Kartina wanted to get noticed
July 31, 2007 |14:12 | Gossips By : Team X
She walked into a packed room, surrounded by photographers on all sides. It took a while before those assembled could catch a glimpse of her.Model-turned-actor Katrina Kaif was in Mangalore to inaugurate a jewellery showroom.Quite predictably, the media hounded the actor, dressed in a bright sari and decked in gold jewellery.Patiently, the pretty Ms. Kaif, answered the series of questions thrown at her.Prepared perhaps to field posers on her career, she was thrown a little off balance by the first question: “Would you vote for Abdul Kalam or Pratibha Patil if you had a chance to vote in the presidential election?”“Pratibha…I think. But I respect Mr. Kalam. He has done a lot for the country. I don’t know… I am not a political expert,” she tried, grinned, and gave up with a wave of her hands.The tension was dissipated, everyone relaxed and simpler questions followed.Comparing the careers of modelling and acting, she said acting was tougher. It demanded more, she said.For Katrina, her best role in Bollywood so far, has been in “Namastey London”.“The story revolves around a woman, which is quite rare in commercial Hindi cinema.”Katrina said she loved working in the South Indian film industry. She has worked in Telugu and Malyalam movies. “It has been two and a half years since I did a South Indian movie. I miss the industry,” she said.She was offered a Kannada movie once, but couldn’t accept it, as she was busy with four other projects at the same time. If a good Kannada offer comes along, I will definitely take it. But I hope the language is easier than Malayalam, which was quite complicated,” she says smiling.“I willing to work in any language if the director is talented. Language is secondary,” she added.
The special TADA court jailed Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt for six years on Tuesday for acquiring illegal weapons from gangsters involved in India's worst bombings that killed 257 people in 1993.He had spent 16 months in jail as an undertrial in 1994. Dutt will be sent to the prison, straight from the court inside Arthur Road jail premises. Dutt, 48, was cleared of conspiracy charges in the serial blasts in India's financial capital of Mumbai, but was found guilty of unauthorized possession of an automatic rifle and a pistol."It was an eminently dangerous act," judge Pramod Kode said. "With the punishment of a minimum of five years and maximum of 10 years it can in no way be a minor offence or of a less grave nature."The judge added that Dutt made Yusuf Nalwala commit the offence. Sanjay was almost in tears when the judge pronounced the verdict. He then asked whether he could make a call to his daughter Trishala.Dutt's aide Russi Mulla, who helped destroy the firearms, was given a suspended sentence of one year, in view of his advanced age and behaviour under the offenders of the Probation Act. He was fined Rs 1 lakh.Dutt's trial has transfixed India and fans of Bollywood, the world's largest film industry by ticket sales. He has millions of dollars riding on him in films under production.The actor is the most high-profile among 100 people, mostly Muslims, found guilty in the bombings trial, one of the world's longest-running court cases. The 1993 Mumbai attacks were ordered by India's most wanted man, Dawood Ibrahim, a Muslim, to avenge the razing of a 16th-century mosque by Hindu zealots in 1992 and subsequent Hindu-Muslim riots in India, police say.Ibrahim and his top associates have not faced trial as they fled the country soon after the blasts, police say. Ibrahim is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, but the government in Islamabad denies this.Dutt's lawyers had urged that the actor, who found fame playing gangsters and anti-heroes, be set free for his good behavior during his bail.But the court rejected the argument. He is expected to appeal.
After giving remarkable performances in a number of comedy films, Riteish Deshmukh is now all set for an image makeover. In his forthcoming film Cash, Riteish will be seen as a stylish action hero. It is said that Riteish has performed some real difficult stunts in the film. He also has an interesting line up of films ahead which include Heyy Babyy, De Taali and Dhamaal.Riteish Deshmukh will be coming live on IndiaFM’s celebrity chat where you can interact with him. Catch him online only on IndiaFM chat on Thursday, August 2 at 1130 hrs IST.
This could be the big hand that Rahul Bose hasn't got back home for all the charitable causes he has been supporting in his own country including supporting a group of adopted girls in the Rishi Valley.Rahul who's all set to star in the sequel to the Pritish Nandy/Mallika Sherawat romantic comedy Pyar Ke Side Effects has finally got some positive side effects to enjoy from his philanthropic work.Oxfam that UK-based organization supporting various charitable causes across the globe, have appointed Rahul their global ambassador.It's a singular prestige for India. Rahul joins Scarlett Johanssen, Helen Mirren, Djimon Hounsou and Annie Lennox as Oxfam's global ambassador."It's flattering …and very gratifying to be among the names that you've mentioned.What better birthday gift could I hope for?" wonders Rahul as he turned 40 today (July 27)In transit in Frankfurt on the way to Toronto to attend a retrospective of his films Rahul was deeply flattered by the offer."I got a call from Oxfam asking me whether I'd like to be their global ambassador. I readily agreed. Being attached to a global organization can only increase the scope and impact of my social causes. They're very good working for women and children.It's very gratifying to know that the work which you've been silently doing has somewhere been so profoundly appreciated. I had been working with Oxfam for the last two years, post-Tsunami and the Andamans. I'll just continue working in the same direction, even harder."
While Vishal Bhardwaj gets ready to release a kids-centric film The Blue Umbrella, there are other directors who have the same idea of tapping into impressionable minds to generate innocence purity and authenticity.Director Samir Karnik completed one film Nanhe (earlier entitled Nanhe Jaisalmer) about a child actor Dwij Yadav's bonding with Bobby Deol. Karnik is now in the middle of another film Roshan spotlighting the same Dwij-Bobby pair's bonding.Now it's Anupam Kher's turn. He's all set to star in Hawai Dada, a fantasy drama about the relationship between a grandfather and grand-daughter that Anupam and Satish Kaushik's production house Karol Bagh Films will produce in collaboration with UTV.Says Anupam, "When this young writer-director Ajay Kartik came to me with the script of Hawai Dada I was immediately swayed. It’s the story of an old man who has never flown. It's all about his grand-daughter fulfilling his wish for an air journey. Such scripts used to be rare until recently. Now suddenly we are inundated with very talented young writers bubbling over with ideas. Now Satish and I have tied up for the first time we need as much creative resources as possible."
Sanjay Dutt Celebrates His 48th Birthday:
The Malayalam maverick Mohanlal has a new fan. "I've stood in the same frame as Mohanlal.I'm honoured. To watch him perform is to watch a whole textbook on Indian cinema unfold in front of your eyes. He's THAT brilliant."Keeping still was the big challenge for Sushmita in Sholay. For an individual who's as restless in spirit and body as Sushmita Sen, the deathly stillness of her character in Ram Gopal Varma's Sholay was a revelation."I virtually had to tie myself down. It's not that I don't speak in Sholay. But I say whatever I've to through my eyes.I've more still moments in this film than in any other cinema that I've done. It's the quietest character I've ever played.It's not that my character Durga doesn't speak. It's that inner tranquility. And hats of to Ramu for signing someone with a strong image like me to play someone like Durga…It requires guts and hindsight. Ramu has both."Sushmita rewinds to Jaya Bachchan who played Radha in Ramesh Sippy's Sholay. "It was one of the most difficult roles in Sholay. Jayaji was fabulous. Very few people in our cinema understand the sounds of silences. But let me tell you, she played Radha. I play Durga. She was very passive. I'm very aggressive."Sushmita is all praise for her Sholay co-star Prashant Raj. "He's very good. In his very first film he has to stand next to stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal and Ajay Devgan. That isn't easy. "Tell her she has a head-start of at least seven years over of her Sholay co-star, and Sushmita laughs, "Trust me he looks really nice with me."Sushmita has no scenes with Mr Bachchan in Sholay. "Not this time. But we had lots of scenes together in the two films we did earlier Hindustan Ki Kasam and Aankhen. In Sholay we don't come face-to-face at all."
Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan apparently thinks that there will be no actor to match his superstar status in the Indian film industry after himKhan, dubbed ‘the King of Bollywood,’ recently said that he is the last "superstar" of Bollywood.Khan insisted that the superstar breed was increasingly being wiped out because of the recent changes in the entertainment industry."The entertainment industry is changing rapidly, with the growth of satellite channels and multiplexes,” he was quoted as saying.“Soon there will not be any superstars. I would like to believe that I am the last superstar of India,” he added.
At last, Celina Jaitly is on the top, beating off competition from Mallika Sherawat and Koena Mitra.Not in bagging item numbers in Bollywood, but in a recent poll conducted by a well-known media house to find out the sexiest actress in tinsel town.Said a psychologist who was on the poll panel: "Celina has a very pretty face and a great body. She is very sensual and not over the top and she knows how to carry her sensuality. Her attitude just adds to the X-factor."The actress was shooting for an international project Love Has No Language in New Zealand when her friends sent her congratulatory text messages.Celina said: "Yes, I did receive a lot of messages and I take the win as a compliment. My sex appeal lies in my face. It's also a lot about the right attitude."Way to go, Celina!
Mahesh Bhatt is known to make films on real life drama. He is planning to make a film based on Fauzia Saeed's book titled, Taboo. The film will revolve around Lahore's Heera Mandi.Mahesh Bhatt confirms that his next film deals with the hidden culture in this red light area of Lahore. This film will be collaboration between Vishesh Films and Sohail Khan, the co-producer of Awarapan, and will be shot in and around Lahore. Bhatt says that they have not yet finalized the star cast but it will be a huge surprise.Apparently, there is a buzz doing rounds that Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also planning to make a film on the same subject. It is said that he has already bought the rights of a book written by Mayank Austen Soofi titled A Sudden Visit to Pakistan: Heera Mandi, The Dream Home of The Whores and that he plans to make a big budget film with a big starcast.
