Latest Gossips From The Cinema World
Latest Gossips From The Cinema World

That Deepika Padukone is a stunner, is a well known fact. But what about her being  the most searched celeb on the web? She certainly is, reckons Yahoo! India, which has honoured famous celebs, premium brands and organisations that created a buzz on cyber space last year.  Not just Deepika, but Tata Nano, among others has also been awarded for being the rage that it was in 2008. According to Gopal Krishna, vice-president and head of audience, emerging markets, Yahoo!, ” searching the web has changed the way we gather information. To celebrate this all-pervasive Internet behaviour,  we created Yahoo!India Search Buzz  2008.We sifted through the millions of searches performed on Yahoo! India and focused on the people behind the most searched words-movies, celebs, companies, and institutions,, among others.”

On being conferred this award, Deepika says, “I’m surprised and flattered by the audience’s response, and it inspires me to work harder.” And the innovativeness doesn’t end with the award format. ” Instead of calling these people for a typical award ceremony, we went to felicitate them wherever they could be found during their normal day. Possibly, a first of its kind in India,” says Gopal.  So, the high-profile awardees, including Katrina Kaif [most searched celebrity on Yahoo! mobile], director Vipul Shah [ Singh Is Kinng], Sheetal Shdhir [Get Gorgeous],  Sanjay Aggarwal, MD, [ Indian Railwayswebsite], Yuvraj Singh and Prof.Jawahar [VC- Anna University] were tracked to theri workplace or shooting spots to confer the awards. Vipul is also elated with this award and says, ” It’s great to know the enormous interest shown by people towards Singh Is Kinng.”

Golden star Ganesh has chosen Maleyalli Jotheyalli as his first home production. He’s  tasted success as a romantic hero, and faced flops as an acting star. Now, Ganesh will take on a role- that of a producer. “I’ve started my own poduction house with my wife  Shilpa, who’ll be producing our films,” the Golden Star confirms. The actor, who will produce a film a year, says this move was a natural progression. “i started off with sreials and then did films in which I played different roles that came  my way.  I always wanted to understand every aspect of cinema and one such role is being  a producer. Shilpa and I have been thinking about this for the past year and I was just waiting for the past year and I was just waiting for a good script,” says G.

And he found it in Preetham Gubbi’s Maleyalli Jotheyalli. ” It all started the day my daughter was born. Preetham told me about the script he was working on, and later, came back and narrated the story to me. Its a very inspiring story and will be a great maiden venture for our banner. In fact, couple of other producers liked that script,but now its in my lap,” says. Ganesh. But he isn’t abandoning acting. In fact, Ganesh is also starring in Maleyalli Jotheyalli, and  promises to act in films under othr banners as well.  The hunt for two new heroines is currently on and Maleyalli…. will go on the floor by July 2, which is G’s birthday. The film will be shot during the monsoons. “After all, rain has given me a huge success,” signs off the debutant producer.

The great actor now appears in an exciting show on Times Now, so you can sit at home and become a couch potato-to view an exclusive and exciting show on Amitabh Bachchan, which will give viewers an insight into the country’s biggest supestar and his life. Total Recall, is a two part tribute to the Big B, right from his days in Ananda, to what he is busy with now. The initial struggle the breakthrough with Zanjeer, then Deewar, his conflict with the media, Sholay and his friendships in the industry-get it all form Amitahb himself now, as Timea Now catches him in a rare and remiscent mood.

He  tells Times Now of his chemistry with Dharamendra during the making of Sholay. “We lived in the same hotel adnused the same car. One day, we got stuck in traffic jam in Bangalore and the car broke down. The crowd saw Dharamj and me and stated mobbing us. So, in true Veeru and Jai style, we got out, hired a rickshaw anf went the entire 30-40 kms in the three wheeler as we wanted to get out of it,” he recall. But that’s not all, he has many more of these incidents to share, so let’s not miss it.

Contacting Raghu Ram isn’t any less daunting than the jaw dropping tasks that he makes his participants of his show perform. He’s changed his number, and for good reasons. Now, only callers whose numbers are saved on his  mobile, can reach him.  “I changed my number after it was splashed actress several websites,” says Raghu. Hence Abbas Tyrewala, the director of Jaane Tu ….Ya Jaane Na, couldn’t contact him when he wanted to make him an offer for his next film- 1-800-Love, starring John Abharam and Abba’s wife Pakhi.  ” My wife Sugandha Garg, who played Shaleen, the tomboy of the gang in Jaane…. gave my number to Abbas. Then he called me for an audition and I liked the profile of the character. It’s a fairly nice meaty role,” says Raghu.

The director was looking for a certain kind of personality for the film, maintains Raghu. “In fact, when I read the script for the first time months ago, there was a requirement for a lean, bald guy with a goatee,” says Raghu. But he won’t demonstrate his agggressive streak in the film, something that he is known and dreaded for on the reality show he hosts.  “I am quite aggressive in real life too, but my character is that of a very funny guy who turns serious when he falls in love. I play John’s friend, John’s conscience in a way.  Interestingly, my wife played Genelia’s conscience in Jaane…..,” says Raghu.  On the unusual title of the film, he says, ” 1-800  is usually a helpline number, so the film has got something to do with that concept, and will go on production in July and will be shot in London.

Aa Dinagalalli, he did it in Birugaali, Ee Sali, Namma Chetan will show off his newly tones abs in the forthcoming SuryaKanti. Teaming up once again with his mentor Chaitanya Karehalli of Aa Dinagalu, Chetan plays an assassin in this flick. So, where does our man flaunt his mean body? ” Its in a flight, which is more of a Kusti. And in the process, my shirt gets ripped off,” says Chetan. Is he aware that he sets the mercury soaring and the girls holding their breath with he takes off his shirt? “Its flattering to heat that, but we haven’t done this intentionally,” says Chetan.

The actor has even been training in tae-kwon-do for his fights for the past few months. “I’ve been on a strict diet and am avoiding carbs and fatty food, its just fruits, veggies and chappatis for me,” says the actor, who’s been working out for three hours everyday to maintain his lean frame.Director Chaitanya is also impressed with Chetan’s dedication. ” He’s been working hard and it really shows. We will be shooting the flight scene soon and it’ll either in Kundapur or Belgaum. While the script did call for Chetan to go bare-chested, this onn’e also for the girls !” laughs Chaitanya.

One of the hottest topics of discussion in the Southern industry , is which actor will take on the role of late Vellupillai Prabhakaran, and which director will get behind the camera to film a biopic on the chief of the exterminated LTTE. Last month, Prakash Raj set the ball rolling at an interactive session organised by the Karnataka Film    Journalist Association in Bangalore. He said that he was offered the role of Prabhakaran by a famous director and was toying with the idea of  doing it.

The actor was quoted saysing, “I’d like to perform the role according to the demands of the script and won’t do any homework or preparation as I want to be very spontaneous.” But once he was back in Chennai, he said he had no desire to play the role of the LTTE chief. Soources close to Malayalam actor, Mohal Lal, say he isn’t averse to doing the role, but he will work only with a dierctor he trusts, like Mani Ratnam or RGV.

The only person who is firm about the commitment to making a film on the LTTE chief is  AMR Ramesh, the Kannada film maker who made critically acclaimed Cyanide. Says Ramesh, ” I’ve been doing research on Prabhakaran and the LTTE. That may take over a year, as the film has to be authentic, for which the extensive research and visits to Sri Lanka are a must.” The director has already found a producer to make the film in English and Tamil.

Ramesh claims that the LTTE political wing’s chief Tamilselvan [who died a few months ago in a SriLanka Aarmy air raid], called him after watching Cyanide and congradulated him on making a brilliant film. He also agreed to arrange a meeting between Ramesh and Prabhakaran to help the former know more about the LTTE chief. ” I can make an objective film on Prabhakaran without making him look like a martyr or a terrorist. Both the LTTE and Karthikeyan, the investigation officer in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, were all praise for Cyanide, as it did not glorify terrorism,” says Ramesh.

Though is is beleived that Genalia’s debut was Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Na, she is in truth two films old. But of course one can never change people’s perceptions. Her debut was in fact, Tujhe Meri Kasam, which brought her into an industry and a career that she never had imagined. She too is puzzled that people can forget Tujhe…. As much as Jaane  Tu……. was the best thing that happened to her, it was Tujhe …. which was the moment of her becoming an actress.” At that point, not many were interested in Genelia, though now they may look foward to my next film But at that time, I wasn’t the main attraction of the film,” she agrees.

Genelia totally denies that there were any kind of cold wars between her and Imran Khan during the movie, as the reports said, sayign that she and Imran are still in touch with each other, though Imran being a very private person, they are not the best of friends.  After working with debutants like Imran Khan and Hurman Baweja, Genelia is surprised at how much they know about filmmaking and cinema.  “They have gron up in the industry and films have been theri passsion for years. For me, its not a passion, it is something that has grown on me over time, and I had no plans of being an actress. I was an athelete and saw myself working in a 9-5 job,” says Genelia.

She loves he south films, and over time, she started understnading the beauty of it, and the culrutal difference it makes.  But she says that in the South, the actors are accepted only for a film or two, as they are constantly in  search of newcomers, and the shelf life of a heroine is really short. ” Thankfully for me, I have lasted longer. I love doing films there and I wasn’t doing them while waiting for  a Bollywood offer. As for Hindi film indsuty, I am too new to talk aboout competetion, but  I am talking one film at a time,” she confesses.

Sooni Taraporevala is busy on the way to making a transition from being a screenplay writer to director.  This debutant director of Little Zizou, in fact wanted to be an actress with specs and braces. She is unable to control her hysterical aughter reliving her little gal fantasies. By her own admission, she was a very odd kid. Her friends called her ‘Sooni The Loony,’ fondly. At anothre point, Sooni wanted to be a criminal lawyer becasue she had romantic notions of fighting for justice.But that too  faded over time, she recalls overcome with giggles once again.

But somehow, this filmbug lingered in this Harvard educated Parsi girl from Gowalia Tank. That explains screenplays of acclaimed films like Salaam Bombay, Mississipi Masala, and The Namesake among others.  And she debut directoral venture Little Zizou in its second week, ans she is hopping her way from multiplex to multiplex to check how her film’ s doing.  For someone who is used to writing commissioned work, writing Little Zizou must have been a tough experience. Sighing about her long journey, Sooni says, ” after 20 years of writing for others, I wanted to write something totally for myself, and I was determined to direct it myself.”

She is also an accomplished photographer and has published a book of her photographs.  Sooni says photography and screenplay writing are closely related. ” I think photography helps screenplay because I think visually and I think screenplay helps my photography in the sense that I am always thinking of narratives in my picture even though there is a frame, and very often there is a story within that frame.” Never having learnt screenplay writing formally, Sooni is averse to the idea of conducting screenwriting workshops. ” We have come a long way from neglecting screenwriting to teaching it in a very formulaic way. I hope we don’t replace the downfalls of screenwriting in America,” she says.

There have been compliments galore for Little Zizou, and of them all she cherishes one from a lady who lost her husband and had not been  to the theatre for four years, but said Little Zizou made her really very happy. But what she loved most was the responses of the kids bucause they are always totally honest and they do not try to butter you up, feels Sooni. The film has recieved its fair share of criticism too. Some felt that it worked more as a book on the lines of Rohinton Mistry’s Tales From Firozsha Baug.  She is cretain her next outing will be  a Parsi story.  For now, she is content in the space that she exists but there was one film review which apparently the newspaper that has her fuming. ” The viewer gave two stars, which is fine because you have your own opinion. But what she objected to was it being called a Parsi film. How many Parsi films are we going to tolerate? she asked.  Aren’t Parsis Indians? How many Indian movies are actually made on Parsis? I do not understand why they characterise films.”

Her  greaseless, translucent face, and her eyes-her emotive tools- that hint mysteriously at her rendevous with life and cinema, Tabu always listens to her heart. Even politicians are beguiled by that look. Benazir Bhutto enjoyed Cheeni Kum, Tabu’s last film and in an interview, praised the actress for her fantastic performance. A few years ago, J&K chief minister, the debonair Omar Abdullah, named Tabu as his favourite actress on a TV show. For two decades now, the tall girl with the short chic name has walked tall.  Tabu was a nickname given to her by her mentor Dev Anand in her debut Hum Naujawan. ” I am too tall for my name. Some day, I may just take to using my full name-Tabassum Hashmi,” she jokes.

” Nobody can take credit for my success,” she says. That she chose that path less trodden and left imprints in the bargain is well known.  All her decision are solely  her own, with no body responsible other than her. Each time she was discouraged, she went back with her heart.  Its the same mentality which governs her close friendship with directors Farah Khan, Sajid Khan, Gulzar, Rajeev Menon and actor Nagarjuna, among many others. ” I treasure my friends and dedicate my success to them. After all, people make your life,” she says. coming back to her career,  where she has Baat-Pakki, Season’s greetings and Banda yeh Bindaas Hai, why is she so thrifty in the number of films she chooses to star in?

” I dont’ do a few films delibrately. I enjoy acting and I also enjoy the alternative life. I have gone back to my reading phase. I love travelling and am also dabbling in photography, clicking people and nature,” she says adding, “I enjoy the limelight, but I don’t get withdrawal symptoms when I am away from it. We are all driven by some kind of insecurity of fear, but I know where to stop and say’ENOUGH”, but I can’t multitask,” she says. She likes to evolve with each film, and loves to be true to her character. Her intentions are not to rise above the script, if it happens it is a bonus, says Tabu.

Priety gets candid on her singleton status and returns to commercial cinema with a vengeance. She had disappeared from mainstream cinema for two full years, on a quest to do something more meaningful in her life. So off  the cuff, she showed off her acting chops in movies like The Last Lear and Deepa Mehta’s Heaven On Earth [in India it is called Videsh:Heaven On Earth.] In return she won the best actress award at the Toronto film  festival for Heaven On Earth. But there’smore to her than the movies. The second season IPL has brought about more stakes than before.

Then there’s the charity work she has undertaken. She’s decided to sponsor 34 poor girls, take care of their education, clothing and food. Yes, Priety Zinta is getting bigger than her movies. if rumors about her split with Ness Wadia are making the rounds,she won’t dignify them with a quote. Prodded she says, “Babes, I’m tired of giving quotes on my relationship. I won’t talk about my personal relationship.”  Instead, she delightfully recounts the year that was and how she broadened her horizons. Beginning with the one bright spot in her career, her role in Heaven On Earth. Though it was panned by critics in India, Priety was unperturbed.

“Most of our films are escapist, all they do is entertain you. But this movie is a slice  of real life. The only thing cinematic about it is that it was shot. The film is based on not one but a couple of true stories. Ans its also been inspired by Girish Karnad’s play Nagamandala. The attempt in the movie is to highlight the plight of women and what happens even in todays’ times,” explains Priety. Whatever the fate of the film as an actor, she has done films for creative satisfaction, for money and to be part of a project, for co-stars because she loves working under certain production houses.

Heaven….. may not have the colours and hues of hardcore commercial cinema, but that is the hard fact of life, you can’t live in a la-la land forever, says Priety. She confides that she met several women who’d been victims of domestic voilence before  she embarked on this project just to get a clear picture. ” I have never known anything like this before and it saddens me. Believe me, sometimes ignorance is bliss. I’ve been lucky that my parents have given me a good education, and gave my prother and me equal opportunities, and never tried to stunt our growth, There are girls frommiddle class families, who get married and if things dont’ work out, they have no way out,” she says.

According to her, this is the best time to be in the industry, saying that it is not about the hero or heroine anymore. ” Today there are no roles for actors below 25 years in Hollywood. The power roles come after 30, till the you are just faffing around. My logic  is, if I want to do something, I’ll do it with aplomb. People said that I couldn’t play Indian charcters, because my body lnguage wsa too western, but I did Heaven…. and Heroes. people can never sat that again. I always beleive that God is on my team and I have the power to choose what I want,” she clarifies.