New York ends dry spell on Box-office

“New York” is the directorial venture of Kabir Khan who is the acclaimed director of the movie “Kabul Express” and is under the Yas Raj Films banner. The movie stars John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles.

The Bollywood movie “New York” released this week on the June 27, finally ending the drought of Hindi movie releases that had almost crippled Bollywood because of the stand off between producers and multiplex owners. People are queuing up to the theaters alright, having missed watching Bollywood flicks on the big screen for a long time. Finally, a slew of big banner and big budget movies will make their headway to the big screens.

The subject of “New York” deals in friendship and terrorism, two extremes of emotions in men’s life; one of extreme love and companionship, the other being hatred. So there are three friends,
John (Sameer), Katrina (Maya) and Neil (Omar). They have a happy and full filled life with a carefree attitude towards life. Life will not remain so rosy for the trio for long though. Here is where enters the ugly terrorism.

Since the two World Trade Center towers landed in a heap of debris, the world has been thrown in a remorse operated state. It is in this element, that NY’s director inspects the principal characters in his film, and comes out with a never before told Bollywood tale.

Dutt risks for Luck

Sanjay Dutt has performed a stunning action sequence for Shree Ashtavinayak's Luck. He jumped from a speeding train, blindfolded and with his hands tied behind his back without any cables or dummies.

Soham Shah, the director of Luck, says Dutt's sequence is one of the biggest and the most expensive highlights of the film as it required to show the five running trains that was shot in Goa as it was technically impossible to set it up in Mumbai or any other big city.

Some trains were kept on standby for a couple of days on two railway tracks. It was a very expensive shoot. A five-day shoot with five trains a day costed the producer over Rs 1.5 crore. "It's Sanju's introductory sequence. He jumps, along with other actors, from a running train, blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back."

All the needed precautions were taken for the same. Says Soham, "It's about these characters testing their luck. We set up cables and kept harnesses ready. So, if anything went wrong Sanju would be not be injured. But when we narrated the scene to him, he said he didn't want
to use any safety measures or dummies. He was kicked about shooting such a high-voltage action scene on his own." Action director Allan Amin led the action team.

Adds Dutt himself, "I hadn't shot such a hard-core action sequence in a long time, so when the opportunity arose, I decided to do it myself. Initially, I was a bit nervous but then I gauged the jump from the cage in the train to the tracks. After the jump, we had to speed away
from the train, and keep running. For that split second, I had m heart in my mouth but fortunately, things went well."

Luck is the debut vehicle for Shruti Hassan alongside Mithun Chakroborty and Imran Khan among others.

Katrina cozying up with John

Salman Khan better keep his eyes shut when the video of the song ‘Mere Sang’ from the upcoming Yashraj film ‘New York’ plays out on the screen. For it has his John Abraham in bed with his ladylove katreena kaif

The music video of the song is already on the net and has become quite a sensation among Bollywood buffs because of the sizzling chemistry between John and Katrina in it.

More than once the two stars are shown kissing. While Salman Khan may have a frosty relation with John Abraham, Katrina Kaif seems pretty comfortable in cozying up to the smart hunk. Is this what bollywood call professionalism.

Keep the feelings aside and do the darn job. Even if it is a part of your dislikes!

Shiney puts over 10 crores at stake

Shiney Ahuja, the disgraced actor, who is in police custody for the alleged rape of his maid servant. The shooting of the film Har Pal is completed but the incident could have negative impact at the box office. Considering the fact that only Rs.10 to 12 crores are ridding on Shiney Ahuja.

Shiney Ahuja, the disgraced actor, who is in police custody for the alleged rape of his maid servant, is going to add more woes to Bollywood, which is already struggling due to the ongoing economic recession and the fight between the film producers and the distributors. The films he has signed are surely going to suffer if he is convicted in the rape case.

Shiney has four films on hand namely Jahnu Barua’s Har Pal with Preity Zinta, Anurag Chaudhary’s Accident with Soha Ali Khan, Vinod Pande’s Chalu Movies Inc. and an international project Silver Cord with Val Kilmer. Amongst these films, Accident and Chalu Movies, which have gone to the floors, will be affected the most.

The shooting of the film Har Pal is completed but the incident could have negative impact at the box office. Accident is said to be 90 percent complete and the rest of the shooting is mostly with Soha Ali Khan. However, Chalu Movies shooting has to be re-scheduled based on Shiney Ahuja's dates.

Director Sudhir Mishra is even now keen to cast Shiney Ahuja and Chitrangada Singh in his next film, which would go to the floors once he completes the film with Neil Nitin Mukesh.

Considering the fact that only Rs.10 to 12 crores are ridding on Shiney Ahuja, it is more of a setback for the actor as a person and professional than to the film industry. It looks like Shiney's career in Bollywood is at stake!

Rani can do anything to save her career

Bollywood stars are know to be superstitious. From altering their names to signing movies on certain days in a week we have seen that stars do it all. Rani Mukherjee is the latest name in the club and the Hum Tum actress is shifting back to her old house. The reason, well Rani believes her new bungalow has cast a bad spell on her acting career.

A source close to the actress said that ever since she shifted to her Juhu bungalow her career seems to have become jinxed. Her astrologer has advised that Rani Mukherjee should move back to her old residence in Kalyan Complex on Yari Road.

Rani Mukherjee will be next seen in Yash Raj Films Dil Bole Hadippa opposite Shahid Kapur. The actress is in desperate need of a hit after having starred in duds Ta Ra Rum Pum, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic.

Well seems like Rani Mukherjee is keeping no stone unturned for the success of her next movie. A failure now would mean that even Aditya Chopra would have second thoughts about casting her in his upcoming movies. We wish that the actress would soon reach the heights of success. All the very best Rani..

Shiney Shocks Bollywood

Actor Shiney Ahuja was produced in the court on Monday and has
confessed to have raped his domestic help and is held under the
section 376 after the preliminary test that confirmed the sexual
assault.

As an actor, Ahuja has prominent films like Hazaron Khwaishe Aisi,
Life in a Metro, Woh Lamhe and Gangster to his credit. With every
film, he has scaled new heights and carved his niche. But the news of
his arrest has shocked the industry.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt expressed his feeling while talking to the news
channel, “I am ashamed and shocked to hear this. Shiney was activelyhelping Deepak Tijori when his daughter was victimized for rape. Shiney has been close to us. All I can say is that if he is found guilty, the court will condemn him."

Vinod Pande, the director who introduced Shiney, stated, “I have known him since long and after hearing this I am in shock and can’t comment. All I can say is that industry will incur loss as there are many movies lined up with him. I think we should wait for the final verdict to come"

Manoj Joshi, his co-actor in Bhool Bhulaiyaa comments, “I have complete faith on Indian judiciary. If any crime is committed, the accuse should be punished irrespective of his status. I do not know him personally, we have worked only in one scene of the film."

Vinay Pathak, who worked with Shiney in the film Khoya Khoya Chand, commented, "I am out of country and do not know the details. I was hinted by my friends in India. I don’t know Shiney personally and haven’t interacted with him. But I was shocked to know this and cannot comment on this."

Anurag Basu, director and friend of the actor said, "Obviously I am very shocked when I saw it in the news. I'm trying to get in touch with him or his relatives to know what exactly happened. Shiney whom I know personally is drastically different from the one in the headline. I am sure that he will get the clean chit. He is being framed. As far as I know he is not this type of person. I don’t see any reason for
him to commit this crime. Why will he do this to a maid? This is a
trap and there is something fishy. I wish what I believe is true."

He will be in the custody till 18 June.

Katrina advises Sallu's girl Claudia

Rumours know how to turn a mole hill into a mountain. They linked Salman Khan with German model Claudia Ciesla just because they were spotted together. Then the story of his breakup with Katrina Kaif started spreading like fire.

Claudia Ciesla, met Salman through a common friend. Unlike the stories told by the media, Katrina and Claudia got along quite well. In fact, Katrina, who had a hard time at the initial stage of her career with no Godfather in Bollywood, advised Claudia on how to go about to make a mark in Bollywood.

Claudia Ciesla is currently busy in acting in the Indian film Karma - Crime, Passion and Reincarnation. Well, Claudia must be wondering where all hell broke lose. In the meantime, it's a blessing in disguise for her, as all she needs at this stage of her career is publicity!

angana-Adhyayan towards Splitsville

Well, they say its an amicable and mature decision that the young and hot couple of 2009 biggest hit film, Kangana Ranaut and Adhyayan Suman have called up their relationship. This has indeed left one and all, including, Kangana spellbound.

Many Bollywood insiders are shocked including Kangana herself as the move was taken by Adhyayan himself.

Adhyayan simply suggested,”Yes, we’ve moved on from this relationship . I guess this was how long it was meant to last".

Given the most common excuse that we hear these days that he wants to concentrate on his career and professional commitments is what Adhyayan has said.. Sustaining a long-distance relationship of this intensity is a tough task.

Kangana says,”Adhyayan and I had a talk about our relationship and it was his decision to move on. It came as a shock to me. But I guess he has other priorities now, and many options in terms of people to be with. It’s an amicable break-up and I wish him the best.”

Kangna who had been shooting for a film in Hyderabad for a long spell, met Adhyayan for dinner recently wherein after a calm and mature discussion, they decided to end their relationship mutually. More than Kangna, Adhyayan was keen on a break-up.

Rumors are it that dad Shekhar Suman was dead against Kangana Ranaut!

Bollywood Men Dare Now!

Now that bollywood is coming out of age in stories and their portrayals too, how the men in bollywood would be left behind.

The latest face to join the Bollywood strip club of men is newcomer Maradona Rebello. Maradona has dropped all his clothes for his first Bollywood movie Pankh, directed by Sudipto Chattopadhyay. He has also appeared in a gay kiss scene with a boy on screen in Pankh. Actress Bipasha Basu is playing a sex confused girl.

As a beginner, it was a tough time for him to shed all his clothes before the camera. And kissing a boy before hundreds of people was even more disgusting. But he has managed beautifully and have done a wonderful job in all these scenes.

Bollywood actors like Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan started a trend of semi nudity to attract fans, especially female fans. They just striped of their shirts though. This trend became an easy way to success and popularity. Actor Ranbir Kapoor had dropped his towel in a song of the movie Saawariya. John Abraham had dropped his underwear a little down below his trunk in the movie Dostana. He also appeared in a gay kiss scene with Abhshekh Bachchan. Neil Nithin Mukesh went even further and posed fully naked in his recent movie Jail.

However, it seems that the men stripping is turning out to be a new way of promoting oneself.

Ritesh-Genelia What's Cooking

Image via Wikipedia

Actors Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza recently spotted together dining at a Mahim restaurant. No matter how many times the actors deny that they are seeing each other, one could not believe it after seeing them together at some restaurant in Mahim, Mumbai.

Both the actors and their friends were gathered together for a party to celebrate the success of Ritesh Deshmukh’s father Vilasrao Deshmukh being appointed as the Central Minister of Heavy Industries.

Both the stars had ordered for traditional south Indian food. They were together for over two hours and were comfortable with several fans who occasionally approached them for autographs. While they readily gave autographs, they refused to be photographed together.

If this is true then why they are hiding their relationship when they look so good together and seem so completely in love !!!

Ritesh-Genelia What's Cooking

Image via Wikipedia

Actors Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza recently spotted together dining at a Mahim restaurant. No matter how many times the actors deny that they are seeing each other, one could not believe it after seeing them together at some restaurant in Mahim, Mumbai.

Both the actors and their friends were gathered together for a party to celebrate the success of Ritesh Deshmukh’s father Vilasrao Deshmukh being appointed as the Central Minister of Heavy Industries.

Both the stars had ordered for traditional south Indian food. They were together for over two hours and were comfortable with several fans who occasionally approached them for autographs. While they readily gave autographs, they refused to be photographed together.

If this is true then why they are hiding their relationship when they look so good together and seem so completely in love !!!

Glittering Show "Marathi Film Awards 2009"

Aamir Khan, ageless beauty Rekha and oscar-winner ace musician A.R. Rahman was felicitated at the 46th annual Marathi awards held in Mumbai on May 30th. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan presented the prestigious 'Raj Kapoor awards' at the Bollywood stalwarts for the special contribution to the Indian cinema.

The award has been named after the legendary film Bollywood personality Raj Kapoor.

Bollywood icon Rekha, who is considered to be one of the evergreen Bollywood actresses, looked as scintillating as ever in Indian traditional drape and thanked the State Government and public for the honour.

Aamir Khan's last film 'Ghajini' was one of the highest grosser in the year 2008 and was accorded with several awards for his movie based on dyslexia 'Taare Zameen Par'.is first appearance on the silver screen was as a child actor in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film 'Yaadon Ki Baaraat' way back in 1973.

Oscar award winning music director Rahman was felicitated along with the technical team of 'Slumdog Millioanire'. He had also sang movie's award-winning song 'Jai ho' on stage. Rahman fetched two Oscar for rags-to-riches romance about a poor Indian boy competing in a TV game show. The movie scooped eight Academy Awards earlier this year.Child actor Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was also present at the event.

Bollywood is worth about 85 billion rupees and is forecast to more than double to 175 billion rupees by 2011.Despite being so prolific, Bollywood makes more than 800 films a year-the industry's revenues stand at half of what the Walt Disney studio made in box office revenues in 2006.