World Of Celebs: January 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

We are ordinary people. Big B

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan wants to dispel myths about his "high and mighty" image, saying that he would prefer to be known just as the son of Teji and Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

"I never believed that I was special. I am just blessed. I would like to be known as the son of my father Harivansh Rai Bachchan and mother Teji Bachchan. I respect my parents for bringing me up the way I am," Bachchan said while speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival Friday.

The superstar, who has given the country the maximum number of hits and blockbusters like "Zanzeer", "Deewaar" and "Don", said he has "never consciously tried to project my star image. It is an epithet created by the media."

"I have not contributed to the fact that I am a star. My son Abhishek and I want to do away with the word star. We are ordinary folks. My relationship with my son is personal and domesticated. Even before Abhishek was born, I had made up my mind that if I ever had a son he would be my friend. Abhishek is as balanced and down-to-earth by nature as I would expect anyone from our family to be.

"While acting, we do not follow any particular routine or concepts - we both leave it to the director. In fact, Abhishek had a very normal upbringing. Jaya and I have never tried to do anything special for him. We did not produce any movie to secure him a toehold in the industry. He has never felt propped up - all that he has done has been on his own," Bachchan said.

Further listing the virtues of his son, Bachchan said Abhishek possesses sharp powers of observation and reaction.

The audience - numbering around 500 - comprised over 165 writers, an equal number of delegates and an army of media representatives both from home and abroad.

Bachchan feels the love of millions of Indians has helped him become the "phenomenon" that he is today.

"The love and affection of the people of the country, my fans who prayed for me each time I fell sick, have helped sustain my journey over the last four decades that began in 1969," said Bachchan.

The actor, who has worked with almost every generation of directors in the country - from Prakash Mehra, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra to Tinu Anand and the youngsters like R. Balakrishna and Sujoy Ghoshe, says he has grown up watching Dilip Kumar and Waheeda Rehman.

"I was their fan and also loved watching Guru Dutt movies. 'Kagaz ke Phool' starring Guru Dutt was my favourite. Now that I have an opportunity to speak about all the directors I have worked with, I hope one of the youngsters in Mumbai grows up to be a Dilip Kumar or Guru Dutt," he said.

Father Harivansh Rai still remains the star's obsession.

"I am not an avid reader, but now whenever I have time to spare, I read my father's poetry and his autobiography. I try to bring out snippets from his works in my blog. And in the process I learn more about my father," he said.

The superstar, who recited "extracts" from his father's seminal work "Madhushala", signed off with a message for the audience: "Yadi man ka ho to accha, agar man ka na ho to aur bhi accha. (If things go the way you want, it is good. And if it does not, it is better)."

"I did my first film with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and my second film 'Delhi-6' is with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. These are big names and I am on top of the world. I am not at all an underdog. I am Anil Kapoor's daughter. I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” Sonam told reporters here Friday.

Sonam was speaking at a press conference for the 54th Idea Filmfare Awards 2008. She was here to promote her forthcoming film "Delhi-6", releasing next month.

Sonam maintained that though “Saawariya”, which was released in 2007, failed to click at the box office, it brought her critical acclaim and she “got whatever she needed from the film”.

The 23-year-old actress stressed that she is very much in the league of young actors like her "Saawariya" co-star Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, who debuted same year with hit movie "Om Shanti Om".

In fact, Deepika walked away with the Filmfare award for best female debut last year.

“Awards are important and it was important for me to win one for 'Saawariya'. I was quite upset that I didn't get the award,” she said.

Sonam, who has recently signed a comic caper “Come On Pappu” with Akshay Kumar, finds comparison with Deepika unfair.

“I can't compare myself with Deepika. She is doing mostly commercial roles and I am not. She is signing more films, but I want to do one film at a time. It takes nearly a year for a film to be made and that's why I am being seen lesser than her,” said Sonam.

Sanjay Dutt In Luck

A thin handle bar moustache, a small goatee and three triangular side-burns on each cheek - that's Sanjay Dutt's new look for Soham Shah's forthcoming movie "Luck". The actor is very happy with the look.

"Soham Shah is a very talented filmmaker and he has a very creative outlook. We both sat and discussed the look and I'm very happy that Hakim Aalim has styled me exactly as we envisioned," said Sanjay.

Celebrity stylist Aalim gave him this new look on Monday and is pretty satisfied with his work.

“This is one of Sanju's (Sanjay) most daring and dashing looks. It's a very different side-lock with three triangles adjacent to each other. He can carry off anything larger than life. He is looking really cool and sexy and will set a new trend,” Aalim said.

Dhilin Mehta is producing “Luck” under his banner Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd. It is the launch vehicle of Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruti and also stars Imran Khan, Mithun Chakraborthy, Danny Denzongpa, and Ravi Kishan.

The entire team has just left for a 10-day schedule to Cape Town.

'Slumdog...' title not offensive

Simon Beaufoy, the screenplay writer of Danny Boyle's Golden Globe winning “Slumdog Millionaire” Wednesday said the title of the film was only a “metaphor”.

"There was absolutely no sense I wanted to insult anybody. I just liked the idea of the metaphor (Slumdog)," Beaufoy told reporters here.

“As a part of my research, I was wandering in the slums. I was very intrigued by the cats and dogs wandering around there, who dared to be asleep in the sunshine. Though they do look carefree from the outside, they are watching everything from the rims of their eyes,” he said.

“It is like somebody who is apparently not worthy of an existence but is actually looking at everything and eyeing everything out - just like the boy in the game show who knows everything not through intelligence but through experience. So, I just made up the word,” he added.

Loveleen Tandon, the film's co-director, echoed the same sentiment and said: “ 'Slumdog' is the way the protagonist of the film is referred to. It's actually an English translation of the way we refer to a man from the street or a slum."

“He's looked upon as someone who wants nothing, and in order to say that, it's expressed in this kind of harsh way to make him feel like nothing. It's not that the film is trying to say that a man living in the slums is a dog,” she explained.

Patna-based social worker Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, general secretary of the Jhuggi Jhonpdi Samyukta Sangharsh Samiti, earlier dragged "Slumdog Millionaire" to court, contending that the sensibilities of the slum dwellers have been offended by the movie title.

“I don't feel I've written a film about poverty. That never occurred to me. What I genuinely felt in my heart was the (slum) people's massive spirit and massive determination to overcome terrible troubles. That's how I approached it. 'Slumdog Millionaire' is a fairytale,” said Beaufoy, who was here with Boyle, producer Christian Colson and the main cast of the movie.

Set in Mumbai, the film is about a slum boy who wins a TV quiz show and stars debutante Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. The film has bagged four Golden Globe awards and 11 BAFTA nominations.

Having already raked in $43 million at the US box office and making a mark in the US Top 10, it is releasing in India Jan 23.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hot Wallpapers

SRK Funds Two Orphans

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has committed to bear all the expenses for the treatment of two Kashmiri orphan children who suffered severe burns during a terrorist grenade attack in Srinagar, doctors said Tuesday.

"He has made it clear - 'no limits' - to the expenses for treating Mudassar and Amina," Ali Irani, the head of department, physiotheraphy & sports medicine at Nanavati Hospital, Vile Parle, told IANS.

A little over two months ago, the home of the two kids in Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar was attacked by terrorists. Mudassar and Amina's parents were killed in the grenade attack, while the children suffered burn injuries.

The children suffered some grenade shrapnel injuries and severe - more than 30 percent - burn injuries and they were shifted to a local hospital in Srinagar, Irani, a physiotherapist, said.

When Irani visited the hospital under the auspices of the Indian Association of Physiotherapists, his attention was drawn to their plight.

In turn, Irani suggested that they could be shifted to Mumbai for getting the best treatment, at the Nanavati Hospital - where the children were brought to in December.

Although it would have been easy to get completely free treatment from any doctors, there would be many other expenses of the children to be handled, and Irani requested Shah Rukh Khan for help.

Not only did Shah Rukh readily agree to the suggestion but he also visited the two orphans at the hospital and has promised to take them to his home in Bandra to play with his children, Aryan and Suhana.

"Mudassar suffered severe burns on his face, while Amina's arms and hand have been burnt - but there will not be permanent damage," Irani said.

The two children have already undergone four surgeries which were performed by Atul Shah and L. Dhami - "We don't know how many more surgeries they will required or when they can be discharged," Irani said.

This is not the first time that 44-year-old actor has contributed to a noble cause - according to Irani, he has been doing it for nearly the past nine years.

"He has requested that this must be kept completely confidential, but the information somehow leaked out. There is no count of the number of children that he has helped so far," Irani said.

A few years ago, Shah Rukh had donated Rs.5 million (Rs.50 lakhs) to the children's ward of the hospital in memory of his mother, Lateef Fatima Khan, who died 18 years ago.

Luck By Chance - Juhi

Juhi Chawla has coloured her hair blonde for her role in Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut "Luck By Chance".

Juhi, last seen in Ravi Chopra's "Bhootnath", will play veteran actor Rishi Kapoor's wife in the film.

"Playing Minty was so much fun! And moreover I got to colour my hair blonde, which was something I had never done before," said Juhi.

"When Zoya offered me the role I was extremely thrilled. Even though I was told it was not a big role, I didn't mind as it was different from all the other characters I have played before, and that was the most exciting part," she added.

"Luck By Chance", releasing Jan 30, stars Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma and has a much-hyped guest appearance by superstar Hrithik Roshan.

Doctorate to Honour Dilip Kumar by Urdu University

Thespian Dilip Kumar will be conferred with honorary doctorate by Maulana Azad National Urdu University here next month.

Kumar, one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema, will be conferred the honour at the annual convocation of the university to be held on Feb 21.

India's former ambassador to the United States Abid Hussain, eminent Urdu writer and scholar Gopi Chand Narang and well-known Urdu novelist Jeelani Bano will also receive the honorary degrees, said a statement issued by the university here Tuesday.

Sukhadeo Thorat, Chairman, University Grants Commission will be the chief guest and will deliver the convocation address while Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, the chancellor of Urdu University will preside over the convocation.

The Urdu University was established in 1998 by an act of parliament as a central university to promote and develop the Urdu language, provide higher, technical and vocational education in the Urdu medium and to provide focus on women's education.

Who will be Benegal's Carmen?

Now that Shyam Benegal has decided to revive his costliest project "Chamki", a desi version of French musician Georges Bizet's 1875 opera "Carmen", the question is who will play the title role of a free-spirited fiery-tempered gypsy in the movie?

According to sources, Priyanka Chopra more than Kareena Kapoor is the natural choice to play Chamki since the role requires a trained dancer.

When contacted, Priyanka told IANS that she was open to the offer. "But I read the script ages ago. The whole project now has to be evaluated afresh. And who wouldn't want to work with Shyam Benegal?"

"Chamki" has been pending for a while. Earlier, the project was with Sanjay Gupta. Now, Big Pictures is producing the film.

In the past too, both Priyanka and Kareena were approached for "Chamki", but they opted out for various reasons.

"Kareena was excited to begin with. She was supremely charged by the role and what Benegal had done with her sister Karisma in 'Zubeidaa'. But then she opted out - as she often does from offbeat challenges like Deepa Mehta's 'Water' and Rituparno Ghosh's 'Raincoat' - pleading it was too early for her to attempt something so unconventional," said a source close to the project.

"Then came Priyanka who was quite kicked about the part, but she and the film's then producer Sanjay Gupta had a fallout after Priyanka said no to his 'Musafir'. The 'Chamki' role then went to Urmila Matondkar, who had monetary issues with the producer."

With the film changing producers, it is understood that money is no longer an issue.

While Priyanka is still interested in the project, Kareena's views were not yet known.

"Kareena continues to have reservations about non-mainstream cinema. Barring Pritish Nandy Communications' 'Chameli', she has never returned to non-mainstream cinema," said the source.

'Chamki', set in Rajasthan, is being re-designed as a big broad epic musical with choreography and lavish songs by Javed Akhtar and A.R. Rahman.

"No expense will be spared to make 'Chamki' a big blockbuster," added the source.

Priyamani Hot Sizzler

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

BYLONA....She Boiling Hot Baby

John & Katrina Barred from a Night Club

John Abraham and Katrina Kaif’s idea to celebrate after a hectic schedule turned out to be a spoiled effort when they were not allowed to enter in to a New York night club. What was more embarrassing was that the bouncers did not pay heed to their celebrity status and stuck to the demand of ID proof.According to a source present at the venue, “A crew member wanted to celebrate his birthday. He invited everybody to a new nightclub in New York. After a hard day’s shoot, the entire gang left for the night club”.

The source further added, “While the crew members went ahed in one car, John, Katrina and Kabir Khan followed in another. When they were stopped at the nightclub, they tried to reason with the bouncers that they were well known and respected people from India. John and Katrina told them that they were film stars from India but the bouncers only stared at them.

The bouncers had no clue what John and Katrina were talking about. The called the crew members, who were inside but they too were of no help”.Katrina and John along with their director Kabir Khan back geared to their hotel where they left their ID proof but by the time they returned to the club, the party was almost over. They covered one hour ride from the night club to the hotel to acquire their IDs proof.