Saawariya, is a timeless story of two young star-crossed lovers whose passions almost consume their will to the point of self-destruction. In this eternal tale of an ode to romance, stand two lonely souls whose childlike innocence and candour only obscures their inner turmoil, anger, anxiety and desperate wait for love. An impromptu romance is initiated in a remote town in the serene beauty of picturesque Shimla.

Raj (Ranbir Kapoor), a charming young singer, has no one and no place to live. Through his words and songs, he spreads happiness everywhere he goes. One night he comes across a young beauty Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) and falls head over heels in love with her. Just when he is about to confess his love, she tells him that she has already given her heart to Imaan (Salman Khan), who has deserted her with a promise to return on the day of Id. Does Raj succeed in winning Sakina’s heart or will Sakina spend the rest of her life waiting for Imaan’s return?

SAAWARIYA, a romantic epic of pure and innocent love, stars debutants Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. This all time classic tale leaves a legacy of romance; Catch this magical story beautifully picturised by Sanjay Leela Bhansali premiering exclusively on MAX on Sunday, November 9 at 8 pm.

Photos of 53rd Filmfare Awards >>

Best Actor: Shahrukh Khan – Chak De India
Best Actress: Kareena Kapoor – Jab We Met
Best Film: Taare Zameen Par
Best Director: Aamir Khan – Taare Zameen Par
Critics’ Award For Best Actor: Darsheel Safary – Taare Zameen Par
Critics’ Award For Best Actress: Tabu – Cheeni Kum
Critics’ Award For Best Film: Shimit Amin – Chak De India
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male): Irrfan Khan – Life in a… Metro
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female): Konkana Sen Sharma – Life in a… Metro

Best Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi – (Maa – Taare Zameen Par)
Best Playback Singer: (Male) Shaan – (Jab Se Tere Naina – Saawariya)
Best Playback Singer: (Female) Shreya Ghoshal – (Barso Re – Guru)
Best Music: A. R. Rahman – Guru
Best Story: Amol Gupte – Taare Zameen Par
Best Screenplay: Anurag Basu – Life in a… Metro
Best Dialogue: Imtiaz Ali – Jab We Met
R. D. Burman Award: Monty Sharma (Saawariya)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Rishi Kapoor
Power Awards: Yash Chopra & Aditya Chopra
Best Debut (Male): Ranbir Kapoor – Saawariya
Best Debut (Female): Deepika Padukone – Om Shanti Om
Best Special Effects: Red Chillies Entertainment – Om Shanti Om
Sony Head N Shoulders Fresh Face of the Year Award: Deepika Padukone

Best Background Score: A. R. Rahman – Guru
Best Editing: Amitabh Shukla – Chak De India
Best Choreography: Saroj Khan (Barso Re Megha Re – Guru)
Best Action: Rob Miller – Chak De India
Best Art Direction: Samir Chanda – Guru
Best Sound: Leslie Fernandes – Johnny Gaddaar
Best Cinematography: Sudhip Chatterjee
Best Costumes: Sujata Sharma – Gandhi My Father

Photos of 53rd Filmfare Awards >>

The Max Stardust Awards stands out in the clutter of countless film awards as it showcases and recognises the relatively fresh talent with the promise to emerge as the superstars of tomorrow. The awards ceremony, this year, transformed the banal terra firma of the Bandra Kurla Complex into a spectacle of glitz and razzmatazz. Talented film director Kunal Kohli and the gorgeous diva Neha Dhupia were the perfect hosts for this special evening and kept the audience glued to their seats.

The glorious award ceremony, witnessed dazzling Lara Dutta perform on chartbusters such as ‘Move your body’ from Johnny Gaddar, ‘Deewangi’ from OSO among others while beautiful Kareena Kapoor enthralled the audience with ‘Nagada’ and ‘Its rocking’ form Jab we met and Kya Love Story Hai. The rockstar Saif Ali Khan performed on medley of hits from OSO, Salaam-e-Ishq, Hey Baby and Race – his upcoming movie. Govinda entertained the audience with his numbers from the movie Partner and Bhagam Bhaag. Neha Dhupia apart from her co-hosting the award ceremony moved danced on popular songs like ‘Namak Ishq Ka’, ‘Saiya re’, ‘Mayya Mayya’, ‘Kiya Kiya’ and ‘Naughty Naughty’.

Among the people who attended the event were the whose who of the tinsel town. Aadesh Shrivastav, Bappi Lahri, Alka Yagnik, Shreya Saran, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Bipasha Basu, Dharmendra, Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Suresh Oberoi, Irfan Khan, Gul Panag, Celina Jaitley, Dino Moreo, Madhur Bhandarkar, Raveena Tandon, and a host of others. The event had extravagant sets coupled with lasers, special effects, lighting and acoustics to create a magnificent audio and visual impact.

The MAX Stardust Awards are a salute to the young and dynamic Gen Next oozing with creative energy and passion in equal measure. MAX will telecast the MAX Stardust Awards on 16 February, 2008 at 8.00 pm.

THE WINNERS OF MAX STARDUST AWARDS

SUPERSTAR OF TOMMOROW —MALE
Ranbir Kapoor (Saawariya)

SUPERSTAR OF TOMMOROW— FEMALE
Sonam Kapoor (Saawariya)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE – MALE
Shreyas Talpade (Om Shanti Om)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE – FEMALE
Kangana Ranaut (Life… In a Metro)

THE NEW MENACE
Shilpa Shukla (Chak De India)

HOTTEST FILM — PRODUCERS
Gandhi My Father (Anil Kapoor)

HOTTEST YOUNG FILM MAKER
Shimit Amin (Chak De India)

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE BY LYRICIST
Sandeep Nath – Saawariya (’Yoon Shabnami Pehle Nahi Thi Chandni’)

NEW MUSICAL SENSATION – FEMALE
Anoushka Manchanda – Cash (Aye Chori)

NEW MUSICAL SENSATION – MALE
Krishna & Salim Merchant – Chak De India (Maula Mere)

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE BY A MUSIC DIRECTOR
Monty Sharma (Saawariya)

READER’S CHOICE AWARDS

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Tisca Chopra (’Taare Zameen Par‘)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Irrfaan Khan (’Life… In A Metro’ / The Namesake)

BEST ACTOR IN A NEGATIVE ROLE
Arjun Rampal (’Om Shanti Om‘)

STAR OF THE YEAR – MALE
Akshay Kumar (’Namastey London’ / ‘Heyy Babyy‘)

ACTOR PAR EXCELLANCE
Viveik Oberoi (Shootout at Lokhandwala)

BEST ACTOR – MALE
Shahid Kapoor- Jab We Met

BEST ACTOR – FEMALE
Kareena Kapoor – Jab We Met

THE DREAM DIRECTOR AWARD
Farah Khan (’Om Shanti Om‘)

BEST FILM AWARD
‘Jab We Met‘

LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dharmendra

Arshad Warsi, John Abraham in Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

It is the same kind of battle, which had been fought between two biggies, Sunny Deol’s Gadar and Aamir’s Lagaan few years back. This time the pitch is the same but the players are Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Saawariya and Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. Both the players declare that their movie as big hit at their end. Hit or Blockbuster? Does they mean OSO is a hit because the film earned more than the past top five biggies (Sholay with Rs 157 crore, Mughal-e-Azam with Rs 128 crore, Mother India with Rs 113 crore, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun with Rs 106 crore and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge with Rs 95 crore). Or is this because OSO has generated the earning $18 million worldwide while the hollywood movie Lion for Lambs failed to impress audience and earned only $13 million? Well this is a line of confusion to decide what the verdict for these movies is. So what’s the bottomline? Statistically, the clear winner is Om Shanti Om which has made Rs 41 crore with 850 prints in India after the first week. Saawariya lags behind with Rs 20 crore through 650 prints.

After their marriage, Aishwarya and Abhishek Bacchan made some dream true to the HIV/AIDS affected children through an association called Ashray. Abhishek has been associated with this association since 2001 and this is the first time when Aishwarya accompanied him. It sounds as if during a time when the entire word is fighting hard to spread the HIV/AIDS awareness, this star couple added a lot of color and hope to the lives of these kids suffering from HIV/AIDS. After their marriage, this star couple is being followed by media everywhere they go, and without any difference, this time too.

Katrina Kaif

Well, this is not at all related to Salman and Aishwarya this time, as they ended their love affair long back; but Salman once again is in news. Not for some animal hunts or for his squabble with his co-stars, but now the buzz is that his longtime love affair with Katrina Kaif is on the verge of a split. The reason is attributed tos Salman’s possessiveness to Katrina Kaif’s, where sources say, “it is only because of her closeness with Akshay Kumar in their movie Namaste London”. Even they starred together in Hum Ko Deewana Kar gaye. In addition, Katrina is again going to be paired with him in in Vipul Shah’s forth-coming movie. Reports also say that Salman asked Firoz Nadiadwala to change the promos of a movie where Katrina is shot in a short skirt. He was unhappy that Katrina’s skirts were really short, and he didn’t want to publicize the film that way. Katrina, on the other hand, said that there is no need to make any changes as she was quite comfortable with whatever she had worn in the film.

Not Surprisingly, if I say ‘he’ has refused three-film offers worth Rs. 60 crores from Adlabs just because Adlabs failed to present him a proper script for these movies, money has not been the priority for this actor who is said to have charged Rs 20 crore for Ghajini. Yes; he is none other than Aamir Khan. Adlabs offered him Rs 50 crores initially but when they felt that Aamir is not raising any amount of interest in it, they came up with an additional Rs. 10 crores. When Adlab met Aamir, they gave Aamir to choose three directors of his choice and Adlabs would back those projects. Aamir refused this by telling them that he does not work for money only; script is something which comes prior to the money offered to him.

Now, turn your attention to Pali Hills in Bandra where thousands of ‘his’ fans burst firecrackers and distributed sweets. Yes this happened at the residence of Sanjay Dutt, when the 48-year old actor returned home after 22 days in Pune’s Yerawada Jail. He was happy but looked very tired. Sanjay Dutt, who was wearing white Kurtas and blue jeans, was quickly whisked inside by his friends and relatives. A few minutes later he came out and thanked all his fans for the unfailing support and love. The Lage Raho Munna Bhai star, who was sentenced to six years in jail for possessing illegal arms just before the Mumbai blasts that killed 257 people in 1993, flew to Mumbai from Pune in a chopper belonging to a corporate house after being granted bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday while his lawyers challenged the conviction. He landed at the Juhu aerodrome and drove directly to his Bandra home. Well this could have been one day early but Sanjay had to spend an extra night in jail as TADA court in Mumbai took a little longer than the expected time. Finally, Sanjay was released after the special judge Pramod Kode issued him the bail. But it was not only him, 16 others who were accused also got bail from Supreme Court on Tuesday.

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Lata Mangeshkar

Everybody wants to be like her. With her magical voice, the legendary Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar is universally known for her mesmerizing singing. Recently, she was present as a judge in the Final of Amul Star Voice of India in November last week telecast along with Boman Irani, Vivek Agnihotri, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham and many other Bollywood stars who appeared in the earlier episodes. The two finalists Ishmeet and Harshit will fight it out for the title of ‘Voice of India’. Moreover, Lata Mangeskar will present the trophy to the winner. The program producer and director Gajendrra Sigh said that it was not that easy for him to pursue her to come to this musical show, it took him almost 12 years, and now it is a dream comes true for him. Though Lata has many concerns about the biased ‘SMSing’ in reality shows on TV, she agreed to be a part of the event only because she strongly believes that the show upholds the traditions of true music. Lata advised the two boys to sing original compositions.

John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi at the Permiere of Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

With the declining career and the chain of flop films, John Abraham comes back with Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. This is his new movie with girlfriend Bipasha Basu. As John is ranked as the No. 1 sexy personality with super-cool looks and super intelligence, he is always the favorite of the directors in the roles against Bipasha, who also shares the same titles in the opposite sex. Having achieved these titles, this couple may be expecting the movie a huge success. Anyway, this movie is already in the news, not for its story, songs or star cast, but for its simultaneous release in our neighborhood, Pakistan. Goal, which is being released in seven cities in Pakistan, has already made a landmark for achieving this for the first time ever in Bollywood history. With the clearance from Pakistani Censor Board, the film was released on Friday 23. Like Chak De, Goal is also being seen as another sports film for the sporty youngsters.

Not as the lead actor, but Arshad Warsi proved himself as a good actor in supporting roles through his latest movie Goal. Answering to the question about boycotting the promotional campaign of Goal, he said, “It is not true.” Adding to it, he said, “I was in bed for two weeks. I had terrible allergy attack. My face was completely swollen. It started with a viral fever. But after two days, It started getting itchy and swollen. I had kept time aside for the ‘Goal’ promo. Thank god, I was not the only actor in the project. That would’ve been disastrous.” Now Arshad is all set to start his production house. A new beginning?

A surprising news from Chennai is likely to have its reverberations in the Bollywood in the near future. One more star kid is about to make her debut on reel screen soon. This is none other than the daughter of super star Kamla Hassan. Shruti, who has a special interest for Music, has sung and written songs for films. She will work with Madhavan in her debutant movie. The movie shoot starts in January’2008. However, Shruti is making her debut through her first Music album much before the release of her first movie. She will join the 2007 Debutants Team along with Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, and Sonam Kapoor who have already set a platform for the big fight in the Bollywood. Now, it is Shruit’s turn to prove herself in Indian movies.

Rituparna Ghosh

The Famous filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh has achieved a milestone in his career again by winning prestigious Premio Arca D’Oro award by Italian government. He has been known for many as the ‘new-age Satyajit Ray’. His name is already in light for his movies, as many of them have won National and international awards. About making a movie on Satyajit Ray, he responds, ‘Not Satyajit Ray.’ ‘He is too close to me historically and aesthetically to even attempt a film on his life. But, yes, Raj Kapoor…I do want to make a film on his life.’

Now this is the news for the multiplex lovers, because PVR group is all set to launch 250 additional screens across the country by April 2010 where folks will get a change to cry and laugh with cinema stars. With the current 95 screens across India, PVR Ltd is now projecting to open a huge chain of multiplexes. Out of these 250 screens, 40 screens are for high-end customers. The rest is for the city viewers. Ajay Bijli, the chairperson and MD of PVR ltd said, “We will open 250 more screens across the country by the end of April 2010. The initial investment will be over Rs.4 billion.” He added, “The cities like Gurgaon, Mumbai, Delhi would get more Cineplexes and the investment for such multiplexes is not less than Rs. 240 million. Apart from this Cineplex project Bijli said, “For opening Talkies, we will study the areas first, understand the market and then accordingly decide and open halls in tier two and three cities, so that we do not incur loses.” The company will also come up with food court project in Gurgaon and Chandigarh.

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It was declared in their first week of release that OSO had a collection of 85 crores (Rs.70 crores in India & Rs.15 crores from overseas market) and Bansali’s Saawariya got only 50 crores (India & International). OSO is far ahead of the collection of the other two big hits for the year Chak De and Partner both of which had a collection of a little above Rs.60 cores. Therefore, OSO would definitely be called as the superhit ofSRK.

Kareena and Shahid in Jab We Met

Jab We Met , the movie that got jammed in the fight between the two big movies is losing its ground after its good opening. However, it seems now that as Saawariya is not able to go up to the expectations of the audience, Jab We Met, will be the second choice for the viewer. With a collection of 21 cores, the film has been already declared as a solid hit, and it is doing well along with the two big releases. Even after their dramatic breakup, Shahid and Kareena are entertaining people largely. Audience just loved, not just liked, them in the movie.

The other players in the Bollywood market are not able to gain any success. Anurag kashyap’s No Smoking (John, Bipasha, Aiyesha Takia starrer) has crashed down to its 90% box office fall in its primary stage in the Bollywood market. Without surprise, the movie has joined the club of the movies that were the biggest disasters for this year with a collection near to just two crores. Mumbai Salasa and Bal Ganesh are two friends of these movies, both of which hardly crossed the collection of Rs.50 lakhs in their life so far in the Bollywood.

Going beyond OSO and Saawariya, let us see who all are breaking the news. In spite of the failures of the recent movies, Bipasha has been named the sexiest Asian woman in the world again by a London newspaper whereas the legendary Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit is the runner-up and Priyanka Chopra who topped last year is in the third position. With her new movie, Aaja Nachle Madhuri Dixit returned to Mumbai for its promotion.

Now it is the time for the gorgeous Rani. Rani Mukherjee is facing some legal issues after buying a farmland in Ahmednagar, Pune, where district court judge has accused Rani for having some legal issue in the purchase. She has been duped of Rs.33 lakhs in a fake deal for the purchase of a land near the temple town in Shirdi, where she wanted to build a house. The land was 11000sq ft. It seems that the year 2007 does not favour Rani. Earlier this year, the rumor of her alleged affair with Abhishek ended up with Abhisek-Aiswarya marriage. Again, she had to face the media for rumors of her marriage with Aditya Chopra. To add more pains, her latest movie Laga Chunari Mein Daag could not win the hearts of Rani fans.

Rani in Lagaa Chunari Mein Daag

To join the league of Rani is Vidya Balan who has been accused of causing Shahid -Kareena breakup. Denying the rumors of her affair with Shahid, Vidya says, “We get along very well. Nevertheless, that does not mean that we are having an affair. I have met Kareena only once.” Vidya succeeded in getting rid of these rumors, but at the same time, Shahid is not having a very good time because neither his movie nor his love life is going well, apart from the average collection of Jab We Met in which he shares a lot of screen space with Kareena.

Shahrukh Khan on Nach Baliye 3

With his first movie production, Shah Rukh Khan came to more lime light in the industry and routine rumors added some more flavor in it. Nowadays he is not only in the lime light because of OSO, but after OSO release whatever comes from his mouth is a big news and like an Idiom. Lately, he is in the news for his statement that ” he wanted a kiss scene with Deepika in film but dropped the idea, as he could reach to only up to her stomach because of her height.” In one of his interviews with one top Music Channel, he expressed his love for Jackie Chan and he wanted his son to have a body like Jackie Chan. Moreover, he said he had a great interest to have body like him, the reason for his decision to go for the body tuning. He is very much confident that one day his son will have a body like Jackie. There is one more rumor surrounding him that he charged Rs.5 crores for OSO to act. Thus, SRK is everywhere in the industry and out of that even.

John Abraham launches Standard Chartered’s Mumbai Marathon 2008

Though John Abraham’s previous movie with Bipasha did not work well, he is ready again with Goal, where he has played a football player. The great news, however, is that Christiano Ronaldo, the famous football player from Portugal who hit the headlines with his alleged kiss with BIpasha, is coming to promote Goal. For sure, John is not comfortable with this idea; however, it seems that he is ready to accept the fact that the presence of a controversial star will push the movie forward in the theaters. Well; after No Smoking, the biggest disaster for this year, John has to have the taste of some success for sure; otherwise, he will be forced to take up supporting roles like that done by our well-known Circuit “Arshad Warsi”. He has to learn the lesson Shahid-Kareena breakup and concentrate on his career rather than getting trapped in the net of filmy gossips.

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Rating: 2.5/5

Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) is a charming young man and a lead singer of a club. His presence is liked by all. Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) is his lady counterpart in this movie whom he met one night. As expected, he falls in love with her. In the second night of their meeting, he wanted to make his love clear to Sakina. Contrary to the usual Bollywood love saga, Saawariya is offering you a surprise by making a different twist in the love story between Raj and Sakina. Hence Raj comes to know that Sakina is waiting for her first-love, Imaan, played by Salman Khan, who has left her with a promise to come back one day. Now, this is the only suspense in the movie. Will Sakina forget her first love and accept the new offer? Will Raj succeed in fulfilling his dream life with Sakina?

Sonam and Ranbir Kapoor in Saawariya

The movie shots are not visually appealing. Throughout the movie, we see the shots set in the dark background. The slow music, though stunning, gives a dragging effect to the movie. The music tracks such Mashaallah, yoon Shabnami and Saawariya stand out.

As a newcomer Ranbir Kapoor has proved his great talent and personality, offering a new hero to the next-gen Bollywood. He is not just a good-looking guy but he is a good actor and dancer as well. He immortalized the role he played in the movie. Undoubtedly you will see more of him in the coming years. Sonam kapoor is in the same pace with Ranbir; she has put forth a groundbreaking performance as debutante and delivered her best too. She has got a charming smile, and Bhansali won in tuning it with the rhythm of the movie. Rani Mukherjee played the role of a prostitute, similar to that she played in the recent movie Laga Chunari Mein Daag, but the only difference is that this time she is playing the role of a voluntary prostitute. Salman Khan has got an effective entry in the movie, but that is again a guest appearance and a tragic disappointment to the muscle-man fans.

Sonam Kapoor in Saawariya

The efforts of the superstars and their superb acts, however, cannot save the movie from collapse. Saawariya will be known as one of the biggest failures of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. There is nothing in the movie to entertain an average movie watcher, apart from the role performed by some superstars and a few songs that are pleasing just to the ears.

Rating: 2.5/5

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As usual, Shah Rukh Khan fans got exhilarated after watching OSO. King Khan did not disappoint them. Deepika Padukone rocked the theatres as well as the hearts of many youngsters with her stunning performance with SRK. By watching the initial trend, we should say that OSO marches ahead Saawariya. It may be the SRK effect or the Fara Khan effect that created the magic in OSO and that made the majority of the crowd to support OSO. While OSO got 100% positive response from the first-day viewers, Saawariya was pushed back. Many of those adventurous and crazy movie watchers who got to watch Saawariya were seen highly depressed at the end of the movie. They commented it as a ’sluggish’ movie that does not have a powerful story line.

Shahrukh and Farha Khan on the sets of Om Shanti Om

Of course, Saawariya is not the kind of movie that one would expect to become a blockbuster in Indian theaters where the movies like ‘Dhoom2′ break the records. The theme of Saawariya is based on music, and the slow pace of the movie has to be maintained in order to complement it with the rhythm of the theme. Those who expect the comic and action thrillers from such movies will surely get disappointed. Some of the serious movie watchers who understood what Saawariya is all about were quite happy about the theme of the movie. The performance put forth by Ranbir and Sonam was excellent. They created yet another ‘young jodi’ in Bollywood. Though the movie could not impress many of watchers, surely Ranbir and Sonam have conquered all their hearts.

The race has started. With the initial response greatly in favor of OSO, the fate of Bhansali’s Saawariya is now in the balance. This gives an important lesson to the movie makers – never compete with one another by releasing the movies on the same day. The fate of one can surely determine the fate of the other. While Saawariya is an excellent creation from Bhansali, much better than the movies released in the past few weeks, its fate is being decided by the ‘winning factor of OSO’. It is high time that we have true film critics who can make the crowd understand the goodness in every movie.

Ranbir Kapoor

An interesting twist on the fate of Bhansali is taking place at the backdrop. While many accused Bhansali for editing the scenes of Salman Khan and inviting the grudges of the favorite actor, the Bachchan family lent a helping hand to Bhansali by offering the support of the entire family of actors for the upcoming Bhansali movie ‘Bajirao Mastani’. Bhansali had earlier decided Salman Khan to play against Aishwarya Rai; however, after the Saawariya episode, there are little chances that Salman would turn up for this movie. Bhansali has consented for Abhishek Bachchan to replace Salman. What’s more, Big B is also given an important role in this movie! Now, the fate of Sanjay Leela Bhansali is in the hands of Bachchans!

Now, it is the turn of another rib-tickling movie from Anees Bazmee that has the casts, including the most-wanted villain-turned-comedian Akshay Kumar and the actor giants like Anil Kapoor, Firoz Khan and Nana Patekar. The movie is based on a simple story that surrounds Akshay Kumar and his girlfriend (Kareena Kapoor) who happens to be the sister of three mobsters, played by none other than the above trio. The year 2007 is favorable to Akshay Kumar, and hope that he will become a certified comedian for the future movies with this movie.

Priyanka Chopra

Guess who’s getting busier day by day? It is none other than Priyanka Chopra. The leading lady actor has no time to take a breath because she is involved in a marathon projects. She is about to finish the shooting of Rumi Jaffrey’s comedy movie, ‘God, Tussi Great Ho’. The two movies that she has been involved in recently, ‘Dhrona’ and ‘Love Story 2050′ are full of actions and thrillers. They are going to hit the theatres in December. The next projects that are in line for Priyanka is Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion and a Karan Johar film that is going to be directed by Tarun Mansukhani.

A film from Yash Raj will see one of the youngest couples in the story, with Ranbir and Bipasha Basu playing the lead roles. The movie is being directed by Siddarth Anand. It seems that the movie has got a lot of things in offer, which the crew does not want to reveal at the moment. One thing is clear- Ranbir is not the same as in Saawariya. Remember, he is playing the role against Bipasha… Sounds interesting; isn’t it?

It is not uncommon to see city names as the titles of the movies. After the selection of the name ‘Dilli 6′ for a Rakeysh Mehra movie that has a story line surrounding the famous Chandni Chowk with pin code 6 where Mehra spent a great part of his life, now it is another movie with the name ‘Mumbai 7′ that coincides (for Bunty Walia Productions who is producing the movie, the naming is just a coincidence, not intentional) with a similar concept. ‘Mumbai 7′ is a movie is based on the famous Mohammad Ali Street in Mumbai that has got the pin code 7. Like the ‘Dilli 6′, ‘Mumbai 7′ too is a thriller cum love story. What a coincidence! Let the war between the cities hit the Bollywood.

This Diwali has been momentous for Bollywood. The fireworks that started with the release of OSO and Saawariya have not subdued. The lights are on at every production houses. The actors are busy with the sparkling stage shows where the promo campaigns have been centered. Great time for Indian movies!

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Bollywood continues to give its global presence through a number of awards. Chak De! India that is shot in the locations of Sydney and Melbourne won the best film award at the fifth Australian Indian Film Festival (AIFF). The movie had featured about 90 Australian hockey players and a large number of locals. The awards were announced at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art. The AIFF is the largest foreign film festival in Australia. The movie Chak De! India directed by Shimit Amin was inspired by the winning of the Indian hockey team at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan during the release of book Romancing with Life

Yet another feather in the crown for Bollywood arrives in the name of Dev Anand. This is a significant year for the legendary Bollywood actor. Soon after the release of his much-awaited autobiography Romancing with Life, recently Dev Anand has been awarded the title Punjab Ratan by the World Punjabi Organization (European Division) for his contribution to Indian Arts & Entertainment. The award was conferred to the octogenarian actor at a grand ceremony held at Landmark Hotel, London. The ceremony also witnessed the launch of his autobiography for the European fans.

After Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding, it is now Rani Mukherjee’s turn to invite the media hype for her wedding. Aditya Chopra and Rani have decided to get married on the coming February 10 th at a grand ceremony at Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan palace. The divorce??? Yes; it is on its way for Chopra and Payal Khanna, and surely it will happen before February 10. If sources are to be believed, Rani is planning to take a long break post marriage. What if the divorce does not happen before February? The guess is left to you.

Here’s the welcoming news for the singer-turned actor Himesh Reshammiya. Aaap Kaa Surroor, the acting debut of Himesh Reshammiya has been nominated for three different categories for the Bollywood Music Awards- the Best Music Director, the Best Male Singer (Song : Tera Mera Milna-Aap Kaa Surroor), and the Best Song (Joot Nahi Bolna-Aap Kaa Surroor). The nominations have been made on the basis of a poll conducted on Non-Resident Indians for the last several weeks. The other movies nominated for the Best Music Director category are Guru (A R Rahman), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy), Dhoom 2 (Pritam) and Fanaa (Jatin Lalit). For sure, it is a great achievement for Himesh for he is competing with the musical wonders such as A R Rahman.

Welcome good entertainers. The hope is following the fans of good movies. There are two movies that are expecting to be big hits among the soon-to-be-released movies. They are the Om Shanti Om and Saawariya. The promotional activities are in full swing for both the movies. While Om Shanti Om is going to be known for SRK’s shirtless ‘Dard-e-disco’, Saawariya promises a new Diwali Dhamaka from Ranbir Kapoor. Both the movies have got one similarity- the new female face. Sonam Kapoor got her debut through director Sanjay Leela Bhansali while Deepika Padukone got her excellent opening in Om Shanti Om to co-star with SRK.

Rajat Kapoor has something in offer to bring memories of the past. His new movie Khoya Khoya Chand is set against the 1950’s Bollywood stage. The movie is based on a love story that blossoms between a leading actress and a writer-director. The leading roles of the lovers are played by Soha Ali Khan and Shiney Ahuja. In this movie, Rajat Kapoor plays an important role of a leading actor of that time, Prem Kumar. Through this character, Kapoor brings out the picture of the typical attitude of a highly ambitious Bollywood actor. According to Kapoor, though the movie was built around the yester-year Bollywood saga, it has got a lot of relevance in the present too.

If you are a big fan of the comedy king David Dhawan, here is good news awaiting you. David Dhawan is planning to get the best-ever comedy pair in town, Govinda and Salman Khan, once again to entertain people. Though he has been very much occupied with the Nach Baliye, he feels that now it is the time to rejuvenate himself and come out of the recluse. He is planning to start the shooting sometime next year.

Oh! We forgot about the day, October 10, the birthday of our ever-green lady in the Bollywood, the charming Rekha. She is now 53. What makes her a celebrity even now, at this age? Simply, it is her attitude towards life. Amidst a lot of negatives surrounding her, she sees only the positives. That is the success mantra of Rekhaji. Recently she commented about Amitabh Bachchan and honored him by calling him as her ‘guru’ in acting. A great honour for the brilliant actor from the brilliant lady! Rekha is now busy with her ongoing project with Hema Malini. It is a movie directed by Revathy. If you remember, once Lataji labeled her as the reincarnation of goddess ‘Lakshmi’. Long live your wonderful days, Rekhaji!

© hamaraphotos.com

Shahid and Kareena

First things first; what is happening to our rock steady couples? First it was THE hot couple on the block- John and Bipasha who went for a trip to splits Ville and now its Shahid and Kareena who have gone down to tubes. Correct me if I’m wrong, but was it not Bebo herself who had started asserting herself in all of Shahid’s business hmm? The two were taking yoga classes together for crying out loud. Then what happened? I’ll tell you what happened. The relentless bachelor on the prowl has struck again. Ever since his break up with his Italian connection, Saif Ali Khan has turned into the serial break up guy. I’m not a psychiatrist or something, but come on! This the second steady couple that has split because of him. Word has it that chotte Nawab and Bebo has a Jashn on the sets of Tashan. Unit people vouch how, uh, comfortable the two of them were in each other’s company and boom! Before you know it, a break up has hit the news waves. Poor Shahid, the little kid does not even know what hit him. Meanwhile, Bebo is tight lipped about what happened. For once the sassy gal seems to have nothing much to say. Well, well, well…

Anyway, my dahlings, there is something far more distressing that happened to me. I am writing this as a public service message to save those who still have a chance. I went for the premiere of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag and oh my god! As soon as people got the chance, they were out of the theatre like it was on fire! I was one of them too, you know, it was so traumatic, I have goose bumps just talking about it. How can such a film be considered a remake of Sholay?! It’s ridiculous! Even the stars felt so because every one, including the cast members, beat a hasty retreat. Even Big B left after the first thirty minutes or so. I must say I don’t blame him for stealing eyes from the media. Ramu was watching all this with a bemused expression as he nursed his drink near a trash can. Kind of fitting, don’t you think?

While break ups are the in thing right now, it’s nice to know that bridges are being mended elsewhere. Another couple to have jumped onto the break up band wagon was that of Kelly Dorje and Lara Dutta. You know all about the seven year itch na…guess that is what happened with them…but anyway, now things seem to be smoothing out as it seems that they are trying to work things out. Some even say that it is all for their babies. Now, before you go “WHA?!”, let me tell you that I was merely referring to their dogs. Their friends are doing all that is possible to get them back together again and its working!

Now its time we talked about something new, even I am bored about going on about couples that simply can’t make their minds up. Lets talk about Viveik Oberoi (yes, he still sticks to the spelling) and Tabu. Seems the two of them are sort of an item nowadays. The beautiful and mysterious Tabu is getting downright comfy and cozy with Oberoi junior. If you ask me, I think she is wasting her time. The last I saw him was in a toothpaste ad jumping around with a little boy. Trust me; it almost made me give up brushing!

Sush baby really ever ceases to amaze me. It’s so weird when such an intelligent and together woman gets involved with something like Aag. Not to mention her particular choice in men. But what ever it is, her rejects can’t get enough of her and keep coming back begging for more. Like Manav Menon or Lemon or what ever his name is. Poor guy is following her like a lost little puppy to get the dates and confirmation for Jhansi Ki Rani. Poor boy, can’t you see that she has slain your directorial debut with her sharp sword sweetie? Get a clue…

Talking about Sush, it looks like she needs more. You don’t need me to tell you about this sassy lady, but she wants to come across as the spitfire she is on screen too. She takes her movie very seriously. No more candy floss romances for her; she wants to kick some serious butt. For learning to do this properly, she is planning to go to China to get trained in martial arts. Whoa! Now we better watch out for this Indian Uma Thurman…

Acting is a serious business and people are ready to do what ever it takes to get there. If you think star kids have it any easier than regular aspirants, then you better read on. Anil Kapoor’s daughter Sonam will be making her debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya. But this role did not fall into her lap like you would think. She was the A.D. for Black and spent long grueling hours working for the great director. Not only that, the girl lost 30 kgs to get in shape for the role! Gosh! Now you know that she is planning to stay here and is willing to go to any lengths to become a legend like her daddy.

Now I’m tired of typing. There is so much to say and so little time… never mind, you are well stocked for the week. See you next week…

© hamaraphotos.com

We have heard about Saawariya- Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new creation. We have also heard about Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. There is no way anyone could miss either considering the massive publicity that both films have. Well, these two movies are headed for a major war because both will release around the same time. Shahrukh Khan, who is like family to Farah Khan, is pitching the fort for her. But guess both know the stakes are too high for petty fights and are sitting down to work things out amicably. Let’s hope it happens or there is going to be a lot of bad blood…

The high handed Amir Khan who is known for his reclusive behavior with the other actors is certainly going in for a personality change. Why, just the other day he went to a party thrown at the Salman Khan household. Hmmm…our sources say that he joked and laughed and basically had a good time. There is some major bonding happening between the two king khans. One could actually bet there is a movie brewing in there somewhere….

After the success of the film Metro, the makers are already planning for a sequel. Anuraag Basu sure scored big with this flick. UTV is supposedly finalizing on the script as well as the cast. Our little birdie tells us that this time it won’t be in Bombay, but maybe in Delhi . They are even considering London as base. Guess the movie did VERY well for them to have such a budget. There is also word about Hrithik being in the sequel. Well, we don’t know about you, but if super hero Roshan is in it, we definitely want in.

Oooo… talk about gossip and we have something to set your ears on fire. Salman, the original bad boy of Bollywood, could possibly be very married by the end of this year. A lot of his close pals are whispering about it, though no official statement has been made. Katrina Kaif could probably be one of the Khans this year! Talk about change. We wonder why this decision though- is it because of a natural will or because of anther wedding that just recently happened…?

So this is what is happening in our tinsel town. Go on, talk about it and enjoy. But be sure to check in soon because we got a LOT more from where that came. So wait for our next segment which will be just as thrilling and exciting.

© hamaraphotos.com

The movie is also dubbed in several foreign languages to cater to the local markets.

Sanwariya also stars veteran actresses Zohra Sehgal, Achala Sachdev and Begum Para making a comeback after 30 years. Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee also play pivotal roles.

The eagerly awaited music of Sawariya by composer Pyarelal’s nephew Monty Sharma releases in September on T Series Label.