Big twist in Akki's comic plot!

Strange are the ways of show world. While the Hindi chant Hare krishna hare rama in Bhool Bhulaiya had some fundamental elements incensed, another song Allah haazif seems to be targeted at a Muslim audience to coincide with Eid.

Producer Bhooshan Kumar completely denies this. "We had the catchy phrase Alla hafiz in mind for a long time. You know how these lines like Mashaa Aallah and Ya Ali are working with the younger generation.

So there was a situation for a road song in Bhool Bulaiya where Allah Haazif worked fine. That the film is being released on Eid and the Muslim audiences would like that number is just a coincidence."

As for the Hare rama chant Bhooshan explains, "Yes there was some objection to the visuals of a Buddha statue and some glamour elements. We removed them. Even then some people objected to the song. But since it was approved by the Censors there isn't much that anyone can do."

Though the promotional clippings of Bhool Bhulaiya give the impression of being a comedy Bhooshan outright denies the film a place in the genre of hilarity.

"Of course Bhool Bhulaiya has a lot of funny moments. But those moments are combined with a supernatural element. This is a supernatural comedy, something never done before."

The T Series head honcho feels the days of the ouch-and-ouch comedies are numbered. "Partner did well. But Dhamaal and Dhol were not the hits they were expected to be. I think the audience is looking for a twist in their comedy. Bhool Bhulaiya provides that twist."

There's no funny stuff in Bhooshan Kumar's two forthcoming films.

"We have Nagesh Kukunoor's Aashayen and the other project tentatively titled Tasveer. Both serious films."

Hey Baby its Party time

Hey Baby its Party time

Early to bed and early to rise is what Akshay Kumar follows religiously in order to take time out to practice his martial arts before heading for the sets. But in Sydney, all that changed in the company of producer Sajid Nadiadwala.

Sajid loves the good life, and during the shoot of Heyy Babyy in Sydney, he ganged up with Fardeen to take Akshay partying in some of the city's best nightclubs. They partied till wee hours of the morning. And the fun didn't stop at that. Such was the male bonding that the three hit the fun hangouts day after day for an entire week.

Sources reveal the trio had such a blast that the action hero still swears that the Sydney trip was one of the best outdoor shoots he had ever done.

So now, if you ever spot Akshay skipping a martial art practice session or an early morning shoot, you will know that Sajid Nadiadwala is to blame for turning the actor into a party animal.

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!

Akshay-Twinkle: It's not over yet!

Akshay Kumar and wife Twinkle Khanna have shot off a legal notice to a certain publication in Mumbai for "publishing a false report on July 24, 2007".

The petition in this regard was filed in the court on July 26. The couple announced in the media: "We will not stand malicious reporting by any publication anymore. We will take them to court."

Their media statement reads: “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”.

The report in question claimed that the actor had checked into the JW Marriott, Juhu, for four days last month after an altercation with his wife "over his alleged philandering" with a Bengali starlet.

The report quoted sources saying: "We often saw Akshay's car stopping by at the actress's place at odd hours to pick her up. They were spotted together, sometimes even on the sets, where either of them was shooting."

It further added that Twinkle had given Akshay an ultimatum to mend his ways, but in vain. At present, Akshay is shooting in Ladakh for Yashraj Films's Tashn.

Rs. 1 crore video

Producers Bhushan Kumar and Kishen Kumar are going out of the way to give their best to their new production BHOOL BHULAIYAA, directed by Priyadarshan. Although Priyan has completed the principal shooting of the film and the producers have also announced the release date [12th October], the team has decided to shoot an additional song, a music video, that’ll be an integral part of the film and will also be used for promotional purposes.

The video will be filmed on Akshay Kumar in the first week of August at a suburban studio.

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.