BUZZThe

Akshay’s tricks and treats

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar did what he does best in Sajid Khan’s comedy film Housefull, where he jumped from one balcony to another for a scene, without using any harness. “Akshay had to jump from one balcony to another for a scene. It was advisable to use cables for it since it was quite risky and one small slip would have him badly injured. But Akshay refused and did the stunt himself, minus the cable wires,” said a source from the production unit. The romantic comedy also features Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Arjun Rampal, and is due for an end-April release. That’s Akshay for you…brave and foolhardy at the same time. Wonder what wife Twinkle thought of that stunt? But that’s not all. In a moment of spontaneous generosity, the hunky hero gifted director Sajid Khan a limited edition Tag Heuer watch. “Akshay Kumar watched a couple of scenes of the film and loved it. After viewing those few scenes there is no doubt in his mind that the film will do well. He gifted Sajid Khan a watch to show his appreciation,” a source said. Wow, now that’s what I call a true treat! Lucky Sajid…

Slated to release in July, I Hate Luv Storys a romantic movie produced by Karan Johar and directed by debutant Punit Malhotra. It will have Sonam cast alongside Imran Khan and Sammir Dattani.

In the midst of promoting these films, Sonam will also be doling out time to her new films - Anees Bazmee’s romantic comedy Thank You opposite Akshay Kumar, Pankaj Kapoor’s Mausam with his son Shahid and another hush-hush one. Seems like Sonam’s going to be one busy lady this year. Well, her fans will certainly be pleased.

Sonam’s a busy babe

Sonam Kapoor has done just two movies since her debut in 2007, but this year, the actress has her hands full with the release of two projects and shooting schedules of three movies.

The 24-year-old, who was first seen opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya and later in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi-6, is awaiting the release of Aisha and I Hate Luv Storys in 2010.

“Guys, I’ve finished filming Aisha and I Hate Luv Storys and they will be my two releases this year. I’m working on three more films this year. I’m doing Thank You, Mausam and the third one I can’t talk about,” Sonam posted on her Twitter page Saturday.

In Aisha, which is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, Sonam plays the role of an uber chic high society girl and has three actors opposite her - Abhay Deol, Arunudoy Singh and popular veejay Cyrus

Vivek’s ready to steal the show

Adrenaline pumping action, cutting edge technology and with three actresses wooing him, Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi is all set to make a grand comeback as the solo lead in action film Prince releasing soon.

With a whopping budget of over Rs.40 crore (Rs.400 million), the two-hour-sixminute venture boasts of action sequences exceeding an hour. It is releasing with over 1,000 prints worldwide. Directed by debutant Kooki V. Gulati, Prince stars Nandana Sen, Aruna Shields and Neeru Singh as the female lead. Sanjay Kapoor and Dalip Tahil also star in the movie.

“‘Prince is my first action film and will showcase me in a new avatar. It’s a story that could be every man’s fantasy and every man’s nightmare,” said an upbeat Vivek in an interview. Shot across South Africa, Thailand and India, Prince narrates the story of a quick-witted thief who wakes up one morning to realise that he has a gunshot about how he got it because he has lost his memory and that his life is at stake. In his quest to find answers he discovers his name is Prince, he used to work for a man named Sarang and that his girlfriend’s name is Maya. He is being hunted by the secret service of India I Grip, the CBI and the biggest white collared criminals in the world.

He realises that he is the most wanted man in the country because only he knows the whereabouts of a heist, which contains a secret that is linked not only to his memory loss but something that also threatens the future of the human race.

Prince tries relying on his razor sharp instincts to salvage himself, as the web of deception spins and he gets more entangled, as everyday he meets a new girl who claims to be Maya, he doesn’t know which side of the law he is on and above all he has only six days to live.

Vivek lost 12 kilos for the film and had to undergo about five months of rigorous physical training that included skate- arts, kicks and punches practice.

The 33-year-old has also jumped from a 32-storied building to a 28-storied one in the film and that too on a bike.

The film has been in the news for a while because of the intimate scenes filmed with Vivek with his actresses. Prince is also releasing simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu, apart from Hindi. So will Vivek scorch the screen and rise up like the fabled phoenix, ready for a new career? Let’s wait and see…

Move over Barbara, Aida’s here!

After Brazilian Giselle Monteiro and Mexican Barbara Mori, it’s Egyptian Aida Elkashef’s turn to make her debut in an Indian movie as an actress. Director Anand Gandhi says initially he didn’t plan to cast her in Theseus’ Ship. “I met Aida at the Berlin Film Festival where she had come to showcase one of her movies,” Gandhi said

(Find the answer under Caption Contest) in a phone interview. “She is just 21 and the daughter of a respected filmmaker from Egypt. She has made a couple of short films and is also an amazing actor.”

Gandhi, who earned acclaim for his short films, Right Here Right Now (2003) and Continuum (2006), says he had initially written Aida’s part for an Indian actress but failed to find the right face for it. “Her role wasn’t planned at all. She had come to India after we met in Berlin and started helping us out in auditioning male actors so that we could cast one of them opposite the character of a female photographer,” he said.

“During the screen test, we saw how excellently she performed the lines of the photographer. It was then that we decided to rewrite the part for an Egyptian girl rather than an Indian one,” he added.

Gandhi, who used to earlier pen for small screen’s biggest shows Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, says he auditioned close to 35 Indian actresses for the role, but couldn’t settle for any.

“I can’t name the actresses I auditioned, but there were around 30-35. It was frustrating because none of them fitted the bill. I feel there is a serious dearth of acting skills and craftsmanship here because sadly, the general perception among Indian actors is that if you hit the gym regularly, you can make a successful actor.”

For Theseus’ Ship, which is a multi-lingual film primarily in English with parts in Arabic, Hindi, Gujarati and Swedish, Gandhi has also cast Soham Shah, who made his debut with Baabarr in 2009.

“I had not seen Soham’s mainstream film when he auditioned for my film but with whatever I have shot with him, I can say he is a very different and amazing actor. He plays a stockbroker in my project,” he said. Theseus’ Ship weaves four tracks together. These include a story of an intuitive blind photographer, a monk’s ethics put to test, an obsessive compulsive clockmaker with an ailing heart, and a young stockbroker who gets caught up in the stolen kidney racket.

The narrative will travel to Cairo, Stockholm and Mumbai.

After shooting the Indian part of the film, Gandhi will be moving to Sweden and plans to finish the shooting schedules by September-end. He plans a festival release for the film rather than a commercial one. Another indication that Bollywood’s going global….

Raajneeti rocks for Prakash Jha

Filmmaker Prakash Jha, who has a penchant for realistic cinema, says his upcoming dark political drama Raajneeti on which he has been working since the past four years, is his most complete film ever.

“Rajneeti has been a long journey. It is a film about politics and tries to cover most aspects involved in politics - personal, family, social, state, national. Basically, the film tries to showcase what happens in politics. And I would say this is my most complete film,” said Jha at a press meet recently. The film features an impressive ensemble cast with actors such as Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai, Arjun Rampal, Naseeruddin Shah and Ajay Devgn playing major roles.

The filmmaker, who also contested the Lok Sabha elections last year, says he has had a fulfilling experience working with each and every member of the cast, including the badmaash Ranbir and Katrina.

“I am grateful to God that Ranbir agreed to play this role. He has put in days and nights of effort to play his character and he has done it with utmost honesty. He is one of my dearest actors and I really thank God for giving me Ranbir for this film,” said Jha, as Ranbir bent down to touch his feet out of respect.

Jha was all praise for Katrina Kaif, who overcame her difficulty in speaking Hindi and delivered her dialogues with clarity even in front of a gathering of 10,000 people.

“Katrina is inspiring. Her quality of work, innocence, honesty and dedication is extremely inspiring. The movie was very tough for Katrina and it took her a lot of courage and confidence to essay the role, give it her best. It’s my good luck that I cast her,” he said. Though Katrina’s simple and sari-clad look in the film has been attracting queries about the resemblance of her character with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Jha clarified saying, “The film is not based on any political party or follows any ideology. It is a film that is based on reality of the politics.”

Raajneeti is set to release in June this year, after a huge promotional campaign that will soon be launched across eight cities in India. After which, Kat will probably be launched into politics for real! Well, she’d certainly make a stunning PM!

Maradona shows off his muscles

Young Maradona Rebello had to do some very strange and unconventional things in his debut film Pankh - get smooched by a man and go completely nude in front of his screen mother, Lilette Dubey. Confessed Maradona, “It’s been a harrowing time for me. I’ve given the role everything because I believed in the film. It’s the story of a pushy mother and a male child who’s pushed into the movies dressed as a girl. My character grows up confused about his sexuality. I had to do many things that didn’t come naturally to me because I’m a straight guy. I had to kiss a man, get pushed around by him.”

Worst of all were the cross-dressing scenes.

“When I came on the set in a dress wearing stocking and lipstick, my director Sudipto-da freaked out. He was so apologetic. He asked everyone to leave the sets.

I told him to chill. But at night, I just couldn’t sleep, I was so hassled. Luckily, my parents supported me. They saw the film and loved my performance. My mom didn’t flinch when I stripped in front of my screen mother,” he says.

The character has changed Maradona’s life.

“I know I’m straight. But playing a guy confused about his sexuality can shake you completely,” he said.

The boy breathed a sigh of relief about his second film Dunno Y ...Na Jaane Kyun

“In this one I’m completely straight,” he quipped “In fact, I’m straight in Pankh as well. But throughout the film I had to keep trying to prove to the world that I am not gay.”

In the climax of the film, Maradona had to take off all his clothes and show his screen mom Lilette that he’s a man.

“Right through the film she keeps taunting me that I am no man. Finally, in a fit of rage I had to undress and show her that I am a man. It was a very difficult scene to do. Fortunately, Lilette made me very comfortable. Before the scene she hugged me and said it’d be fine. And it was,” he said.

For Maradona, the worst part was being kissed by a man.

“My co-star Amit Purohit had to kiss me on Marine Drive. Luckily, it was at night and not too many people were around,” he said, visibly embarrassed.

Ironically, in his second film Maradona has an affair with his sister-in-law, who’s married to his gay brother.

“I can’t reveal much about the part. But I got to work with screen divas like Zeenat Aman and Helen. Not bad for my second film,” he said.

As for being accepted as a gay role-model after the release of Pankh, Maradona said, “Why not? If people of either sex find me attractive I’m fine by it as long as I remain happily heterosexual in real life.” Sounds like Maradona’s a tough young guy, doesn’t it? But I’ll bet his next movie will be a rosily romantic one.

Bips, bold and beautiful

Bipasha Basu is known to be a sex siren and she has no qualms being sexy. “I want to be a sexy grandmother. I don’t mind being sexy at all,” remarked the gorgeous actress recently. At the unveiling of the Globetrotter Glam special issue of Marie Claire magazine, Bips got her message across to women of the world. “Real women have curves. Love yourself. Take out time for your own self. Be fit and fabulous,” she said. The Bong bombshell was happy to indulge in some personal praise, saying “If all of you have been seeing me over the years, you’ll know that I have a good level of smartness. You have to be smart. It’s very important to have a personality. Then, everything about you is amazing and attractive. You just can’t be beautiful and have a great body and not be smart and intelligent.”

She added,“It’s a tough job being an actor and being an actor coming from outside without any support system, making your name in this business.” Bips also offered fashion and health tips to the audience, who seemed to hang onto her very lips. Well, Bips certainly practices what she preaches!

Last issue Caption Contest winning entry

What are Sylvester Stallone and Kareena Kapoor saying to each other?

Sylvester: Bebo, what say that I’m more good-looking than Saif?

Kareena: I thought you and Saif were twins…

Maushami Chand, Pendle Hill, NSW

Maushami wins a prize from Indian Link

Some other good ones

Sylvester: We make a great couple.

Kareena: I think you and Saif will make a better one

Sylvester: Smile, you’re with Rambo

Kareena: You smile, you’re with Bebo.

Sylvester: Want tp learn how to build up muscles?

Kareena: No thanks, but how do I get a big mouth?