Hollywood's Brush With India Continues Unabated

Actors Tannishtha Chatterjee and Nandita Das are set to act in Oscar-award winning actor Emma Thompson’s upcoming film, Sold.

The Love Actually beauty is on board as the executive producer of the multi-starrer film.

"Emma is closely involved with Sold because she likes the story a lot," says Tannishtha. "I met her briefly in London some time back. And she came across as a fantastic person.

Emma is a big star but she was very warm towards me. She is excited about the movie. In fact, Emma is planning to come down to India once the film’s shooting kicks off."

Director Jeffrey D Brown, who won an Oscar for his short film Molly’s Pilgrim, makes his feature film debut with Sold. He was the one who zeroed in on Tannishtha.

"Jeffrey had seen my work in Bombay Summer (2009) and Brick Lane (2007) and was very impressed. So, he sent me the script offering me the second lead part in the movie."

But after reading the script, Tannishtha chose another part. "Jeffrey wanted me to play the second lead since a 12-year-old girl will be the main protagonist," she says.

"Unlike my role in Brick Lane, I will play a crazy and boisterous girl, Monica. It will be challenging."

Tannishtha and Nandita apart, the film will also star Hollywood actor David Arquette of Scream fame with X-Files’ Gillian Anderson and Indian actor Om Puri.

While Nandita remained unavailable for comment, Tannishtha informs that Puri has been signed for the movie.

"It’ll be an ensemble cast because there are several interesting small roles. So, the casting is still on," says Tannishtha.

Based on a novel by Patricia McCormick of the same title, the film’s story is about a 13-year-old girl risking everything for freedom after being trafficked from her mountain village in Nepal to a brothel in India.

"Since the film will be shot in India, Anurag Kashyap has been roped in as line producer," says Tannishtha.

It will be shot in India largely around Mumbai and the outskirts of Maharashtra in May-June. Bollywood art director Nitin Desai is already designing the sets.

Tannishtha, on her part, is also excited about Charlie’s Angel Lucy Liu’s directorial debut venture, Meena.

"Lucy has finished her film. But since the project consists of four short films, we are waiting for others to wrap up their parts. Then, it will be tied into one film to release," she says.

Kareena Kapoor Is Still Not Comfortable With Bikini

The only thing worth remembering in Tashan (2008) was Kareena Kapoor sizzling in a bikini but she is still not comfortable with the ’sexy’ tag.

The actor admits that she was definitely embarrassed recently during a shoot of Bodyguard on a college campus, when some young girls sent her notes saying they found her sexy. She prefers being called glamorous and says being glam comes naturally to her.

Thin is ’in’ but the actor, who made size zero famous three years ago, would rather be vulnerable and voluptuous now. "I’m still slim but no longer stick-thin and that works better for me.

Let the other heroines lose weight now since I’ve decided I’m not going to be wearing a bikini on screen ever again," insists Kapoor, who has been voted Bollywood’s sexiest heroine by a leading film glossy, owned by media baron Nari Hira.

The focus today is on performance-driven roles and her look will be differently sensual in the five films she is currently juggling. In RA.One, she’s Shah Rukh Khan’s sexy wife. "Very Punjabi," she laughs.

Agent Vinod’s mystery miss also doesn’t shed clothes. "Her sex appeal lies in her eyes," says Kapoor. Bodyguard’s Divya is "innocently sexy" and Short Term Shaadi’s Tiara "crazily sexy". As for the Aamir Khan thriller, she can’t talk about that at all.

Kapoor, who had to bring in Valentine’s Day a day early because beau Saif Ali Khan flew back to Bhopal to play a scheduled caste professor in Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan based on the thorny reservation policy, admits that Khan finds her kajal-streaked eyes and spiky-heeled stilettos hot.

"The kohl I wear often since it lights up my eyes and after Qurbaan (2009), 3 Idiots (2009) and Golmaal 3 (2010), has come to be associated with me. But the stilettos are only for holidays. For every day wear, it’s track pants and chappals, and Saif has no choice but to accept it," she chuckles.

Buzz is that she may be roped in to play a character modelled on Mandakini in the sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. The actor says that if she likes it, she will take it up as a challenge. "It was one of last year’s best films after 3 Idiots but I haven’t got any offer yet.

Tusshar (producer Ekta Kapoor’s actor-brother) is my best friend but we don’t talk shop," she says, adding that Mandakini became a sex symbol after the famous waterfall scene in her grandfather Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili (’85). "But I don’t think the role, if it develops, will be along those lines."

Madhuri Dixit Said No To Rajinikanth's Offer

Rajinikanth might move the mountains in his films, but he could not convince Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit to act opposite him.

The Dhak Dhak star said no to the actor who offered him one of the three leads in his upcoming film.

Rajinikanth who has acted with Madhuri before in Uttar Dakshin in 1987 was keen to sign Madhuri in the film Rana.

But the actress turned down the offer saying she was missing her sons and wanted to fly back to US.

In Rana, Rajini will play triple role, and will also romance Deepika Padukone.

MadhuriWell we hope Madhuri says yes to atleast one movie before she returns back to her sasural.

Jr NTR’s Shakti Will Release In Tamil Version

Young Tiger NT Rama Rao is going to be the latest addition into the Tamil film industry. It may be mentioned here that some of films of the young heroes, including Nagarjuna, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan Teja, Arjun and others were either dubbed or remade into Tamil and they were able to gather good fan following in Tamil Nadu.

Presently, NTR’s latest film, ‘Shakti’ directed by Meher Ramesh and produced by C Aswinidutt on the banner of Vyjayanti Movies is getting ready with a whopping budget of Rs 45 crores.

The producer is of the opinion that the film with socio-fantasy backdrop would not only appeal to the Telugu audiences but also the Tamil audiences.

The film is slated for release on March 30 and the shooting of the film is almost nearing completion and the post-production works are also going on simultaneously.

So, Aswinidutt is planning to dub the film in Tamil and release the Tamil version at the same time in order to recover the huge budget involved in film-making. Three films Shakti, Theen Maar, I love you Mahalakshmi are slated for release by the end of March.

So, it is not that easy to come to a conclusion as to who would emerge a winner. So, Aswinidutt is planning to release the film in two languages and recover his investment as much as possible.

Chiranjeevi Launching The New News Channel

Former Praja Rajyam president and present leader Chiranjeevi is planning to start a news channel.

As per indications, Praja Rajyam leader Ganta Srinivasa Rao had agreed to join Chiranjeevi to financially assist him in launching the news channel.

So far, Congress had no channel on its own and Chiranjeevi is of the opinion to make it as a mouth piece of the Congress.

According to reliable sources, the Praja Rajyam’s party office would be converted into the news channel’s office. If everything goes well the news channel may be launched during this year itself.

Mumaith Khan To Prove Her Acting Abilities In The Movie

Mumaith Khan started her career as an item girl. She shot into fame with Puri Jagannath’s film ‘Pokiri’ with the song ‘Ippatikinka Naa Vayasu Ninda Padahare…’.

In order to take a break, she started accepting woman-oriented films and played heroine in a handful of films but none of them failed to shake the Box-Office.

Her career suffered a jolt with no one accepting her as heroine and at the same time, she stopped accepting offers for the item numbers.

She entered into some business and still craving for opportunities in films.

She had recently approached Puri Jagannath and the latter gave her a chance to prove her acting abilities by giving her a negative role in the movie.

Mumaith Khan expressed her happiness as the director, who is responsible for her identity in the Telugu film industry, is giving her an opportunity to prove herself and she is striving hard and is confident that she would excel in the negative character.

By the say, she is playing the villain in Puri’s forthcoming flick ‘Nenu Naa Rakshasi’ with Rana Daggubati and Ileana in the lead roles.

Nithin Has Now Signed His First Ad Deal

Nithin Reddy, who has been away from screens for quite some time, is back in limelight, quite literally.

He has now signed his first ad deal with Fair & Lovely Max Fairness cream for men. Revealing this bit of he shared the information on Twitter.

His last film, Seetharamula Kalyanam was released in 2010. And he has signed a new film titled Ishq which will be directed by Vikram Kumar of 13B fame.

He’s also reportedly played an important role in Siddharth’s film which is going to be produced by Dil Raju.

Trisha Has Denied Her Marriage Rumours

Actress Trisha has denied reports that her marriage is around the corner. The actress, responding to these rumours through her social networking page, has said there is no basis for these reports and there is no special someone in her life.

Trisha, dismissing the reports in a light-hearted manner, added that she is busy with the filming of Mankatha with actor Ajith. Trisha will be appearing with Ajith on screen for the third time after Ji and Kireedam.

Sasikumar Is Marking His Malayalam Debut

Celebrated Tamil director-actor Sasikumar is marking his Malayalam debut with director Johny Antony’s forthcoming Masters, starring Prithviraj as the hero.

According to sources, Sasikumar will handle a major role as Prithviraj’s classmate in the film, which tells the story of two college friends who get into different professions after studies.

Sasikumar said that he agreed to do this film because of its novelty and approach of the theme. More details about the project are awaited.

Akshara Haasan Is Pursuing Her Elder Sister Shruti's Path

Kamal Haasan’s daughter Akshara Haasan is pursuing her elder sister Shruti’s path and trying for opportunities in Bollywood.

The 20-year old was initially interested in a position behind the camera but has now decided to try her hand at acting.

Akshara’s mother Sarika, a veteran actress herself, is nurturing and introducing the wannabe actress to Bollywood biggies.

Kamal Haasan had recommended Shruti to various directors. Now it’s the mother in the act for her younger daughter.

Salman Khan Called For A Ban To The Word 'Bollywood'

Salman Khan has grabbed the entire Indian movie industry’s attention after he called for a ban to the word ’Bollywood’, which is used to refer to the Hindi film industry, a word which is an imitation of Hollywood used to mention the American movie industry.

Not just Bollywood, the South Indian movie industries are called Kollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood and Sandalwood, all apparently derived from Hollywood and Bollywood. Hollywood by itself has nothing to do with movies, except that Hollywood, a locality in Los Angeles, was where the early movie studios were housed.

The first mention of the word ’wood’ with a film industry in India,was Tollywood, the Bengali film industry based in Tollygunge. After the Bombay film industry overtook its Bengali counterpart in the 70s, they too followed suit and coined the word Bollywood, which was a blend of the word Bombay and wood.

The other movie industries in India followed the naming practice by coining the word with the place or language they were working with. Salman has also suggested the usage of the word Hi-Fi (Hindi Films) to denote the Hindi movie industry. Salman’s comments received an abundance of positive responses from his colleagues and fans. We believe the same call will follow in South Indian movie circles.

It Was Not Me In The Video-Swami Nithyananda

Swami Nithyananda, allegedly involved in a sex scandal, has claimed on Tuesday that he is not the man who appears in the controversial video tape in a compromising position with a woman!

"It was not me in the video. It is a morphed, manipulated, misrepresented video," he repeatedly claimed in a press conference at his Bidadi ashram in Bangalore.

Notably, Nithyananda’s new claim contradicts with his own statement before the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in April 2010, when he admitted that he was the one who was filmed having sex with the woman in the video.

Nithyananda also said that his own experts from the US had clearly denounced the video as fake and raised a lot of objections to its authenticity. Interestingly, the video was found to be authentic by the Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad.

Out of nowhere also came the sudden statement that there were several "powerful people" behind the allegations and the people involved in framing the allegations had tried to extort Rs. 100 crores from him to prevent the release of the sex video.

"I have all necessary proof to prove that people with political background have threatened, blackmailed and demanded ransom. Before releasing the footage to the media, Lenin, along with some powerful persons, asked me to pay Rs. 100 crores, which I refused. They then came down to Rs. 60 crores. I did not want to pay them, so the video was given to a Tamil news channel," he said.

Oviya Expressed Her Unhappiness With Kamal Haasan

Actress Oviya has expressed her unhappiness for have not given importance in her latest, Manmadhan Ambu.

The actress, who appeared as Sunanda, expected an important role in the Kamal starrer, but was disappointed with her role, which she feels has little importance.

Oviya also expressed her annoyance when people confronted her with questions about the movie, when she wasn’t fully a part of it.

The actress has a handful of movies this year, including Muthukku Muthaaga, Sevanu and Manisha Mirugam in Tamil and Kannada movies Kirathaka, Nagarabhavi and Dhandiga.

Nayanthara Is Planning To Quit Films

2010 was favourable to Nayantara as an actress, though it put immense pressure her as an individual, thanks to her relationship with Prabhu Deva!

With the back-to-back success of her almost all films in 2010, everybody thought that she would regain her No. 1 position in the South in 2011, but things are apparently not working out like that!

Sources close to the actress reveal that she has stopped giving dates and is planning to quit films after completing her ongoing Telugu project Sri Rama Rajyam, a mythological film in which she plays Sita.

The buzz is that Prabhu Deva had asked her to quit films after Sri Rama Rajyam, since they are getting married by the year end.

A website also quoted the actress as saying: "Prabhu Deva told me not to act in films post marriage.

Having thought it through and discussed it with wellwishers, I am absolutely confident it is the right decision for me." So Sri Rama Rajyam is most likely to be her swan song as an actress.

Surya And Kajal Agarwal Together In Maatraan

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It will be Surya and Kajal Agarwal for the hero’s next movie Maatraan. The Surya starrer Maatraan is scheduled for a 2012 release while cameras are expected to start rolling this February 2011.

The movie marks the coming together of the successful pair of Surya and director KV Anand after their hit flick Ayan.

Surya is presently busy with his other flick 7aam Arivu while KV Anand will be looking forward to start Maatran after he is done with his upcoming Jeeva starrer KO.

Kajal Agarwal has a firm foot in Tollywood and now she would be a little more than happy starring opposite Surya after her successful stint in Karthi starrer Naan Mahaan Alla.Now did Karthi come with some suggestions for Big Bro?

Shruthi Haasan Together With Mahesh Babu

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Shruthi Haasan, was recently disappointed with ‘Anaganaga O Dheerudu’, that was expected to do better at the box office given the fact that it is a Walt Disney collaboration and she was opposite her close friend Siddharth in the role.

She reportedly bagged another important offer and yet again it is from the Telugu film industry.

The director Puri Jagannath had called her up recently for a movie with Mahesh Babu.

Reportedly the film will possibly be a bi-lingual affair to be produced in Telugu as well as Hindi.

The movie titled as The Businessman had a decent enough script which was received a quick welcome from Shruthi who seems to be eager to star alongside Mahesh Babu, also fondly referred to as the Prince of the Telugu cinema.

We hope the movie will surely give Shruti a comeback in Hindi cinema too after her flop debut performance in a Hindi movie itself.

Vimala Raman Marriage Will Be With Sumanth

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Vimala Raman marked her debut with Poi, a Tamil film directed by K. Balachander .The Former Miss India Australia gave a sizzling performance in the flick Ranga The Donga but looks like things dint work out for the svelte actress even after her fans were treated to a decent skin show.

Well the flop show has opened new doors for the actress.We were guessing that the lady will be up with another Tamil movie but sadly Vimala has decided to take a different path.

She has decided to shift her priorities in Tollywood well not only professionally but also on a personal front as a guy named Sumanth has caught her fancy.

Sumanth is a one time divorcee, but he is well off financially which makes him the right choice for a suitable bridegroom for Vimala looking at the present state of affairs.

He has been getting close and personal with the beauty and many are of the talk that their marriage will be making headlines as soon as next year.

There is even news that both of them will also be seen together in an upcoming movie.Well that’s some entry Sumanth,if not in Tollywood Vimala surely seems to have found her hero.

Suriya Is Not Any Worried About Losing The ‘3 Idiots’

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Somehow, some demeaning news started to do the rounds which everybody was obliged to publish. It read that Suriya shot for the moon since Gemini Film Circuit resorted to him to play the lead role after Vijay was forced out of the film by forces.

This isn’t quite true, says Suriya. The actor has become very much worried over the news that spread about him. Further revelations suggest that Director Shankar did not meet Suriya but it was Gemini Film Circuit which negotiated with him.

Suriya had denied acting in the film since his call sheet was full due to back to back commitments in ‘7aam Arivu’ and ‘Maattraan’. However, Suriya was reported to have asked for Rs. 8 crore plus distribution revenue of Rs. 10 crore.

Suriya isn’t so much sure how such rumors were spread or isn’t sure about who else were behind it but he is going to hold a press meet of look for the right opportunity to meet the press to clarify his stand and also what went wrong.

Suriya is not any worried about losing the ‘3 idiots’ Tamil remake which is titled as “Nanban” but he is worried about all the rumors that started doing the rounds. Suriya will put all speculations to rest very soon.

Asin Refused To Work With Gautham Menon

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Asin is not the favorite of Tamil cinema. In fact, she is not the favorite of Tamils at all. She last acted in Kaavalan which would turn out to be her last film in Tamil. The actress is not much busy in Bollywood, Mollywood or even with mere woods but she often bags one or two films up north.

This makes the actress turn down directors in Tamil. Gautham Menon is not able to finish his “Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikkaalam” which is a long pending project of his. He wants to finish the film but somehow things don’t go right.

He has wanted to complete the film for long but there is no progress whatsoever. Still, Gautham Menon has not decided upon his next film after “Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya” and has been busy with his production duties.

When he asked Asin to act in his film “Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikkaalam”, she said she was busy in Bollywood and so she could not take up his offer. She has signed one Hindi film with Akshay Kumar who is also a top actor in Bollywood.

Gautham Menon is trying to wrap up the film as soon as possible but he has been committed in films for other producers which is the cause of the delay.