What Bollywood stars did on Holi
Mumbai (IANS): Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan stayed away from Holi celebrations and so did others for various reasons. But the day brought colours to the lives of many actors who took off from work to be with family and friends. A sneak peek at how the Bollywood stars spent the day. Amitabh Bachchan: "Nothing! We're celebrating no Holi this year. Yes, I know our home is an open house on Holi every year. Hopefully we'll be back to celebrating Holi next year. "This year too many tragic events have happened around us. On a personal level, my father's passing away then my mother's prolonged illness have suspended Holi celebrations in my house. And then, of course, the things that are happening in Mumbai city and the country. Do you think anyone is in the mood for celebration? We're not. Maybe next year." Preity Zinta: "What am I doing for Holi? Nothing. Sleeping the whole day. Recovering from my jet lag after my trip to New Zealand. In any case, I think Holi has lost its original spirit long back." Deepika Padukone: "I'll have the day off. I'll celebrate with my family and close friends." Farhan Akhtar: "For the time in living memory I won't be home for Holi. I'll be shooting abroad. It breaks my heart to miss Holi. Can't be helped." Bipasha Basu: "I've no Holi plans. I'm allergic to the abeer and other Holi colours. I'll spend Holi with my family, devouring Holi delicacies. It's a diet-free day for me." Abhishek Bachchan: "I'll be shooting. No Holi this year at home. Just work." Genelia D'Souza: "I'll be shooting In Delhi on Holi." Rajeev Khandelwal: "I'm shooting for 'Peter Gaya Kaam Se' in Goa. I'll be experiencing the Goan Holi for the first time." Hurman S. Baweja: "I'll be shooting in Delhi for 'It's My Life'. I think my lightmen, camera crew, director and co-stars will be my Holi victims. Watch out, here I come." Himesh Reshammiya: "As always I prefer to work on auspicious days. I'll be recording a new song for 'Ishq Unplugged' on Holi." Urmila Matondkar: "I'm not much of a Holi person. I'll be chilling at home watching some good movies and hoping no one gets rowdy with women who have to step out of their homes." Irrfan Khan: "I'll be in Dholpur shooting for 'Paan Singh Tomar' on Holi. We'll celebrate over there. After 'Billu' and 'Slumdog Millionaire' I'm in a festive mood." Manisha Koirala: "I'm throwing a party for close friends at the Marriot." Celina Jaitley: "This Holi I'm in Hyderabad. I'll be spending it with the cast and crew."Tusshar Kapoor: "I'll be meeting up with my friends for lunch and not playing Holi, since I stopped doing that long ago."
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Mumbai: If all goes well, Rajeev Khandelwal will soon be seen hosting the Indian version of the American game show The Moment of Truth.
Contestants in the show have to answer a series of 21 increasingly personal and embarrassing questions to win cash prizes.
Rajeev says, "I have been approached for the show. Talks are on but nothing has been finalised yet. I guess it's too early to talk about it."
Rajeev had earlier hosted a game show Deal Ya No Deal. He has also been getting a lot of offers for fiction shows on TV. However, he has been turning them down.
Recently he was approached for an appearance in The Monica Mogre Case Files and he refused it.
The Monica Mogre Case Files is a series with every story lasting for about 10-12 episodes. Here, Inspector Monica Mogre is always in a cat and mouse game with psychopath serial killers.
Says a source from the production house, "We had Rajeev Khandelwal and Jimmy Shergill in mind. Since its just a 10-12 episode cameo, we thought Rajeev would agree to do it. However, he says he wants to concentrate just on his movie career."
Parakh Madan who plays the lead in Monica Mogre Case Files says, "When I heard Rajeev would be doing the show I was quite excited. It's sad he said no."
Rajeev says, "I don't remember clearly. They might have approached me but I don't want to do any more TV shows, especially fiction."
But some of the biggest stars of silver screen -- Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan -- have appeared on TV. So why not Rajeev? "They are established stars and have a huge fan base. Importantly, they are not doing any fiction shows. I am game for game and reality shows provided they're exciting," he ends.
Lekha wants to be in the spotlight5 Mar 2009, 0000 hrs IST | |||||||
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And Lekha Washington seems to be getting her way, with her B-town break being opposite Rajeev Khandelwal.
She's been called the Mandira Bedi of the Indian Premier League after her stint as a TV host for the tournament last season. Now, the vivacious Lekha Washington is all set to be the next southern sensation stepping into Bollywood, after Asin and Shriya Saran. She will be seen playing the female lead opposite Rajeev Khandelwal in Peter Gaya Kaam. Lekha describes her role in the film in three words: fun, powerful and physical. "And almost 60 per cent of the film depends on me," she says. What was it like working with Rajeev? "He's a great co-actor — intelligent and chilled out. The film includes some stunt scenes, for which we've been rehearsing together. It's very exciting," she adds. Hailing from the Tamil movie industry, Lekha says that people in Mumbai recognise her as the glam IPL anchor. Asked how different Bollywood is from the Tamil industry, Lekha says, "Bollywood is a lot bigger and certainly more challenging." With Asin tasting success and many others venturing into Bollywood, what does the competition mean for Lekha? "I don't bother about competition. I don't have time to keep track of the debutants but I certainly feel the pressure to prove myself. I don't believe in looking at others but proving my worth. That's what I'm here to do," she asserts. So, having got the look, is she going for glam roles or character-driven ones? "The one thing I'd never want is to be stereotyped. I want to do everything under the sun. I'd love to do something like Lara Dutta's role in Billu, but I'd love to do glam roles as well," says Lekha. "But the look has to suit my character and the role. Glamour without a cause is pointless," she adds. Now that she's jumping on board the Bollywood bandwagon and vaulting into the big time, how is she going to handle it all? "I prefer to be in the spotlight," says Lekha, adding, "I think one knows what they're up for when they come here. I don't believe in living in a shell, but going out and grabbing all the attention I can." |
Money talkies27 Feb 2009, 0000 hrs IST, PRIYANKA GEHLOT SOLANKI, TNN | |||||||
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Art house films are no longer meant only for a niche audience, as they are fast turning into money-churners. PT does a cash count.
If you were to take a closer look at the films that made a mark at the BO of late - A Wednesday, Aamir, Mithya, Dev. D, Bheja Fry, Dasvidaniya, Rock On!!, Luck By Chance, Billu and Shaurya - you'd see some shining examples of art house cinema. Today the boundary lines between art house and mainstream Bollywood cinema is blurring. So much so, that leading faces from Bollywood have trekked over and become an indelible part of art house films. And yes, the box-office returns of these films are enough to make the filmmakers/production companies laugh their way to the banks. Abhay Deol, Gul Panag, Irrfan Khan, Neha Dhupia, Rajat Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Neetu Chandra, Konkona Sen Sharma and Farhan Akhtar are some of the faces that are lighting up and making a difference to 'reality' films. Farhan made his acting debut in the small film Rock On!!, setting the cash counters ringing and got loads of critical acclaim for Luck By Chance, his recent flick. Vinay Pathak made a successful second coming in films thanks to Mithya and Dasvidaniya. Irrfan's small screen career led him to art house films, and later Life... In A Metro, The Namesake and this year's Billu. Rajeev Khandelwal, television's poster boy, chose to make his debut on 35 mm in the off-beat Aamir winning accolades galore. Konkona, a typical art house cinema darling, has been straddling commercial cinema as well along with her off-beat, realistic films. Glam girl Neetu Chandra, who'd made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in the laugh riot Garam Masala, has made the switch to meaningful films from Traffic Signal to Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. The youngest Deol on the B-town block, Abhay Deol, is already being hailed as the face of art house cinema, having done films like Socha Na Tha, Manorama Six Feet Under, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and the most recent Dev. D. Neha Dhupia who's done hardcore commercial films before has also made a convincing balancing job with meaningful films like Mithya and Dasvidaniya, Bipasha Basu is doing her first ever art house film Pankh. "It's a good trend that we are trying out different subjects. Thankfully art house films are selling today," feels actor Shilpa Shetty. Agrees actor Sonu Sood, "These days every form of cinema and artiste have their own audience. People are open to experimentation now." Many industry people believe that art house films are recovering money and doing well because of multiplexes. "There was always a niche audience for small, art house films, but I think the multiplexes have done real good to us," says actor-director Rajat Kapoor. In the end, nothing sells more than success. If art house cinema has its takers then filmmakers will feel like making more such films. |
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