By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan, who starred with Naseeruddin Shah in Ishqiya, will soon share screen-space with the actor in Milan Luthria’s Dirty Picture.

The shooting of the film is slated to begin this month but Vidya, who is a little nervous about her dancing skills, has already started rehearsing with Naseer and the choreographer at Milan’s office in Mumbai.

Besides Dirty Picture, Vidya will also be seen in a different avatar in Santosh Sivan’s highly-anticipated Urumi and will have cameos in Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum and Anees Bazmee’s Thank You.

Apart from her contemporaries who can’t stop raving about her, it seems like the talented artiste has found a new fan in Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman. When the actress, who recently met Hugh at FICCI, and also collected the Best Actress Award for Ishqiya from him, asked him whether he would like to be paired opposite her in Ishqiya 2, Hugh answered in the affirmative! Way to go, Vidya!

Amitabh Bachchan , who is presently shooting in Mumbai for Bbuddah-Hoga Tera Baap —his home production— took time out from his busy schedule to cheer for Team India in the ICC World Cup finals without actually watching the match.

A superstitious Big B believed that every time he had switched on the television to check the score during the previous matches, India had lost a wicket! So, this time around, he chose to sit in another room and asked his son Abhishek to constantly update him about the score.

By Jilawatan

No, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is not getting competition with her husband! However, buzz is that the two actresses have been roped in to play wives to Junior Bachchan in two upcoming films.

Vidya Balan, who has been on a guest starring spree, has been roped in to play Abhishek’s better half in Dum Maaro Dum. Earlier, the actress had signed up for a cameo in ‘Thank You’, playing Akshay Kumar’s wife.

This is not the first time that the actress has been seen opposite Abhishek Bachchan. The duo were seen together in ‘Paa’, where they played parents to Amitabh Bachchan.

Kangna Ranaut, on the other hand has taken up a role opposite Bachchan Junior in RGV’s next, Department.

The film, which has just been announced, revolves around three cops and the extra-constitutional activities they engage in to maintain a civil society.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan refused to step into Hema Malini’s shoes in the remake of the 1982 blockbuster Satte Pe Satta. She will definitely not be the one to yet again reform the seven untamed brothers living on a ranch.

“Vidya didn’t want to do this film simply because she feels that Satte Pe Satta should not be tampered with. That film is too iconic to be copied or revised,” explains a source about the actress’s reason for turning down Sanjay Dutt’s offer.

While Dutt will essay the role that Amitabh Bachchan played in the original film, he is having difficulty casting the female lead. Balan has point-blank refused to take on this challenging project, which will be directed by Soham Shah.

When the filmmakers spoke to Vidya’s manager, she did not make them wait too long for a reply. We last heard that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might do the film. Let’s wait and watch.

Both, Balan and Bachchan, remained unavailable for comment.

By Jilawatan

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan, who essays the role of Silk Smitha in The Dirty Picture, says that portraying the southern seductress will not be a difficult job for her.

“I don’t think it is difficult to portray a real-life character like Silk Smitha. People know her through her work,

However, the actress said it would be challenging to portray characters of prominent personalities.

“It would be challenging if I play a character based on Indira Gandhi as people know her mannerisms and you can’t go wrong for a person of this stature who was a Prime Minister. She continues to be a prominent person. Even in that case to play Amitabh Bachchan would be challenging,” she said.

“With Silk Smitha it is going to be more of my personal interpretation than her impersonation,” she added.

Portraying real-life characters is not a new thing for the Ishiqiya girl, who played Sabrina Lal in her previous film No One Killed Jessica.

In Milan Luthria’s The Dirty Picture, a biopic based on the life and death of Silk Smitha, Vidya would be seen in a complete different avatar, alongside Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah.

The film is an ode to the life of the southern sexy siren Vijaylakshmi, better known as Silk Smitha, and her journey to stardom followed by her sudden demise, the actress said.

Vijaylakshmi reached iconic status as a sex symbol in Tamil cinema. Appearing in over 200 films, the young actor was neck deep in controversies and eventually died at the age of 33. It is suspected that she committed suicide.

“On my part I would do research on her. I have seen her songs and films on south Indian channels. She spelt sex,” the 33-year-old Vidya said.

Shooting for the film begins next month.

Vidya, who went de-glam wearing loose and ill-fitting shirts in No One Killed Jessica, would now be seen in an alluring avatar in The Dirty Picture.

However, the actress says she is least bothered about being glamorous or non-glamorous.

“I don’t see or define a role as glamorous and non-glamorous. I am getting to play a completely different person and that is what is exciting for me. Glamorous and non-glamorous does not matter to me. The script is the queen. I feel even the saree is extremely glamorous and sexy,” she said.

By Jilawatan

If one would have really enjoyed the classic Amitabh Bachchan-Hema Malini starrer ‘Satte Pe Satta’, then they would be equally anticipating for its remake.

The news of Satte Pe Satta’ remake has been going around for sometime. While the new version will be directed by Soham Shah, the role of Big B will be played by Sanjay Dutt. Of late the grapevines are focused on the female leads. It’s heard that charming Vidya Balan is being considered for Hema Malini’s role. On the other hand, hot Bengali babe Bipasha Basu will be roped to play Ranjitha’s character, where she played a wheel-chair bound girl.

Wait, there’s more to this…! Names like Celina Jaitley, Minissha Lamba, Sonal Chauhan, Anjana Sukhani, Rimi Sen and Neha Sharma are being thrown in for the other female leads in the film. Similarly, Arshad Warsi will again be a partner to his Munnabhai co-star Sanjay in the remake.

Besides on the male team Fardeen Khan, Shreyas Talpade, and Zayed Khan are said to be thought about. Some sources said that Siddhant, Shakti Kapoor’s son, will debut in this movie and he will do the same character which his dad played in the original….

The film is expected to start its shooting from mid-April in Panchgani.

Hmmmm, this new cast gives us a mixed feeling… What about you?

By Jilawatan

Recently while Vidya Balan was in Delhi for an award function, superstar Rajnikanth happened to shower her with praises.

After touching his feet with respect, Vidya was delighted to hear that Rajnikanth had watched her recent film No One Killed Jessica and had loved her performance in it.

Vidya also sought his blessings. This isn’t the first time that Vidya has received great feedback from a superstar. Not too long ago Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan had also raved about her on screen performances.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan looks all set to unite with her Munnabhai co-star Sanjay Dutt for a new bag of gags. This time, she will be reprising Hema Malini’s role in the 1982 comedy, Satte Pe Satta.

The film, directed by Soham Shah, will see Dutt essay Amitabh Bachchan’s role in the original.

“It’s true. Vidya has been approached to play the role essayed by Hema Malini in Satte Pe Satta.

“Shah wanted an actress who could look mature and sexy, traditional and modern at the same time,” says a trade analyst.

Reportedly, Vidya loved the script and is keen to work out the dates for the film in her packed diary.

Shah, who made his Bollywood debut as a director in the Karan Johar-produced film Kaal in 2005, is now busy giving finishing touches to his script, said a source.

“The casting of the other characters will be announced in due time,” added the source.

The 1982 original, directed by Raj N. Sippy, was a Bollywood remake of the 1954 Hollywood musical, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.

While Vidya’s role in the new film will be along the lines of Hema Malini’s character of a no-nonsense bhabhi, director Shah plans to give her character a quirky update to match the tastes of Gen-Now.

It will also be in keeping with Vidya’s image as an actress who has been successfully playing very different characters, including a hip mom in Paa and the sultry village woman in Ishqiya.

“The heroine also had to be a girl who could match up to a senior actor like Sanjay Dutt,” said the source.

In fact, Dutt was reportedly keen that Shah cast Vidya as the heroine in the film. The original film saw Hema Malini’s character, Indu, fall in love and marry Amitabh Bachchan’s character, Ravi.

Much of the comedy in Satte Pe Satta arose from Indu’s attempts to get along with Ravi’s six brothers, who have grown up without any parental supervision.

Of late, Vidya has had a great run at the box-office. Also, after picking up almost all the popular Best Actress awards for her role in Paa last year, she seems to have become the darling of the awards circuit. She is on a winning spree for her role in Ishqiya as well.

Vidya’s upcoming kitty of films is quite an interesting mix. She plays a vengeful action heroine in Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani, said to be a remake of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill.

Milan Luthria’s Dirty Picture is a biopic that casts Vidya as the troubled Tamil siren, Silk Smitha.

Vidya has already created a buzz with reports saying she has put on weight to match Silk Smitha’s “thunder thighs” look that ruled in the eighties.

Her special dance number in Santosh Sivan’s upcoming Urumi has also kept her in the news, even as she continues to receive rave reviews for her role of Sabrina Lall in her latest release, No One Killed Jessica.

“It’s been a while since Vidya has done a solid comic role. She would love to play the central female character in the Satte Pe Satta remake. Of course, she has to okay the script first,” says the source.

By Jilawatan

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan and former union minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor have been voted as the hottest celebrity vegetarians in an online poll by animal rights organisation PETA.

Vidya and Tharoor beat out actors R. Madhavan and Lara Dutta to claim the title. They

faced competition from Mallika Sherawat, Kareena Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahid Kapoor, and even international names like Natalie Portman and Bryan Adams.

“Vidya Balan and Shashi Tharoor embody many admirable qualities, but their commitment to a vegetarian diet that’s as kind to animals and the earth as it is to their own health makes them true royalty in our book,” Poorva Joshipura, chief of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, said in a statement.

“All our nominees are winners because there’s nothing more beautiful than a caring heart to go along with an attractive appearance,” she added.

By Jilawatan

The much talked Bollywood film of the year No One Killed Jessica had a grand premiere in presence of some big names of the industry. However, Vidya had a special guest, her son megastar Amitabh Bachchan. She could not miss inviting Big B, who played her son in Paa.

Amitabh also acknowledged the invitation posting about it in his blog. He wrote that Vidya called over the Bachchan family for the premiere of her strong film based on Jessica Lal murder case, which involved the son of a well known and powerful politician.

Vidya’s performance in the movie is liked by Big B and said that she has been graceful as always and the performances have justified the story and title of the film.

Big B was also elated to meet Rani Mukerji after a long time. The actress was once very close the Bachchan family before Abhishek got married to Aishwarya. The megastar also expressed his happiness over meeting Rani saying that he is very happy to see her after a long gap. Rani is also playing an important role in the movie.

Mr. Bachchan offered his best wishes to the film and its team. We hope Big B’s wish works for the film and Rani, who will be seen in a quite different role in this film, which is releasing tomorrow.

By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai was seen with a baby bump in ‘Guru’; Preity Zinta shot an entire song with her baby bump in ‘Salaam Namaste’ but in both the cases their pregnancy bump lasted only a few scenes.
However, actress Vidya Balan shall be portraying the character of a woman who is 6 months pregnant in her next Sujoy Ghosh film ‘Kahaani’. And she won’t be carrying her baby bump merely for a scene or two but she shall be pregnant throughout the length of the movie.

In the movie Vidya plays a married woman whose hubby leaves London and comes to India for a job. However, after he goes missing, Vidya comes to Kolkata to hunt her husband down. And Vidya shall be doing her husband-hunt in her pregnancy period.
As the director Sujoy Ghosh puts it, a pregnant woman isn’t a Batman or a Superman and Vidya’s character shall be exploring the vulnerability of the feminine side. Sujoy has confirmed the news and has hailed Vidya as a perfectionist. He also cites that he had penned the role keeping Vidya in mind and wouldn’t have made the film if Vidya had rejected his offer.
But this is not the first time that Vidya shall be showing the nascent side of her motherhood. She played a mother in ‘Heyy Baby’ and was the Maa of Amitabh Bachchan in Paa.