But we have managed to get official confirmation from Abhishek Bachchan’s spokesperson that these reports floating around are nothing but plain rumours. We were further told that Abhishek is presently shooting for Ravana near Ooty and has not taken any appointment from any tattoo artist and has no such plans either.

The tattoo trend of imbibing one’s partner’s name on one’s most visible part of the body- the forearm had begun with Saif Ali Khan getting the ‘Kareena’ tattoo done. Akshay Kumar too has been sporting his son’s Aarav’s name on his back.

And now the thriller tentatively titled Crooked, which Abhishek and Aishwarya were supposed to start this summer, has been pushed to the end of the year, again for health reasons.

Director Abhinay Deo was supposed to start Crooked immediately after his directorial debut. However Abhinay who’s just wrapped up Delhi Belly for producer Aamir Khan has a seriousness illness in his family.

Deo’s wife has fallen ill, and the director suddenly needed to take time off to be with her thereby, throwing the entire Crooked schedule off course.

The project could’ve gone for a toss considering how busy the lead pair is and also considering the fact those huge amounts of date adjustment would already be required for Mani Ratnam’s film.

The other choice was for producers Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani to replace the director.

However showing rare and heartwarming solidarity the producers and the lead pair decided to wait for the director to be emotionally capable of shooting the film.

Says producer Ritesh Sidhwani, “There was no question of replacing Abhinay. Crooked is his baby all the way. And we wanted to make it only with him. Fortunately, Abhinay’s wife is now on the way to recovery. But he needs to be with her. Abhishek and Aishwarya have readjusted their dates. We now shoot in Greece, Istanbul and Thailand at year-end.”

Incidentally the film won’t be finally called Crooked.

“We need a good Hindi title. And we’ve told the film’s dialogue writer Anurag Kashyap to find one for us,” says Sidhwani.

To salute these unsung heroes of Indians, Bollywood star, Abhishek Bachchan travels to some of the locations where Kargil war was fought and interacts with them.

In this special episode of Jai Jawan, Abhishek visits a bunker at Sando top, and even tries his hand at firing a few rounds with them at the training centre and recounts his experiences while shooting for LOC Kargil. He also visits Vijay Gallery and meets two people associated with the Kargil War- Colonel YK Joshi, the then commanding officer of 13 KAK rifles and Barkha Dutt, who closely reported on the war from the border.

Abhishek responds to the warm hospitality exhibited by the jawans by offering Gajar Ka Halwa and Aam Ras especially made by Aishwarya Rai and Jaya Bachchan. The day is wrapped on an emotional note as Abhishek reads out a beautiful poem ‘Agnipath’ written by his grandfather Harivansh Rai Bachchan along with a message from his father.

Watch Abhishek Bachchan as he strikes a heartening camaraderie with our jawans only on Jai Jawan on Saturday, 25th July, 12.00 pm with a repeat on Sunday, 26th July, 11.30am and 9.30pm on NDTV 24×7. Also watch it on NDTV India on Saturday, 25th July, 9.30pm with a repeat on Sunday, 26th July at 9.30am and 10.30pm.

Directed by Karan Malhotra, a long time associate of Karan Johar, the film was long in talks with Hrithik Roshan being considered as the leading man for this cult classic, which propelled Amitabh Bachchan into super-stardom.

Recently, a lot of rumours were doing rounds as to who will star in the lead, as talks were on with both Hrithik and Abhishek Bachchan.

It was reported that Agneepath was one of Abhishek’s favourite films and he would love to fill in the shoes of his dad. Abhishek also mentioned, it was his dream to play one of his father’s characters and Agneepath was perhaps the best offer he could have expected.

And so, the producers approached Abhishek; as Hrithik who was the original choice, was unable to take up the role due to lack of dates.

But in a recent development, Hrithik has put Vishal Bharadwaj’s film on-hold, and gave a go ahead to Agneepath. Thereby, ending all hope for Abhishek Bachchan to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

Hrithik will start shooting for Agneepath, after Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish, thereby postponing Vishal Bharadwaj’s film, which by the way was scripted specifically for Hrithik.

A 1990 blockbuster, Agneepath; was directed by Mukul S. Anand and produced by Karan’s father Yash Johar. The remake will be directed by Karan Malhotra one of Johar’s trusted lieutenants.

A source present at the awards nite told us, “Abhishek began his dance performance with the super hit track Genda Phool from his last release, Delhi 6. He followed it up with three back to back Dostana songs – Maa Da Laadla, Jaane Kyu and Desi Gal.”

“Abhishek Bachchan’s performance was greeted with a huge cheer and drew the maximum applause when it ended. He was simply magical on stage.” our source concluded.

The Junior Bachchan also won the Best Comic Actor Award for his act in Dostana at IIFA Awards 2009.

Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Sushmita Sen, Sonam Kapoor, Sophie Chaudhry, Randhir Kapoor, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Javed Akhtar, Anushka Sharma, Genilia D Souza, Shabana Azmi, Mugdha Godse, Madhur Bhandarkar, Lara Dutta, Rajesh Khanna, Kabir Bedi arrive at Zaia Show, Green Carpet, Macau for IIFA on 11th June 2009.

The nominations for Abhishek for IIFA 2009 are in the following categories – Best Actor in a Leading Role Male for Dostana, Best Actor in a Supporting Role Male for Sarkar Raj, Best Actor in a Comic Role Male for Dostana and Star of the decade Male.

Abhishek had multiplied his fan following with his fun act in Dostana and his brooding act in Sarkar Raj had yet again established that when it comes to intense roles amongst the present generation of actors, there is none to match Bachchan Junior. It can be recalled that Abhishek had earlier won the IIFA award for Sarkar in the Best Supporting Actor category and now it remains to be seen whether he can repeat the success.

With so many nominations up his sleeve and also a scheduled performance at the awards night this year, there is no doubt that Abhishek is going to rock IIFA 2009.

Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan, Sophie Chaudhry, David Dhawan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Javed Akhtar, Shabana and Tanvi Azmi, Lara Dutta arrive in Macau for IIFA on 10th June 2009.

The countdown has begun with as the stars of Bollywood have already started to make their presence felt in Macau for IIFA Awards 2009. Last night many of the biggies from the industry flew to the event.

The list includes David Dhawan, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, Aushtosh Gowarikar, Shyam Shroff, Ritesh Siddhwani and Boman Irani. Junior Bachchan with Ash too was on the roll. Another jodi Zayed Khan with wife Malika will also grace the occasion.

Sonam Kapoor after celebrating her birthday with the family flew for the awards. The list continues with some handsome hunks like Ritesh Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal, Ranbir Kapoor.

The sexy seren of B town were also seen on the airport. Sushmita Sen, Anushka Sharma, Lara Dutta are the few names. Not much seen Neelam seemed to be too excited for the award function while catching up the flight for the award.

Now we can surely say that Sitaare zamme pe

Our production unit source tells us, “Both Abhi and Aish are in constant touch with director Shaad Ali, daily enquiring about Mani Sir’s health status and checking out whether he is over exerting himself or not. Abhishek’s good friend, Shaad was earlier an assistant director to Mani Ratnam before turning independent with films like Saathiya, Bunty Aur Babli and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom but he is back to working as Mani Sir’s assistant for Ravana. The couple is deeply concerned about Mani Sir’s health and doesn’t want him to rush into the making of the film because of the delay that has been caused due to the recent gap in the shoot following Mani Sir’s third stroke scare. Abhishek is also making sure through Shaad that Mani Sir has less of a worry on the sets by keeping most of the production work on sets ready and there is no reason given to him to raise his temper about anything.”

Our source further added that both Abhi and Aish will join the shoot later this month. Presently Mani Ratnam is shooting with other stars of the film including South star Vikram, Govind and Nikhil Dwivedi.

It can be recalled that Mani Ratnam was hospitalised in Chennai on April 14th following breathing difficulty and dizziness. He had also complained of discomfort in the chest. The 52-year-old director had earlier survived a heart attack in 2004 when he was filming Yuva also starring Abhishek Bachchan.

ABHISHEK BACCHAN went berserk with shaiamaks mom dancing on stage like a lil kid himself and said” SUMMER FUNK IS THE BEST THING ON EARTH”. Also seen rocking to the desi tunes Music gurus Abhijeet and Adesh Srivastav with wife in tow Vijeta Srivastav.Indeed Shiamaks Summer Funk 2009 15 years of putting Mumbai in the spotlight….

SHIAMAK’S SUMMER FUNK 2009 15 Years of putting Mumbai in the Spotlight! Shiamak Davar proudly presents the Summer FunkTM Workshop and Show 2009. In this landmark year, Shiamak celebrates 25 years in show business in India, 15 years of offering students the Summer Funk™ platform and 20 years of his classes in Mumbai.

To mark this special anniversary year, the Summer Funkâ„¢ Show is all about the movies – in every size, colour, language and format. Students might jazz up a High School Musical, groove to some Dhoom Again and some of them will also Move it, Move it – Madagascar style. Shiamak’s movie theme brings romance, action, animation adventures and movie glamour to the stage. More than 20,000 ecstatic family members and friends will watch students perform over five days at the Shanmukananda Auditorium, Sion from 30th May to 3rd June.

“Dancing takes a lot of courage because you’re baring your soul through movement. At SDIPA, we help you grow as a performer and dance like no one’s watching. Come join us at the Summer Funk™ Show to know what fun is all about!” says movement messiah Shiamak Davar.

Each year Shiamak Davar’s Institute for the Performing Arts (SDIPA) empowers thousands of students with confidence through dance, and helps amateur dancers perform like true professionals. Extraordinary performances come from those students who think they are most ordinary, and are pleasantly surprised to be proved otherwise.

The Summer Funkâ„¢ workshop trains, energizes and reaches out to people from all walks of life. Aged 4 to 84 years, SDIPA students attend dance classes in the age groups of 4-6 years for children, 7-11 years for juniors and 12 years and above for adults. The Summer Funkâ„¢ Show is professionally managed by SDIPA to present amateur dancers like stars. Perhaps the real stars though, are the kids of the Victory Arts Foundation.

Shiamak’s Victory Arts Foundation (VAF), a not-for-profit trust, reaches out to children who are underprivileged, specially abled, visually impaired, infected, affected or vulnerable to HIV / AIDS. This year VAF classes from the Vatsalya Foundation, Kshitij Mental Health Center, Apne Aap Women’s Collective, Society for the Education of the Crippled (SEC) and the Hellen Keller institute will light up the stage. Showing everyone how to groove is the VAF Peer class, for those special children who have great potential to become professional dancers. Join in and live by Shiamak’s motto, ‘Have Feet Will Dance’ – meaning that irrespective of size, shape, age, ability or background, anyone who wants to dance can do it with style and grace, at Summer Funkâ„¢!

Abhishek Bachchan, Deepti Naval, Subhash Ghai, Manisha Koirala, Rakesh Roshan, Sharmila Tagore at Cannes on 16th May 2009 .

Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Harry Baweja, Bappi Lahiri, Madhur Bhandarkar, Sanjay Khan at prakash mehra funeral in Oshiwara, Andheri, Mumbai on 18th May 2009.

Says Abhishek, “It’s a crucial election for us. And we wanted to be here when the results came in.”

The rest of Bollywood’s who’s who that attended stayed back.

On Friday night actress Tannishtha Chatterjee(of Brick Lane fame) who is at Cannes to introduce her film Road, Movie directed by Dev Benegal attended the premiere of Cannes’ main feature film this year Bright Star.

And Tannishtha met the director Jane Campion.

“I’m a big fan of all her works specially The Piano. To my delight she had seen my film Brick Lane and liked it. The night before Bright Star I attended the premiere of the other big film Fish Tank which is one of the hottest films this year in the competition section. Coincidentally I had presented the best actor award to the Fish Tank hero Michael Fassbiner at Cannes last year.”

Not much buzz is heard about Anurag Basu’s much-touted Kites at Cannes.

Says a delegate, “Hrithik Roshan hardly came out of his hotel room. And who is Barbara Mori? So much is written about her in the Indian press.At Cannes no one could recognize her.”

Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan at the premiere and party of film UP in Cannes on 14th May 2009.

A source has revealed: “It was a flash visit last week. Abhishek had never visited his naani with Aishwarya. They wanted to surprise her. They had a day off. So they just took off for the day. There was no direct flight. So they had to take a hopping flight. But it was finally worth it because the visit made their grandmother in Bhopal so happy.”

The Bachchans can never stop showing off their family ties in public. This sure is one big happy family.

And they mix business with pleasure quite well.

After the meeting, the two took off for Cannes to attend the festival that opened Wednesday.

The source added, “They’ve both gone on a personal and very special invitation from the Cannes Festival organisers. Aishwarya attends the festival opening or closing every year depending on the availability of time. Abhishek just decided to accompany his wife on the special invitation from the festival organizers.”

But they will return immediately so that Aishwarya can resume shooting with Akshay Kumar for Vipul Shah’s ‘Action Replay’, while Abhishek will join his father, Amitabh Bachchan, for his next schedule of R Balakrishnan’s ‘Paa’.

Well, whatever, one must say the Bachchans how to balance their personal and professional lives well! Many B-Town folks have a lot to learn from them.

Says a source, “It was a flash visit last week. Abhishek and Aishwarya had never visited his Naani together. They wanted to surprise her. They had a day off. So they just took off for the day. There was no direct flight. So they had to take a hopping flight. But it was finally worth it because the visit made their grandmother in Bhopal so happy.”

And now the Golden Couple has taken off for Cannes at a very short notice.

Says a source, “They’ve both gone on a personal and very special invitation from the Cannes festival. Aishwarya attends the festival opening or closing every year, depending on the time availability. Abhishek just decided to accompany his wife on the special invitation of the Festival.”

They return immediately. Aishwarya resumes shooting with Akshay Kumar for Vipul Shah’s Instant Replay. Abhishek joins his father for another schedule of Balki’s Paa.

Incidentally he can’t wait to abandon his clean-shaven look for Paa and get back to his stubbled look.

It was Abhishek’s seventh trip and he flew to London just to watch the game and flew back to India the next day. However, he has been following the Premier League avidly on television back home. Abhishek is a self proclaimed Chelsea fan. In fact in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom his character Ricki Thukral was shown as one too.

Abhishek’s spokesperson, confirming the news told us, ‘Yes Abhishek was specially invited for the game. In fact the Chelsea Football Club does keep sending him invites for all their games. Abhishek always tries his best to catch their games lives as much as he can whenever he is not shooting.”

Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai, Arjun Rampal, Amisha Patel, Vidya Balan, Dino Morea, Fardeen Khan, Tusshar Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Satish Kaushik, Hrithik Roshan, Manyata, Ramesh Sippy, Kiran Juneja, Anupam Kher, Simi Garewal, Esha Deol, Farida Jalal, Javed Akhtar, Manmohan Shetty, Sanjay Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Zeenat Aman, Yash Chopra, Tabu, Pooja Bedi, Deepti Naval, Shekhar Kapur, Karan Johar, Jackie Shroff, Nisha Jamwal, Waheeda Rehman, Bindu, Satish Kaushik, Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar, Neelam Kothari, Dharmendra, Aashish Chaudhry, Zayed Khan grace the late Feroz Khan’s prayer meet on 4th May 2009.

On winning the award, Abhishek Bachchan commented, “It is a great honour to win the title of ‘Best Brand Ambassador’ for the IDEA & Motorola campaigns. The IDEA campaign carries a socially relevant message in today’s commercial environment and the brilliant concept of encouraging two way communication between the government and people has connected with millions across India”.

He further added, “I I feel proud to be associated with the best brands in the gadgets and technology space”.