Friday, July 16, 2010

Sonam Kapoor gets two Hollywood offers

By BW Team

Thursday, Jul 08, 2010

Hollywood has been ultimate dream of many young Bollywood actors but very few have been lucky to get the chance to fulfill their dreams. But the charming Saawariya girl Sonam Kapoor has proved to be very lucky in this case as the four-film-old actress has already got two offers from Hollywood within a span of six months.

The 25 year old bubbly Sonam has been able to fascinate the Hollywood actors with her performances. The elder daughter of Anil Kapoor, who has already wooed the Hollywood, is going to follow the path of her father probably.

According to a source, “Anil met Ben Stiller during his visit to LA. He was exchanging ideas with Ben regarding a production company, which they are planning to launch together. In this meeting, Anil informed Ben about his home production Aisha, which stars his elder daughter Sonam Kapoor”.

The source added, “Ben expressed his desire to see the reel of Aisha as he was then casting Kate’s role for his $30 million film for his production house Red Hour Films. The film directed by Reuben Fleischer stars Danny MacBride and Jesse Eisenberg, is titled 30 Minutes Or Less. After watching the reel, Ben sent an email to Anil Kapoor saying that Sonam was excellent and he wished to cast her in his movie”.

Confirming the news, Anil Kapoor’s business manager said, “It is true that Sonam has been offered the role in Ben’s 30 Minutes Or Less and we are trying to work out the dates for the same. She is now busy shooting for Mausam with Shahid Kapoor and Thank You with Akshay Kumar. Her tight schedule makes it impossible to take up the offer but we are still working it out”.

The next offer came to her doorstep just within a month of Anil Kapoor’s return to India. This time it was from Edoardo Ponti, son of Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren, for his new project titled Das. He also wanted to cast Sonam in this film, which will be made in India.

In spite of receiving these Hollywood offers, the father daughter duo is keeping their focus straight as Sonam has other prior commitments to keep here in Bollywood.

Amitabh praises Shahrukh, Ducks Salman Khan’s ‘Dus Ka Dum’

By BW Team

Monday, Jul 12, 2010

The occasion was announcement of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 4’ with Amitabh Bachchan as its host. However, even Bachchan knew beforehand that he won’t be asked questions about the show alone. Plenty of water has flown before Big B arrived in the KBC 4 boat.

Despite repeated denial by Sony and Siddharth Basu, the truth remains that Aamir Khan was their first choice to host KBC 4. (Though no formal offer was made to Khan) Bachchan couldn’t escape being asked whether he was comfortable agreeing to host a show, which was earlier offered to Aamir Khan.

“I have no idea who was before me. All I know is that Sony came to me and I said ‘yes’ to them”, chided Bachchan. Sony business head Ajit Thakur and Siddharth Basu came to his defense claiming that Bachchan was their first and only choice. Basu literally pleaded to everyone to put an end to all speculations.

It was then that Mr Bachchan left the reporter speechless saying, “Looks like you don’t want me to be here in the first place. I will merely do my job. You can shower appreciation, if you like or else you’re free to criticize”.

TRPs ratings skyrocketed when Mr Bachchan hosted season 1 and 2, but it wasn’t the same when Shah Rukh Khan hosted season 3. When asked why KBC 3 failed, Bachchan said, “I don’t agree with you. KBC 3 didn’t fail. Shah Rukh did a wonderful job. TRPs is something which I don’t understand”.

(Interestingly, Bachchan had once claimed that he hadn’t seen KBC 3. He’d boasted about the TRPs of KBC 1 and 2 on his blog)

Finally, attention turned to Salman Khan. It’s no secret that the advent of KBC 4 has pushed Salman Khan’s ‘Dus Ka Dum’ till next year. Obviously, it was unfair to ask Mr Bachchan this question. Ajit Thakur was pretty vociferous when he said, “‘Dus Ka Dum’ hasn’t been pushed. Besides, we never announced that the show is going to be launched in August. There has been no alteration in its schedule”. (Thakur was right; ‘Dus Ka Dum’ wasn’t slated for August. In fact, it was earlier supposed to come in July)

“Don’t worry, you can log on to my twitter or blog to know when it (‘Dus Ka Dum’) will be launched”, Big B said jokingly.

The superstar sealed his lips when asked about the reasons for the failure of his son’s film Raavan. (In his tweet, Mr Bachchan had found fault with the editing of Raavan).

“As said before, I’ve been given a list of do’s and don’ts. This questions figures in the latter. I’m afraid, I can’t be answering this”, so said the father of Abhishek Bachchan.

Rightly said Mr. Bachchan, but don’t worry we’re not editing the above line from our copy. We’ve had enough of Raavan and other nonsense; it’s time to talk about KBC 4. Let the game begin.

Ranbir Kapoor’s first Hush-Hush party at home

By BW Team

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010

On Saturday, Ranbir Kapoor threw his first- ever bash at his bungalow Krishna Raj in Pali Hill.

It looks like childhood friend, director Siddharth Anand can make Ranbir Kapoor do things which no one else can. Otherwise Ranbir throwing a party, and that too at his home where not too many guests are allowed? No way!

Looks like miracles do happen! On Saturday night Ranbir had a wrap-up party for the cast and crew of his new film Anjaana-Anjaani where everyone from host Ranbir to his dost Siddharth to his delectable co-star Priyanka Chopra, plus the entire unit including the American actors who had flown down to Mumbai to shoot a club song for Anjaana Anjaani last week, had a blast till the wee hours on Sunday morning.

Says one of the guests, “Ranbir’s mom had looked into every detail. The food was Punjabi home cooked and yummy. Ranbir’s Dad Rishi Kapoor had crashed by the time the party started. Chintu Uncle’s sleeping habits does not change, come whatever. Even when he has his own dinner guests home he starts getting restless after 9.30 and begins to switch off the lights and air conditioners as a hint for the guests to leave. We expected him to wake up from all the noise we made and come up any moment to switch off the music.”

Anjaana Anjaani producer Sajid Nadiadwala was conspicuous by his absence. He’s recovering from his illness and holidaying in Europe.

Says the source, “It didn’t make sense to wait for Sajid to return. A wrap-up party has to happen immediately after the last day of shooting or not at all.”

When asked how Ranbir known to be anti-party, was persuaded to host a party in his home Siddharth Anand said, “Oh , I think I can make Ranbir do things no one else can While we were shooting for Anjaana Anjaani in the US I made him gift me an expensive watch.Ranbir, my wife and I are teetotalers and full-on foodies. We went through as many restaurants in the US as possible.”

Adds Siddharth, “The wrap-up party on Saturday would’ve been Ranbir’s second party hosted by him. I had persuaded him to host a wrap-up party after the completion of our first movie together Bachna Ae Haseeno. But we got late completing the last shots of the title song in Bachna…So all the food was sent by Neetu Aunty to Yashraj Studios. This time we made it to Ranbir’s home after the song. And yes, it was Ranbir’s first party. We had a ball on Saturday night. We slept through most of Saturday night.”

Sequel after sequel Bollywood films in 2011

By BW Team

Friday, Mar 26, 2010

New Delhi, (BollywoodWorld.com) Next year, 2011, is going to be the year of sequels in Bollywood with as many as five blockbusters getting ready with the next instalment of their stories — “Race 2″, “Dhoom 3″, “Wanted 2″, “Partner 2″ and “Don 2″.

Like the 2008 hit action “Race”, “Race 2″ is also directed by Abbas-Mustan and produced under the Tips Films banner. The original, which explored themes of sibling rivalry, betrayal and passion, starred Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif in pivotal roles.

Except Bipasha Basu, the directors plan to retain the same cast for the sequel. It was reported that Bipasha would be replaced by another actress, although nothing is official at the moment.

The other sequel in the works is “Partner 2″. The original starring Govinda, Salman Khan, Katrina and Lara Dutta released in 2007.

“Partner 2″ was supposed to release this year, but the shooting dates got postponed till 2011. The sequel will retain its original cast.

Boney Kapoor, producer of the Salman Khan-starrer “Wanted”, is also planning to launch the film’s second part next year.

“Wanted”, a remake of Telugu film “Pokiri”, was directed by southern dancing star Prabhu Deva and also starred Ayesha Takia.

The third instalment of action film “Dhoom” will also make an appearance next year. While “Dhoom” released in 2004, “Dhoom 2″ hit screens in 2006. Now, after a gap of five years, “Dhoom 3″ is expected to release in 2011.

It was reported that Aditya Chopra will himself direct “Dhoom 3″, which will have some alterations in the star cast.

Later in the year releases “Don 2″, a sequel to Farhan Akhtar’s remake of the 1978 film “Don” (2006).

The crime thriller, directed, co-written and co-produced by Farhan Akhtar, will star Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal, Ishaa Koppikar, Boman Irani and Om Puri all reprising their roles from the previous film.

Going by the list, it seems that audiences will have only sequels to choose from the plate in 2011.

Who will bring Kareena and Ranbir Kapoor together in a Film?

By BW Team

Friday, Jul 16, 2010

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and his cousin, the hot actress Kareena Kapoor are among the hottest list of the actors now. Audience has been waiting for a long time to see the brother-sister sharing the big screen.

Now, the race has started among the filmmakers to sign the cousins. Director Rohit Jugraj and filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala are trying hard to get the Kapoors first for their films.

In fact, Rohit Jugraj has started writing a script called ‘Cousins’, which was being designed especially for the Kapoor cousins Kareena and Ranbir. Giving a hint to the story, he revealed that it is about first cousins getting together to struggle for a common cause.

Being first cousins, Ranbir cannot romance Kareena on-screen. So, Sajid Nadidwala is planning a movie with the two with no romance between them. He said, “It is not required to have a romantic pair all the time. We have many notable movies, where the lead pairs are not involved romantically. For example, Sri Devi and Kamal Haasan were not romantic pair in Sadma and in Amar Prem also, the lead pair Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna were not romancing each other”.

Earlier, Kareena could not take up the film Anjaana Anjaani because Ranbir was the lead hero. On this, Kareena once said, “I would love to work with Ranbir as I know he is very talented. I am confident of creating magic together. But I cannot romance him as he is my brother”.

Well, we are also sure that these hot cousins can give super hits together provided a good suitable story comes on their way!

Kareena Kapoor to promote ‘We Are Family’ without Kajol

By BW Team

Thursday, Jul 15, 2010

Kareena Kapoor has taken the whole responsibility of promoting the Karan Johar’s next movie We Are Family as Kajol will not be available for the same. Well, there is nothing fishy about this piece of news. It is only because Kajol is expecting her second baby and she cannot tour the country during that time.

We Are Family is the Bollywood remake of a 1998 Hollywood movie titled Stepmom, which starred Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris.

The Kareena and Kajol starrer movie is scheduled to hit the screens during Eid in this September. Owing to unavailability of Kajol for the promotions, UTV and Dharma Productions have planned to take Kareena to several city tours to promote the film. Bebo is also very much comfortable with this as she says the project is very close to her heart. Kareena has given a bulk of dates to Karan for the promotion of We Are Family.

According to a source, “As Kajol is expecting, it will be very unfair to ask her to travel all around the country to promote the film. Kareena has confirmed her availability to Karan for the promotional activities”.

Now, it is the sole responsibility of Kareena Kapoor to charm the audience and the press and earn the limelight.

Director Siddarth Malhotra, said, “The film is definitely releasing on Eid. It is everybody’s film and the entire cast will be available whenever they can. But it would be too much if we expect Kajol to travel everywhere”.

Well, we hope Kareena can fill up the gap of Kajol during the promotions. The beautiful chemistry of the two ladies has been seen earlier in another Karan Johar movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in 2001. Hope, it is recreated again in We Are Family!

Akshay Kumar not comfortable doing Hollywood films

By BW Team

Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010

Hollywood has always been the ultimate goal for many of our Bollywood actors. Some of the big names in Bollywood have tried their hands in Hollywood films but none could not make it very big so far.

Akshay Kumar, the Bollywood superstar, has made his mark, both in the comic and action genre, is considered to be a good pick for Hollywood. But, our Akki seems to be satisfied with the tag of the highest paid actor of Bollywood now.

The actor is receiving several roles, both small and big, from Hollywood but chose not to go for them yet. Akshay thinks he is not going to fit well in Hollywood and is not willing to desert his fans here in India.

Speaking to the media in London the ‘Khiladi’ of Bollywood said, “I am happy and satisfied with the Bollywood offers. Here, I have a huge fan group to entertain and I am not going to fit in to Hollywood so I keep refusing to do projects there.”

In his next film Khatta Meetha, Akshay will don the role of a Marathi manoos ‘Sachin Tichkule’, a struggling road construction contractor. It is his fifth film with filmmaker Priyadarshan. It is going to be yet another addition to his comedy films.

Akshay thinks, making people laugh is the toughest job, which he will do again in Khatta Meetha. It is a political satire on the widespread corruption. Southern star Trisha will be playing the female lead role opposite Akshay. The film is expected to hit the Indian theaters on July 23. It is a remake of the Malayalam hit film Vellanakalude Nadu, which was released in 1989.

We agree with Akshay! He does not need a Hollywood project as he is the indomitable King of Bollywood now!

Priyanka Chopra’s cousin Meera to debut in Bollywood

By BW Team

Tuesday, Jun 22, 2010

There is a buzz doing the rounds that the South Indian actress Meera Chopra is a cousin of Bollywood’s top actress Priyanka Chopra. Meera, is now ready to debut in Bollywood. The news does not end here. It is reported that Meera has hired Priyanka’s ex-secretary Prakash Jaju as her secretary too.

It is to remind you all that Praksh Jaju was earlier arrested in 2004 on basis of a complaint filed by Priyanka Chopra. She accused him of verbal harassment. So, why has Meera appointed her sister’s harasser to handle her work? Piggy Chops registered a case against Prakash alleging that he was threatening her through SMSes and using foul language.

But, the South Indian actress is still in denial. She says, “Ajay Chabbria has been working as my manager and is looking after my assignments.”

On the contrary, Jaju has accepted working with Meera. He said, “Ajay brought Meera to me. We have a contract as we are business partners. I don’t think that Meera is Priyanka’s cousin. She has never told me that. However, I am handling her work.”

Meera has tried to using her celebrity sister’s name. According to a family friend of the Chopras, both the families are not in touch now.

Well, it will be interesting to see if Meera can rule like her sister when she debuts in Bollywood. Will the appointment of Priyanka’s ex-secretary change her luck?