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Wedding bells ringing for Abhishek and Aishwarya?

Two of Bollywood's brightest stars may be getting ready to wed and, according to a report in the Times of India, an astrologer says they're a perfect match.
Aishwarya Rai is a former Miss World who has appeared in more than 30 movies, including 2004's "Bride & Prejudice." Abhishek Bachchan, the son of India's biggest star, Amitabh Bachchan, is a rising star in Bollywood.

Chandrashekar Swami, a Hindu priest and astrologer in Bangalore, said he had examined the horoscopes of both Rai and Bachchan and found they "matched perfectly," the Times of India said Sunday.

Traditional Hindus have their horoscopes matched by astrologers before getting married.

Rai has served on the Cannes Film Festival jury and is featured in international ad campaigns for leading jewelry, cosmetic and cola companies.

Abhishek Bachchan's screen credits include roles in "Dhoom (Big Bang)," "Bunty Aur (and) Babli" and "Sarkar (Boss)."

The twostars and their families have declined to comment on the newspaper reports.

Rai and Bachchan have just completed filming "Umrao Jaan," a period piece based on a courtesan's search for love.

Abhishek Bachan


Aishwarya Rai

Kareena, Shahid in a romantic comedy

Real-life lovers Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor will come together on screen again in a romantic comedy about a town hustler, after a 2004 thriller that bombed at the box office, a news report said Wednesday.
"Chhup Chhup Ke" (In Hiding) is directed by Priyadarshan, who also made the successful 2000 comedy "Hera Pheri" (Swindling), according to The Hindustan Times and movie news web sites. Priyadarshan uses a single name.

Kapoor, 25, has starred in more than a dozen films over the past six years and is one of the leading actresses in Bollywood. She and Shahid have recently begun speaking to the media about their two-year relationship and are frequently seen together in publicity campaigns and movie premieres.

Shahid, 24, has acted in some seven movies since his 2003 debut. Despite their off-screen romance, the couple's on-screen chemistry has failed to ignite audiences _ they starred together two years ago in a thriller "Fida" (Smitten) _ which was a flop.

"Chup Chup Ke" is a comedy of errors driven by mistaken identities. Shahid plays a small town hustler who fakes his own death to get insurance money.

"Priyan (Priyadarshan) has handled the story very differently. Even Kareena is different from whatever she has done so far," producer Ronnie Screwala was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Kareena Kapoor


Shahid Kapoor

Saif dumps suave image in Othello

Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has dumped his suave image for his next film based on Shakespeare's "Othello," traveling to India's rural heartland, getting yellow teeth and a limp, and not having a single woman to charm on screen.

The film, directed by acclaimed director-music composer Vishal Bhardwaj, was shot in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, The Times of India reported. The report did not mention the film's name or which part Khan plays in the film, but he said it was a "villainous" character, indicating it could be the diabolical manipulator Iago, the play's central character.

"I'm excited because it's a really good adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello ... The biggest challenge for me in the film is the Uttar Pradesh set up," Khan, 35, was quoted as saying. "While it was an enriching experience to shoot there, the challenge was the milieu, look and character, and the thought of deglamorizing myself."

Khan, the son of former Indian cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and former superstar Sharmila Tagore, worked for many years in Bollywood with limited success, before shooting to prominence with major hits like "Dil Chahta Hai" (What the Heart Wants), "Parineeta" (The Wife), "Hum Tum" (Me and You) and "Salaam Namaste" (Hello, Hello).

Preity & Scooty: A colourful pair

Bollywood actress and TVS Scooty抯 brand ambassador Preity Zinta gifted a unique scooty Pep to Pooja Badola from Dehradun for winning the nationwide 揗ake Your Splash

A stampede for John Abraham  

While making an appearance at a Bradford cinema (in the UK) on Tuesday during his UTV-promoted 'Taxi No.9211' tour, John Abraham proved what a large female following he has!
Young and old women alike went crazy and caused a stampede at the cinema hall and additional security was introduced. Even that wasn't enough to continue the mass hysteria that his visit generated. One woman jumped at him while he was standing on a table and addressing the 1000+ crowd, resulting in the table falling apart!

His visit to Feltham (one of the largest Bollywood cinemas in the UK) on Wednesday evoked even more than the response at Bradford.

Shahid-Kareena stayed separate on this Valentine's Day!

With the Valentine's Day gone yesterday, it's a sheer shock to hear for Shahid-Kareena's fans that this year the lovebirds weren't together on the very V Day. They stayed separate as Kareena was busy shooting Vishal Bhardwaj's next 'Othello' in Allhabad whereas Shahid spent the whole day in Mumbai shooting one of his next.
Close on the heels, Kareena recently seen at an event in Mumbai cheering up her '36 China Town' co-star Upen Patel, who was then performing on stage and Kareena was sitting at the front seats of audience. Kareena looked merely glowing as hunky Upen started flaunting his biceps.
Any signal for Shahid; currently there is a rumour in the air that Kareena is feeling insecure about his beau Shahid in the regards of his alleged closeness with co-star Amrita Rao.

Shahid Kapoor & Kareena Kapoor

What Abhishek now is, Kareena had predicted much earlier!

Not many know actress Kareena Kapoor's foreseeing power. Junior B's recent rise doesn't surprise Kareena, because she knew, it would be happened one day. In a recent interview, Kareena said her 'Refugee' hero Abhishek Bachchan a wonderful person and a great human being.
Kareena-Abhishek debuted in 'Refugee', though after that they haven't worked together in any other film, but Kareena thinks, the relationship that she shares with him will never die. "I had told him when he was giving his first shot opposite me in 'Refugee' that he would be India's biggest star one day," Kareena recalled.
Does she want to work with him again? "Of course, I would love to work with him again given the chance, since we had an amazing chemistry in 'Refugee'," Kareena says gushingly.

Abhishek Bachan & Kareena Kapoor

"My mum and I were not invited at Riddhima's wedding," Kareena!

With the absence of Kareena, her elder sister Karishma and mother Babita Kapoor at Rishi Kapoor's daughter Riddhima's wedding ceremony, the tinsel town had certainly gone abuzz, though most of the persons were clueless about that.
However in a recent interview Kareena said, she and her mom were not invited at the wedding, so the ball is in Rishi Kapoor's court instead.
What happened to Karishma and Sunjay, they were invited but they also didn't attend? "Yes, they were invited, but why they didn't attend, you have to ask them," Kareena replied.

Kareena Kapoor

Abhishek to Aishwarya - "From your Valentine"!

Imagine Aishwarya gets the dream card from none but one and only Abhishek Bachchan; red-heart shaped card, fresh-passionate red roses are stuck with it; and the message "From your Valentine" written on as an obsessive splash. Aishwarya's heart start beating passionately as she holds the card near to her heart and whispers your are mine Valentine.
Are they marrying or not, their horoscopes were sent to astrologer Chandrashekhar Swami or not, let the controversy go to hell.
But how can we forget the heavenly truth, which never stops haunting us - romance on the sets as well as off the sets of 'Umraao Jaan' in Jaipur.
How can we forget Aishwarya was a special guest at Abhishek's birthday bash on February 5?
How can we forget at his birthday party, Abhishek, after Amitabh or Jaya, gave in a piece of his very special birthday cake to none but Ash?
On the very day she was taken around by AB Junior for a tour of Jalsa Bungalow and showed childhood photographs. She stayed on till the wee hour.

Abhishek Bachan & Aishwarya Rai

I work best with Dad: Hrithik

Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan, who is doing his third film with his director father, says they work best as a team because there are no egos involved.

Both of Roshan's earlier films with his father Rakesh Roshan "Kaho Na Pyaar Hai" and "Koi Mil Gaya" were runaway hits. They are now working on "Krrish," a sequel to "Koi Mil Gaya" which told the story of a mentally challenged boy who befriends a space alien.

"It's very simple. Dad and I work well together because we've already had the advantage of understanding each other at close quarters. There is no room for egos," Hrithik was quoted as saying by The Times of India newspaper.

"There is a certain invisible line that one can't cross when working with others (for) fear of hurting a person's ego," he said. "There is a formal code which you can't break."

Roshan is one of the most popular actors in Bollywood, based in India's entertainment and financial hub of Bombay.

India's Hindi-language film industry is the largest in the world in terms of viewership and the number of films it produces. The song and dance features are hugely popular even among audiences overseas that do not understand the language.

"I can very easily tell my dad that I don't like the shoot and can we do it this way ... He will in no way look at it as interference and demeaning his talent and authority on the sets and vise versa," Roshan said.

He stayed for months in Hong Kong to prepare for "Krrish," an action thriller, receiving martial arts training from "Hero" action choreographer Tony Ching Siu-tung.

Ching, who also choreographed action sequences for "Krrish," coached Roshan for four to six hours a day, calling his pupil an "excellent student ... dedicated, focused and hardworking."

"Krrish" is scheduled for release later this year.  

Saif shrugs off sauve image  

Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has dumped his suave image for his next film based on Shakespeare's Othello.

He said the unsexy village shoot - in which he has yellowing teeth and a limp - was a deliberate decision to change his image.

"I did it to remain balanced as an actor. Every film can't be shot in LA," Khan said.

"All my work was going in only one direction and had me in the same kind of image. "I needed something different."

Preity woman

Meet the sweet smiling and bubbly girl of Bollywood film industry

Preity's on Indian Idol

Even as the Indian Idol 2 eliminations get more and more crucial, the celebrity guests get bigger and bigger.

Come Monday, it is none other than Preity Zinta in the honourary judge's chair, joining regulars Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam.

After Panna Gill's exit, the competition is intense. Who will survive the next round? And how distracting are Preity's dimples, up close?

Watch the star on a vital episode of Indian Idol 2 this Monday, February 20 at 9 pm on Sony Entertainment Television.

John develops mobile game!

Model turned actor John Abraham has proved that he is not just a good looking actor but also has a great knowledge of modern technology.

This talented actor has developed a cell phone game called Velocity. According to him, career managers Matrix and a company called Small Devices helped him in his project. 揑 conceptualised the game initially, and then converted it into technical reality. Doesn't this beat the image of us models and actors not being brainy? The game is ready to launch. We've sent it out for trial to consumers. And the response has been encouraging

Is it all over for Salman Khan?

According to Bollywood, Salman is the comeback king and is sure to bounce back.

The court might have finally turned down Salman Khan's harried request to just hang him, but it did, ironically enough, put an end to his misery by finally sentencing him to one year of imprisonment.

With an estimated Rs 150 crore riding on Khan right now, the film industry should be in a tizzy but it is not pushing the panic button. Not just yet, that is.

"It is very difficult for me to say at this stage how my film will be affected," reveals director Ravi Chopra whose Babul stars Salman. "But I am sure Salman will come out of this unscathed."

A sentiment echoed by director Raj Kanwar, who is planning a film with the star. "Salman will bounce back from this. I am planning a project with him which will begin after the release of my Akshay Kumar starrer Humko Deewana Kar Gaye."

Incidentally, Salman has a cameo appearance in the film. The projects which could land in trouble if the judgment comes through are Sajid Nadiadwala's Jaaneman, Nikhil Advani's Salaam-E-Ishq, Chopra's Babul, Rumi Jaffrey's God Tussi Great Ho, amongst others.

"Since it is a suspended sentence, everyone is pinning their hopes on his appeal," reveals trade analyst Vinod Mirani.

But will the judgment have an effect on his fan following, thereby also affecting the BO fate of his films? "Not even one per cent," laughs trade analyst Komal Nahta. "In fact, every time Salman has run into trouble, his fan following increases by leaps and bounds."

"He is a wonderful person, full of kindness. Sure he has had his share of troubles but the goodness of his heart reflects on his face and that is why people love him," feels director Saawan Kumar Tak who has worked with Khan in the past.

Shah Rukh to star in Varma's film

It has finally happened! Shah Rukh Khan and Ram Gopal Varma will soon be doing a film together. However, it isn抰 the remake of Sholay, in which Varma wanted him to play Gabbar. Varma recently visited the actor on the sets Karan Johar抯 film. It is too early to reveal the subject of the film. However, the duo will definitely work together.  

Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh set to woo Kenya

People of the west African nation of Kenya are all set to savour the histrionic skills of Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan when a retrospective of his films will be held here from next week.
The retrospective, being held under the aegis of the Indian High Commission in Kenya, will feature the actor's 12 critically acclaimed and commercially successful films.

Deewana, Darr, Baazigar, Dil to Pagal Hai, Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil Se, Yes Boss, Pardes, Dil to Pagal Hai and Mohabbatein  are among the major attractions in the retrospective.

A spokesperson for the Indian High Commission said India was the largest producer of films in the world, churning out nearly 1000 films in more than a dozen languages.

"The entertainment sector of India directly and indirectly employs over seven million people and earns foreign exchange worth $1.6 billion per year. More than 43 million Indians go to see films every day on an average," he said.

"The retrospective is expected to further promote friendship between the peoples of India and Kenya," he said.

John reveals his grey side

Nobody thought I could carry off a dhoti and recite Sanskrit shlokas.

John Abraham loves to surprise people. First, with his acting skills which pooh-poohed models-can't-act theory, then falling for the contoured beauties of the other kind