Month: May 2008

If you thought that there is no connection between football and sweets, then, it only means that the name Vivek Agnihotri will surely not ring a bell to you. For starters, Vivek is one of the few intellectual directors who has made it all on his own without having any proverbial Godfathers in Bollywood.

He is also the man who gave the cine-goers its very own sweet treat in the form of Chocolate and who also scored an ace with his Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. The news is that this man is back with a biggie. Informs a reliable source, Viveka’s next will be of a biopic genre, which means it will be a biography and an epic combined together. The film will deal in tracing India’s journey in the last 30 years.

It is also learned that this film is being produced by one of the biggest corporate houses in the industry today. He will be making it official soon.

Vivek is currently busy with the casting of the film. The ensemble of the film will not only be from Bollywood but will also have the best of the talents from all across the country.

So what happens to the film that Vivek Agnihotri had planned on the issue of Global Warming? Well, that film is on the backburner for now and will happen only after this project.”

After Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, Vivek is surely planning to return with a bang.

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Akshay Kumar Doctorate

Akshay Kumar has many reasons to celebrate. The man had four releases last year and all the films were superhit at the Box Office. This year, his first release Tashan failed to create the same magic but Akshay did walk away with loads of praises for his performance. The actor will soon be making his appearance on the small screen as well by hosting a reality show called Fear Factor- Khatron Ke Khiladi. And if this was not enough, Akki will now be receiving an honorary doctorate from a Canadian University.

“The University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, will bestow Akshay with an honorary doctorate on May 9. It’s basically for all the social work that he has done in Canada. The University called him up to present him the doctorate,” says Akshay’s spokesperson.

In the recent past, such kind of honorary doctorates from foreign Universities were given to film personalities like Yash Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Shilpa Shetty.

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The Sen girls in Bollywood are really something. How else would you explain their presence in practically in every aspect of glamour in Bollywood? The latest one on the ‘Sensational circuit is actress Riya Sen, who has been recently appointed as the Brand Ambassador for Indian Premier League’s (IPL) official website www.iplt20.com.

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Riya says, “I was present as a guest in the IPL’s inaugural match. And I know all of the organizers of IPL very well, including Lalit Modi. It was our mutual love for cricket that got us together. As a Brand Ambassador of the website, I am supposed to attend at least 5 matches, but I am planning to attend much more than 12 matches, subject to I am not working (shooting) at that time.” When asked about her role as a Brand Ambassador of the website, she explains, “My role requires me to be present at the IPL matches, interact with the cricketer’s Team, and post my reactions and views on the site.

Lastly, when we quizzed her about which team she supported, without battling an eyelid, she says, “Since I am from Kolkatta, it is but natural that I will be rooting for the Kolkatta Knight Riders!”

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Prakash Jha’s next directorial venture Rajniti is going to be the most expensive film he as ever produced. In it he blends contemporary Indian politics with chapters from the Mahabharat in a mix that promises to be the avant-garde director’s headiest yet.

And Prakash has accumulated a formidable cast of actors. “There’s Ajay Devgan who will play a modern-day Karn. And believe it or not, Nana Patekar who was fantastic as the corrupt politician in Apharan, has been cast as Krishna!”

Also in the cast are Viveik Oberoi and Manoj Bajpai in pivotal roles. “These are actors I’ve not worked with before. I’m looking forward to directing them. Ajay and Nana are old friends. We share a fantastic comfort level.” In fact recently, Marathi Manoos Nana and Bihari Bhai Prakash took part in a passionate debate on the oust-Biharis-from-Maharashtra campaign on NDTV.

After the debate Raj Thackeray apparently rang up Prakash for presenting a balanced view. Says Prakash, “Raj is a friend and an intelligent educated man. I truly believe artistes need to rise above politics. I make cinema on politics. But I’d never be part of it. Likewise, Nana who was so stunning as a wily politician in Apharan, will I’m sure be equally adept playing Krishna in my Rajniti”

The character of Arjun as conceived by Prakash Jha’s, modernizes the mythological elements from the Mahabharat to include elements from Rajiv Gandhi’s life. For this role, Prakash has already zeroed down on the latest Bollywood heartthrob, Ranbir Kapoor.

Rajiniti won’t be the first contemporary take on the Mahabharat. Three decades ago Shyam Benegal attempted to incorporate elements from the Mahabharat into contemporary entrepreneurship in the film Kalyug. Now, Prakash Jha will blend mythology into Indian politics.

Interestingly, earlier he wanted to film just the Draupadi section of the Mahabharat with Madhuri Dixit in the lead. He shelved the idea when he heard other filmmakers were barking up the same tree.

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Neil Nitin Mukesh is going places. Apart from the handpicked films that he is doing he’s also done his first ad.

“It’s for a sports brand called Sparks . And boy, did the sparks fly during the shoot! We shot almost non-stop for three days. At the end of it, I was completely exhausted. Since it was an ad for sports shoes, we wanted to make it as outdoor and sporty as possible. So we shot with me doing the most serious hi-jinks possible. To be sure it was my first brush with big-time stunts. And I enjoyed myself.”

There was just one hitch. “Those three days were really taxing on my energy. So at the end of each day the last thing I wanted to hear was my trainer telling me to do my cardio exercises. I begged and pleaded to be let off. But there was no respite. I think I must’ve lost quite a bit of weight during that ad.”

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Bangalore model, 19-year-old Anushka Sharma has been identified to play the female lead opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Aditya Chopra’s third film as director RAB NE BANA DI JODI.

Said Yash Chopra, “We were looking first and foremost for someone who could truly embody the spirit of small-town Punjab and we know we have found her in Anushka. And while she has no previous acting experience, we have seen that unique spark in her that makes us confident that she will be a standout even opposite Shah Rukh.”

RAB NE BANA DI JODI will go on floors on 16th May and will hit theatres worldwide on 12th December.

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It’s a universal fact that the name ‘Anupam Kher’ is synonymous with the versatility to the core. Not just that, it’s also a common fact that he is not just an actor par excellence but also an excellent human being, who is now all set to take ‘humanity’ to a different level altogether with the orphanage that he is planning to start under the flagship of ‘Anupam Kher Foundation’.
There’s a famous English that “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” But the Master Blaster Anupam Kher is all set to redefine the term ‘orphan’ and make a winner out of it.

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Anupam Kher said, Many years back, I used to do a show on Doordarshan channel called as ‘Ariel Mr. Gold’. As a part of this show, I travelled by metro trains, aeroplane, and Bikes…Etc, the lengths and the breadths of the country. And wherever I went, I used to donate Rs. 5000 to the orphanages out there. That’s where I saw the pathetic state of the orphanages in this country, which was very much contradictory to the orphanages aboard (in London and America). That’s the time when I started to cherish the dream of building an orphanage which will serve as a ‘Model Orphanage’ to others. The said orphanage will also have a Counselling Centre for the children in slums who have given up studies to earn a living and also for the children who are victims of abuse. With ‘Honesty’ as the USP of this orphanage, we are looking at helping the destitute and the slum children. We will be starting with 50-60 children, which will eventually increase. We have already requested the government to allot land in the Bandra-Kurla Complex area and are quite optimistic of the fact that the government will surely extend their support in this noble cause.â€

Anupam Kher has also appointed the bright spark Ujjwal Banerjee, (a front runner contestant in the ‘Lead India’ TV show) as the CEO of the Foundation. Talking about Ujjwal, Anupam said, “I was very disappointed that Ujjwal did not make it as a grand winner. As they say that God shuts one window to open a big other. I spotted the potential of this man on the ‘Lead India’ show, which I was hosting.â€

Here’s wishing you oodles of luck and best wishes for your dream venture, Anupamji.

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