BUZZThe Postcancer, Lisa Ray back to her chirpy ways

After fighting a rare cancer of plasma cells, model-actress Lisa Ray is leading a healthy life and is in no hurry to act, but is instead keen to spread cancer awareness and write a book.

“I am engaging with the world, but with a different quality now,” she says. “Someone told me, ‘healing begins when you realise there’s no cure’. I’m not back to a normal life, but an extraordinary life because of the insights I’ve gotten and the changes I’ve made to my lifestyle. In a word: simplified.”

“My disease, multiple myeloma, is in remission. We don’t take the attitude that it is ever gone completely, but we monitor regularly and now I’m leading a particularly healthy life,” Lisa, 38, said.

Lisa, who looks forward to the release of her film Cooking With Stella, is trying to do things she enjoys but is living life on her own terms.

“I don’t believe in a swinging career. I believe in living my life to the fullest and career is just one small aspect. I think I sacrificed a lot of my life for my career to date and it’s time to balance this out now. Cancer is a huge wake-up call.”

Lisa is in no hurry and hasn’t yet signed another film. As of now she is busy finding out platforms and ways to raise awareness for multiple myeloma.

Antara Mali is back, all bald and beautiful

The ‘once-upon-a-time hot’ Bollywood actress Antara Mali, who was last seen five years ago in the flick Mr Ya Miss, is all set to make a comeback of sorts but in an entirely She was supposed to have quit films after her marriage, but she is coming back with a bang. Antara has got a makeover that most Bollywood actresses wouldn’t even dare to dream about. She’s playing a Buddhist monk, and has gone and shaved her head for the role! This is for in acclaimed yesteryear actor and director Amol Palekar’s film And Once

However, the actress states that the film is not her return vehicle. “I am not making a comeback. I just did this film because Amol approached me and it was a great story. Don’t mark this film as my return. I am not returning to the screen,” she said. “I am not averse to acting, but I will work only once in a while and when I get something as good. Else I am happy doing other things,” said

Dealing with the intricacies of adult relationships, the film, slated to hit screens August 13, subtly talks about repercussions of violence on human life and the lingering shadow it casts on us with its startling shades. The film has been shot in the beautiful locales of Sikkim and stars Rajat Kapoor and Rituparna Sengupta in the lead roles Antara Mali.

Antara admits it wasn’t easy shaving her head. “I did suffer later, but I still have no regrets,” Antara said

“When Amol da told me that I would have to shave my head for the role in the film, my initial reaction was just excitement because these are opportunities that don’t come to you too often and even if they come they

Guess Who

This actress and former Miss India is better known these days for her love of adventure sports, and for her twittering come at a wrong time”.

Antara, who made her acting debut in 1999 with Prema Katha, went on to do films like Mast, Khiladi 420, Company, Road, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon and Naach

She also produced and directed Mr Ya Miss in 2005 that failed at the box office. Antara hasn’t been seen in a film since then and she got married last year. “I think that at that point, I’d hit a dead end in terms of what I wanted to do. I wasn’t very sure and then I thought that I didn’t feel like working. All of us go through that phase,” she said.

We’ve seen Antara Mali in skimpy outfits before, but this time it’s her deglamourized role that is all set to charm the audience.

Way to go, Antara!

Anurag’s next That Girl… goes to Toronto, Venice film festivals

Hang up your boots and get ready to be excited. After the successful Dev D and Gulal, Anurag Kashyap is coming up with his next thriller That Girl in Yellow Boots But this is not the only reason to rejoice for all his fans out there.

Anurag Kashyap’s Udaan was the official choice at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year Now his Girl in Yellow Boots with Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah, is going to be screened at the upcoming Venice and Toronto film festivals respectively.

Produced and directed by Kashyap, the thriller will be screened under Out-ofCompetition section at the 67th Venice Film Festival to be held Sept 1-11. At the 35th Toronto International film festival, the movie will have its North American premiere under Special Presentations.

Co-written by Kashyap and his girlfriend Kalki Koechlin, That Girl in Yellow Boots is a story tracing Ruth’s (Kalki) search for her father in Mumbai. She struggles to find her independence and space even as she is sucked deeper into the politics of the city’s underbelly only to encounter a devastating truth.

Would love to work in a Bengali film: Sonam Kapoor

Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor dazzled Kolkata with her style quotient as she landed in the city to promote her upcoming film Aisha recently.

And when asked if she is interested in doing Bengali films, she said, “I would love to work in a Bengali movie if I am provided with a good script. Most of my favourite directors are Bengali. One of my most favourite directors is Bimal Roy.”

Roy, known as the “Silent Master of Indian Cinema”, was known for films like Do Bigha Zameen, Devdas, Sujata and Madhumati that had the power to inspire and move audiences.

The movies of Aparna Sen and Satyajit Ray also inspire her, she said.

Sonam was accompanied by most of her Aisha co-stars and sister Rhea, who is also the producer of the film.

Unheard melodies of Rafi, Madan Mohan released

Mohammad Rafi and Madan Mohan fans have a reason to cheer. Two unheard songs sung by Rafi and composed by Madan Mohan have been released to mark the death anniversaries unreleased as the respective films were shelved.

The first song, Ya illahi, ek haseena ne machai hai tabahi was recorded in the late 1960s and is a light, naughty track sung by Rafi in his inimitable style. The second song, Har sapna ek din toote is duniya mein, is a philosophical number recorded in the early 1970s.

Together, the talented duo worked on many unforgettable tracks like Ab tumhare hawale watan saathiyon, Yeh duniya ye mehfil, Tum jo mil gaye ho, Meri awaaz suno, Teri ankhon ke siwa and Kabhi naa kabhi, among many others.

The two songs are available on the website www.madanmohan.in

Ajay Devgn in Speed remake

Ajay Devgn becomes terrorist after gangster now. After acting in the movie Once Upon

A Time In Mumbai as a gangster named Sultan, Ajay has been signed to play a terrorist in Priyadarshan’s as-yet-untitled film inspired by Jan de Bont’s 1994 . The film will be shot on an actual subway train speeding from London to Glasgow. Devgn has been in the film industry for two long decades now and he has shown his acting skills in romantic, action and comedy roles. He also earned accolades in his negative role in the last smashing His recent release Once portrays him as a

The 1994 Hollywood thriller was about a bomb in a bus that would go off if the bus “But the film is not called , nor is it inspired by that film. I don’t know where this wrong news came from! It’s inspired by Speed. The difference is that we’ve translocated the terror attack from a bus to a train,” says Priyan, as he prepares to shoot this untitled thriller beginning September.

The most unusual part of the film is the casting. While Manoj Bajpai (a first for Priyan) has been cast in a positive role as the engineer trying to control the train’s speed so that the bomb doesn’t go off, Ajay Devgn plays the ace terrorist. The last time he was cast in a negative role was in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Khakee.

The actor will be seen placing a bomb under a train unlike the original movie, where the bomb was placed under a bus. Priyadarshan adds that they will have many more new ideas which will be further implemented in the movie.

“We have managed to take permission for shooting in a station in London and also inside a train. That was hard but at last we did it. Without the train and the actual locations, it does not make any sense to shoot the film”.

Priyadarshan has selected Kangana to play opposite Ajay Devgn. Both of them also star as a pair in the movie, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai. The others in the film include Sunil Shetty, Sameera Reddy, Tusshar Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayee.

Aamir loses sleep as PeepliLive release nears

Aamir Khan is known to give his heart and soul to his projects and the superstar admits that he’s extremely nervous as his production venture Peepli Live nears its release date.

“As 13th Aug gets closer, the butterflies in my stomach are really beginning to flutter around. Have lost my appetite and my sleep,” Aamir wrote on his blog.

“I’m really depending on you guys (audiences) this time round for support. This is an especially tough one with no big stars and a film based in a rural background.”

“For those of you living outside India please tell all your friends, neighbours, colleagues, gardeners etc, who may not have ever seen an Indian film before, to give this one a try. Assuming you like it of course,” he

Directed by debutant Anusha Rizvi, Peepli is a satire on society. It revolves around two impoverished farmers - Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Raghubir Yadav) - who live in a village called Peepli. They are about to lose their land due to their debts.

An incompetent politician suggests they commit suicide to get government help. The news spreads and the media turns Natha into

What’s Salman saying to his wax statue at Madama Tussaud’s?

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What’s the chitchat here between Shashi Kapoor and daughter Sanjana?

Look where Karina and Karishma have reached today. If only you didn’t insist on dressing like a sati savitri.

Raj Saneja

Castle Hill

Raj wins one free ticket to the new film Aisha. Distributed by mindblowingfilms