Minissha Lamba: He has made me a scapegoat

The actress is extremely upset with Sagar Ballary, director of both her films Bheja Fry 2 and the forthcoming Hum Tum Shabana for badmouthing her.

Shocked and hurt Minissha says Ballary is stooping this low just for publicity. "I used to consider Mr Ballary a friend. But if he is trying to get publicity by maligning my name, then he's hardly a friend."

The director, who apparently was at loggerheads with Bheja Fry 2 producer Mukul Deora during the making of the film, has accused the actress of shooting a promotional video for the same 'behind his back'.

Minissha retaliates, "The producer asked me to do the video, so naturally I did it. Why should Mr Ballary have a problem with that? I'm caught in the crossfire between Mr Ballary and the producer of Bheja Fry 2.

Since he can't hurt the producer, he has chosen to make me the scapegoat."

She is also disappointed with his comments about editing her role in the Hum Tum Shabana. "I play the title role in the film. So how can he threaten to chop off my role?"

Saddened by the souring of the friendship, she says, "It takes years to build a friendship, but just a few careless remarks to ruin it. As a director, he should have been more responsible with his words.

I can understand him wanting publicity for his film. But why at my cost? I did Bheja Fry 2 although I had a small role just for Sagar Ballary. And this is what he does!"

The actress had not bothered to confront Ballary after his statements. "What is there to ask him? I've spoken to the producer and he's also upset about Mr Ballary's outburst."

Box office report: New releases fall flat; Singham continues to roar!

The three new releases of this Friday fell flat at box office. Rather, it’s Singham and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara that continue to draw crowds.

Gandhi To Hitler, Khap and Bubble Gum -- this Friday’s three new releases -- saw a lukewarm response at box office on the very opening day. Gandhi To Hitler and Khap were expected to attract a few footfalls but failed to do so. Even the critics have panned all the three films. In comparison, the Hollywood releases Cowboys & Angels, The Smurfs and The Tree of Life saw a better response.

On the other hand, Singham completed its first week run at box office with a collection of a little over Rs. 50 crore nett, making the film a superhit. What’s more heartening is that the film continued to hold steady on Friday.

Likewise, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is still attracting movie buffs to theatres. The film rounded off its two-week run at theatres with a collection of Rs. 63.25 crore nett. It is expected to touch the Rs. 80 crore mark by the end of the coming week.

The coming Friday would again see the multiple release of small budget films. The next big release from Bollywood would be Aarakshan on August 12, which will be followed by a long four-day weekend because of two gazetted holidays. The movie is expected to open well.

Gandhi To Hitler : Movie Review

Movie Review of Gandhi To Hitler

This Friday’s release Gandhi To Hitler demands an unconditional suspension of belief. So if a you see an actor whose every facial twitch reminds you of some dreamy Mungerilal now dressed up as the World War 2 monstrosity, Adolf Hitler, try not to wince. And if you spot a Russian or French soldier awfully tanned like some louts from apna Verar, try not to laugh. For all its claim to document the contrast of two ideologies and for all its attempt to tout itself as “A Masterpiece on World Peace” (the film’s tagline), Gandhi To Hitler is painfully farcical and downright ludicrous.

The intention of director Rakesh Ranjan Kumar is to underscore the futility of war by comparing and contrasting Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful ways to the genocidal streak of the megalomaniacal Fuhrer. The plot is based on two letters written by Gandhi to Hitler, trying to impress upon the latter the importance of non-violence in a bid to prevent the war.

We are transported to the underground bunker in the bombed-out Germany where Hitler (Raghuvir Yadav), his well-coiffured ladylove Eva Braun (Neha Dhupia) and a bunch of loyal orderlies like Joseph Goebbels (Nalin Singh) and the Reich minister Albert Speer (Nasir Abdullah) are fuming, fretting and counting their last sparse blessings before giving up the ghost.

The action keeps shifting from inside the bunker to a few Indian soldiers in the warzone in Germany and to a relatively peaceful milieu in the British occupied India where Gandhi ji is heard preaching peace and non violence in congregations. Another contrasting angle is thrown in the form of a track involving the Azad Hind Fauj and its founder Subhash Chandra Bose advocating blood-for-ajadi among lanky foot soldiers. And spliced in between all this clutter is the actual footage of World War 2.

The script is a disaster, equally matched by shoddy performances by the actors, the otherwise tolerable Raghuvir Yadav included. But the most deplorable is the decision to cast Indian actors as the Germans, Russians and French. If this was Rakesh Ranjan Kumar’s idea of experimenting with truth, it falls flat on its face. To put mildly, it gives the film a farcical look and one wonders if the director should have gone the whole hog and rather cast a foreigner to play Gandhi.

In short, Gandhi To Hitler is best avoided.

Rating: 1 star out of 5

Khap : Movie Review

Movie Review of Khap The thing with issue-based films is that the director needs to learn the art of tightrope-walk through a potential minefield of obvious clichés and commercial trappings. A tilt too much to artistic adherence could earn the film a tag of docu drama and consequently scare away the movie buffs, and a kowtow to commercial formula may make the issue facile and trivial. That’s precisely the problem with director Ajai Sinha’s film Khap, made with good intentions but poor sensitivity.

The film, as you all must know by now, deals with the burning issue of honour killings in villages whenever young girls and boys marry within the same gotra. What’s murder for the modern world is, however, purgation for the Khaps of the villages still steeped in age-old customs and social mores.

Om Puri plays the one such authoritarian Khap of a village. His son (Mohnish Bahl) didn’t approve of his dad’s regressive mindset and separated years ago to pursue social activism.

At the start itself, director Ajai Sinha lays out the cards with a gruesome honour killing of a couple trying to elope. Then we are treated to an internet romance between a couple (Uvika Chaudhary and Sartaj) who fall in love, only to find out that they hail from the same clan. To make matters worse, the girl is the daughter of the same headstrong Khap (Om Puri) who is dead against same gotra marriage. How will this Khap react when chickens come home to roost?

The treatment given by director Ajai Sinha to the subject is facile at best. Weaving a threadbare plot from newspaper headlines and peppering it with the routine songs and a candyfloss love story robs the film of the gravity that it might have had if in the hands of an adept director like a Kashyap or Bhardwaj. On top of it, the director also tries to absolve the Khaps with a long monologue (courtesy Alok Nath) about keeping the gene pool clean by banning same gotra marriages.

The songs are absolutely unwanted and performance strictly tolerable.

Khap, in a nutshell, trivializes a serious issue with its formulaic treatment.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Shahrukh Khan reveals his Ra.One bike

Shahrukh Khan turns into an action hero for his upcoming dream project Ra.One. Not only does SRK don a specially designed superhero suit for his role, he also rode this sleek bike.

The superstar posted the image on his Twitter page and wrote: “Always wanted to ride bikes...mom never allowed me. just so that she knows...this one i was tied to with wires so perfectly safe...for a romantic hero i felt quite the dude..ha ha.”

The Ra.One shoot is over and Shahrukh Khan is feeling a sense of emptiness.

He writes on the microblogging site: “Ra.one shoot finally over. we start films so that we complete them fast...but when they finish there is a sense of emptiness as if a difficult but passionate relationship has come to an end. film making is like love....like falling from a building...but not feeling the impact or the hurt till you reach the end. here's to new beginnings...cos endings are just beginnings backwards.”

Ra.One is slated for an October release. The film stars Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and also has a cameo by Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra.

Both Sanjay and Priyanka agreed to shoot the cameos even though they had packed schedules, not only that apparently they did not charge any fee! For his part, Shahukh gifted Sanjay Dutt a racing motorcycle costing more than Rs 15 lakhs! He has even gifted Priyanka Chopra an expensive acoustic guitar on her birthday! Quite an impressive way to say thank you!

Don’t miss Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra's chemistry in Don 2 | Wallpapers of Don 2

Don’t miss Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra's chemistry in Don 2

 Stylish SRK as Don. SRK enjoys being stylish.

 Beautiful Priyanka looks stunning here.

 Fierce and strong,The deadly Don is back.

 Priyanka's action avatar; She can kill with her looks; why does she need a gun?

Sneak Peek - Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra sizzle in 'Don 2'

‘Don’ Shahrukh romances ‘Roma’ Priyanka
Yet again! The deadly Don is back to his menacing ways and is romancing the beautiful cat-like Priyanka Chopra, because Don ko junglee biliyaan bahut pasand hain. The smashing Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka will scorch up the big screen this December in the much-awaited sequel of the year Don 2. Don’t believe us; just see these images. Shahrukh Khan is reprising his role of the Don and this time he is more powerful, strong, and fierce. SRK fans will see him in two avatars: one in deadly long locks and sporting a D tattoo, and the other as a smart stylish man with glares, suits and cropped hair. Priyanka, too, is back as the sassy Roma. The actress looks drop-dead gorgeous in the film and has done some thrilling action scenes too. Don 2 would begin with Roma. She now knows that it is Vijay who is dead and not Don. Where is Don? He is alive and scheming to settle the scores with his foes and friends who betrayed him. The high-voltage action then begins and you will be driven away to a roller-coaster ride. Don’t miss Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra's chemistry in Don 2.

Shahrukh Khan’s Ra.One to release in 3D!

It can’t get bigger than this! Already Ra.One is soaring high on buzz, thanks to the superhero Shahrukh Khan, and now the news of it releasing in 3D. Whoa! that’s enormous.

So, this Diwali be ready to treat your eyes with India’s first superhero flick in 3D. As per reports, the decision to turn the film fully into 3D was taken recently. Earlier, it was said that only some parts of the film will be converted in 3D but now certain action sequences were especially shot in July 2011 to add to the 3D experience.

In one of the scenes you can also see Shahrukh riding a bike from moon to the earth. For this particular part of the film, a futuristic bike was designed for Shahrukh by the art director Sabu Cyril. You can see that breathtaking machine here.

Now, approximately 1200 people are working, that too, for nearly 24 hours on the VFX of Ra.One in India, to ensure that the movie releases on time. After the completion of the shoot Shahrukh turned very emotional and tweeted, “Ra.one shoot finally over. we start films so that we complete them fast...but when they finish there is a sense of emptiness as if a difficult but passionate relationship has come to an end. film making is like love....like falling from a building...but not feeling the impact or the hurt till you reach the end. Here’s to new beginnings...cos endings are just beginnings backwards.”

The movie also stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in lead roles.

Zarine Khan doesn’t have a body for bikini!

Zarine feels her body is not for a bikini

What’s so great about donning a bikini? Zarine Khan perhaps thinks so and is in no mood to flaunt a bikini as she feels she doesn’t have a perfect body.

Why so, Zarine? We loved you in the song Character Dheela and you looked so fit and fab. The Veer beauty has trashed the rumours that she will be sporting a bikini in the Housefull sequel. In the first part, the three actresses, whether it was Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta or Jia Khan, all sported a two-piece. Thus speculations were rife that Zarine will also slip into a bikini for the sequel.

“There is no bikini scene in the film and moreover I haven’t got a body for it,” confirms the actress, who was even called Fatrina (a fatter version of Katrina Kaif) during her Veer days.

Then why gym-shym, Zarine? Isn’t she working hard on her body for Housefull 2? The actress says it is because her character needs to look glamorous, and also she wants to be at par with the other heroines. Aha...competition!

Housefull 2 also stars Asin, along with Akshay Kumar and Ritesh Deshmukh.

Filmmaker Farhan Akthar Wants to Skydive Again !

New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, who shot for a skydiving scene in Spain for his latest release "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara", wants to go back and experience the thrill once again.

"The sky is calling... the urge to skydive is back...'soon soon', I'm saying to myself," Farhan posted on his Twitter page.

In the film, the actor's character Imran is shown to be the most scared of skydiving. But he ultimately conquers his fear, along with his friends, essayed by Hrithik Roshan and Abhay Deol.

Actress Mandira Bedi back to Workout, Loving it !

Mumbai, Jul 28 (IANS): Actress-anchor Mandira Bedi is loving every bit of being finally able to exercise, post pregnancy.

"40 days post delivery. Am officially allowed to exercise today... And I did! WHAT A FEELING!" Mandira posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Mandira, who is married to filmmaker Raj Kaushal, gave birth to a baby boy June 19. The couple have named him Vir.

Model -turned - Actress Dipannita on a Roll

Model-turned-actress Dipannita Sharma says she is enjoying shooting for "Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl" with Ranveer Singh.

"It's been great fun and I'm enjoying shooting with some awesome people after a long time," said the actress.

After completing the Goa schedule of the Yash Raj Films' production, Dipannita has already started shooting for the Mumbai schedule with Ranveer.

If sources are to be believed, the actress is quite punctual on the sets and is almost always the first one to get ready. Now that's being quite a professional girl!

‘Bodyguard’ Not Causing ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ Delay

The rumour around Bollywood is that shooting for Salman Khan's much anticipated ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, starring his ex-girlfriend Katrina Kaif, which was supposed to start in July has now been postponed to mid-Aug mainly due to Salman's busy schedule for ‘Bodyguard’ and to give more time to Bodyguard in theaters !

Yash Raj is refuting this rumour saying that Ek Tha Tiger is expected to start around mid-August, but it has nothing to do with Bodyguard.

Since Bodyguard is expected to release in early Aug, it is said that releasing Ek Tha Tiger during the same time will cause a clash.

Sources close to Salman Khan also refute this saying that shooting of Ek Tha Tiger cannot be completed within one month or so and the question of the two movies clashing is irrelevant. 

However, Salman Khan fans need not be disappointed as they can expect to see a lot of their favorite star since after Bodyguard, there will be Ek Tha Tiger!

Rohit Shetty Brings Together Sanju, Sallu on ‘Bigg Boss 5’ Set

Rohit Shetty, dynamic Bollywood director, who hails from the coastal city of Mangalore in Karnataka, is in the news since last week after the release of 'Singham' which is doing extremely well across the country and abroad.

Instead of enjoying his success and relaxing after the working hard on Singham, Shetty is busier than ever. This time it is with the promo shoot of ‘Bigg Boss -5'.

Now he is in the news for bringing two great ‘above 40’ Bollywood actors to the sets for shooting the promo in a Mumbai studio.

Not long ago, people were talking about the spat between these two Bollywood 'bodies' during Dutt's wife Manyata's birthday bash. But they have not shown any differences on the set and have proved that they are still 'Bhai Bhai'. Hats off to Shetty!

Ram Gopal Varma's Shabri to be Released on 26 August

Mumbai, July 28 (IANS) Finally Ram Gopal Varma is confident to share the story of a female as told in "Shabri". The film, which was completed about five years ago, will hit the theatres Aug 26.

The Isha Koppikar, Raj Arjun and Pradip Rawat starrer is about how a simple woman from a Mumbai slum ends up as a matka (gambling) kingpin and threatens the corridors of power. 

Co-produced by Reliance Entertainment, the film has been written and directed by Lalit Marathe.

"I feel like a dog, who will have his Friday!" said Marathe in a statement.

It was reported that Varma was apprehensive in releasing the film earlier because of the subject and that's why the film did not release for so many years. 

However, now the producer feels more confident about releasing it.

Zindagi Na Milegi...: Box Office Collections Cross Rs 110 Crore

Mumbai, Jul 28: ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobbara’ (ZNMD), the movie directed by Zoya Akthar and released by Eros International, starring Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, and Katrina Kaif, has so far grossed over Rs 110 crore (Rs 1100 million) in just 11 days since its release.

Jubilant with the figures, an Eros International official says, “ZNMD has seen excellent earnings nationwide as well as abroad, especially in multiplexes. An estimated Rs 800 million rupees gross collection is from the domestic market and the rest from across the globe. This is beyond our expectations, and we are jubilant about it.”

Earlier, it was reported that the movie was released on 1,800 screens worldwide. The initial response (during the first weekend) was indeed superb with both single screens and multiplexes running houseful. 

According to analysts, the movie is going to dominate the metro multiplexes for the next couple of weeks.

Katrina Kaif’s life in the Bollywood industry

Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif has made her way through the Bollywood Industry. When she entered she could not speak Hindi at all and did not know anything. But now she is one of the most wanted actresses of the industry. Her debut film was ‘Boom’ which was directed by Kaizad Gustad. However it failed to make an impact in the industry as well as in the minds of the audience. But Katrina never chose to walk out. Instead she determined that she will make her position in the Bollywood industry. After that there was no looking back for the actress.

Katrina’s parents are of a British-Indian origin. She was originally a model from London from where she actually began her career. At the Fashion Week in London, she did a ramp walk. At this time only she met director Kaizad Gustad who casted her in her debut film ‘Boom’. During this film she was introduced to top actors and models of the Bollywood industry. But she did not give up hope after her film went a dud. She packed her bags and went off to Mumbai. During her modeling days in Mumbai, she bagged a role in Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Sarkar’.

Her first film in a proper role was ‘Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya’ which starred her ex-boyfriend Salman Khan. It was only due to Salman Khan could she bag another film for herself in Bollywood. Thereafter her film ‘Namastey London’ came which was directed by Vipul Shah. She played the role of a spoilt British-Indian girl who was more British and less Indian due to which she was often misunderstood by her father. Her performance was highly appreciated by everybody in the industry. By doing this film Katrina climbed another step in the ladder which led to her success.

After that she bagged films like Partner, Race, Welcome, New York, Singh Is King etc. There was no looking back after that. She also starred in the major political drama movie ‘Rajneeti’ opposite Ranbeer Kapoor. During that time she broke up with her long time boyfriend Salman Khan. Unlike Salman and Aishwarya, Katrina is in talking terms with Salman. Her last movie was ‘Tees Maar Khan’ in which her item number ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ was extremely popular. Katrina is now one of the most popular faces in the Bollywood industry as well as amongst the audience. Her face was selected as the Indian version of Barbie Doll.

Karisma Kapoor to play Hema Malini's role in 'Satte Pe Satta'

By this time, everyone is aware that Karishma Kapoor is making a comeback into films with Vikram Bhatt’s ‘Dangerous Ishq’. No sooner she announced her comeback, she started getting film offers.  It is heard that she will step into Hema Malini’s shoes and enact her part in ‘Satte Pe satta’ remake to be directed by Soham Shah and produced by Sanjay Dutt.

At first, they were keen to sign Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vidya Balan but when both of them declined, they approached Karisma Kapoor. The actress read the script and liked it.

The source added, "Sanjay wants a very Indian looking girl. After Aishwarya refused to work in the film despite Dutt trying hard to convince her, Dutt had approached his ‘Lagey Raho Munnabhai’ costar Vidya Balan. She too had declined the offer.”

The source further added, “A few days before he spoke to Vidya, Dutt had spoken to Karisma who at the time had clearly told him that she was not interested in making a comeback."

Let’s see how Karisma could impress her audience in her second innings.

SRK fulfils his wish to ride bikes with 'RA.One'

Superstar Shahrukh Khan has not only donned a specially designed superhero suit for his role in 'RA.One' but has also fulfilled his longtime wish to ride a sleek bike. 

“Always wanted to ride bikes... mom never allowed me. just so that she knows... this one I was tied to with wires so perfectly safe... for a romantic hero I felt quite the dude... ha ha,” Shahrukh said on micro-blogging site Twitter. 

The 45-year-old actor gave a sneak peek of the super-cool bike by posting a photo of it on Twitter. 

“About to post the bike we used for the film. Saby Cyril designed it being inspired from some images he got from books,” the King Khan said. 

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, 'RA.One', is a science-fiction superhero film starring Shahrukh, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in pivotal roles. 

Produced under the banner of Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment, the film will release on October 26 this year.

Shera with Salman in 'Bodygaurd' item song

First Salman Khan's former girlfriend, actress Katrina Kaif, was roped in for the Bodyguard item number and now his security aide Shera has shot for the much-talked about song. 

Shera will not only feature in Bodyguard Item Song, but he will also be seen dancing and grooving with Salman. 

"Yes, I have shot for the song with Salman bhai and all this seems like a magic. Salman bhai is such a huge star and for someone like him showing such trust in me is nothing short of a miracle," Shera, who has been with Salman for more than 15 years, said in a statement. 

"In front of the whole world, he said that this is my most trusted man. Isn't that great?

"This is the first time I will be in front of the camera with Salman bhai doing this item song. He just showed me some dance steps and I did a lot of rehearsal before the final take. It was scary and I was nervous. I will never forget this experience," he added. 

Recently Salman had also made Shera unveil the first look of Bodyguard. 

The film, directed by Siddique and produced by Atul Agnihotri, is a remake of the director's 2010 Malayalam film, Bodyguard. It is scheduled for an 31st August release.