Posts Tagged ‘Bebo’
WHERE ARE THE ROLES? Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu, Sonam and (above) Vidya Balan
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; January 5, 2010)
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; January 4, 2010)
Like a cat that has swallowed the cream, Kareena smacked her luscious lips and said, “There I was licking my wounds when God above answered my prayers. Honestly, I’m delirious. To think that I started 2009 with a whimper and ended it with a bang. Someone up there heard me.’’
Just before she set off on a tour of England with Saif Ali Khan, the incorrigible Bebo said, “2010 has a lot of promise. I sincerely wish the Midas touch continues. I’ll start the year with my idol, Shah Rukh Khan, with whom I’m travelling to Miami for RA 1. Then I’m going to be traipsing the globe with Saif in Agent Vinod. And, if Aamir keeps up his promise to me, the two of us will end up in a romantic film by the end of the year.’’ Jumping like a child, she asked, “Listen, is it wrong to love more than one Khan at a time? I’m guilty of just that. Shah Rukh and Gauri are my close friends. I love Saifu. And as for Aamir, well, what can I say? He’s the new Khan on my block.’’
Gamely she takes the blame for her duds. She knows the critics dipped their pens in poison when she did KI and MAMK. “My funda is simple,’’ said Bebo. “Actors should be like scientists, always willing to experiment. I experimented and I failed. That doesn’t take away from my acting abilities. If I don’t experiment, the same guys will write — she’s a plastic doll on screen. One does take chances with one’s roles and if the films fail, I’m more heartbroken than anyone else. Don’t forget films are all I live for. I give my films everything I have. So failure does affect me. But to write me off each time I have a flop is unfair.’’
Maybe, but that’s the way things in Bollywood work. One Friday you’re a handmaiden, the next Friday you’re the Queen. And, if you’re lucky, you can get an extended lease at the box-office. Like Bebo just managed. meena.iyer@timesgroup.com
Bebo or Ranbir?
Posted on: December 22, 2009
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; December 21, 2009)
The same dilemma has come back to haunt two major filmmakers now. Rumours have it that Sajid Nadiadwala, who is making his next film Anjaana Anjaani with Bollywood’s current heartthrob Ranbir and Priyanka Chopra, was heard telling an insider from the Kareena Kapoor camp that he would have ideally liked to work with Bebo and Ranbir. But, of course, since they are first cousins the pair would get audience rejection.
It is also reported that the Mehtas of Ashtavinayak will go on the floors with their film directed by Imtiaz Ali with Ranbir on April 1, 2010. Once again, this banner that loves Bebo because she is their Jab We Met heroine, wanted her in the lead. However, since they have had to choose between Ranbir and Kareena — both of whom are the current hot favourites — they have chosen to cast Ranbir.
But Bebo is not entirely at a disadvantage. There is a third film corporation that wants to cast her with the light-eyed youngster Imran Khan, who is another Bollywood hottie.
• You have got some good reviews for your role in Kurbaan.
Yes. I have not stopped smiling since the film’s release. At one of the trials, Bebo (Kareena Kapoor) and Saif (Ali Khan) did tell me that I was good in the film. Then Karan (Johar) and Rensil (D’Silva)also told me the same thing. I had not seen the film till then as I was shooting in Hyderabad. It was a nice feeling when Karan told me ‘finally you make me proud.’ I saw the film just a day before its release and I had knots in my stomach. I was very nervous but I was with people who have always been kind to me. There were Shah Rukh and Gauri, Imran and his fiancée Avantika, Yash uncle, Davidji (Dhawan). They all hugged me and said I was good.
• Why have you not done a romantic film after Saathiya?
Honestly, I really don’t know. Kurbaan has got a romantic track but Mission Istanbul and Shootout At Lokhandwala had zero romance. I have not done an out-and-out romantic film and I am really looking forward to doing one.
• People are saying that you have changed and that you want to leave the controversies behind and concentrate only on your work.
I wanted this for a really long time. However, after Shootout… things did not fall in place. Almost four years ago, when I did Omkara, I saw Saif getting under the skin of the character Langda Tyagi. I loved the work ethics. That’s when I thought that I should stop doing what I was doing, but I had a backlog to finish. Then my close friend Amit Chandra sat me down and helped me streamline my life so that I could practically achieve what I was trying to. Now, I have learnt not to take anything for granted.
• How did Ramu and you patch up?
I don’t think patch up is the right word as we were never at loggerheads. I will never have the audacity to say anything against Ramu and as an artiste, I will always be indebted to him for giving me Company. But when he called me and told me ‘I will never work with you again’, I was shocked. Now, when he called me and said that he had something for me, I was so happy. When I met him, he said that he could see the same passion in my eyes again and gave me Rakta Charitra. I felt exactly the same on the first day of Rakta Charitra that I felt on the first day on the sets of Company. Ramu made me feel so comfortable.
• You have done some amazing stunts in Prince, something which you are not known for.
Yes. Kookie Gulati is quite a whiz kid. I did so many things that I cannot possibly explain — right from learning how to skateboard, doing parkour, learning cable work, to action training. I had to put so many things into my system that after the training session, things became easier.
• You have said that you are done with apologising to people.
I made a mistake and it is human to make mistakes. Personally, I think it’s humbling and it’s also building character to stand up and say I made a mistake and please forgive me. It is always an ego-based thing to say that why should I apologise. It is a real man who can say ‘I am sorry’ and that too in public. I have said sorry to the assistant director whom I was rude to, I have said sorry to the movie star whom I had a fight with and I even said sorry to the director I snapped at.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (BOMBAY TIMES; November 13, 2009)
Karan Johar is back to doing what he’s best at! Grilling stars over coffee. And guess who he’s got in on the barbequecouch in front of him? India’s hottest pairings, Saif and Kareena. The king of coffeeconversation had the real-life jodi squirming in a special tête-à-tête for ZOOM. And from coffee to conversational chemistry, KJo rocked it along with Saifeena for this exclusive Date With Kurbaan, Excerpts from the conversation:
KARAN: Everyone is talking about your steamy scenes in Kurbaan. Would you guys have been able to do it with any other actor?
KAREENA: I’m a professional but since I have seen the scenes, I realise it may not quite have turned out this way with anyone else.
Saif: I would’ve done it, but then there would have to be more accountability and I would’ve had to explain to myself that this was a part of my job. Since it was Bebo, there was no accountability and it was done more intimately and with abandon.
KARAN: Does your past come up between you two?
SAIF: It can and it should come up. I think the most important thing to remember is every part of your past has brought you to your present. Instead of worrying about it, you should thank it for bringing you to where you are.
KAREENA: I felt the need to know everything about Saif first, considering the Casanova he was! I was petrified that I was getting into a relationship with him… but today, I can say, he’s a changed man.
KARAN: What about marriage?
SAIF: Some days she asks me, “Are you going to do that ever?” And I say “In time”. Marriage does impact an Indian acting woman’s career. Kareena has always worked; and very few want a focussed career as badly as she does. Sachin Tendulkar wanted to play cricket as badly as Kareena wants a career, that’s a fact! Emotionally we’re growing and we’re in love. Marriage is not a way to tie somebody down.
The Bollywood Merry Go Round
Posted on: November 13, 2009
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; November 13, 2009)
When Hrithik Roshan blazed into Bollywood with Kaho Na Pyaar Hai in 2000, he almost wrested the reigning Badshah Shah Rukh Khan’s throne. With the paparazzi adding to their woes SRK and Duggu started out on a wrong foot. And SRK, who was hanging mid-air at a Filmfare Awards’ night event, joked saying, “Come Hrithik… come and pull me down.” However, that was another day. Today both Duggu and SRK are bonding big time. Sources say, “Every other night, the King and the Prince are dining together.’’ What makes their friendship more special is the fact that the girls, Gauri Khan and Sussanne Roshan, are also thick.
Aamir Khan admits that he didn’t approve of Salman Khan’s cavalier attitude to his work when they were filming Andaz Apna Apna. Said Aamir, “I even ticked Salman, Raveena Tandon and Paresh Rawal off during AAA because they had issues to resolve with the producer. And, they were treating the project badly.’’ Today Salman and Aamir are very good friends. Salman’s sketches on the Ghajini superstar are the piece de resistance at Aamir’s residence, and the boys often bond over a drink when AK’s wife Kiran Rao is out on her work assignment. Aamir even said, “That confrontation we had years ago has actually strengthened our bond.’’
Akshay Kumar admits that Suniel Shetty and he shared a hatelove relationship when they started out and now they have a love-love relationship which was in full force during the shoot of De Dhana Dan. Suniel said, “We were immature, yaar, now we’re men in our 40s. Where is the question of us fighting? It all seems so silly. Akki and I are not the best of friends but we do enjoy a camaraderie that is there for everyone to see.’’ If the Bollywood men are bonding big time, the women too have left their previous grievances aside and become friends. Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu who argued like cats during Ajnabi are now friends. And so are Bebo and Preity Zinta. Guess when the boys and the girls realise that they aren’t hunting the same game, they let their guard down.
‘Khan’ decide who to Choose!
Posted on: November 9, 2009
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; November 9, 2009)
After Kambakkht Ishq and Main Aur Mrs Khanna this year, both of which didn’t do anything for her, Kareena’s performances in Kurbaan and 3 Idiots are generating a deafening buzz already… and Bollywood’s most powerful actress is literally running between real life beau Saif Ali Khan (Kurbaan) and good friend Aamir (3 Idiots) between November 9-15 … because that’s how her dates have been allotted for promotions.
Says Bebo, “Both Saif and Aamir are very dear to me. I think I’ve created magic with both co-stars and it is impossible for me to choose one over the other.” She recently shot a supererotic, romantic number with Aamir in artificial rain. Insiders say that though the focal point in 3 Idiots is not the Aamir-Kareena romance, it is still a very endearing part of it. While Saif maintains that there is a tremendous curiosity about his pairing with Kareena because they are a real life couple too, Aamir says, “Kareena is one of the most beautiful actresses that we have today. She is also a very good friend and we have both worked very hard on this rain song. I hope people like it.” He’s done wet songs before with Sonali Bendre in Sarfarosh and in Fanaa with Kajol, in which his chemistry with both actresses was highly appreciated… but with Kareena, well, Aamir feels the chemistry is combustible. Any wonder Bebo is smiling like a Cheshire cat that has got the cream.
Monica Bedi-Saif’s favourite!
Posted on: November 5, 2009
I don’t know what the trade pundits have to say about Karan Johar’s Kurbaan, but Saif Ali Khan, whose first film this is opposite Kareena
Saif Ali Khan More Pics
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Kapoor, is very confident about the November 20 release.
MARK MANUEL (Bombay Times; November 5, 2009)
“I’ve a good feeling about it,” he told me. We were talking on the phone because he’s here, there and everywhere promoting the film, and just not available in Mumbai.
Tuesday he was in Delhi, yesterday London, next Dubai. “There’s more to life than shooting,” he sighed. In the background, I could hear Kareena prompting his replies. They’re not doing all the promotions together, because she’s busy making Stepmom with Karan at the same time, and Saif… well, after this he swore he’s taking a month off in December to “train and get into serious shape” before they start shooting for his home production Agent Vinod. His idea of training is not the same as Aamir’s or, say, Salman’s.
“I won’t get a funda trainer… but just kill myself in the gym. It’ll be a combo of yoga and weights. You don’t need a NASA scientist to get a great body,” he chortled.
He’s worked with Karan before in Kal Ho Na Ho, but that time, the filmmaker was completely involved in every aspect of the film. This time, Karan has left it to director Rensil D’Silva. “So the film’s got its own flavour,” explained Saif, “Rensil has brought his ad world sensibilities to Kurbaan, and this is not a filmi kind of movie… it’s a love story and thriller with a socio-politically relevant background. When I step back and see the promos, the posters, I’m like – wow!” Which means he’s confident about what it will do at the box-office. “But there’s also the risk of an off-screen couple being boring on-screen,” he admitted.
“Which means Bebo and I have to choose our roles carefully. We’ve got to present an exciting avatar on-screen… more than the usual pairing. And that we have done in this film. I was equally confident about Love Aaj Kal (his last film and first home production)… but there were moments of panic as well then. In this business, it’s tough to be consistent about your emotions. I can’t be like a rock. I go through ambivalence.”
There’s a lot riding for Kareena, as well, in Kurbaan… especially since her last film Main Aur Mrs Khanna, and Kambakht Ishq before that, didn’t exactly do much for her at the box-office. Saif, aware that she is listening to our conversation, defended his co-star and love. “I preferred her in Jab We Met,” he said cleverly.
“And I thought she looked stunning in Kambakht Ishq. It was a clever attempt at a commercial potboiler. Akshay was very funny. But people discuss Kambakth Ishq as if it was of great national importance. It was a fun film. Main Aur Mrs Khanna… I’m not sure, I saw a rough print, I don’t watch too many films, I’m not an authority… it was a sweet film, I don’t know what to say, baba! I think she chooses all kinds of films. She covers the entire spectrum of Hindi cinema in her choices… not all of them for the best! She’s done Kambakht Ishq and Main Aur Mrs Khanna this year, now she’s got Kurbaan, then 3 Idiots, and she’s working on Stepmom… all different. I think she works more for the audience than herself!”
They’ve worked together in Tashan earlier. The film, well, was disastrous… but it brought them close. Was Kareena different as an actress then, I asked. Saif hummed and hawed, then safely replied, “The same… she’s focused and a sensitive artiste, very concentrated. Also great fun to work with. I had just a couple of scenes with her in Tashan. So Kurbaan is really my first experience with her. There are few people I’ve met who are more passionate about their work. And I’m impressed with that. It’s not just about giving your shot… her knowledge of cinema is great and all round, and she has a deep interest, which I find very cool.”
Naturally, there must have been joys and pains in working with her. I pictured him giving her a backward glance then saying, “No pains, being together, creating something special, watching each other at work… those were the joys. I normally don’t have to worry about my co-star’s moods because I’ve not been so deeply involved with a co-star. But here we were connected. So I had to take time… to get comfortable… to find my own space… to figure out what to do between shots, how to unwind, I mean… we didn’t have to be together all the time. It’s a bit like working with your mom… she knows you so well, there’s no scope of impressing her!
” So, who’s your favourite actress, I asked Saif Ali Khan, the artful dodger. “Suchitra Sen, Zeenat Aman, Madhubala…” he began. Then, “Oh, you mean who I’ve worked with… I don’t know what to say… I’ve not worked with too many… but Rani’s a great co-star and Kareena’s fab… but my favourite actress, hmmm…” And Kareena Kapoor replied for him from the background, “Monica Bedi!”
Bhai & Bebo unplugged!
Posted on: October 16, 2009
MARK MANUEL Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; October 16, 2009)
I bumped into the Khannas at Mehboob Studio where they were shooting an ad together. On screen, despite the 14-year age difference, they are said to make an adorable couple and handsomely complement each other. But both are consummate actors. And Salman, I know, is far more fond of her elder sister Karisma with whom he’s had several big hits. While Kareena, despite Salman’s boyish charm and ruggedness, knows she makes the best jodi of all in Bollywood only with Saif Ali Khan. Wait for Karan Johar’s Kurbaan next month and you will know what I mean. Still, and I don’t know what it is, there is a sizzling connect between the two. And the conversation between them sparked and hissed like this:
SALMAN: Extraordinary!
Boney Kapoor is reviving his film that has been pending for five years, Milenge Milenge. Two songs have been newly recorded by Himesh Reshammiya, who has gone back on his self-imposed, no-outside-composition diktat, to honour a professional commitment made by him six years ago. However, Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, the lead pair of the film, who share a far-from-cordial relationship, will not be shooting for the songs. Though Kareena refused to comment, a source close to her says, “Kareena is more than happy to extend all cooperation to producer Boney Kapoor and director Satish Kaushik, but she won’t shoot an extra songs for the film. Shahid is a closed chapter.”
A music video for the newly-recorded Himesh track was also planned as part of the film’s promotion. How ever, there would be no joint appearances by Shahid and Kareena for the publicity either. Director Satish Kaushik, at his wit’s end, has decided to use the footage that he already has for the two songs. Confirming the news, Kaushik says, “Neither Shahid nor Kareena will shoot any more for the film. We’ll use the footage that we have for the two songs in the beginning and end-titles and for the promotional video.” |
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