Posts Tagged ‘daughter’
Vindoo Dara Singh won Season 3 of Bigg Boss on Saturday night, richer by Rs 1 crore and, to his surprise, a Chevrolet Cruz (no less).
But also confused because only his little daughter and his brother had come to fetch him from the Bigg Boss house in Karjat on the outskirts of Mumbai.
“Where are my sister and my parents?” Vindoo kept asking. “But my daughter is here. And I’ve kissed her a thousand times already. God, I’ve missed her so much.
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| Vindoo Singh beat Poonam Dhillon and Pravesh Rana in Saturday’s finale of Bigg Boss Season 3 |
Actually I had no friends inside the Bigg Boss house except Ismail Durbar. My first week was my worst week. If it wasn’t for Ismailbhai who supported me initially I’d have never survived in there. He had predicted that I’d win. I kept asking him how he knew. But he just…knew. I love him for that.”
Vindoo also has fond memories of Raju Shrivastava and Poonam Dhillon from inside the House. “Whatever happened with Raju before he left in nine weeks I still would like to think of him as a friend. He made me laugh. He kept us entertained As for Poonamji in the closing weeks she was a great support. She guided me to the end. I’d like to keep in touch with these three. As for the rest of the housemates I wish them all the best in life.”
As for the ceasesless spats with Pravesh Rana, Vindoo chooses to look at the brighter side. “I saw a tremendous change in him in the last three days. He was actually heard saying he hoped I won. Did I hope to win? No matter what people think I wasn’t working towards winning. I just did what came naturally to me.”
Now that Vindoo is out of Bigg Boss house Vindoo hopes to take his career further. “I’ve a great father(Dara Singh)’s name to live up to. I’m hoping to consolidate my position in the industry. I want to work towards making the position that Amrish Puriji had made in our cinema. Let’s see. This victory has re-charged all my batteries.”
Shakti Kapoor’s wife Shivangi Kolhapure prefers Canada over Mumbai. She even got her Canadian citizenship three years ago. But she is now in Mumbai to support her daughter, Shraddhaa, who debuts with Teen Patti. A source close to her family said, “Shivangi spends a lot of time in Canada. She is in Mumbai because the release of her daughter Shraddhaa’s film Teen Patti is round the corner.”
Shivangi is quite excited about Shraddhaa’s film. She said, “Shraddhaa got offers from many filmmakers, but she refused them all. Most of them wanted to make quick films to be released before Teen Patti. It would have been unethical to sign those films.”
But why did she move to Canada? Shivangi said, “It’s an open economy out there. I want to make movies in Canada. I am very excited about my plans.” Doesn’t she miss her family? She said, “They certainly miss me. But they know I want to structure my life this way. Shraddhaa was studying in Boston, so she was near me. My son Siddhanth was busy studying in London. So, there was no problem until now.”
Did the decision to spend time in Canada stem from her discomfort over the media glare? After all, her husband Shakti Kapoor is no stranger to controversy. Shivangi replied cautiously, “Not at all. I am not running away. I really like it this way. Think about it, there was a controversy around Siddhanth too. In fact, he was the only guy who tested negative in that party that was busted by the cops. Did anybody write about that?”
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| (L): Shraddha (R): Shivangi Kolhapure |
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| (L) Chandan Sanyal & Bhavna Pani |
Shahid Kapoor’s mother, Neelima Azim’s has finally found a producer for her directorial venture – Paul Mukul Taneja, who is based in London.
Interestingly, it’s Shahid’s Kaminey co-star, Chandan Sanyal and not Shahid who will play the lead. What’s even more interesting is that Neelima has cast Shahid’s ex-girlfriend Bhavna Pani opposite Sanyal. Shahid and Bhavna went to the same college and were more than good friends for nearly two years.
A source says, “Neelima was impressed by Sanyal’s histrionics in Kaminey. As for Bhavna, she treats her like her own daughter and thinks she is a good actress.”
Ustad Raza Ali Khan, grandson of music maestro Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, will compose the music.
Talking about her role, Bhavna says, “I play a playful nautanki dancer. I am very happy that I am doing this film.”
Neelima says, “Bhavna is a terrific dancer. However, I will need one more hero and heroine, who I will cast very soon.”
Neelima will play Chandan’s mother.
Katrina unwell again
Posted on: December 15, 2009
As her hemoglobin count continues to plummet, Katrina’s health is causing distress to all those who know her.
Everyone around Katrina, well-wishers, co-stars, friends and family are beginning to be extremely worried about Katrina’s deteriorating health. On Sunday she was again at a suburban hospital to take further tests as her haemoglobin count continued to fall, despite treatment from the best doctors in the city.
Though Katrina has been extremely selective recently about the appearances she makes, she is obviously still straining too much and it is affecting her adversely.
On Sunday Katrina woke up unable to get out of bed. The worst blow to her frail energy level was the hectic wedding of Salman Khan’s close family-friend Krishan Narayan’s daughter which Katrina attended for two consecutive nights on Friday and Saturday for the sangeet and wedding.
Forgetting her delicate health, Katrina had simply let herself go, dancing and having a good time.
A friend explained, “It was a commitment she couldn’t wriggle out of. The bride’s father, an associate of politician Praful Patel, is a very close friend of Salman Khan. And Katrina who has always looked at Salman’s friends as her own, had to be there.”
The result of two consecutive nights of merry-making was a relapse. On Sunday Katrina had to undergo a series of complicated medical tests that went on the whole day
The friend continued, “Katrina’s haemoglobin count continues to plummet. The doctors are perplexed by this. They can’t figure out what is causing this abnormality in her blood. She has been prescribed complete bed rest.”
When contacted, Katrina tried to dismiss her indisposition with. “I will be just fine. I just need to rest.”
| If you thought Farah Khan will make Akshay Kumar play an unsophisticated street smart conman in her next directorial venture Tees Maar Khan think again. Contrary to popular belief, Akshay plays a sexy and stylised international conman in the film. No prizes for guessing that Akshay’s new best friend Farah Khan is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that he has women swooning right from his first scene in the film. |
While well-known designer Aki Narula is working on Akshay’s costumes in Tees Maar Khan, Farah is also getting some international make-up artists and hairdressers for her lead actor. Farah’s first choice is that Akshay should sport long hair in the film. “I will take a look test with him wearing extensions, but if that doesn’t work, then he’ll have short hair throughout the film. But one thing is sure that I will show him as a pucca hero. He is a gorgeous looking man. He plays a Muslim and wears very trendy clothes, mostly ganjis. He has loads of attitude in Tees Maar Khan because of which I have also planned a grand entry scene for him,” said an excited Farah.
“Akshay will also be wearing jewelry in the film, maybe a bracelet or an amulet with TMK embossed on it,” added Farah.
And who will be the lucky girl who will rub shoulders with Akshay? “Well, I am doing a nationwide hunt for a new girl but if I don’t find the right one, I will go in for an established actress. The heroine’s name in the film is Anya, which is actually my daughter’s name. She will go by the name Anya Khan,” revealed Farah.
Farah further said that Tees Maar Khan happened when her husband Shirish Kunder showed her one of his scripts. “It was too funny. When I told him that, he said he would love to produce it if he gets a good director. I immediately offered to direct it and things quickly fell into place. The film is very close to Shirish’s heart. He had registered the title three years ago,” said Farah.
Commenting on who suggested Akshay’s name for the title role, Farah said, “Shirish suggested it.”
Goes without saying, Tees Maar Khan will be a typical racy entertainer, which is Farah’s style. “Yes, it will be my kind of film,” Farah laughed and said.
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| Akshay Kumar | Farah Khan |
Vidhu Vinod Chopra-3 idiots saves lives (ER… that’s the producer in him hard selling his film)
Posted on: December 5, 2009
• You don’t have too many friends? Why?
I value friendship. For me friendship is not a loose word. If I call myself a friend, I am ready to give my life and if need be the friend should do the same.That Bambaiya friendship where people call you a friend on your face and as soon as you turn around they call you a bi*** or a swine is not friendship. I told Karan Johar, ‘I want friends like you; I want to throw a party.’ He said, ‘I can make you social,’ he tried and then he gave up.
He told me nicely, ‘You are happy where you are.’ I have only four friends now, I started with two. Rakesh Maria, Rajesh Parekh (and Firoza Parekh) and slowly I acquired the third friend, Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, but now, I am not sure, I am perhaps acquiring a fourth, which is Aamir. So my house is full now. I mean if I have four friends in this city, I am the luckiest. I now get invited to social dos. We get wedding invitations, we get party invitations. We are invited to places we have never been invited to before.
• What do you expect the audience will take away from 3 Idiots?
I could be wrong, but I personally believe that 3 Idiots is a step ahead of Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The other day there was a story in the paper of a kid who had jumped off the 19th floor when her mother was in another room and I told my wife that if this kid had seen 3 Idiots, she wouldn’t have jumped. I genuinely feel that if I had released this film a month ago, I could have saved that one life. I think 3 Idiots will save lives.
• Between Aamir Khan, you and Raju Hirani, if there is a clash of opinion, who wins?
We are very clear about this. Raju is head of creatives. At the moment, Aamir is head of marketing. There is no clash. But as head of the family I believe I have a veto and if I really want to use it, I can. I think the three of us are really the perfect 3 Idiots. I had heard horror stories about Aamir and he had heard the same about me but Aamir is the most unbelievable guy I have met in my life unless I am a fool, and he is performing all the time. I have only nice things to say about Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan but Aamir is something else. His level of commitment, his level of dedication, his level of affection, his level of seeking excellence is exceptional.
• Have you forgiven Shah Rukh Khan for trying to woo away Raju Hirani?
Oh totally. I called him yesterday to invite him for my premiere and we chatted for half an hour. Life is too short for all this s**t! Khalil Gibran has said, ‘I use hate as a weapon to defend myself.’ To me hate and love are both very strong emotions. I love my wife and if I have the same degree of negative feeling for anybody, then I am giving that person the same importance as I am giving to the woman I love the most in my life. How ridiculous is that?
• You famously said your films reflect the mood you are in. Given the comedies your production house is bringing out like the Munnabhai series, do we conclude you are in a good mood?
Yes, I am in a very happy mood. I sing songs all the time. I think life is really kind to me and I am just very grateful. My little daughter writes poetry which I don’t understand and my son plays cricket with Sachin Tendulkar’s son. God has given me a movie like 3 Idiots, friends and two families, one in cinema and the other at home. I came to this city to make one Hindi movie. If I had died after making one feature film after coming from the village that I came from, I would have died happily.
• Are there any actors you can’t conceive of working with for any reason?
The list is long but to tell you honestly it isn’t about individual actors. It is about attitude. I will not work with actors who have the wrong attitude at this given moment. On the other hand if there is an attitude change, I would willingly work with them.
• What is delaying Munna Bhai Chale Amrika?
If after Lage Raho Munna Bhai we had churned out a Munna Bhai film a year, it would have made Rs 200-250 crores and even if they had been s**t, people would go and see them. But we didn’t and won’t till we are happy with the script. Now we are happy with what we have written and so hopefully we will do it next year.
• Is it tougher to write an original screenplay or adapt a book?
To tell you the truth, I haven’t read Five Point Someone on which 3 Idiots is based. The only person in the team who read it was Raju. But I believe our film is very different. Having said that, the starting point was Raju reading the book.
• If you were given the choice to remake a film with the intention of improving it, which film would that be?
Ram Aur Shyam with Aamir Khan. I love that film and now that I am an admirer of Aamir, I would love to make that film with him. I don’t think he can do it better than Dilip Kumar, who was absolutely superb, but it would be a challenge for Aamir and me.
Recently, a middle-aged woman (name withheld on request) from Indore landed up at Rajeev Khandelwal’s house in Goregaon West to persuade the actor to marry her 20-something daughter, who stays in Mumbai.
A source says, “The lady in question stays in Indore. Ever since Mumbai Mirror broke the news about Rajeev Khandelwal dating Manjiri Kamtikar (Rajeev’s moment of truth, July 22, 2009), the lady has been persuading the actor to marry her daughter. Last month, she visited Rajeev at his home to convince him. Rajeev, of course, refused to hear her pleas and politely declined her offer.”
However, the lady is bent on succeeding. The source adds, “A few days ago, she visited Rajeev’s house again and this time she brought her daughter along. Rajeev was flabbergasted but stuck to his stand and asked them to leave the house. While leaving the house, the adamant woman insisted that Rajeev meet her family in Indore since she is sure there is a karmic connection between Rajeev and her daughter.”
Confirming the incident, Rajeev says, “Aisa bhi hota hai. I was surprised but there is little that I can do about it.”
I had gone to Tirtanr, a village in Jharkhand to campaign for my close friend, Vinod Sinha. We had gone to Tirtanr from Dhanbad in a chopper and were supposed to return the same way. But, a snag in the chopper’s fuel tank discovered just before we boarded on the way back meant I had to come back some other way as I had professional commitments in Mumbai.
I opted to go from Tirantr to Kolkata by road from where I would take a flight to Mumbai. I left Tirtanr with a close friend Rajkumar Shrivastava and my driver. As the route from Tirantr to Kolkata is akin to a base camp for the Naxals, I asked for some security.
The cops joined the convoy two kilometres before the place of the attack. It was around 11.25 in the night when we saw a huge red divider kept right in the middle of the road. I am told that it’s a Naxal sign. The cops immediately told us to lie down in our van. They said that the place was the abode of naxals. They asked the driver to drive as fast as possible through the divider.
The people who laid the trap didn’t know that there were cops in our midst. This served us well as they were not prepared for any retaliation on our part. I was lying down in the car with my eyes shut. I could hear the bullets. It was like being in a war zone, I was completely shaken.
The cops called the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). To be safe, we had to reach a police chowky which was about five kms away. A few cops from that chowky had rushed to our aid. When we reached the chowky, the cops who were being updated on their walkie-talkies said that the Naxalites were angered by my escape, they would strike back. They believed that the chowky could be attacked.
By then, three vehicles of CRPF with about 25 soldiers each arrived. They said that they would escort me to a safe location. I was taken to Dhanbad in one of those vehicles, with one preceding us and the other following.
The first thing I did after reaching a safe spot was to call my wife. She was extremely worried. I then spoke to my eight-year-old daughter. She asked me if my plane was hijacked.
My conversation with these soldiers and my first hand experience of the perils they face is something I will never forget. I am still upset and scared.
I want to thank the almighty God and the soldiers who risked their life to take me out from the jaws of death. If not for them, I would not be speaking to you. It was the most scary and dreadful experience of my life.
Santosh Sivan to play Ravi Verma
Posted on: November 4, 2009
| Even as the fate of Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya, based on Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma’s love life remains uncertain, cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan has quietly signed a Malayalam film where he plays the painter. The film is titled Magara Manju (meaning winter mist) and will be dubbed in Hindi and English. The film’s shooting begins next week in Cochin and will be directed by art house director Lenin Rajendran.
Santosh, whose hands are full with cinematography and direction assignments, was at first hesitant to act in the film. He says, “Director Lenin Rajendran convinced me that I was right for the part. The main attraction for turning to acting is Raja Ravi Varma himself. I empathise very closely with his art as I’ve grown up with it. When I was a kid, my grandmother illustrated her stories with Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings. I also paint a bit. I think I’ve acquired my visual aesthetics from this man. I was also Director of Photography for M F Husain’s Gaja Gamini and his son Owais’s Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities.” Santosh’s co-star in the film is the new South sensation Karthika . He says, “Karthika is the daughter of veteran Tamil actress Radha. I sort of like the way we look together.” The film will also be shot in Trivandrum and Goa. Incidentally, the only other occasion when Santosh Sivan has acted was in Aditya Bhattacharya’s Raakh (1989). “After my shot, Pankaj Kapur (who was also acting in the film) couldn’t stop laughing (at his bad performance),” recalls Santosh with a chuckle. Epic story There is a growing interest in the life of Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), who is famous for his paintings based on Indian mythology and epics. First, Ketan Mehta took it upon himself to portray the love life of Raja Ravi Varma in Rang Rasiya. Randeep Hooda plays the painter while Nandana Sen plays his muse. Then Malayalam film, Magara Manju, has Santosh Sivan playing Raja Ravi Varma. A book on the life of painter called, The Painter: A Life of Ravi Varma by Deepanjana Pal, Mumbai-based art critic is expected to hit the shelves soon.
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Hema Malini’s long awaited production for daughter Esha finally sees the light of day
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The long-in-the-pipeline film, which Hema Malini wanted to produce for her daughter, Esha is finally taking shape.
Tentatively titled Tell Me Oh Khuda, the film will have a girl (Esha) in search of her father. Arjan Bajwa will play the role of her supportive boyfriend.
The subject seems uncannily similar to Hema’s first and only directorial venture, Dil Aashna Hai where Divya Bharati played a girl in search of her mother. Shah Rukh Khan had played the supportive boyfriend in the earlier film. Arjan, who is thrilled to be working in Hema’s film, says, “When we met I was numb. I just stared at her (Hema). When she told me she liked my work in Fashion I was on cloud nine. Of course, I immediately agreed to do the film. It is Esha’s relaunch.” The film will be directed by Mayur Puri who wrote the dialogue for Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. Puri was also the associate director for Dhoom. That’s when Mayur first met Esha and her mother. Tell Me Oh Khuda is now in the pre-production stage and is expected to go on the floors by the end of this year. |
Fenil and Bollywood 