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Thursday, August 2, 2007

Which actress has the best eyes?

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They come in various shades and sizes. They can twinkle with mischief or shimmer with unshed tears.
They are, ladies and gents, eyes, the windows to the soul. And nowhere are these twin orbs more important than in the world of showbiz, where just a look can speak a thousand words.
Some of the best cinematic moments consist of unspoken glances, and haunting eyes.
And it seems our actresses are quite gifted in this department.
Which actress, do you think, has the best eyes?

Upen doing comedies with Govinda, Paresh

Mumbai, Aug 2 (IANS) After doing thrillers, Upen Patel has moved on to comedies and signed two funny flicks - one with Paresh Rawal and the other with Govinda and Suniel Shetty.

The Govinda starrer, which will be produced by Suniel's Popcorn Entertainment, hasn't been titled yet.

'It would be very different from what one would expect the three of us to come together for. Am I scared of matching satirical steps with a stalwart like Govinda? You bet I am! But I've been working with another maestro of mirth, Paresh Rawal, in '123'. So I'm being trained by the best,' Upen told IANS.

Recently, the actor was seen with Bobby Deol in the musical thriller 'Shakalaka Boom Boom'. Upen is preparing for his part in what he expects to be a significant move forward.

'I'm working in big banners. It's the only way to ensure a film gets released.'

For the last one month, Upen Patel has been shooting in Pondicherry for his first comic role in '123'.

'We're shooting on a set opposite a promenade next to the open waters. It's lovely. It's a film produced by Kumar Mangat where I have one of our comic virtuosos, Pareshji, to take me through my comic paces.

'Comedy, let me tell you, is the toughest form of acting. And thank god for Pareshji. I want to take up the most challenging kind of acting so I can prove my versatility.'

'123' is directed by Ashwini Dheer who has done the sitcom 'Office Office' on television.

'Ashwini's experience with comedy is of great help. I'm doing comedy for the first time and that too an out-and-out comedy.'

At the launch of '123' in Mumbai while shooting the introductory song with Tanisha, Upen had a bit of a stress situation as his costume got delayed.

'Narendra Kumar, who's doing my clothes in '123', lives on the other side of the town. We were all waiting for the clothes to arrive. It was the last shot of the day. It was getting very late. We had to somehow finish the shoot. Although we lost a good two hours, I completed my solo performance of about 45 seconds in one take, thanks to my choreographer Ganesh Acharya.'

Though Suneel Darshan's 'Shakalaka Boom Boom' didn't do well, Upen has cut a three-film deal with Kumar Mangat.

'It was the first of my three releases where people saw much more of me. I was very happy I was appreciated. I want to do films only with the people who can help me grow as an actor.

'And yes, I'll be doing one more film with Suneel Darshan. Considering my non-film background I've made a good start. I'm working with big banners.'

Snippet : Sanjay Dutt meets Abu Salem in jail

Sanjay Dutt reportedly met with Abu Salem at breakfast in Arthur road jail on Thursday morning.

The high security Arthur Road Jail became the meeting ground for two men separated by 14 years of history.

Sources say the two men chatted and exchanged notes perhaps on the years gone past.

This isn't the first meeting between the two men post the serial blasts.

Soon after Salem was brought to India, the two came face to face inside the TADA court, but then they didn't even exchange a glance.

Then the speculation was the Salem's return could make Dutt's case difficult in court.

Now with six years hanging over Dutt's head the ice seems to have broken.

Jail ki Tension Mat Le, Mamu!

It was a long night for Sanjay Dutt but finally there was some smile on imprisoned Bollywood star's face today when he saw his sister Congress MP Priya Dutt, who visited him at the Arthur Road Jail.

Sources said Sanjay's face lit up when he met Priya.

Meanwhile, an inmate who was released this evening, informed that Sanjay did not eat anything during the first night in jail.

''He was offered an apple by an inmate, which he reluctantly accepted but hardly ate. Even today, when he was given lunch, he passed it on to his co-convict Yusuf Nalwalla, who has been awarded five years sentence in the same case,'' the inmate said.

This was, however, denied by jail authorities who said the actor had his lunch with Praveen Mahajan, charged with allegedly murdering his brother and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan last year.

Meanwhile, a restless Sanju who can’t stay without chewing gutkha for more than a few hours, became restless without it, which even got his blood pressure low.

But Priya Dutt came to his recue and arrived at the jail, armed with a dozen packets of his favourite gutkha. Of course, her brother was overjoyed. A doctor at the jail said Dutt’s blood pressure problems were cured after he chewed on the gutkha.

The inmate said Sanjay was quite gloomy and spent the entire night crying in his cell and jailmates mocking him by mouthing his dialogues didn’t help either.

“Mamu, smile kar… tension mat le” mocked the three-dozen prisoners in his barrack, asking him to stop worrying and sobbing.

If he would even look at them, they would ask him, ‘Wahaan kyon baitha hai yaar, apne saath aa naa.’” However, there are bars between Dutt’s cell and the Buddha-barrack hall, hence nobody could touch Dutt, only tease him from a distance.

Sanjay has been lodged in a 90-sq feet room in the ''buddha barrack'' (cell for aged inmates) of the prison.

He will be shifted to Pune's Yerawada jail on Friday, according to his lawyer Satish Maneshide.

Shahid & Vidya? How Bizzare!!

First it was Salman, now it's Shah Rukh. Shahid Kapoor seems to be inching confidently into the Khans' territory. After having convinced Sooraj Barjatya that he's a suitable candidate to play Prem in place of Salman, Shahid is now gone into Shah Rukh's territory.


The Vivah actor, for months in search of the right script, has finally found his plot. The reclusive and somewhat laidback Aziz Mirza who has made three truly remarkable satires Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Yes Boss and the failed but pleasurable Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustan with SRK, is finally going on the floors, again with a breezy romantic musical, this time with a changed leading man.

The film will bring together the unexpected team of Shahid and Vidya Balan. The affable Aziz who has been in a reclusive state after his wife's death a few years ago is finally excited about making another movie.

When contacted Shahid sounded more relieved than excited. "After sitting at home for almost six months I've finally found the perfect vehicle.

Post-Vivah I was adamant on not doing another film until I was fully satisfied with the script. I loved the idea behind Aziz Uncle's script. I've never played a character like this before. The romantic comedy is not a well-tapped genre in our cinema. Aziz Uncle knows that area well."

How does it feel to be stepping into Shah Rukh's domain? "Of course I'm very excited to be working with a director who has so far worked one of Asia's biggest entertainers. I mean, stardom hardly gets any bigger than Shah Rukh. I feel the same sense of exhilaration and challenge that I did when Sooraj-ji asked me to play Prem."

Aziz Mirza's first film in five years is said to be a working-class romantic musical. "I can't reveal plot details," says Shahid. "But it's a very heart-warming subject. And Vidya and I fit into our roles quite perfectly in keeping with our personalities."

As the seasoned director gets all set to create the Shah Rukh-Juhi romantic pair of the new millennium, his new leading man is peering into the future with much excitement.

"When I see Aziz Uncle getting so excited about a project I feel like getting back to work right now. Unfortunately we start in April."

When will Sanju's pain end?

Abhishek Bachchan: 'This is very upsetting"

Priyanka Chopra: "I'm shocked and upset. I wish him and his family strength and courage. I'm sure the film fraternity will stand by him in every way possible. He's a wonderful person. And since he has already served 16 months I'm confident the Supreme Court will be lenient. I wish all the best."

Bipasha Basu: "I'm shocked. I feel very sad. He has suffered enough. His suffering should've stopped by now. All his friends feel helpless. No one can do anything.

Raveena Tandon: "This is too shocking. I've known him for years. And he's the most lovable person I've met. He's a victim of circumstances and follies. The law is equal for all. And we respect the country's laws. But six years seems a bit harsh, considering the kind of person Sanju is. My family and I stand by the Dutts in their moment of crisis. And I really mean it."

Preity Zinta: "I'm deeply saddened by this verdict. In my heart I'm saying a prayer and I'm looking above for an end to Sanju's problems. Sanju made a mistake. But he is not a bad guy. In fact he's a terrific guy.

Anil Kapoor: "I'm sad and shocked"

Mahesh Bhatt: "I get the feeling of déjà vu. It's like a recurring nightmare which just won't go away."

Sohail Khan: "I'm speechless. This is just not expected."

Kangana Ranaut: "It's heartbreaking. Sanjay Dutt is no threat to society. So I wonder why he needs to be kept behind bars! When he has long ago realized his mistake why such harsh punishment? Why six years? It's so painful."

Manoj Bajpai: "I'm nobody to question the vedict. And I'm too saddened by it to even talk about it. I hope he gets bail at the earliest. My entire family is shocked. We're all praying for him. I admire the man a lot. May God bless him."

Urmila Matondkar: "This is extremely sad and deeply saddening."

Madhur Bhandarkar: "I can't get over the enormity of the news! The whole film fraternity is in a state of shock. My heartfelt sympathies and support for the Dutt family.

Suneel Darshan: "While I have absolute faith and respect in the court's decision. I feel terribly sorry for Sanjay's plight. As a member of the film fraternity I'd like to express solidarity with his family through these testing times. In the meanwhile for the industry his absence will cause a tremendous loss as he had emerged as one of our most versatile actors. I feel a great concern for the films that would get stranded.

Upen Patel: "I feel sad. But he has been through so much. I'm sure he'll come out of this stronger. He's such a wonderful humanbeing. I was lucky to have him take me under his wings and make me his gym partner."

Vikram Bhatt: "Sanjay's sentence is very depressing. I can't comment on the intricacies of the law. But as a humanbeing I feel he has suffered enough. He's not a criminal. Just a man who made a silly mistake in troubled times when it was hard to keep one's value judgement clear."

Vipul Shah: "Everyone knows he did it purely to protect his family. So to me Sanjay Dutt is a good man. At the same time according to the law his conduct was incorrect. So this was I guess, inevitable. Sanjay Dutt exemplifies that plight that awaits 'powerful' people who get into trouble.

I feel the sentence is a little harsh. The court didn't consider all those days when he kept missing his shooting to go to courts and police stations. If the court had considered that perhaps the verdict would've seemed less harsh."

David Dhawan: "Me and my wife Laali were with Sanju on his birthday on Sunday (July 29). We had so much fun. We were so sure that he'd come out of this. Little did we know what awaited Sanju two days later…Life's not fair, yaar! Sanju is God's child. Always ready with a smile to help everyone, me included.

Do you know he got me my first break as director. I was editing his films like Naam and Jaan Ki Baazi when he prodded me and got my first directorial assignment. Why just me, he even got my assistant Ajay a break as director.

Sanju has given so much to so many people, not half of it is known. For now the industry has come to a standstill. No one wants to celebrate. No parties, no premieres. I can't enjoy the success of Partner.

Do you know Sanju called and told me people were congratulating him for the success of my Partner. That's how magnanimous he is. He loves my sons, got them gifts from abroad. It's really sad, because he lost his mother, wife, father….that man has gone through so much pain. When will it end?

Hema Malini: "I feel terrible for him. We all go through problems. And I can feel the trauma his family is going through. But when the legal verdict is passed there's nothing we can do or say."

Arshad Warsi: "I'm sorry I can't respond to you. If I did it'd look like I'm trying to get publicity out of a friend's misery."

Arshad Warsi and bad actor?

Arshad Warsi has a genuine problem. "You see, in a film to be produced by Anil Kapoor I'm supposed to play a very very bad actor who becomes a very very big star."

The re-make of a hit South Indian film to be entitled Shortcut is to be directed by one Roshan Andrews.

"It's a genuine dilemma. Am I capable of playing a bad actor. Can I even fake such a horrific circumstance? But jokes aside, I'm looking forward to this film because I team up with Akshaye Khanna again after Priyadarshan's Hulchal.

Akshaye plays a film director. But my role is to die for. I play this super-sleazeball….cunning, corny and capable of going to any extent to get my way. On top of it all, my character is terrible at his job," laughs Arshad.

Arshad plays this bad man after playing this really decent guy in Vivek Agnihotri's Goal. "In Goal I'm this upright well brought-up footballer. "

Coming back to Shortcut, Arshad chuckles, "Playing a bad actor will be as tough for me as dancing badly. Believe it or nuts, Raj Kumar Hirani forced me to dance badly in the first Munnabhai film because my character was supposed to be rather clumsy. I guess if I managed to be convincing as a bad dancee I can swing the bad actor. But it'll require all my acting skills, ha!"

Enough of Deol Drama now!

Family films are here to stay. While Bhairavi featuring the the three Bachchans has been put on hold, the Deols are going ahead with a second film featuring Dharmendra with his two sons.

"We made you cry in Apne. Now we want to make you laugh." This is the promise that Bobby Deol made on his family's behalf in London earlier this month when a saleslady at a departmental store accused him of making her sister cry.

On his return home Bobby initiated the idea with his Sunny Bhaiyya who was game.

And now the hunt is on for a comedic script that would showcase the Deol family as effectively as Apne.

"See, drama is relatively easier. And still we had to wait for years before Anil Sharma, a family friend, could come up with the script for Apne," says Bobby. "Comedy that would accommodate all three of us is even tougher specially since Dad has done such great comic work in Chupke Chupke,Pratiggya and Sholay."

If the comic screenplay doesn't materialize the Deols will go ahead with another drama, directed again by Anil Sharma.

But this time, the family film will be produced by the Deols since they feel Apne wasn't promoted properly.

Bobby is incredulous. "And still it has touched hearts of viewers across the world. We've decided to work together as often as possible. Apne will always remain a favourite. Dillagi that my Bhaiyya directed with both me and him in the lead is also very close to my heart."

Bips torn between Saif and John!

John Abraham is trying hard to woo Bipasha Basu again and the two can be seen bonding over frequent lunches. Close friends of the couple also indicate that John is making attempts to renew his ties with his girlfriend, and he is making sure that he spends quality time with Bips every day.

And his efforts are showing some fruit as well. Perhaps that's why Bipasha shot for her item number in John starrer 'No Smoking' despite her sprained ankle.

Because the pain was intense the movie’s producer Kumar Mangat asked her to rest for few hours. But after two hours the sexy lady was ready to shoot again.

Despite John asking her to go home, Bipasha took the painkillers and shot for the remaining day. The actress knew very well that if she had gone home it would have caused financial loss to the producer.

But single-and-ready-to-mingle Saif Ali Khan is still not out of the picture completely. Rumour has it that he visited dusky beauty when she was shooting for the shampoo commercial that both she and John have endorsed together as a couple in the past.

However this time Bips was shooting the commercial without John and instead with model Hemant Shivdasani.

A source claims “Saif dropped in for a while and hung around with Bips while she was shooting. It was quite surprising to see Saif on the sets. After hanging around for a while Saif left the sets, but again later he joined Bipasha and her friends at a nightspot after the shoot was completed”.

The model who worked with Bips on the shampoo commercial was extremely excited and said “Working with Bipasha was a great experience.” However the model refused to comment on whether Saif had dropped by on the sets.

October 12 gets crowded

Will JODHAA AKBAR arrive on October 12? Or is it postponed to January 2008? While UTV is maintaining that the film will hit the screens on the scheduled date, a section of the industry feels that the historical won’t make it on this date since, according to them, the shooting is not complete yet.
In the meanwhile, a number of biggies have set their sights on October 12. Bhushan Kumar has confirmed to this writer that he’s releasing BHOOL BHULAIYAA on this Friday. Yash Raj too has confirmed LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG, while Atul Agnihotri is also keen to bring HELLO on this date.
The latest is, the Rajkumar Santoshi-directed HALLA BOL is also arriving on 12th October, producer Abdul Sami Siddiqui confirmed to this writer. October 12 is indeed crowded!

'Goal' promo with 'Chak De India'

UTV has altered the title of GOAL, starring John Abraham, Arshad Warsi and Bipasha Basu. The film will now be called DHAN DHANA DHAN… GOAL. If you jog your memory, the film was scheduled to release on August 10, in the same week as CHAK DE INDIA, but UTV decided to shift DHAN DHANA DHAN… GOAL to a latter week since they didn't want to clash with another sports-based film on the same date. Besides, SRK - Yash Raj is a lethal combination!

Although the release of DHAN DHANA DHAN… GOAL is now confirmed for December, UTV will launch the promo of the film in the same week as CHAK DE INDIA. “The footfalls at cineplexes are expected to be optimum during this week and we expect DHAN DHANA DHAN… GOAL to reach out to a wider audience due to this reason,” Siddharth Roy Kapur of UTV confirms.

Victoria warns Paris Hilton

Victoria Beckham has reportedly warned Paris Hilton to stay away from her soccer star husband David. The Spice Girl, who moved to Los Angeles with David and their three sons earlier this month, was said to be furious when she heard the hotel heiress had described the Los Angeles Galaxy player as "hot".

Now she has allegedly told friends that Paris and other young Hollywood stars - including Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears - better keep their hands off David.

A source told a British magazine, "This move to Los Angeles means everything to her. She is happier with David than ever and sees this as an exciting chapter for her and their boys. Although she trusts David 100 per cent, she will not tolerate any of the Los Angeles party girls making a move on him, or seeing him as fair game.”

"She wants this to be very clear from the start - David is a devoted family man and these women should forget about trying it on with him. "The young Hollywood club crowd, such as Lindsay, Paris and Britney, are positively salivating over David," the source added.

Last week, it was claimed Victoria had turned down Paris' offer of friendship. Paris is reported to have said about Victoria: "We could be soul mates." However, the ‘Wannab' singer apparently told a pal: "Over my dead body!"

What do you think of Sanjay Dutt verdict?

The special TADA court Tuesday sentenced actor Sanjay Dutt to six years imprisonment for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Dutt, who was convicted under the Arms Act for illegal possession of weapons, was facing between five years and 10 years in jail.

He had spent 16 months in jail as an undertrial in 1994.



The judge said pronounced Dutt an offender and that he was present in a dinner party attended by Dawood Ibrahim.

Dutt was almost in tears when the judge pronounced the verdict.

The judge also said Dutt had committed a series of offences and that he was mature when he committed these.



The judge added that Dutt made Yusuf Nalwala commit the offence.

Dutt's aide Russi Mulla, who helped destroy the firearms, was given a suspended sentence of one year, in view of his advanced age and behaviour under the offenders of the Probation Act. He was fined Rs 1 lakh.
 


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