Bollywood's Hot Item numbers Up Next!

Item numbers were the forte of the queens of oomph, Helen and Aruna Irani.

Now, there are a new breed of girls like Malaika Arora-Khan, Yana Gupta and Koena Mitra, who don't need to be vamps to gyrate to hot item numbers.
Always an integral part of Bollywood, today almost every actress is doing it.
Regardless of the films' fate at the box office, the song usually becomes a rage with the audience. Sushmita Sen's Dilbar created a flutter though the film (Sirf Tum) sank into oblivion. Likewise, Yana Gupta shot to fame with Babuji in the Vivek Oberoi starrer Dum.
So be it Shilpa Shetty's Main Aai Hoon UP Bihar Lootne (Shool), Urmila Matondkar's Chamma Chamma (China Gate), Bipasha Basu's Beedi (Omkara), Aishwarya Rai's Kajra re (Bunty Aur Babli) or more recently Mallika Sherawat's Mehbooba (Aap Ka Surroor), item songs are here to stay.
rediff.com takes a look at the upcoming item numbers of the latter part of the year.

Cash
Anubhav Sinha's Cash starring Ajay Devgan, Riteish Deshmukh, Zayed Khan, Sunil Shetty, Dia Mirza, Shamita Shetty and Esha Deol is a heist drama that revolves around a diamond robbery.
Setting the screen ablaze is Shamita Shetty grooving to Mind blowing Mahiya sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and composed by Vishal-Shekhar.
Looking svelte and sexy, Shamita once again reminds us of Sharara Sharara (Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai) and the racy, foot tapping Baras Ja (Fareb) where she was seen matching steps with big sis Shilpa.
There's another item number in the film picturised on Brazilian beauty Bruna Abdalah (left), choreographed by Rajiv Goswami that is sure to get your adrenaline pumping.

Om Shanti Om
Farah Khan's second directorial venture Om Shanti Om starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone has been making headlines ever since its inception.
Apparently, SRK plays a struggling actor and the film spoofs Bollywood stalwarts. OSO is set against the backdrop of the film industry.
The item number here is picturised on no less than 30 actors, including Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rekha, Kajol, Tabu, Karisma Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Malaika Arora-Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee, Urmila Matondkar, Vidya Balan and Amrita Arora.
Latino pop sensation Shakira (Hips Don't Lie) is also rumoured to be making a guest appearance in the song.
The music has been scored by Vishal-Shekhar (who have replaced A R Rahman) and Pyarelal (of Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo) is doing a guest composition to recreate the 1970's ambiance that forms the first half of the film.

Heyy Babyy
Funny man Sajid Khan's directorial venture Heyy Babyy starring Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Fardeen Khan and Vidya Balan is on the lines of Leonard Nimoy's Three Men and a Baby.
The tale about the lives of three casanovas and a baby features a title track picturised on some 20 Bollywood damsels including Amrita Arora, Celina Jaitley, Koena Mitra, Riya Sen, Amisha Patel and Neha Dhupia.
Choreographed by sister Farah Khan to the soundtrack of musical triumvirate Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the song is already topping the charts.
Adding spunk to the film is a promotional video by Australian girl band 'Australian Divas'.
Shah Rukh Khan and Anupam Kher are also believed to be making a guest appearance in the film.

Mumbai Salsa
Writer-turned-director Manoj Tyagi's Mumbai Salsa produced by Vikram Bhatt in association with ASA Films introduces songstress Alisha Chinai in a different avatar.
She will be seen in the title track of the film, which is a fusion of rock and hip-hop. The song has a lounge bar feel to it and will be used as a promotional video. Adnan Sami has composed the music of the film.
The singer who conquered hearts with Kajre Re (Bunty Aur Babli) has recently cut a new album Shut Up and Kiss Me.

Kaise Kahe
Seen here is the beautiful Yana Gupta grooving to Teri Yaadein from the film Kaise Kahe.
Produced by Smita Thackeray and Sahara One Motion Pictures, the film launches newcomers Rajveer and Neha Jhulka. The song has been choreographed by Ganesh Acharya.
Yana has supposedly become very choosy about her work and is also believed to be doing another item song with Chiranjeev in Shankardada Zindabad (the Telugu version of Lage Raho Munnabhai).
She breezed into the hearts of millions with Babuji (Dum) and was recently seen in Adnan Sami's Kisi Din.

Abhishek-Ash in Zurich airport

Reader Dipen Patel was in for a pleasant surprise in Switzerland.

He spotted newlyweds Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai at the Zurich airport.

'My Swiss return was sweeter and more memorable than ever,' he wrote in.

Which woman sizzles in Cash?

Now, this is a tough one and we leave it to you to play judge.
Anubhav Sinha's Cash boasts of more than just action. It stars three women, looking very hot!
Esha Deol, Dia Mirza and Shamita Shetty may not be the regular head-turners, but they look stunning in their new film.

So here's our question to you : Which of these three women look the hottest?

Chak De creates Bollywood record!

Can't get enough of your favourite Bollywood stars? Need a quick gossip fix?

Then you've come to the right place. Read on as our very own starcrossed BPI (Bollywood Private Investigator), dishes out the dirt about our heavenly bodies.
Chak de can!
For a long time my tractor driver Kulwant thought that YRF was a tire manufacturer. When I told him it's apne sarson ke khet ka Yash Raj Films, Kulwant's heart swelled like the Jhelum.
Now it will overflow when he comes to know that YRF's next release Chak De! India has created a Bollywood record even before its release. The film has scored its first goal -- it was shot using, ma kasam, a little over 1,500 cans of raw stock!
It outscored Boney Kapoor's Pukar which, thanks to its constant shooting and re-shooting, had consumed about 1,350 cans. If you are wondering what's the big deal, spare a thought for the poor editor; an average Bollywood movie consumes about between 300 and 400 cans.
Last heard, Shah Rukh Khan was exasperatedly asking 'Yeh, Chak De itna footage kyun khaya?' to which director Shimit Amin muttered, 'It's a sports film unlike anything ever seen in India before!'

Namastey Paisa
God tussi great ho! The way actors' fees are shooting up these days, vada pav may soon end costing a hundred rupees. Take our Punjab da puttar Akshay Kumar. He asked for and, hold your breath, got Rs 11 crore (that is Rs 110 million for those unfamiliar with crores) from the Percept Picture Company for his role in Tasveer, Nagesh Kukunoor's next production.
Funny, considering that the amount is pretty close to the collective budget of all of Nagesh's films in the past save Aashayein, which he is shooting now.
When another new corporate approached apna khiladi, Akshay asked for Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) for it. The corporate executive' smiled and said "Sirji, aap serious ho?" Akshay said, "Oh, meri bhool bhulaiya! I also want 50 per cent ownership of the negative rights!"
Last heard the exec was wondering why Akshay doesn't produce his own films.

Mangat's the man

Yaar, sade naal Kumar Mangat's story has really moved me. No Bollywood power list can be complete without him.

After producing Omkara, he has six films on the floor: Anurag Kashyap's No Smoking, Rohit Shetty's Sunday, the animation movie Toonpur Ka Super Hero, Ajay Devgan [Images]'s U, Me Aur Hum, and Ashwini Dheer's One Two Three and Haal-E-Dil (in which he is launching his daughter). Phew!
Though Mangat is known as Devgan's business manager what is not known is this -- he was a spot boy once, then a personal assistant, and then a production controller.
He started his own firm and went bust. He had not a single penny on him. To support himself he used to sell Diwali crackers. After that things improved. He joined Devgan once again, toiled his way up the production ladder. And look where he is now! Fultu filmy kahani, na?

Ramu ki aag!
These days Ram Gopal Varma increasingly resembles the Thakur character from Sholay. His directorial -- nah, make that entrepreneurial -- hands have been handicapped by Adlabs Films, the producer of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag.Ram Gopal Varma
The financial babus are poring over every little production detail during the making of the film. One enterprising accountant even demanded Mohanlal's boarding pass as proof that the Southern superstar actually took a flight to come to Mumbai.

Yaar, Basanti ke tange me ayega kya apna Mallu Thakur?
The news from Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad (where RGV is shooting the sequel to Sarkar) is that he has tied up with Bharat Shah to start his factory again. Praveen Nischol, formerly with Adlabs Films, is pitching in as the new CEO. Gulp. I desperately need a swig of malai lassi.

'Anubhav Sinha's Cash' gets back its original title 'Cash' and is now postponed by a week to August 3. The makers give the real picture

It's final. 'Cash' would now be coming a week later and eventually release on 3rd August. Other development is regarding the film's title which is back to 'Cash'. This means that it would no more be 'Anubhav's Sinha's Cash', as seemed to be the case till a few days back.

"And I am so happy about it", shoots Anubhav who is visibly tired with all the running around at courts and censor office. "It would have been so pompous to name a film like this. Ramu can do it since he has number of hits under his belt, I cannot since I still have some way to go", says the soft spoken director.

For the uninitiated, 'Cash' has been in trouble, especially since last few weeks, due to dispute between Anish Ranjan, film's producer and Sohail Maklai who had earlier begun work on the film. Till yesterday, the two were making rounds of the court w.r.t. holding rights over the film.

Anish Ranjan is furious though he keeps his emotions in control while speaking about the entire issue. "I won't deny that the film coming next week would not incur losses for us. What Sohail has done is surely going to get him in jail. He has done contempt against court by not presenting the documents to us which were required to be submitted to the Censors. He was instructed by court to do it and we waited till late yesterday evening for that."

Isn't it sad for Anubhav to be involved in something like this when he could have used this quality time to promote his film further? Says an exasperated Anubhav, "Kya karen? It is indeed sad. It is just not a happy moment to be encountering the very same person (Sohail) in court corridors with whom you were once making a movie together. All this while I have never been to a High Court but now I am forced to do that."

What happens now? "The film gets delayed, simple. Even though Censors have passed the film as U/A with zero cuts, the certificate can be issued only after the required documents are submitted by Sohail. Court had asked him to do that but he has made everyone wait. In fact he was also in the extortion mood by asking for certain obscene amount of money. We of course decided not to bow down to such unreasonable and unethical demands. We would rather have the film come a week late and fight it out in the court rather than take something like this lying down", fumes Anish.

How hopeful is he now that the film would come on August 3rd. Anish composes himself while replying, "I am not just hopeful but quite positive that 'Cash' would now make it next week. I am sure we would get all the documents today post which we would get censor certificate. We would then start dispatching the film's prints in the overseas market. Meanwhile I would make sure that Sohail gets back what he has done to us. There have been so many third parties with big money involved. For all the financial losses, mental anguish and harassment we have faced, he would be dragged further in the court of law. I would sue him with such a huge figure that he would end up having his properties detached and spend considerable number of years in jail."

Isn't he looking at pacifying since the film is finally hitting the marquee? Explains Anish, "It is all about taking accountability of the wrongs that you have done. If I have done something wrong, question me, argue with me. Same holds good for you too. Agar tumne kuch galat kiya hai to uska nateeja tum dekhoge hi."

With the solo release advantage going away, doesn't it become difficult for 'Cash' to make the same kind of money on its 3rd August release? "We don't have a choice but to increase the prints. Thankfully the buzz around the movie is quite strong and hence we are confident that the film would open quite well. Earlier we had 700-800 prints worldwide. Now we will come up with an even higher number. I am actually genuinely feeling sorry for 'My Father Gandhi' (another film that comes on 3rd August). I wanted that film to work and I hope it will. The only factor is that earlier it too was the sole major release of the week but now it would have 'Cash' for competition."

Anubhav confirms, "Yes, we are looking at 650 odd prints just in India. It is going to be a huge release. I have been told by distributors that they are anticipating a much bigger and better response than 'Dus'. Also the economics have changed in last two years and the scale and canvas of 'Cash' is such that it should rake in good moolah."

So what is his plan of action from hereon? "Catch a breather", he exhales, "It has been a crazy last fortnight for all of us. Now it would be good to concentrate on upping the film's promotion. We can use this to our advantage and make sure that 'Cash' is everywhere. I am taking an extra week as a blessing in disguise!"

Karan Johar and Lara Dutta to shoot for an international ad

Filmmaker Karan Johar is known for his style and good knowledge of fashion. Karan has made few special appearances in fashion shows too. Now he will be shooting for a special ad campaign for Louis Vuitton. Lara Dutta will feature in the same ad campaign.

Excited about this campaign Karan informs that it will be a one day shoot on the streets of London. Karan will sport luxury leather accessories designed by a French designer. An interesting fact about this ad is that Karan is doing the whole campaign for free because of his long association with the brand.

According to him his relationship with the brand is from a long time. They had also designed for his film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and his celebrity chat show Koffee with Karan. Karan himself is a designer and designed for Shah Rukh Khan during Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Shemaroo to release 3D animation film on Ganesh festival

The animation genre has taken the Indian film industry by storm. Multiple projects in the animation format have been announced off lately. Shemaroo’s ‘Bal Ganesh’ follows suit.

Shemaroo Entertainment’s Animation Division in association with Astute Media Vision has worked on a 3D animation film called Bal Ganesh. Bal Ganesh is a fun-loving story of Ganesh – the elephant God – who is respected and loved – by all. His pranks and innocence as a child and his rise to the ranks of the ‘Numero Uno God’ is what the movie entails. In a nutshell, Bal Ganesh relives Baby Ganesh’s childhood antics, spiced with foot-tapping music, delicious modaks and naughty mooshak (mouse). This 100 minute film is directed by debutant director Pankaj Sharma. Shemaroo is already working on another animation film Ghatothkach – Master of Magic.

Shemaroo Entertainment plan to release the film during the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chaturthi making it an attraction of the season. Smita Maroo, VP Animation Division, Shemaroo Entertainment shares her thoughts, ‘Bal Ganesh is special since Ganesh remains a child throughout and portrays his playfulness like that of all children. The film has been created to connect today’s generation to a popular God. The film not only meets the taste and overall cool quotient of today’s audiences, but also maintains the sanctity of the God. Bal Ganesh is an exclusive treat from Shemaroo Entertainment to audiences all over, this Ganesh Festival”.

Another highlight of this film is that it brings together two popular sisters – Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar – after 3 decades to sing together for a film. The film has music composed by Shamir Tandon and other singers like Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan and Kailash Kher have lent their voices to the songs.

Other recently announced animated films

1). Hanuman Returns
2). Ghatothkach – Master of Magic
3). EKEH 2.0
4). Roadside Romeo
4). Kuchi Kuchi Hota Hai
5). Kamlu
6). Sultan – The Warrior
7). Gini and Jony
8). Hera Pheri
9). Friends Forever

Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna have sent a legal notice to the newspaper that had reported baseless stories on their fallout

A couple of days back, a leading Mumbai tabloid had reported that as per their ‘sources’, Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna had a fallout due to which Akshay moved out of the house and checked in at Mumbai’s J.W.Marriott hotel for four days. But this story hasn’t gone down well with Akshay and Twinkle who has slapped the tabloid with a legal notice.

Says an annoyed Akshay Kumar, “The article is a clear representation of careless and irresponsible journalism. The freedom of press comes with responsibilities, which seems to have been put aside to give way to shock value journalism”.

But why did he feel to react to the story if it was just a baseless rumour? “We have never reacted to what is written about us because we are happy in our own little world and have never felt the need to prove anything to anyone. But people are taking advantage of our silence to slander us and write things without an iota of truth, which we shall not accept anymore. Furthermore this has been done with a clear mandate to tarnish and damage our image”, explains Akshay.

“We are aware that we are public figures and accept and understand that we would be in constant public glare, but we definitely have an objection to baseless and incorrect stories based on a figment of imagination.”

So will he be taking any action against the newspaper? “A legal notice has been sent to the concerned publication and we will take them to court. A petition in this regard will also be filed in the court. We do not feel this article published warrants any comments from our side besides what has been listed above and therefore would leave it to our legal representation to handle.”, concludes Akshay.

Chunky Pandey to play a cartoon

Chunky Pandey is fully enjoying his second innings in Bollywood. After playing variety of roles in most of his recent movies, he is all set to play a cartoon character in a forthcoming children’s film.

This untitled cartoon film will be directed by Rajiv Ruia, who made children’s animated film called My friend Ganesha. Apart from Chunky Pandey the film also stars Gulshan Grover in a pivotal role.

Being confident about the script of the film, he informs that the film is going to be the mother of all cartoon films. He feels the most challenging part for him to be in the setup where the character is real in one half and animated in the remaining.

Rahul Bose's special birthday party at Toronto

Rahul Bose's 40th birthday promises to be extra-special. "Not only are they having a retrospective of my films at the Masala Mehndi Masti festival from July 27 in Toronto they're also hosting an inaugural party for the event," smiles Rahul.

Apparently the inaugural party is actually a smoke-screen for Rahul Bose's 40th birthday party. Laughs the actor. "Well, the party is listed in the programme as my birthday. But I'd like to think of it as the inauguration party. They're hosting it at the Liberty Grand in central Toronto. The location can't get any posher than that. And if they say it’s my birthday location, so be it. I don't mind."

Birthdays generally mean dinner with his sister and niece ("My World") topped by a night out with his friends from his Rugby world.

"I guess God decided the 40th birthday was much too special for the routine," quipped Rahul before leaving for his retro in Toronto.

Govinda stars in Ganesh Acharya's next

Choreographer Ganesh Acharya wore the director’s hat with the film Swami which released last month. It was a very simplistic film which starred Juhi Chawla and Manoj Bajpai. Ganesh is now busy setting things up for his next venture titled Money Hai To Honey Hai. And for this film, Ganesh has signed his favourite star, Govinda, to play the lead role. The film will be produced by Kumar Mangat.

Mangat informs that along with Govinda, Irrfan Khan and Upen have also been finalized for the film while they are yet to finalize the leading lady of the film. They are also looking out for one more hero for the film for which they are in talks with some big stars.

Director Ganesh Acharya says that Govinda is like his brother. When he decided to turn Ganesh expressed his wish to work with Govinda. Govinda though didn’t do Swami, he promised to do Ganesh’s second film.

Talking about Govinda’s character, Acharya says that Govinda plays a carefree man who lives in the moment in MHTHH.

Mauzam Baig has written the script of Money Hai To Honey Hai and Nitin Arora and Sony Chandy will be the music directors. Ganesh plans to start the shoot in October. The film will be entirely shot in Fiji Islands and Mauritius.

'Cash' shifted to 3rd August

Will it make it on 27th July? Or will it be shifted ahead? The suspense has finally ended. Since the past few days, the topic of discussion in the industry was – will CASH make it on the scheduled date? In fact, this writer was inundated with calls from distributors and exhibitors, enquiring about the release date.

Till Wednesday morning [25th July], the censors hadn’t watched the film. But the censor screening took place on Wednesday evening. “The censors have passed the film with UA certificate, without cuts,” director Anubhav Sinha divulged.

CASH has been pushed ahead by one week. “The film will now hit the screens on 3rd August, not this Friday [27th July],” Sunir Khetarpal of Adlabs told this writer. So, it’s CASH versus GANDHI MY FATHER versus NAYA DAUR [colored version] next Friday.

Snippet: Sanjay Dutt's ‘mantra’ for life!

For years Sanjay Dutt’s young fans have imitated his fashion fundas and style statements and treated anything he does as their mantra for life. Now the man himself has found his own sacred mantra. We all know how religious Sanju is; in fact, he doesn’t ever leave the house without his morning prayers.
During Navratri, there’s a special puja in his house every day, and of course, he’s purely shakahari for those nine days. Sanju recently learnt the Gayatri mantra, and now his day begins with chanting. The chores come only later. Well, we wonder if his fans will follow this ‘mantra’, too. It’s called blind faith, right?

Growing up with SRK

We asked readers to tell us if they had grown up or studied with movie or television celebrities. And we got a great response!
Sharing his experiences is Sanjeev Sharma who knew Shah Rukh Khan [Images] in his childhood.
During the early 1980s, I was still a child, and lived in Jharoda Police Training School in Delhi. Shah Rukh Khan would come there often for a puppet show. He would even snack in the Delhi police canteen.
He had a charming personality and mingled with the Jats in the training school. He would talk about the movies, and his love for Gauri, his girlfriend then.
Shah Rukh would often complain to my father, an ACP (Assistant Commissioner of Police), why Gauri's father was against their marriage because of religion.
After six months, he left Delhi. He bagged the television serial Fauji, and moved to Mumbai. Later, he returned for a bit to get his passport made.
Grew up with a star in the same neighbourhood? Studied with them in school? Had a star friend in college? Hung out at the canteen together? Bunked classes? Maybe even hit on the same pretty people?

What were they like? What did you think of them then? Did you ever foresee their success?