How Katrina finally signed up for Dhoom 3

Many names, including top international ones, were considered for the coveted role of the screen queen opposite bad-boy Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3.
Finally it’s Katrina Kaif, after all, who has bagged the prized part.
Katrina, it must be remembered, was Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra and director Vijay Krishna Acharya’s first choice for the part. But the actress, hell bent on building on her wholesome image, had major misgivings about some of the things that the role required from her. There was the mandatory girl-in-a-bikini Dhoom shot.
With her new policy of no kissing and no exposure, Katrina begged off the role.
Says a very reliable source, “Katrina very clearly told her dear friend Aditya Chopra that she would not be comfortable doing some of the scenes. Aditya told her she was crazy to turn down the chance of playing the Dhoom girl, and that too opposite Aamir Khan, but Katrina is very clear about what she wants to and doesn’t want to do on screen. And nothing could make her change her mind. She suggested that they look for someone else.”
The hunt for Aamir’s Dhoom girl even went international with hot global faces being considered. Incidentally, a couple of A-list actresses got their publicity machinery to plant stories of being chosen for Dhoom 3.
Says a source, “But the first choice, namely Katrina kept coming back to haunt the banner’s casting aspirations. They needed a girl who not only looked hot but also could look extremely homely and wholesome. A combination of Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman, that was the brief.”
Two factors made Katrina change her mind. The first was Aamir Khan. Having bagged a role with Shah Rukh Khan in Yash Chopra’s next, she was keen to be paired with Aamir. And so, we believe, was Aamir.
Finally, there was a long and intense meeting between Katrina and Aditya Chopra just before she left for the shooting of Ek Tha Tiger in Dublin that clinched the matter. Both Katrina and Adi were in high spirits after the success of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.
Says a source, “Someone said Katrina was Yash Raj’s lucky mascot. To this she quipped, ‘I really don’t like being called a lucky mascot. It makes me sound like a ghodi at the derby.’ Everyone including Katrina was in the mood to see her say yes to Dhoom 3.”
Apparently, in the meeting Aditya convinced Katrina as to why doing Dhoom 3 at this stage of her career would take her to another level. They spoke about the packaging and the projection. And they also spoke about the scenes that bothered Katrina.
Apparently, the kissing and bikini scenes have been taken care of. Says a source, “The scenes that scared Katrina have not been done away with entirely. But Adi and Katrina met on a middle path. The scenes have been now modified to the advantage of both the parties.”
With Dhoom 3, Katrina Kaif becomes the only heroine in the history of Indian cinema to do 4 back-to-back films with the Yash Raj banner.
Katrina remained unavailable for comment. Apparently, she is using the off-shooting hours in Dublin to get fighting-fit for Dhoom 3. Martial arts and samurai sword-fighting are part of the training for the part.
Go ahead Katrina. Dhoom machale.

Katrina Kaif to be the brand ambassador of Titan Raga?

The way one associates Amitabh Bachchan with ‘Class’, SRK with ‘Style’, Madhuri Dixit with ‘Grace’ and likes, there’s one PYT in Bollywood who can be

associated with ‘Poise’ and ‘Élan’ and she is none other than Katrina Kaif.

If News Trends’s sources are to be believed, then, Katrina Kaif is now all set to be the brand ambassador of the watch major Titan Raga.

The official announcement of the same is awaited.

SRK to begin shooting for YRF after ‘Ra.One’ release

Ever since Yash Chopra announced his next film a few months ago, the wait for this film has already begun. The veteran, who directed VEER ZAARA more than seven years ago, is all set to begin his next film with Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the lead. This time, the respected and revered film-maker has signed A.R. Rahman to score the music of his forthcoming film.

The latest on the project is that Yash-ji is all ready with the script, but since Shah Rukh is busy with RA.ONE and DON 2, the actor has requested the film-maker to begin filming once he’s through with these two films. Of course, the veteran film-maker and the actor share close ties, hence the principal shooting of the film will commence only after the release of these two films. In the meanwhile, Rahman is expected to record the songs of this film, before the film goes on floors.

This film, one is more than sure, will be on every moviegoer’s ‘must watch’ list when its release date is announced. What say?

Sonakshi is the chosen one for item number in Joker

Makers of Joker won’t have to look anymore for Katrina Kaif or other A-league actresses for performing an item number in Joker. They have found one pretty much in-house, what with Sonakshi Sinha herself stepping in for a slot that was available for grabs. This well-thought of decision was taken last week by Shirish Kunder and Farah Khan who felt that there was no harm in getting their own leading lady gyrate to the tune of this ‘desi’ number that is expected to spice up the narrative of this Akshay Kumar starrer.

“This item number was recorded many months back but the hunt was on for the item girl. Though there was no one in particular who was sent any feelers since there are still a few more days to go before the song goes on floors, Shirish started looking at Sonakshi as a big option that was available right in front of them”, says a source from the film.

For the uninitiated, a few months back there were also talks of Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan being approached for the song. Since Katrina owes her biggest chartbuster ever, ‘Sheila Ki Jawaani’ (Tees Maar Khan) to Farah and Salman too has worked with Shirish in Jaan-E-Mann (and also done an item number ‘Wallah Wallah’ in Tees Maar Khan), everyone felt that this would be a cakewalk. However, once Katrina denied doing any such song, the hunt intensified to look for another big name.

“Yeah, everyone felt that Sonakshi herself could be groomed for this item number”, the source continues, “She has anyways done quite well in another song from the film, ‘Dance Kar Le English Mein’, where she has gyrated to a ‘desi’ tune and impressed everyone with her moves. Shirish and Farah felt that it would be good to continue the momentum by making their leading lady do the quintessential item number as well.”

On contacted, Shirish did confirm that Sonakshi was doing the item number. However he denied that this was an after thought and instead stated that options were always open for the coveted slot. “No one else had been approached and in any case this song was always supposed to be shot in our later schedules. Sonakshi is the best fit for the song and we would be beginning the shoot soon”, says Shirish.

There are some who are surprised though. After all, it wasn’t too long ago when he had supposedly asked Sonakshi to reduce weight for her further scenes in the film. One wonders what led to a change in mind.

“What change of mind”, Shirish gets a tad irritated here, “We took Sonakshi in the film for what she is. She looks absolutely fine and there is no change needed in her. Whatever you heard are just rumours.”

When told that this decision seemed impromptu and just a measure to soothe Ms. Sinha who is pretty peeved with the suggestions, Shirish responded stating, “That’s rubbish. People should stop imagining.”

Katrina Kaif signed up for Dhoom 3, Aamir Khan to take profit share?

The news of Aamir Khan being roped in to play the villain in Dhoom 3 was a rage last week. However, the big question since then has been, who will be signed as the lead actress opposite him. Though a number of names were being tossed around by the media, trendpk.com has learnt from its sources that Katrina Kaif will be playing the female lead in Dhoom: 3.

Katrina, who is currently doing YRF’s Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, has beaten the other contenders to clinch the role.

Though the rest of the cast, namely Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra remains unchanged, Aamir and Katrina’s addition to the cast certainly heats things up. Considering the chemistry between Aamir and Katrina, the duo has put all questions to rest, with their photographic rendition of the classic film Pyaasa that garnered positive response from fans and industry folk alike.

trendpk.com has also learnt from its sources that Aamir won’t be charging his usual fee for D: 3. Instead, he will have a stake in the profits of the film. To be precise Aamir will have a total of 33% stake in the profits of the film. This will be the first time that YRF has permitted such sharing. However, though this may be a first for the production house, Aamir has cut down his share from the usual 40% that he had for the film 3 Idiots.

When we contacted, Rafiq Gangjee from YRF replied, “The casting for the girls of Dhoom: 3 has not started. Also, YRF does not discuss artist contracts and agreements.”

While Aamir’s publicist said, “The 33% profit sharing ratio is not true, besides we do not have any profit sharing ratio with YRF as such. While on the remuneration i will not comment.”

While Yash Raj Films refrains to comment on this, we can safely bet that with Katrina being signed on for Dhoom: 3, and Aamir adding another shade to the film with his talent, the high octane torque film promises to be more than just fast bikes.

Kat hits Akshay in ‘Tees Mar Khan’ shooting

MUMBAI: Famous Director Farah Khan’s “Tees Maar Khan” shooting ended well and is ready to release with all the cast pleased with their performance and satisfied because of their team work and efforts.

Well, maybe it wasn’t really like this, not atleast for Akshay Kumar because the Akshay Kumar got injured quite badly, coz Katrina Kaif had hit him hard though it was not intentionally. The incident happened during the shootings for a song when Katrina hit Akki pretty bad with her elbow.

During the song “Bade Dilwala”, Katrina got very concentrated in dancing, to get the step arrangement in order, and she just did not realize Akshay Kumar was there. For two hours, the producers had to stop the shooting, as Akshay Kumar was in terrible pain and could not continue.

“Tees Maar Khan” is in all the big headlines these days, and the actors and producers together are working hard to promote it. This could be the biggest hit and the memorable movie for Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Akshay Khanna and Farah Khan.

Akshay and Katrina get mobbed by fans

There are always two sides to a coin. While being famous comes with its own perks, there is a flip side too, which is of being followed by millions of ardent fans wherever you go. Though it’s all for the love of the celeb, sometimes the fans can get into frenzy and create trouble for the star. Katrina Kaif recently had a first hand experience of this, while she was on a promotional tour for her upcoming film Tees Maar Khan.

It was in Dubai when Katrina was scheduled for a promotional event at a local mall where her fans gathered in thronging numbers. On seeing her car arrive, her fans mobbed the vehicle for a glimpse of the actress. The situation got so out of hand that Katrina’s make up man had to double up as her security to escort the harrowed star back to the hotel.

While closer to home, on a nationwide promotional campaign, both Akshay and Katrina were left confined to the hotel in Ludhiana, all thanks to the fans who had gathered outside. Maybe the fans took the ‘Catch me if you can’ bit from the TMK’s title track too seriously.

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.

Katrina Kaif tops World’s Sexiest Woman poll

Click above for more movie stills

Sitting pretty atop another poll for 3 consecutive years Katrina Kaif was recently announced Eastern Eye’s Sexiest Woman beating off contemporaries from around the world third time in a row.

Apart from being amongst the most photographed actresses in the world Katrina Kaif is also considered highly bankable not to mention uber sexy and confident. After proving her acting prowess in Raajneeti Katrina Kaif went on to scorch screens with her latest song Sheila Ki Jawani from her forthcoming release Tees Maar Khan one of the year’s highly anticipated movies.

Eastern Eye showbiz editor Asjad Nazir, who was chairman of the selection panel, thinks that Katrina’s win is all the more remarkable because of the incredibly high standard. “Although Bollywood heroines dominated the top 10, the list for 2010 included stunning beauty pageant winners, top actresses from around the world, pop stars and TV personalities. That is why Katrina should be deservedly proud of her amazing win.”

Delighted with the hat -trick says Katrina Kaif “I’m very happy that I have made it to the top of Eastern Eye’s list again. England is off course a very special place to me and I think it’s very sweet to be voted the sexiest by them. I just want to thank everyone for the support,”

The poll was conducted by the most popular, influential and established South Asian publication in the UK .

Deepika, Sonam face tough consequences for going against Ranbir

MUMBAI: Latest reports from the tinsel town confirmed that Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor will not be joining Ranbir Kapoor in his July 2011 world tour. While actresses like Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu and Malaika Arora Khan will be a part of the tour, Deepika and Sonam have been asked to quit.

It may be recalled that Rishi is upset with the two actresses for making rude remarks on his son”s character in ”Koffee With Karan Season 3” and he prefers Katrina over Deepika and Sonam.

Rishi Kapoor admitted that it is impossible to bring Deepika-Katrina on board together saying, “Deepika wanted to come along. We didn”t want any stress behind the stage. See, as it is, Ranbir has never been on stage. We want it to go smoothly, no backstage jhik-jhik, please!”

Sonam has backed out from the tour as well. Rishi Kapoor explained, “She begged off saying she didn”t have a song repertoire to stand on stage with Katrina and Priyanka.”

“We start off in the UK, US and Canada. Then after six months we”ll go for another lap of the tour. I”ve done these world tours over and over again. But for Ranbir, the world tour would be a new experience,” he added.

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