He came, he saw, and he conquered…again! Indian playback singer Sonu Nigam ended a three-city tour of South Africa on a high with a capacity crowd clamouring for more at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.

Sonu Nigam performed here Sunday. He had played in Durban the previous night and in Cape Town a week earlier. This was his fourth visit to South Africa.

Sonu Nigam, who has perfected the art of reinventing himself, appeared on South African stages after an absence of four years.

Whether it is changing his hairstyle or eye colour through contact lenses; forays into acting as a Bollywood hero; or trying to break into the American English music market, (even if the last two attempts failed dismally); Sonu Nigam always manages to stay one step ahead of competition, and the latest shows were no exception.

Continue reading Sonu Nigam Rocks South Africa

The much sought after Aishwarya Rai, who has been turning down movies for more than just lack of time, says she refused Karan Johar’s comedy “Dostana” because the quirky situations mentioned in the script wouldn’t have worked.

Karan wanted to cast her with Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham.

He has now roped in Priyanka Chopra for the female lead.

“I opted out of ‘Dostana’ because the inter-personal relationships among the three of us made me uncomfortable.

Now that Abhishek and I are married, the kind of quirky situations shown in ‘Dostana’, albeit in a comic vein, wouldn’t have worked,” Aishwarya told IANS in an interview.

Continue reading Aishwarya Rai Wants to Star With Rajinikanth

Celina Jaitley plays a traditional Tamil housewife in Rohit Shetty’s “Phir Golmaal” - complete with a nine-yard sari, flowers in her hair and “aiyyo appas” to boot.

She seems to have come a long way from her bikini-in-the-water avatar in Feroz Khan’s “Janasheen”.

“I guess that’s true. For a long time, I couldn’t find my bearings in Mumbai.

I was too busy sorting out my life. And the opportunities just slipped past me.

I had to take what was coming my way,” Celina Jaitley told IANS.

Continue reading Celina Jaitley Plays Sari-Clad Tamil Brahmin

The year 2007 gave Bollywood a parting hit in “Taare Zameen Par”, Aamir Khan’s directorial debut about a child with learning disability. The golden run is likely to continue in 2008 too with the New Year releases promising a bouquet of romance, thrillers and period dramas.

The first mega release of the year is Sahara One Motion Pictures’ “My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves”. It will introduce newcomer Nikhil Dwivedi, who is already being billed as a Rs.1 crore star.

Directed by National Award winner E. Niwas, the film boasts of three other National Award winners - Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher and Pawan Malhotra and has Amrita Rao as the leading lady. The actress is riding high on the success of “Vivah”.

In the same week, “Halla Bol” will mark the return of maverick director Rajkumar Santoshi, who was burrowing after “Family”, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, bit the dust.

This time Santoshi has teamed up two veterans - Pankaj Kapur and Ajay Devgan. The film, inspired by murdered theatre activist Safdar Hashmi, sends a social message. It urges people to raise their voice against injustice.

At the end of the first month of the year, Rohit Shetty of “Golmaal - Fun Unlimited” fame will serve another comic recipe garnished with thrills. Titled “Sunday”, the film stars Shetty’s favourite actor Ajay Devgan,along with Irrfan Khan and Ayesha Takia.

In the second week of February, Ashutosh Gowariker’s most awaited historical romance “Jodhaa-Akbar” will be unveiled. Hrithik Roshan, Bollywood’s superhero, will be seen romancing Aishwarya Rai as the Mughal emperor Akbar. Aishwarya plays Jodha.

Continue reading Watch Out For Anthony Gonsalves, Halla Bol, Golmaal, Jodhaa-Akbar, Race, Kismat, Woodstock Villa, Bhootnath, Sarkar Raj, Pankh, Alibaug & Dulha Mil Gaya

Esha Deol’s character of a loud, crass and talkative Tamilian café owner in producer Kumar Mangat’s comedy “One Two Three” was never meant to be region-specific initially.

Ahswini Dheer, the talented sitcom director of “Office Office”, has helmed the film and was so impressed with her Tamil lingo that he gave her character a makeover.

“When Ashwini heard me chattering away in Tamil with my mother, who had come to visit me in Pondicherry, he loved the intonations and loud-and-soft dips and curves in our language,” said Esha, who earned rave reviews for her performance in “Ankahee”.

Continue reading Esha Deol Delighted by Tamil Lingo

Vashu Bhagnani is all set to launch his son Jackie Bhagnani in his next venture titled Kal Kisne Dekha.

Sharing screen space with Jackie Bhagnani will be Manmohan Desai’s niece, Vaishali Desai.

The film is expected to go on the floors by the end of March and will be directed by Vivek Sharma.

On asking why he zeroed down on Vaishali Desai, Vashu says, “I was on a lookout for a fresh face.

Looking into the past with films like Maine Pyaar Kiya, Pardes etc, I personally feel that romantic flicks do really well with a newcomer in the female lead.

Continue reading New Actress, Vaishali Desai

Finally it is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan! The glamorous actress is to star opposite Tamil film icon Rajinikanth (Rajnikant) in sci-fi film “Robot” though there is no official confirmation from either the producer or director.

Aishwarya Rai told the media that she would be pairing with Rajinikanth in the movie being directed by Shankar.

This will be her second project with Shankar after “Jeans”, which released in 1998. She had starred opposite Prashant in “Jeans”.

Two weeks ago, Shankar had signed up superstar Rajnikant for the lead role in “Robot”.

Since then, the media has speculated on Aishwarya Rai or Deepika Padukone for the lead opposite Rajinikanth.

Continue reading Aishwarya Rai to Pair Rajinikanth in Robot

Rajinikanth ( Rajnikant) will be coming in Director Shankar’s new sci-fci thriller mega budget film ‘Robot’. So does Deepika Padukone.

Continue reading Deepika Padukone to Pair Rajinikanth in Robot

Media is abuzz with reports that director Shankar is very keen to sign up Deepika Padukone for his sci-fi “Robot” opposite Tamil superstar Rajinikanth ( Rajnikant ).

The second name doing the rounds is that of 35-year-old Aishwarya Rai, whose historical romance “Jodhaa-Akbar” is releasing in February.

Continue reading Aishwarya Rai vs Deepika Padukone for Robot

Madonna and her family walked through a slum and visited a flea market in Mumbai during her holiday in India.

Madonna, husband Guy Ritchie and their three children arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday by chartered plane from the city of Udaipur in western India, where they had spent New Year’s Eve.

They then walked through the crowded Ambedkar Nagar slums, accompanied by bodyguards.

They then stopped by for a roadside meal, before going on to the Chor Bazaar flea market.

source : thestar