Amrita Rao in Shyam Benegal's next venture

Mumbai, July 28 (IANS) Post 'Vivah' Amrita Rao was looking for that role which would take her beyond the old-world elegance of Sooraj Barjatya's imagination. And she has found it - in acclaimed filmmaker Shyam Benegal's next project.

Excited Amrita told IANS: 'When I got a call from Shyam Benegal's office saying he wanted to meet him I was over the moon. He has always been on my wish list. And when that call came I pinched myself. I didn't ask any questions. I immediately said yes.
'He hasn't told me much about my character and the script. After I saw what he did with Karisma Kapoor in 'Zubeida' I just felt that I should be directed by him. I'm very excited. For a while I was travelling. When I returned I met him, and we were on.'

Amrita hasn't heard the entire script yet.

'I play a village girl and the film is to be shot in Hyderabad. My co-star is Shreyas Talpade. I saw his work in 'Dor' and I absolutely adored him.'
Interestingly, Benegal hasn't seen any of Amrita's films, not even 'Vivah'. The actress was seen in films like 'Main Hoon Na', 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh', 'Ishq Vishk', 'Masti' and 'Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!'
'What really excites me is that I get to do a workshop. With Sooraj-ji there was no workshop. But he did all the homework for the actors. We'll start the workshop very shortly. And for me, who's had no formal training in acting, this is like an all-new avenue opening up.'
Amrita's upcoming release is E. Niwas' 'My Name Is Anthony Gonzalves'. It's a 'very cute script', she says.
Talking about other projects, she said: 'I will start shooting UTV's 'Hook Or Crook' with David Dhawan. I'm looking forward to working with Siddharth in it. I also have Anil Kapoor's 'Short Cut' with Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi.
'I've worked with Akshaye in 'Deewaar'. Arshad was there in 'Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi'. But we didn't have any scenes together. They're such versatile actors. 'Short Cut' isn't an out-and-out comedy. But Arshad has the funniest part since Circuit in 'Munnabhai'.'
She's almost completed a Telugu film with Mahesh Babu. And because of her commitment to the film she couldn't do the all-star guest song for Farah Khan's 'Om Shanti Om' starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

Any regrets?
'I couldn't shoot the all-star guest song for Farah because I was shooting for my Telugu film in Austria. But I did participate in the item song in Farah's brother Sajid's 'Hey Babby'.'

Domestic Box-Office -> Aap Ka Surroor

Aap Ka Surroor - The Moviee - Week 4

Mumbai - 4,42,540 (Incl. Thane)

Ahmedabad - 34,973

Jamnagar - 25,010

Delhi - 7,538 (7 sh.)

Gurgaon - 14,250 (7 sh.)

Allahabad - 52,153

Varanasi - 60,768

Dehradun - 48,988

Indore - 7,136

(Average per print: 38,520)
Total collections for Week 4: 6,93,356
Total Collections (Till Date): 14,06,44,573

Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print % change since last week Week 1 9,03,16,507 NA Week 2 4,58,80,540 1,36,047 -49.20 Week 3 37,54,170 52,477 -91.82 Week 4 6,93,356 38,520 -81.53 Total Gross 14,06,44,573

Domestic Box-Office -> Awarapan

Awarapan - Week 4

Mumbai - 98,884

Ahmedabad - 79,312

Surat - 16,530

Jamnagar - 36,842

Junagadh - 19,500

Patan - 32,316

Nadiad - 35,048

Balasinor - 12,296

Vapi - 15,500

Pune - 16,000

Kadi - 16,923

Delhi - 62,780

Ghaziabad - 18,415

Agra - 30,680

Lucknow - 56,453

Allahabad - 48,952

Lakhimpur - 28,700

Hathras - 18,000

Bijnore - 35,179

Dehradun - 28,347

Kanpur - 15,393

Varanasi - 18,904

Moradabad - 37,973

Indore - 7,264

Bangalore - 50,134

(Average per print: 20,203)
Total collections for Week 4: 8,36,325
Total Collections (Till Date): 4,88,04,284

Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print % change since last week Week 1 2,87,73,628 1,57,052 NA Week 2 1,38,56,888 85,310 -51.84 Week 3 53,37,443 48,546 -61.48 Week 4 8,36,325 20,203 -84.33 Total Gross 4,88,04,284

Domestic Box-Office -> Naqaab

Naqaab - Week 2

Mumbai - 35,80,890 (Incl. Thane)

Ahmedabad - 11,14,860

Baroda - 1,61,744

Himmatnagar - 6,171

Jamnagar - 1,75,844

Bhavnagar - 22,460

Pune - 2,05,608

Goa - 74,441

Nasik - 28,385

Delhi - 12,49,281

Noida - 2,91,264

Kaushambi - 57,426

Gurgaon - 2,49,812

Ghaziabad - 36,370

Faridabad - 2,24,001

Agra - 85,000

Allahabad - 51,000

Dehradun - 81,963

Bareilly - 20,436

Varanasi - 2,83,817

Nagpur - 1,98,842 (5 dy.)

Amravati - 71,225 (5 dy.)

Akola - 50,929 (5 dy.)

Chandrapur - 18,871 (5 dy.)

Jalgaon - 41,626 (5 dy.)

Dhule - 16,714 (5 dy.)

Yavatmal - 2,806 (5 dy.)

Raipur - 43,775 (5 dy.)

Bhilai - 37,494 (5 dy.)

Durg - 36,390 (5 dy.)

Bilaspur - 12,248 (5 dy.)

Raigarh - 2,372 (5 dy.)

Jabalpur - 27,873 (5 dy.)

Rajnandgaon - 22,239 (5 dy.)

Dhamatari - 2,485 (5 dy.)

Khamgaon - 8,932 (5 dy.)

Pusad - 2,022 (5 dy.)

Chhindwara - 5,215 (5 dy.)

Katni - 7,838 (5 dy.)

Itarsi - 1,086 (5 dy.)

Sagar - 10,089 (5 dy.)

Korba - 2,077 (5 dy.)

Guwahati - 38,415

Indore - 55,224

Ujjain - 19,190

Jaipur - 18,189

Kota - 27,235

Kolkatta - 7,24,334

Darjeeling - 13,101

Bangalore - 3,75,886

Aurangabad - 1,67,020

(Average per print: 79,018)
Total collections for Week 2: 1,00,62,515
Total Collections (Till Date): 6,67,87,180

Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print % change since last week Week 1 5,67,24,665 2,70,984 NA Week 2 1,00,62,515 79,018 -82.26 Total Gross 6,67,87,180

Domestic Box-Office -> Apne

Apne - Week 4

Mumbai - 10,10,507 (Incl. Thane)

Ahmedabad - 4,74,897

Baroda - 42,992

Jamnagar - 83,102

Bhavnagar - 9,759

Delhi - 6,98,753

Noida - 1,69,585

Kaushambi - 34,634

Gurgaon - 2,52,342

Ghaziabad - 10,482

Faridabad - 1,55,740

Agra - 1,50,640

Allahabad - 54,571

Dehradun - 1,17,567

Bareilly - 70,604

Varanasi - 85,804

Guwahati - 57,955

Indore - 14,988

Raipur - 55,651

Ujjain - 26,278

Jaipur - 63,046

Kota - 7,840

Kolkatta - 98,158

Bangalore - 85,412

(Average per print: 47,891)
Total collections for Week 4: 38,31,307
Total Collections (Till Date): 8,85,34,054

Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print % change since last week Week 1 4,51,91,501 3,21,231 NA Week 2 2,60,59,120 2,15,365 -42.34 Week 3 1,34,52,126 1,32,006 -48.38 Week 4 38,31,307 47,891 -71.52 Total Gross 8,85,34,054

Domestic Box-Office -> Partner

Partner - Week 1

Mumbai - 6,00,55,384 (Incl. Thane)

Ahmedabad - 1,21,41,806

Baroda - 15,19,872

Himmatnagar - 4,97,537

Jamnagar - 5,88,741

Bhavnagar - 9,45,352

Rajkot - 12,77,717

Gandhidham - 4,38,192

Adipur - 2,43,680

Junagadh - 3,43,500

Surendranagar - 1,30,110

Morvi - 1,13,428

Porbandar - 1,66,689

Jetpur - 90,488

Bhuj - 1,54,137

Madhapar - 86,990

Mahuva - 49,892

Dwarka - 1,09,977

Mandvi - 87,644

Palitana - 41,140

Dhrangadhra - 38,636

Valsad - 4,04,194

Pune - 15,91,753

Goa - 9,59,268

Nasik - 10,07,391

Sholapur - 5,12,162

Kolhapur - 2,95,361

Satara - 3,21,637

Miraj - 1,62,627

Karad - 2,05,310

Pandharpur - 2,58,699

Shrirampur - 1,53,984

Kopargaon - 1,56,789

Ghulewadi - 1,17,755

Sangamner - 1,19,131

Junnar - 63,636

Manchar - 69,922

Loni - 78,848

Margao - 6,72,323

Panjim - 2,84,836

Delhi - 2,52,88,936

Noida - 35,90,763

Kaushambi - 6,76,423

Gurgaon - 40,09,748

Ghaziabad - 11,18,805

Faridabad - 19,36,516

Agra - 9,87,385

Amritsar - 6,38,970

Aligarh - 7,81,026

Allahabad - 3,33,471

Dehradun - 6,81,165

Bareilly - 5,22,289

Varanasi - 9,99,903

Nagpur - 32,13,407

Amravati - 5,07,526

Akola - 3,70,023

Chandrapur - 3,85,950

Raipur - 7,62,027

Yavatmal - 1,85,752

Bhilai - 4,25,036

Durg - 1,61,050

Jabalpur - 4,52,830

Wardha - 2,15,832

Gondia - 1,51,739

Sagar - 1,06,258

Rajnandgaon - 1,75,542

Balaghat - 1,16,832

Parathwada - 90,337

Guwahati - 6,48,026

Tinsukhia - 79,784

Indore - 17,85,568

Ujjain - 2,55,238

Sehore - 2,41,000

Jaipur - 15,02,349

Kota - 7,85,690

Ajmer - 9,09,148

Kolkatta - 42,19,590

Darjeeling - 1,88,616

Aurangabad - 7,50,214

Chennai - 3,90,404

(Average per print: 6,13,176)
Total collections for Week 1: 14,71,97,706
Total Collections (Till Date): 14,71,97,706

Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print % change since last week Week 1 14,71,97,706 6,13,176 NA Total Gross 14,71,97,706

It's a baby boy for Sonu Nigam

Singer Sonu Nigam has become a proud father. His wife Madhurima delivered a baby boy on Thursday, July 26. Both, the mother and the baby are in good health.
Sonu has taken a short break from work to spend quality time with his wife and baby. He informs that he is enjoying his new found father status with his family in USA. Sonu has named the baby boy as Nevaan (which means holy).
Sonu plans to return India in September.

Jodha-Akbar confirmed on October 12

For a long time now some of the more imaginative tabloids of Mumbai have been inexplicably eager to see a delay in the release of Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodha-Akbar. Several manufactured 'accidents' from the sets of Jodha-Akbar were reported, just to fuel the tantalizing possibility of a postponement in the release date of this eagerly awaited film.

In fact when contacted after the report of his most recent 'accident', Hrithik categorically said he had never suffered any accident during the shooting of Jodha-Akbar. But then the naysayers and sensation-hungry fiction writers can't get enough of the quick- fix method of news-making. Hence last week there was again a report that the release of Jodhaa-Akbar has been postponed.

"Not again! Not true at all!" laughs Ashutosh Gowariker as he speeds to a spectacular conclusion of his Mughal epic. "I've been reading stories of Jodhaa-Akbar being postponed every couple of months. These rumours are not true at all. We had locked in on October 12 as the release date since it coincides with Eid when audiences swamp to the theatres. We've to be stupid or careless to let go of such a coveted date."

So where does Ashutosh think these delay rumours are coming from? "Beats me! Probably because I've one song and one scene left to shoot, some people might be jumping to the wrong conclusions. But October 12 was, and is the release date for Jodhaa-Akbar."

There has also been some talk of Ashutosh returning to his first love, acting. "First love?" he laughs. "Direction is and always be my pehla nashaa. If after that I get some time off I may, mind you may, consider giving acting a try. And that too only if a friend is insistent."

However right now it seems unlikely that Ashutosh Gowariker would be able to take up any acting assignments, what with the grueling post-production of Jodhaa-Akbar awaiting his full attention.

Nisha Kothari will feature in special appearance in Ram Gopal Varma’s film Darling. She features in an item number with Fardeen Khan

Ram Gopal Varma's forthcoming film Darling starring Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol and Isha Koppikar has a surprise addition. Ramu's latest muse Nisha Kothari is also a part of Darling but in the form of a promotional music video for the film.

However, this video will not be part of the movie and will be used only for promos. Its music has been done by Pritam and choreographed by Remo. Says the sizzling actress, “It is just a song which is not part of the film. I have shot for a music video that will be used for the promotion of Darling. Ramuji asked me to do that and I agreed. I would not do any item numbers unless I feel like doing it. The song has been picturised on me and Fardeen Khan. We have shot this song in three days.”

Nisha has only one release this year as she hasn't signed any film apart from Ram Gopal Varma Ke Aag in which she plays Ghungroo. “My character is a replacement of Basanti. You can't compare her with Basanti, as Ghungroo is completely different from her. Everything is different from set up to the character. Ghungroo is a versatile character. She is a fan of Rajnikant. She is a tomboy and carefree kind of girl. She loves to smoke and drives auto rickshaw. RGVKA is complete and will release next month.”

Ram Gopal Varma Ke Aag stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Prashant Raj and Sushmita Sen. Doesn't Nisha feel she will be overshadowed by Sushmita's presence in the film? “Well, Sushmita is main heroine of the film. I am just a character. Ghungroo is not part of the main story. The story is all about Sushmita's family and Baban. My expectations are same as I expected from James and from Killer. This is my third film with RGV and it's been a very good experience working with him. He is very simple and honest person. He knows what he wants from an actor. If Ramuji offers me an interesting role, I'll definitely choose to do it. At the same time I would like to work with other people as well” she signs off.

From his four upcoming releases, Ananth talks about his less spoken film Staying Alive targeted at film festivals. It’s based on a real life story

Ananth Mahadevan spends his waking hours in studios these days. Reason? His three films Victoria No 203 (starring Jimmy Shergill and Soniya Mehra), Aggar (starring Tusshar Kapoor-Shreyas Talpade-Udita Goswami), Anamika (starring Dino Morea, Minissha Lamba and Koena Mitra) and his offbeat venture aimed at international festivals titled Staying Alive (starring himself and Saurabh Shukla) are all set to hit the marquee in Aug-Sept. And Ananth is ensuring post-production of the four films goes smoothly.

Interestingly, the genres of the three films are also different. While Aggar is a suspense drama in classic French Noir style, Victoria No. 203 is a modern day version of the 70s hit of the same name and Anamika is a spectacular romantic mystery.

Though the above three are commercial films, Staying Alive is a new attempt. It is a festival oriented film that Ananth has made. Talking about the film Ananth says, “Staying Alive is the film about a newspaper editor who suffered a third heart attack and is admitted in the ICU of a hospital and on the bed next to him is an underworld guy who had a first heart attack. There is a contrast between these two people. The underworld guy is petrified of dying while the newspaper editor is laughing at death because after three heart attacks, death becomes a joke to him.”

Explaining the context he says, “The film is about how this newspaper editor ends up changing the underworld guy's attitude towards life forever. This is a true story which had actually happened in real life. It's a black comedy.”

While the film is in Hindi, why a title like Staying Alive? “Because I couldn't get the correct Hindi equivalent of Staying Alive”, responds Ananth immediately.

The film stars Saurabh Shukla who is playing the underworld guy and Ananth Mahadevan is playing the newspaper editor. Navni Parihar is playing Saurabh's wife and Sunita Chayya is playing Mahadevan's wife. Theatre actor Chandan Sanyal plays Saurabh Shukla's son in the film.
The film will be doing the rounds of festivals before its mass release. “Shemaroo has acquired the rights of Staying Alive. The film will initially be sent to international film festivals and then eventually it will be released in India later this year.” It is a 95 minute film with no music.

It has been a challenging experience for Ananth to work on four projects at once, "This has been one helluva learning and growing process for me. I didn't want it all to happen together but the quirk of star dates ensured that I am tested to the hilt. To focus on four scripts and switch from one to the other and not lose sight of the target was an experience of a lifetime. It was a treat to work with the likes of international stars like Om Puri and Anupam Kher and absolute professionals like Tusshar and Shreyas" says Ananth.

Fun Republic's 6th anniversary with Big B festival

It's birthday time at Fun Republic. E-City Ventures promoted Fun Republic is celebrating its 6th anniversary by hosting a Bachchan Film Festival from 27th July - 5th August. The festival, which will be spread out over two weekends, will include all-time favorite blockbusters of the legendary Big B, including Namak Halal, Deewar, Trishul, Baghban, Sarkar and Muqaddar Ka Sikander.

The anniversary celebrations will be marked by a cake cutting ceremony with a 'Big' 25-kilogram cake.

BIG Music to release 'Dhamaal', 'Go' music

BIG Music has acquired the music rights of DHAMAAL. Directed by Indra Kumar with music by Adnan Sami, the film stars Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaffrey, Ritesh Deshmukh and Ashish Chowdhry. The music will be released on 10th August.

BIG Music has also acquired the music rights of Ramgopal Varma’s GO. Starring Gautam Gupta and Nisha Kothari and directed by Manish Srivastav, it has music by Sneha Khanwalker. Its music will also be released on 10th August.

Meanwhile, BIG Music has released of music of CASH and MARIGOLD in Pakistan. The music cassettes and CDs of both the films are already available in the local markets there.

Katrina: 'Not All Are Good In Film Industry'

Katrina Kaif says that not all are good in film industry. But she insists that she is not troubled by any one in big way till now. She recalled that she acted in many Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films so far with the help of many.

"I didn't give anything for film industry. But the industry has given me a lot", she said.

Saying about her professional interest she said, " I wish to deliver my own dubbing be it any language. I already gave my voice for Hindi films 'Namastey London' and 'Apne'. Both are hits. As I was born and brought up abroad every Indian language including Hindi sounds foreign for me. When I learn, everything will be normal".

Well, we have got another committed actress this way.

Kaafila becomes 1st film to get simultaneous Indo-Pak release

‘Kaafila’ becomes the first film in the history of Indian cinema to get a simultaneous Indo-Pak release. With a high court ruling in Pakistan enabling full clearance for the film, more than 20 trailors are on air in the theatres in Pakistan from July 27. With the buzz and expectations rising for ‘Kaafila’, there is further demand for the trailors in Pakistan as well. The film is slated for an August 10 release all over the world.

Says Amtoje Maan, "We are very happy that ‘Kaafila’, which is based on human trafficking that is of global concern today, is being screened in India, Pakistan and the world over at the same time. We are looking at the film forging relationships between our countries further."

‘Kaafila’ is written-directed by Amtoje Maan who also stars in the film besides Sunny Deol as the main protagonist, Sana Nawaz, Mona Lisa and Polina Stoynova among others.

Monica Bedi claims politicians met her in jail

Bollywood starlet Monica Bedi claimed that '' a few politicians'' had approached her during her stay at Chanchalguda prison in Hyderabad.

'' I was asked by them to join their respective political parties,'' she said while relaxing at her ancestrol house in here.

''I have no intention to join politics. None of my family members have ever been in politics,'' the companion of underworld don Abu Salem who was released from prison on Wednesday last said to a group of mediapersons.

She however refused to disclose the names of the politicians or political parties who had approached her during her detention.

She reiterated that she was very keen to return to Bollywood to restart her film career. '' This is my future,'' she said while out rightly refusing to discuss her relationship with Salem.

Monica claimed that she had already received offer for key roles in four Hindi, six Telugu and two Punjabi films. ''Negotiations with producers are in progress,'' she said indicating that she would first go through the scripts and then decide.

When asked about her favourite hero and heroine, she said that almost all the new comers were performing well. ''But Rekha, Sri Devi and Madhuri Dixit are my favourite heroines and Dalip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan are the heroes I like,'' she added.

Monica indicated that she would like to act with Amitabh Bachchan if a suitable role was offered. To maintain her figure, the Bollywood starlit was regularly doing Yoga.

She emphasised the need for granting interim bail to all those innocent women who had been languishing in prison for a long period on account of their cases pending in the courts. She would make efforts to get them released on interim bails by approaching the concerned authorities in this regard.

Monica and her father Prem Kumar Bedi who was also present, strongly criticised the media for concocted stories being telecast about her marriage with Salem.

Monica indicated that during her stay here, she would be visiting important gurdwaras in the state and would also pay obeisance at the shrine in Chintpurni in Himachal Pradesh. She plans to stay here for a month and a half and then move to Mumbai, if the courts permit.

She was extremely thankful to the inhabitants of her native village for extending all type of cooperation to her and for their blessings.

Why Mandira and Mallika Say 'No' To Tollywood?

Mandira Bedi and Mallika Sherawat appear to be 'showing back for Telugu film industry but bagging offers form other industries. Mandira is known as the TV artiste and most popular as Cricket Commentator.

This damsel also posed on the cover page of 'Maxim' showing the glory of her underwear! She got an offer to act in the film 'John Appa Rao 40 Plus' beside Krishna Bhagawan. But later she skipped the offer saying 'non availability of calls sheets' as a reason. The same offer was taken over by Simran. But Mandira accepted a role beside Suresh Gopi in the remake of old Hollywood classic 'Casablanca' of Humphrey Bogart. Earlier she also acted with Simbhu in 'Manmadha'.

On the other hand Mallika Sherawat also does in similar manner. She accepted to do an item song for Kannada film and also acted in Kamal Hasan's Tamil film 'Dasavataram'. But he didn't act even in a single Telugu film till now. There were rumors that a few big producers approached for various films but she expressed her denial for them.

Why this 'No' to Tollywood for those hot ladies of Indian film world?