Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - June 2009 - Index

PSSST...!
Bhagyashree likes
being remembered as
the Maine Pyar Kiya (MPK)
girl. And though the
woman in the photograph
(right) is a far
cry from the girlnext-door
that she
played in her super
successful debut film,
she says people walk up
to her and tell her that
she still looks like she
did in MPK.
She is acting in a
Marathi film, Jhak
Maarli Baayko Keli, and
says she lost out on
plum roles after MPK
because as a newly
married girl she did
not want to do intimate
scenes with
anyone other than her The Prem connection
husband Himalay. “I
never said I would only act opposite him, but I should have made
that clear. But except for Ash-Abhi, no other real life star pair has
been accepted. Himalay and I were very young and people could not
understand a husband romancing his wife on screen. I now want to
work with Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and, of course, Shah Rukh
Khan. Ranbir is cute and I would love to work with him. I want to
be a part of a mad film like Dostana and a realistic one like A Wednesday.
Though I have been in the industry for the last 20 years I feel that I
have worked only for two years.”
Talking about MPK, from this film to Hum Saath Saath Hain, Sooraj
Barjatya called Salman Khan’s character Prem in all his films.
Khan considers the name lucky and wants some of the Prem luck
to rub off on his younger brother Arbaaz. He suggested Arbaaz
call his character in Prem Ka Game in which he plays the lead, Prem.
Karan Johar sued
Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions has been slapped with a
$150,000 lawsuit in Philadelphia for allegedly failing to pay hundreds
of local actors and vendors for a movie. Dharma Productions and its
partner Swish Films of Melbourne shot Jihaad, now tentatively renamed
Qurbani, starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena in the state last fall.
FROM THE FRONTLINES OF BOLLYWOOD
Jab they split
They split a few years ago, but
their names continue to be linked.
“I’ve moved on, I wish Shahid
would do so, too,” says an infuriated
Kareena Kapoor. Family
and friends of Saif Ali Khan and
Kareena Kapoor feel that the
frequency with which her name
is linked with Shahid Kapur
can’t be mere coincidence.
Star performers
Many actors put on their
dancing shoes at weddings and
go home with mega bucks. The
recent Govani wedding was a
classic case. It’s reported that
SRK was there for precisely 27
minutes and walked away Rs.35
million ($875,000) richer. Bipasha
Basu charged Rs.7 million
($175,000); Rani Mukherji,
Rs. 5 million ($125,000);
Emraan Hashmi, Rs.3 million
($75,000) and Neil Nitin Mukesh,
Rs. 2 million ($50,000) for
the same wedding. Akshay Kumar
reportedly demanded Rs 60
million ($1.5 million) instead of
his regular Rs. 30-50 million. SRK,
Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan,
Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor
are the most in demand today
for high profile weddings.
Still in demand
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
recently lost lucrative contracts
with Coca Cola, Nakshatra Diamonds
and L’Oreal, but she
continues to be a global brand
and is believed to be still raking
in Rs. 120 million ($3 million) a
year in endorsements. She is
also one of the few actors who
pays her taxes on time.
Recently, Ash was at Cannes
to walk the red carpet for a
cosmetics brand. So was Hrithik
Roshan with his Kites costar
Barbara Mori. A source
reveals that the meeting between
the two actresses was not the
warmest, with Mori claiming she
had to rush for an event. Hrithik
later explained that Mori hadn’t
had the time to learn who was
big in Bollywood.
Dilli billi
“I’ve always been a prankster.
Girls used to run away from me!”
says Abhishek Bachchan. “Many
of my co-stars are also afraid of
me! But jokes apart, it’s important
to get along with your co-stars
to develop chemistry. So I joke
around to keep the mood light.
But Sonam was no angel on the
sets of Dilli 6 – she has enough
pranks of her own!”
Freida Pinto says Shukran!
Freida Pinto, currently shooting for Oscar-nominated director
Julian Schnabel’s Miral in Jerusalem, went through a two-week
Arabic course from a personal tutor hired specially for her. Pinto,
who has to speak English with an Arab accent and also has dialogues
in Arabic, insisted on the lessons, as she wants to deliver the best
for her first chunky lead role.
22 Desi News June 2009