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Being a celebrity comes with its share of perks and also controversies, not forgetting the ever prying eyes of the media and the rumour mills that never fail to function. The latest to be hit by this is the Bachchan family. Just recently, a popular tabloid carried reports about the Bachchan bahu regarding her health issues. The tabloid stated that Aishwarya, who has apparently been trying to conceive for a while, is suffering from stomach tuberculosis and hence is unable to conceive. The paper has gone so far as to say that the Bachchan family has since covered this up by adopting the stance of 'it will happen when it has to' which has enraged the senior Bachchan. Big B expressed his anger on his blog, stating, "I write to you today in deep anguish, pain and disgust. This article is completely false, completely fabricated, unsubstantiated, insensitive and of the lowest quality of journalism there ever was. I am the head of my family. Aishwarya is not my d

After reading the headlines, we are dead sure that all of you Bollywood 'fan-atics' must be smilingly thanking heavens and blessing the director for having brought together the likes of John, Abhay and Genelia: three of the Gen-Next Superstars under one roof! John Abraham, Abhay Deol and Genelia D'Souza have been chosen as the brand ambassadors for the LG range of mobile phones. According to Bollywood Hungama 's confirmed sources, the three have been appointed by the electronics major LG (it's the first time that the said company has roped in any brand ambassadors) to be the face of LG Mobiles. The source also added that the three stars were chosen amongst others, since they represent the company's brand values of excellence in performance. As brand ambassadors, John Abraham, Genelia D'Souza and Abhay Deol will play a key role in connecting the brand with the consumers. This could surely be one of the biggest endorsement deals of recent times

Imran Khan proved himself a man of the masses when recently he shot a cola ad with Kalki Koechlin shot by Dibakar ( Love Sex & Dhokha ) Banerjee. The ad, a slice-of-life love story about two strangers' chance encounter on a crowded streets of Mumbai shot over 2 days last month, had hordes of fan descending on location. Imran dealt with the situation like a pro, mingling, signing autographs, posing for photographs. The BEST bus hired for the shoot became his home for two days. Says Banerjee who's making his next feature film with Imran, "Seeing the discipline and drive Imran invested into the ad, I'm more than convinced I'm ready to work with mainstream actors." Banerjee who has so far done three feature films with actors like Abhay Deol, Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher, is looking to cast Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif. Apparently, Imran was lost to the rest of the world for those two days when the ad was shot. Says Dibakar, "We shot the ad

Post KYAA KOOL HAI HUM and APNA SAPNA MONEY MONEY, Sangeeth Sivan has got saddled with the image of making laughathons. Partly also because his non-comedies like CHURA LIYAA HAI TUMNE and EK - THE POWER OF ONE fell flat on their face. With CLICK, Sivan proves that he's at home in horror segment too. The spirits are vindictive and in Bollywood, very predictable too, right? In fact, the spirits here are in their 20s, have dark, uncombed hair, wear white saris and have one expression from start to end. CLICK follows the same path, but is different too. CLICK is heavily inspired by the Thai film SHUTTER [2004], which was made in the United States with the same name and which has also been attempted in Tamil and Telugu languages in India. Of course, you may draw parallels with RAAZ [Dino Morea, Bipasha Basu] too, but only one part of that film is similar to this one. Although quite derivative, CLICK remains watchable for two reasons: The storyline is interesting [if you h

A lot of present-day directors seem inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee's movies. The veterans told simple stories in the most simplistic manner. Director Kedarh Shinde, one presumes, also seems inspired by their master works and attempts to narrate a story that's identifiable and at the same time, dipped in humour. But TOH BAAT PAKKI is not as invigorating as one expects it to be. The film has some wonderful moments, some old-world charm, but the humour, at several points, falls flat. Especially towards the penultimate portions. Final word? It's a half-baked fare! Rajeshwari [Tabu], married to Vinay [Ayub Khan], dreams of getting her sister Nisha [Yuvika Choudhary] married to the most suitable boy within their Saxena community. Also, Rajeshwari is against the dowry system. Rajeshwari finds a good Saxena boy studying engineering and has prospects of a promising future. Rahul [Sharman Joshi] is a good proposition for her sister and she even

He's among the most talented actors in B-Town today. Suave and understated, he's displayed his impeccable comic timing in films like Golmaal and Style and given restrained and matured performances in Rang De Basanti and Life... In A Metro . The one to always have a surprise up his sleeve, Sharman Joshi who was last seen in the blockbuster 3 Idiots is raring to go with his upcoming film Toh Baat Pakki . The dude was here on Bollywood Hungama 's Celebrity Chat few days back. However, for all those who missed the chance to catch him live, we bring to you excerpts from his chat: Sharman Joshi: Hi Friends.... This is Sharman Joshi ...only on BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA!!! Manpreet Sing... : hi Sharman. how are you sir Sharman Joshi : manpreet, very well vipul pratap : HELLLO SHARMAN...HOW R U?? I AM YOUR BIGGEST FAANNN ....IN THE WORLD. Sharman Joshi : vipul, I am flattered Manpreet Sing... : cool style sir Sharman Joshi : Manpreet, thanks I will

If you can accept Shreyas Talpade as a womanizing glam photographer who clicks with the ladies, so to speak, and Sneha Ullal (remember her as Salman Khan's under-age lover-girl in Lucky ) then the underlining them of love-on-the-prowl in afterlife is chilling in fits spasms and spurts. Director Sangeeth Sivan, who had earlier carved a comic slant for himself with Kya Kool Hain Hum , displays a penchant for projecting a mood of ominous foreboding into the finely-lit frames. The camera (T Ramji) is impeccably mood-oriented. The idyllic Goanese outdoors and the neat spacious artistically-designed interiors are used intelligently to create a sense of horrific disorder under the commodious elegant surfaces. Sandeep Chowta's reined-in background score is another asset to the mood of underlying foreboding, though the songs done as annoying set-pieces with auto-pilot choreography are like a molar surgery in the middle of a trying day. The sound-design mercifully pre

Vatsal Sheth who plays Tabu's co-star in Toh Baat Pakki had the time of his life while shooting for the film. Tabu playing an older sisterly role took the two guys, especially Vatsal under her wings, and looked after them on location. She regularly gave tips to Vatsal on how to handle his scenes. Vatsal one day mustered the courage to break into Tabu's infamous ' Ruk Rusk Ruk ' dance item from Vijaypath . Laughs Vatsal, "That's quite true. At first I was quite intimidated by Tabu. I mean she is... My God! The ultimate. But as we shot for the film far away in Ooty where there was no life except shooting, we began to know her better. Far from her stern aloof image, Tabu is loads of fun when you get to know her." There came a time when Tabu and the two boys were totally at ease. That's when Vatsal and Sharman's ' Ruk Ruk ' happened. Recounts Vatsal, "We were playing antakshari with the boys on one side and the girls on

Seldom has an actor challenged himself so gravely in such a wild variety of roles, add to this his stage triumphs in school and college and we're clearly talking about a very special performer, indeed: Shreyas Talpade, and even if he is blissfully unaware of his movie-making highs and lows, his adoring fans aren't. He may have put the odd toe-tapping foot right since he burst on the scene strutting his stuff in Iqbal , but he's always welcomed back by his fans with more diverse roles, be it Om Shanti Om, Golmaal Returns or the recent Click . That's because Shreyas Talpade has a reputation in the business for being a true gentleman and one of the nicest stars around. Happily, meeting him in the flesh, confirms that really is the case. His career is fluctuating for better. It's good because he is one of the rare celebrities who wants his hands and feet spread all over the different genre of films that directors are venturing into. So does that tag him

Enough is enough for Saif Ali Khan. It has been a month since Padma Sri Awards were announced and Saif Ali Khan was conferred this title for his contribution to cinema. While he was humility personified all through these days (he still continues to be), he isn't willing to take it all lying down with his detractors not really showering him with flattering compliments. Feeling a strong deja vu of controversy that had erupted when he received the National Award for Hum Tum a few years back, Saif Ali Khan is disappointed with few stray comments and idle gossips 'spoiling the show' for him when he would have rather basked in the glory of national recognition coming his way. Turning offensive in his own mild way and ready to give a strong message to the ones who continue to challenge the award and in turn his standing as an actor in Indian cinema, Saif bares his heart out in conversation with Joginder Tuteja. The controversy A few years back when he was conferr

After the stunning commercial success and critical acclaims of ‘Pazhassi Raja’, Tamil actor Sarath Kumar has taken Mollywood seriously. While inaugurating the youth festival in Calicut University, he even assured the audience that he will be speaking in Malayalam fluently, when he comes for the same function next year. He also asked the university union to definitely call him in the coming years as he has started loving the audience of Mollywood. Anyhow, the actor is now surrounded with a plenty of Malayalam projects of which Sarath Kumar is only giving positive nods to very select ones. After completing his latest role in Joshy’s ‘Christian Brothers’, he will be seen once again in the new movie ‘Oridathoru Postman’. Sarath Kumar will be in the lead of this movie together with Kunchakko Boban. To be directed by Shaji Azeez, the movie is scripted by K Gireeshkumar. Innocent, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Salim Kumar, Bijukuttan and Meera Nandhan are also in the cast of this movie

Following the senior stars of the industry like Mammootty, Mohanlal and Dileep, young actor Jayasuriya is also turning a movie producer. He will be teaming up with Anoop Menon to produce the new movie titled ‘Cocktail’. The movie which is to be directed by Arunkumar (the editor of Priyadarshan films including ‘Kanchivaram’), will also feature both the actors as its protagonists. Arun and his actor producers are looking for either Mamtha or Priyamani to don the heroine role. ‘Cocktail’ will have the music by Alphonse and the film is expected to start in the month

With the mega film ‘Aptha Rakshaka’– the 200th and last film of Dr Vishnuvaradhan with Laksmi Gopalaswamy, Sandhya, Bhavana, Vimala Raman, Avinash, Komal Kuamr, Srinivasamurthy, Vineeth in the lead roles of director P Vasu under the production of Krishna Prajwal- hitting the screens in nearly 120 theatres on this Friday there are two more films also getting released this week all over Karnataka. Sneha Entertainers ‘Belli Modadha Ambara’ is quietly seeing the light of the day on this Friday. B S Sanjay has written the story, screenplay and edited the film besides directing the film. B L Babu is the cameraman and Sanjeev has done the music. Madhu Soodhan, Teena Ponnappa, Hemanth, Girish Poorjima, Vishwanath, Shantha, Balaji, Govinde Gowda, Aruna are in the cast. Another film of the week is ‘Mukhaputa’ that has already got international acclaims.

The fear of expectation looms large in Upendra. That is the main reason he did not divulge any contents of his come back film to direction after 10 years ‘Symbol’. ‘I want this film to be a complete surprise package to the audience’. At the same time creating curiosity is my motto. The first official press meet was organized on Thursday afternoon at KSCA club P2 the creative director Upendra made it clear and a series of questions could not get any answer related to the contents of the film. Rockline Venkatesh and Upendra jointly addressed crowded gathering on Thursday afternoon at KSCA Club. The heroine of the film Nayantara did not turn up for this maiden media address. These are the things told at the meeting. The film will be shot in 100 days, there will be a special appearance of a female besides Nayantara, the shoot will be held in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and some European Countries. The super 35 mm camera will be used by Johny Lal. The music director has no

Failing to get the good heroine roles after two years stay in Kannada cinema actress Swathi has turned an item dancer in ‘Hunja’ starring Mayoor Patel and Deepika. Swathi from Mysore came to cinema through ‘Varasdhara’. She was a bar girl in ‘Madesha’, found a small role in ‘Uda’ and was one of the heroines in ‘Murari’, Not satisfied with the offers she has been getting Swathi has started accepting item numbers to be in the limelight. Miss Karnataka winner Swathi took training in Adarsha Film Institute before coming to films and was spotted by Guru Deshpande. She was dreaming of becoming a heroine but couldn’t exactly do so. Laka Laka Shakalaka…Rukku Rukkamma…Thaka Thaka Kuni Honnina Raani…was the song captured by cameraman Gauri Venkatesh with Swathi. In the song she is seen with villain of ‘Hunja’ Adhi Lokesh and dancers. Sri Mahabala Pictures ‘Hunja’ is presently shooting the climax fight featuring Hero Mayoor Patel and Adhi Lokesh composed by Thriller Manju. Deepik

After seeing ultimate star Ajith at the Aasal audio launch, speculations are spreading like wild fire about his next movie with ace director Gautham Menon.Now, Ajith's 50th film with Gautham Menon produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri is believed to be a police story too. Ajith has played a cop in Anjaneya, but the film was not too successful, so we hope it's time Ajith tastes success in a thrilling cop story. (Gautham's police stories Kaakka Kaakka with Suriya and Vettayaadu Vilayaadu with Kamal Haasan were huge box office hits.) There are also reports that the film is based on a sensational criminal case in 1980 and Ajith will don the role of the investigating officer. This film will have one more highlight: music by the Mozart of Madras, A.R. Rahman. The Rahman-Gautham duo has already come together in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, which is slated for a February 26 release. Meanwhile there are also rumours in Kollywood which says that Ajith will have no leading lady i

Jiiva is one happy man these days. After bagging K.V. Anand's Ko, the actor will star in director Kannan's (Jayam Kondaan and Kanden Kadhalai fame) upcoming flick. The yet-to-be-titled film will be produced by Srinivasan for Vasan Visual Venture. According to sources, the film will portray Jiiva in a full length action role set in the backdrops of Mumbai. The hunt for the heroine is on and there are rumours that a top actress will play the female lead.

Maiyyam, a literary magazine run by Ullaganayakan Kamal Haasan through his Kamal Haasan Narpani Mantram stopped a few years ago. Now, the latest buzz is that the multi talented artist is busy reviving the magazine on the Internet. Sources that the actor is in discussion with his friends in the literary circle for the digital version of 'Maiyyam'. Sources also add that the online version will focus only on literature and will follow a 'No politics' policy. It will also provide an interactive section for fans apart from promoting young budding writers and providing a qualitative analysis of contemporary Tamil literature. Interstingly, Kamal himself is a poet, short story writer, novelist, columnist, filmmaker and many more. So who else can do the job better!

Tollywood's new sensation Naga Chaitanya's second film Yemaya Chesave, being directed by Kollywood's master filmmaker Gautham Menon as a Telugu version of his Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, will grace screens worldwide on February 26. Samantha is the heroine. Yemaya Chesave is produced by Manjula (Krishna's daughter) under the banner of Indira Creations. Notably, the Tamil version, starring Silambarasan and Trisha, will also hit screens on the same day. A.R. Rahman has composed the music of this breezy love story of an aspiring film maker, who wants to make it big in his profession, and a Christian girl.

The audio of Tollywood hero Balakrishna's new film Simha, directed by Boyapati Srinu with Nayantara, Namitha and Sneha Ullal in the lead, will be launched during the first week of March. Produced by Paruchuri Kireeti of United Movies, the film will be released on April 9. Currently, the climax scenes of the film are being shot in Hyderabad. After the current schedule, three songs will be shot in foreign locations from February 20 under the choreography of Prem Rakshit. The director said that Balakrishna will be seen in an interesting role in the film in which his different diction, accent and style will be the highlights. The basic plot is about bank robbery by an employee in the bank, who heads the security measures with his newly invented software. Music is by Chakri, cinematography is by Arther A. Wilson, editing is by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, action is by Stun Siva, art is by A.S. Prakash, while story, screenplay and dialogues are by the director himself.

One of the finest actors in Malayalam films, National award winning Thilakan was expelled by the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) and Film Employees' Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) on Wednesday, after the actor refused to apologize for making defamatory statements against a few senior actors and FEFKA. The decision was taken by a disciplinary panel comprising AMMA President Innocent, secretary Edavela Babu, Janardhanan, Kunjan and T.P. Madhavan. Ealier, the Executive Committee of AMMA, which held a meeting last week, issued a notice to the veteran actor to apologize for creating an unnecessary controversy. Thilakan not only refused to apologise, but also made an issue of it. He recently filed a police complaint alleging he received a call threatening to kill him for defaming Mammootty. Thilakan said he received a call from the Gulf stating that a gang had been engaged to finish him off within a week. After his hard hitting interviews and a scathing public sp

Ace actress and dancer Shobana will perform a Bharathanatyam dance ballet in English, 'Maya Ravan' on Sunday Feb 28, 2010 at Music Academy, Chennai at 6 p.m. The idea behind this ballet is to revive the spirit of our culture and traditions amongst the generation that seems to have lost touch with it. The show is organised in association with Open India Charitable Trust and Ignite Trust. The proceeds from the show will be used to provide education for poor children in India. Tickets for the show will be available at Landmark, Odyssey, Gangotree and Music Academy. Shri M.A. Subramanian, Mayor of Chennai, will be the guest of honour.