IBLOG SPACE

Having made epic films like Swades, Jodhaa Akbar and Lagaan ; after having worked with the likes of Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan, Ashutosh Gowariker has set off on another tryst, which from his previous track record isn't just another run of the mill, but yet again a film of gigantic scale. Ashutosh isn't keen on taking an established actor to play this role as he believes their star value will affect come in the way of the character. He is looking out for a fresh face to play the part. One who can do justice to the innocence of the character of Siddhartha. Gowariker is going the web way, as he calls out actors around the globe to log onto the site named Buddha-movie.com and download the sample scene and upload their audition videos and pictures. The story focuses on the life of Prince Siddhartha and his journey to enlightenment where he becomes Gautam Buddha. In the vein of the film Gladiator , Buddha is an historical epic story that appeals

Best buddies Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar have co-hosted many Bollywood award functions in the past and now for the first time ever the duo will be seen hosting the grand IPL Awards scheduled to take place on April 23rd in Mumbai this year. The announcement was made by IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi at a function in Mumbai yesterday. With the whole nation being gripped by the IPL frenzy, the organizers have decided to come up with the first ever IPL Awards which will recognize the best performances and honour the best players of the IPL. Some of the categories are Best Batsman, Best Bowler, Best Fielder, Best IPL Debutante, Most Consistent Performer, Most Dramatic Performance and Breakthrough Performance. The winners in these categories will be selected by an esteemed jury comprising of Lalit Modi, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Harsha Bhogle, Javagal Srinath and umpire Simon Taufel. Apart from the jury awards there is also a separate section for the Viewers' Choice Aw

One catches Deepika Padukone in a fiery mood. And rightly so. Right after a very public break up with Ranbir Kapoor, she has found herself in the midst of one rumour after another. Whether it was her alleged proximity to Farhan Akhtar during the making of Karthik Calling Karthik (something which was rubbished in no uncertain terms by both the actors) or her so-called refusal to work with Ranbir (which was again passed off as idle gossip by people close to the actor), Deepika had to face an unnecessary storm when she would have rather spoken about her work. In a happy professional scenario that she is currently enjoying with a line up of projects round the corner, she is also (unnecessarily) forced to spend her time and energy in response to insinuations that she could well be dating Siddharth Mallya. For the uninitiated, Siddharth is the son of liquor baron Vijay Mallya who is also the owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, an IPL team for which Deepika Padukone is the Br

* Ayesha Takia Azmi, who is married to well-known entrepreneur Farhan Azmi, is planning to open a chain of cafes called 'Chai Coffee'. The first outlet is expected to open in Versova, Mumbai. * ANJAANA ANJAANI, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra and directed by Siddharth Raj Anand, is almost complete, except for a 3-day shooting. Since the makers couldn't get permissions to shoot on a bridge in U.S.A., the portions are currently being shot in Malaysia. * While on ANJAANA ANJAANI, although the release of the film has been fixed for 1st October, Siddharth is keen to bring it in July, almost three months before its scheduled date. * Karan Johar and debutante director Siddharth Malhotra are still searching for the right title for their film, starring Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal. In fact, both Karan and Siddharth have asked netizens on Twitter to come up with an apt title, but haven't found one yet.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who created history of sorts with the record-breaking film 3 Idiots last year, has now begun work on his ambitious Hollywood project Broken Horses . For the last few months, Chopra has been scouting shooting locations in and around New Mexico. The maverick filmmaker has now gone ahead and got Hollywood veteran Fred Roos on board the film as Executive Producer. For the uninitiated, Roos has worked with some of Hollywood's most gifted filmmakers and actors over the last four decades. He has even co-produced cult films like The Godfather Part II, The Godfather Part III and Apocalypse Now . Vinod happened to meet Fred Roos during one of his trips to Los Angeles. Says a source closely associated with the film, "Getting Roos on board is a huge deal. He is revered in Hollywood and has also worked with several big stars. Roos was impressed with the script of Broken Horses and agreed to collaborate with Chopra." Vidhu Vinod Chopra is obvio

After 2 disastrous seasons at the IPL, it's all but over for SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at this year's IPL too. Last night, after a humiliating defeat to Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (in what was a must win match), KKR is down and well…almost out of the tournament. Shah Rukh Khan, who has always backed his boys, is but naturally upset at the dismal poor performance of his team yet again. "Outbatted, outbowled, outclassed...out of semis. Never lost so much, so often and so consistently. Apologies to all who supported us", tweeted the superstar minutes after his team crashed out last night. The actor also thanked all his fans and sponsors and apologized to them for letting them down yet again. "I completely take the blame for not putting up a good enough show...so much love for KKR & I couldn't reciprocate. Final thanx to Kolkata audience. U make us proud...couldn't do the same...& can't make any promises for future

They say that, in Bollywood, history and success repeats itself at frequent intervals. Well, we would like to add a bit more to that. We would like to say that, in Bollywood, its not just history and success, but also a successful jodi that repeats itself at frequent intervals! After ' Race -ing' ahead of everyone, the successful pair of Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu will now be seen in a different avatar. This time round, they will be seen promoting the to-be launched mobile handsets called 'Wynn Mobiles', as they have been roped in as the brand ambassadors. Sources close to Bollywood Hungama say that the said brand will be having a grand launch by mid 2010 as they feel that it's the right time to hit the market and reach the consumers. As far as the reason why they zeroed down on Saif and Bipasha, our source says, "The company was scouting for every single hit actor. But they chose to zero down on the Saif-Bips pair as they felt that it'

On his brother Arbaaz Khan's say-so Salman Khan reluctantly joined the rapidly-growing brigade of stars on a major social networking website. But Salman says he will tweet mainly in Hindi. Is that a whim, ask the cynics. Or is this Salman's way of connecting with the heartland? According to a colleague, Salman wants to use the Twitter space to have his say fearlessly. Apparently, Salman's tweets won't be about his day-to-day activities but larger issues that touch the common man. Says Arbaaz, "Salman has started tweeting in Hindi. But it doesn't mean he will only use that language. We'll just have to see which way he goes." The decision to tweet was suddenly taken by Salman on Tuesday morning. Relates Arbaaz, "As you know everything Salman does is spontaneous and emotional. I had been urging him to join the social networks on the internet. I am on a number of them and I kept telling Salman that if he gets on the social network, h