Jackky in remake of Ala Modalaindi

In spite of the sleeper-hit F.A.L.T.U, Vashu Bhagnani’s son Jackky’s career seems stuck, first for the want of a top notch leading lady and now for a director. First it was the FA.L.T.U director Remo D’Souza who begged off from doing a sequel. Apparently, relations between the two soured during the making of F.A.L.T.U to the extent that Remo had confided to a cast member that he would not return for the FA.L.T.U sequel.

Rajkumar Santoshi who had been signed by the Bhagnanis to direct the son is directing another film with Abhay Deol in the lead.

The latest we hear is that Vashu has bought the rights of a Telugu hit Ala Modalaindi which he wants Gautham Menon to remake in Hindi with Jackky in the lead.

The original Telugu hit released in January 2011 starred Nani and was a box-office sensation. Vashu apparently insists that Menon who directed Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein for Vashu 11 years ago, do the Hindi remake of Ala Modalaindi.

Says Menon, “Yes, I’ve been asked to do a Telugu remake. But I am not really interested in doing that remake at this point of time. My two Hindi films so far have been remake of my own Tamil films. Besides, I am also planning to remake my Kamal Haasan starrer Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu.”

In fact the producer of the original Tamil film Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu have dubbed the film Hindi and are all set to release it. The only way Menon can stop the Tamil film being released in the dubbed Hindi avatar is by agreeing to do the Hindi remake for the same producers of the original Tamil film.

Says Menon, “If I have to stop the dubbed version of Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu from being released, I’ve to do the remake for the same producer. So, that’s the third remake in Hindi in a row for me. I remade my Minnale for Vashuji and I’ve just completed Ek Dewaana Tha which is also a remake. I’d rather do an original film for Vashuji and Jackky.”

A Minute With: Ayesha Takia

MUMBAI: She was hailed as one of Hindi cinema’s most promising faces but Ayesha Takia chose to walk away from it all and concentrate on other things in life.

The 26-year-old actor is back on the big screen for now but isn’t promising to stay on. Takia spoke to Reuters about her sabbatical, what acting means to her and her latest film “Mod”.

Q: It’s been a long time since you’ve been seen on screen and even longer since you’ve been in a Nagesh Kukunoor film.
A: “I know. For me it’s been two-and-half years. Nagesh and me wanted to do something after ‘Dor’. Of course, ‘Tasveer’ happened but that was not magical so we wanted to do something like ‘Dor’ again. We kept discussing it and one day he called me out of the blue and said ‘do you want to do a film now because I have a script’. We found someone who wanted to make it and suddenly, somehow it all worked out. It was worth it because it has turned out to be a really special film.”

Q: What have you been doing? What’s stopped you from working?
A: “(Laughs) I wanted to consciously step away from things for a year. I have been here for eleven years. I started out when I was fifteen so I definitely needed a break. Everyone needs to step away and see their life as it is. Also, I knew that I wanted to travel after marriage. That was a priority. Business is also important to me, I am still learning from Farhan (Azmi, her husband). He obviously knows this really well and we have some dream projects that we are working on. We have a ten-room boutique hotel in Goa that we are working on right now.”

Q: So what did you see when you stepped back and looked at your life.
A: “I think we evolve with each year. You cannot be in the same place doing the same thing, day after day for so many years. For me, I need to explore other areas of my life, understand myself as a person in different ways. I cannot be putting on make-up, going to my van …listening to someone say ‘action’ all the time. How many days can you do that. How can you not want to know aspects of your life?”

Q: Did you have people advising you not to go on this sabbatical?
A: “Almost everyone told me I was getting married too early, that everything would be ruined. But I was clear that I didn’t want to put everything else in my life on hold till the camera and films got tired of me. I decide when I will do a film or get into business or anything else. Films cannot decide what I do in my life. Or else, I would be concentrating on the number game or getting a PR for myself.”

Q: But does that kind of attitude work in an industry like this one?
A: “It doesn’t actually. But I have been really lucky, I have always said that. I don’t think it can continue to work like that. Even now, I keep getting offers and I consider myself fortunate, because even as an actor, I have so many dos and don’ts as an actor too. I don’t know if it can work for everyone.”

Q: What are your dos and don’ts as an actor?
A: “Well, nothing in particular. Just some things that I am not comfortable doing. It has to with my moral fibre and I not saying anyone else is right or wrong. It’s just what I want to do or not.”

Akshay gives Bollywood gyaan to Katrina on TMK promotional tours

Nowadays thanks to the promotional tours and events for their new film together, Akshay Kumar is spending a lot of time with Katrina Kaif. And we can safely say it’s time well spent for Katrina. Akshay is constantly enhancing Katrina’s knowledge of Hindi films, their titles and other trivia.
By now it’s common knowledge that Katrina is not quite clued into the nuances and titles of Hindi cinema. Her co-star Akshay Kumar, who prides himself for being just the opposite and is a veritable encyclopaedia of filmy titles and other trivia, has found an ingenious method of educating his co-star. He plays Dumb Charade with Katrina providing her signs and hints from commercial Hindi films as clues.
And boy, is Katrina getting clued in!
Lets hear it, Sheila ki zubaani (voice). “I’ve to admit I couldn’t have hoped for a more fun teacher than Akshay. I come from a place where I can’t gush about how I grew up on a staple diet of Sholay and Mughal-e-Azam. Akshay knows it all. He is completely clued into the cult of potboilers and can mimic every actor and act out every famous sequence. Being with him over the last few weeks, I am finally getting knowledgeable about Hindi movies.”
The games of Dumb Charade are being played between bouts of promotion on cars and flights in several cities across the country. Akshay and Katrina have hired a private plane for the 12-city 25-day tour.
“So we get a lot of time to play Dumb Charade. By the time the promotions for Tees Maar Khan are over, I think I’ll be an expert on Bollywood trivia,” Katrina has her fingers crossed.
The education works both ways. While Akshay acts out scenes from Hindi films during Dumb Charade, Katrina mimes magical moments from Hollywood films for Akshay.
“So I guess we are both learning on the job,” she chuckles.

‘Munni’ Malaika shoots Zandu Balm commercial with Suriya and NTR Junior

Malaika Arora Khan made the whole nation swoon to her beats with ‘Munni Badnaam‘ earlier this year, so much so that it even boosted the sales of Zandu Balm. The actress in fact was even roped in by the makers of Zandu Balm for a special promotional campaign.

Malaika recently shot for the Zandu Balm commercial in 3 different languages namely Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. While the Hindi commercial features only Malaika, in the Tamil one, she would be seen alongside South superstar Suriya and in the Telugu one alongside NTR Junior.

Apparently, all the three commercials have been shot atop a train a-la ‘Chaiyyan Chaiyyan’ and have been choreographed by Prabhudeva.

SRK highly impressed by Akon

Shah Rukh Khan is a self-confessed fan of Akon’s music. Now that they have jammed together for a song in Ra.One the two have become so close that Akon has promised to give Shah Rukh some tips on “cool rapping” in exchange for Hindi lessons from Shah Rukh.

R& B singer Akon has sung in Hindi for a track in Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One. Initially it was meant to be only a smattering of words in Hindi. Now there are passages of Hindi by Akon. The absence of an accent in his singing of the Hindi words in the track took Shah Rukh Khan so much by surprise that he decided to add some more Hindi words and lines into Akon’s song in Ra.One.

Confirming this, composer Shekhar Ravjiani speaking on behalf of the duo Vishal-Shekhar who have composed the Akon track, says, “Akon’s Hindi took all of us by surprise. It was almost like he had been speaking the language all his life. No one could believe Akon was seeing those Hindi lines for the first time. He just rattled of the lines as if he was conversant with Hindi. When you hear the song you will see no difference in the singing quality of Akon’s English and Hindi lines.”

Ra.One is expected to have 10 tracks. Vishal-Shekhar are in the process of creating the soundtrack.

Says Shekhar, “The director Anubhav Sinha has such a keen ear for music. He understands ragas, rhythm, melody and the format of music composition. Shah Rukh too is very clued to world music. We are creating the kind of global sound in Ra.One which has never been heard in Indian cinema before.”

SRK highly impressed by Akon

Shah Rukh Khan is a self-confessed fan of Akon’s music. Now that they have jammed together for a song in Ra.One the two have become so close that Akon has promised to give Shah Rukh some tips on “cool rapping” in exchange for Hindi lessons from Shah Rukh.

R& B singer Akon has sung in Hindi for a track in Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One. Initially it was meant to be only a smattering of words in Hindi. Now there are passages of Hindi by Akon. The absence of an accent in his singing of the Hindi words in the track took Shah Rukh Khan so much by surprise that he decided to add some more Hindi words and lines into Akon’s song in Ra.One.

Confirming this, composer Shekhar Ravjiani speaking on behalf of the duo Vishal-Shekhar who have composed the Akon track, says, “Akon’s Hindi took all of us by surprise. It was almost like he had been speaking the language all his life. No one could believe Akon was seeing those Hindi lines for the first time. He just rattled of the lines as if he was conversant with Hindi. When you hear the song you will see no difference in the singing quality of Akon’s English and Hindi lines.”

Ra.One is expected to have 10 tracks. Vishal-Shekhar are in the process of creating the soundtrack.

Says Shekhar, “The director Anubhav Sinha has such a keen ear for music. He understands ragas, rhythm, melody and the format of music composition. Shah Rukh too is very clued to world music. We are creating the kind of global sound in Ra.One which has never been heard in Indian cinema before.”

Ramu pitched Vivek against Abhishek?

Everyone is wondering why Ram Gopal Varma suddenly decided to move forward his Rakht Charitra (RC) sequel from November 19 to December 3 after making a noise about taking on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish.

The official explanation is, RC2 was not ready on time. That according to a source is pure hogwash.

The real reason why Ramu, the master of marketing manipulations has chosen December 3 is so that he could pitch his Vivek Oberoi starrer against Abhishek Bachchan’s prestigious historical release Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.

Says the well-informed source, “Ramu likes to create an extra buzz around his films. When Phoonk 2 was released with Chance Pe Dance, Ramu tried to pitch the crow in his horror film against Shahid. Abhishek and Vivek are seen to be at loggerheads. Ramu intends to play up their rivalry. Although both actors have worked repeatedly with Ramu the filmmaker is not averse to deliberately pitching them against one another.”

Ramu feigns ignorance about his marketing maneuver. “The reason Rakht Charitra 2 was delayed is because the post-production took longer than we thought it would. I didn’t even know our film was coming on the same day as Abhishek’s. Not just that, both are based on true stories. Vivek and Abhishek play real- life characters in the two films. Having said that, let me also add that a lot of our marketing focus for RC2 would be on the Tamil superstar Suriya whom I regard as next only Rajnikanth in popularity. Since he’s making his Hindi debut, we’re trying to figure out ways to bring him in front of the Hindi audiences.”

This, according to the source, is exactly why Ramu has chosen to peg his sequel on the old Abhishek-Vivek rivalry. Says the source, “After the rejection of Rakht Charitra in the Northern belt, Ramu can’t take a risk with the sequel. Suriya may be a superstar in the South. In Hindi, even Rajnikanth doesn’t have a market. RC2 has no songs and items to promote. At most, Suriya can do some interviews before its release. He can’t create an excitement around the film.”

Protests Ramu, “We are not insecure about Suriya’s acceptance in Hindi, neither is he. We’ve a fusion-version of Rakht Charitra parts 1 & 2, in Tamil Nadu that we’ll release on December 3. As for the Hindi release, the film will work not because of the actors but the theme.”

Rohit Shetty to remake Tamil film Singam with Ajay Devgn

After directing successful comedies like the Golmaal series and All The Best, Rohit Shetty will change tracks for his next venture and return to the action genre. Rohit’s next after Golmaal 3 is an action packed film which is a remake of the 2010 Tamil smash-hit film Singam.

While the Tamil film starred Surya in the lead role, the Hindi remake will star Rohit’s best friend Ajay Devgn. The film is being produced by Reliance Big Pictures which had also co-produced the Tamil version.

Confirming the same, Rohit said, “Yes my next film is the remake of Singam and stars Ajay Devgn. Right now, I am too busy with the release of Golmaal 3 and have not finalised on the actress and other cast members.”

Considering Rohit’s debut film as a director was an action film Zameen, it will be interesting to see how Rohit tackles this genre after a hiatus.

John Abraham gears up for ultimate action in Kaakha Kaakha remake

Following the debacle of his purportedly premium product, Jhootha Hi Sahi, which was expected to take the star’s career to a new level, there’s hyper-activity on John Abraham’s front. The pinup star is pumping up the iron and toning those muscles for a renewed bout of celluloid machismo.

Apparently, John has halted the shooting of key action sequences in his first fully-fledged action film, the Hindi remake of the Tamil blockbuster Kaakha Kaakha. Apart from Bollywood’s best action director Allan Amin, John has now ordered an action team from South Africa to supervise his stunts.

Director Nishikant Kamat confirms that John is at the moment shooting non-action scenes. “We’ll do the action scenes later. I cannot do those loud larger-than-life stunts sequences where the hero beats up twenty adversaries single-handedly. The action in my film has to be in the more realistic yet hardcore commercial space. It’s a challenge for both me and John. For me, commercial cinema is new. I’ve butterflies in my stomach every time I go on the sets.”

John is nervous too.

According to a source very close to John, it’s goodbye to experimental characters. No more playing against personality for John Abraham. No more nerdy or dying characters. Its muscles and beefcake all the way as the pinup boy acquires an adrenaline-pumping chest-thumping image for his next.

With his last two films Ashaayein and Jhootha Hi Sahi not doing well you would think John Abraham’s producers are in the process of a serious re-think. Far from being discouraged, the makers of the next John starrer are actually in the process of enhancing the original material.

The Hindi remake of Kaakha Kaakha which is John’s first full-on action film would now have more action scenes and less of the dialogue and drama.

As far as the box-office is concerned, Nishikant Kamat remains unfazed by the performance of John’s films. “My producer Vipul Shah and I signed John for the Kaakha Kaakha remake because we saw him doing the action hero’s part to perfection. So far no film has tapped that side of him. John will be performing some of the most dangerous stunts ever seen in our films.”

Vivek Oberoi ties the knot in Bangalore

BANGALORE: Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi today tied the nuptial knot with management graduate Priyanka Alva at a resplendent ceremony here marked by razzmatazz of the Hindi tinsel world.

In the wedding, which saw a touch of traditional Punjabi exuberance and cultural beauty of coastal Karnataka, 34-year old Oberoi exchanged garlands with Priyanka (28), the daughter of former Karnataka minister late Jeevaraj Alva and reputed dancer Nandini, at a late night ceremony here.

The day was marked by a series of rituals, in keeping with the typical Indian tradition, sources close to the family said.

The wedding day commenced with prayers to bless the couple, followed by a haldi ceremony.

“The haldi ceremony began the with smearing of vermilion on Priyanka as it is considered to be auspicious,” said one of the guests.

The ”sehra bandhi” ceremony, saw

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