotional activities. After all, her last two films, Laga Chunari Main Daag and Tara Rum Pum failed miserably at the box-office.

World’s Sexiest Woman: Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif is maha thrilled these days. Kats, as she is known in the industry, has just been declared the ‘Sexiest Woman in the World’ by a UK men’s entertainment magazine that held its first online poll in India. Around five lakh men voted for her. What’s more, Kats won the coveted title by defeating the likes of Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson, singers Rihanna and Madonna and Bollywood stars Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Bipasha Basu, among others.
“It feels great. I think it’s the sweetest thing my fans have done,” says the actress, flashing a million dollar smile. Kats also boasts the most downloaded images online. “Isn’t that amazing?” she asks.
Considering her fan following is increasing, is she going to start a blog soon? “I’m very shy. I reach out to fans through my films. Starting a blog means updating viewers with what’s happening in your life on a daily basis, which I can’t do. I need my personal space,” says the actress.
And what, according to her, makes her the Sexiest Woman in the World? “I think people just like me in the type of roles I do. I won’t say I want to do highly dramatic or intellectual films because perhaps that’s not what my fans would like to see me in,” says the actress. “Every actor reaches a certain stage in life when he or she thinks they have to do different kinds of cinema, but I am content for now,” says the sexy woman whose good friend Salman Khan, too, apparently features in the list of Sexiest Men in the World. When are the two going to star in a film together? “I’m doing Subhash Ghai’s Yuvraj with him,” says Kats.

Shilpa’s ‘breath’taking secrets

Shilpa Shetty has always been a trendsetter for Bollywood, be it for her hourglass figure or participation in shows like Big Brother. This time, the actress was in Delhi launching her own yoga DVD. After all the fame she has bagged, she appears to have transformed into a businesswoman too. Coming up is her home production, starring little sister Shamita. Her kitty is swarming with Hollywood projects too, but this certainly doesn’t tempt her to quit Bollywood. Brushing away rumours of marriage with Raj Kunder, Shilpa says a wedding is definitely on the cards, but not just yet. Until then, one assumes she has more heights to conquer.

No pregnant pause for Priyanka

Priyanka Chopra has been surrounded by controversy ever since she decided to do Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion. First it was a row with co-actor Kangana, then Madhur’s unhappiness with her curvy frame and now her character’s supposed pregnancy in the film. But Priyanka is nonchalant as ever and refutes it all casually. The actress talks about her dislike for the size-zero look, her desire to go from chubby to lean in the film and her longing for commercial success. At a time when actresses are aping western counterparts like never before, Priyanka is not in the least inspired by the washed-down, de-glam appearance. That’s certainly not how talent should be measured, she says. Piggy Chops also talks about her film with John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan, for which she shot on the beautiful beaches of Miami.