By Jilawatan

Bollywood is considered to be a superstitious lot, not willing to take risks especially when it comes to trying to ensure the success of their films at the box-office.

Apart from auspicious mahurat dates and naming of films, even casting of actors considered lucky mascots for the makers is increasingly the norm. So, what happens when both the leading actor, as well as, the film-maker have their own ‘lucky’ stars. Well, they simply cast both! And according to the buzz that’s what happened in Anees Bazmee’s Thank You. The film that stars Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor and Bobby Deol also has a surprise cameo by actor Vidya Balan, apart from an item number by Mallika Sherawat.

Apparently, while Bazmee considered it was lucky to include Mallika as she she had made a cameo in his earlier hit Welcome, Vidya is considered to be lucky for Akki and reportedly that is what helped the director zero in on her for a vital role opposite Akshay. A source reveals, “Akshay and Vidya have had two superhits together Bhool Bhulaiya and Heyy Babyy and hopefully the combination will click again. So the makers agreed immediately and cast Vidya.” In fact according to another insider, the length of her character was considerably increased and even a song was thrown in after Vidya agreed to come on board. The source adds, “Vidya’s also of course a talented actor, so it was like a win-win situation for the film. So things fell into place, even though Anees already had his own lucky actor Mallika in the film.”

But Sherawat and Balan are not the only ones. Rani Mukerji and Kajol too have been considered film-maker Karan Johar’s lucky charms, although he has gone on record claiming Shah Rukh Khan to be the luckiest mascot. In fact, according to Bolly-lore, if Kajol tripped while shooting for a film, then the film was bound to be a super hit.

Actor Salman Khan is the lucky boy for the Barjatyas, while Katrina Kaif’s been proven lucky for Akshay. Anushka Sharma’s now being considered lucky for her film-makers too. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali swears by his heroine Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, while actor Sridevi was apparently the lucky mascot for the Chopras. Actor Madhuri Dixit was considered to be lucky for Indra Kumar, but then so was a particular tree in Ooty that he featured in all his films, while Urmila Matondkar was both the muse and the mascot for Ram Gopal Varma.

By Jilawatan

After the mega success of Race, filmmakers Abbas-Mastan have confirmed that they have retained Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor for the sequel Race 2. However, the new additions to the cast will now include John Abrahams and Priyanka Chopra.

Vidya Balan is quickly becoming one of the most powerful actresses in Indian cinema. After winning loads of acclaim for Paa and Ishqiya, the talented actress has now been signed for a woman-centric project to be directed by Sujoy Ghosh of Aladdin fame. The movie has been titled as Kahani.
In a shocking twist to the rape drama surrounding Shiney Ahuja, his domestic worker, who claimed to have been raped by the actor in June last year, now says the alleged incident never took place. It is believed that the 20-year-old was coerced to make the statements at the insistence of the person who secured her the job at Ahuja’s house. The sudden turn of events has raised much suspicion as police officers once claimed that medical evidence proved the rape had occurred and now, suddenly, the maid has gone missing.

AAMIR Khan says his next movie, Dhobi Ghaat, will not arrive in December, breaking the tradition set with previous blockbusters Taare Zameen Par (2007), Ghajini (2008) and 3 Idiots (2009). Dhobi Ghaat, which marks the directorial debut of Khan’s wife, Kiran Rao, features the perfectionist actor together with Pratiek Babbar and has been scheduled to release in February next year.
There’s a new addition to Kajol’s family as the powerhouse actress and her husband, Ajay Devgan, became proud parents to a baby boy on Monday. The couple also have a seven-year-old daughter named Nysa. Perhaps they can now say We Are Family!

The sudden death of actor Muralli, 46, came as a shock to all who knew this humble, unassuming but talented actor. He succumbed to a heart attack in the early hours of September 8. Muralli made his film debut in 1984 in the Kannada film Prema Parva, which was directed by his father, Sidhalingaiyah. He shot to prominence through his second film, Poovilangu, and cemented his place in the industry with his third film, Pagal Nilavu, the film which introduced director Manirathinam to the Tamil film world. This was followed by a series of box-office failures, broken by the release of Pudhu Vasantham. The film was a huge hit and a trendsetter, firmly re-establishing Muralli as an actor of note in Kodambakkam. Others major hits to his name include Idhayam, Poomani, Pohrkalam, Vetri Kodu Kattu, Vetri Kodi Kattu, Anandham and Sundhara Travels. His last film was Baana Kaathaadi (still to release in South Africa) which launched his son, Adharva, as a lead actor. Muralli is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
Less than a week after Muralli’s death, Kodambakkam lost yet another talented artist with the demise of playback singer Swarnalatha last Sunday. Swarnalatha, 37, had been suffering from diminishing breathing ability for the last year and did not record during that period. Her singing debut was in 1987 under the music of MS Visvanathan when she sang the duet Chinnanjiru Killiye Kannamma from Needhikku Thandanai with KJ Yesudas. Swarnalatha enjoyed the most success with composers Illaiyaraja and AR Rahman. Her first hit song was the immortal Aaatamaa Therottamma for Illaiyaraja in Captain Prabhagaran. Other notable hits she enjoyed with Illaiyaraja were Pohvoma Oorkolam (Chinna Thambi), Maasi Maasam (Dharma Dhurai) Adi Raakamma Kaiyai Thatttu (Thallabadhi), Yen Ulle Yen Ulle (Valli) and Malai Kohyil Vaasalil (Veera).

With AR Rahman, she enjoyed hits such as Mukaala Mukaabala (Kaadhalan), Uyire (Bombay), Maya Machindhra and Akadaannu (Indian) and the song that won her the national award for best playback singer, Poraale Ponnuthaayi (Karuthamma). She was a spinster and lived alone.

Rajinikanth’s Endhiran continues to record more firsts for Tamil and Indian cinema. Last Saturday the film’s trailers were released at a function that brought together a host of actors, producers and directors. What stood out about Rajnikanth was the simplicity with which he arrived and his constant modesty about the extent of his role in the film. The trailer has been received with great excitement and enthusiasm as cinema halls begin to announce their showtimes for what is easily the biggest Indian film ever. At the Mayajaal complex in Chennai’s East Coast Road, Endhiran will have 60 shows a day, with the first fortnight expected to be booked out when the first day of bookings open. Endhiran is the first Indian film to cross the 1.3-billion rupee budget and is also the first Tamil film to be released internationally by HBO. It is also the first Indian film to have a day-and-date release in China. Endhiran is also the first Indian movie to have two Oscar winners in its team – music composer AR Rahman and sound engineer Ressul Pookutty.
Kamalhassan and Bollywood’s Anil Kapoor are to come together on screen in a dual-language production that will be made simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi. Kapoor has been very vocal in his admiration for Kamalhassan and approached him to do a joint venture. He was delighted when Kamalhassan agreed. Further details about this joint venture will be made later this week.

By Jilawatan

It needed the Bombay Times to make this happen… bring all of Bollywood that was in Mumbai on December 4, under one roof for the
merriest party of the year! They came to celebrate BT’s 15th anniversary. And to say the party rocked would be an understatement. True, the who’s who of B-Town have made it under one roof for several causes and celebrations in the past. But what made the BT bash exciting and exclusive was the camaraderie that was witnessed between the legends, the badshahs and the beauties of Bollywood at Mumbai’s historic landmark, the Taj Mahal Hotel & Tower, that night.

The sultry Bipasha Basu promised she would there at 10.45 pm with hunky beau John Abraham, and this striking twosome did exactly that. Ajay Devgn wrapped up his shoot at 10 pm on Versova Beach, took a detour to Juhu to fetch wife Kajol who had just returned from Sydney. And before the clock hit 12, lo and behold — this superstar couple were with us.

Karan Johar made a solo entry, looking dapper as always, talking animatedly on his cell phone, unmindful of the bevy of beauties who longed for him to include them in his power gaze. Priyanka Chopra came in like Pretty Woman with her efficient entourage trailing silently behind. We were warned that Shah Rukh Khan would make a back door entry; gates were checked… and yet nothing could check the madness and the mayhem when the Badshah arrived. Akshay Kumar was almost making it to another location, or so said his manager… but the Khiladi rarely goes wrong when wife Tina is around. So there they were in the midst of our revelry, this handsome pair… cordoned off by their own personal security, causing a mini pandemonium.

The security cordon at the Taj gates crumbled for a few minutes when the biggest Bollywood phenomenon to have walked the earth arrived. Fresh from the accolades of Paa, and driving down from Lonavala just for us, Amitabh Bachchan came with his superstar son Abhishek. And, as if on cue, the diminutive bundle of talent Vidya Balan followed, causing a flutter in the lobby. Next morning, even while Bollywood slept off the effects of its BT hangover, the energy-plus Big B flew off to Chennai.

Aamir Khan, of course, warned us he’d be late. But for the second time in one evening the crowds on Apollo Bunder outside the Gateway of India broke into a midnight dance when the numero uno drove in. Dressed in a Tee-shirt that he designed, Aamir came in solo from his own fashion show…

Interspersed by the glittering arrivals in between of Bollywood hotties Sameera Reddy, Kangna Ranaut, Shriya Saran, Neetu Chandra, Payal Rohatgi, Anupama Verma, Riya Sen, Mugdha Godse, Sushma Reddy, Sherlyn Chopra, Shenaz Treasuryvala, former Miss Indias Parvathy Omanakuttan and Simran Kaur Mundi, Miss World Diana Hayden… this was a show that even the most hardcore cynic would have to admit was the party of the year. Tellyland’s glitterati also turned up in force, from Ronit Roy to Urvashi Dholakia. Truly, if the BT Party was filmed, it would have a golden jubilee run..

By Jilawatan

The chapter of feud between Vidya Balan and designer Manish Malhotra is closed. The actress and the designer patched up recently.

Both had stopped talking to each other after Manish’s so-called “botched up” work of styling Vidya in movie Heyy Babyy . The movie did fairly well at the box office but Vidya was criticized for her dresses.

Then, the row continued as Vidya blamed Manish for giving her bad look. In fact, the lady has hit out at the designer on several occasions; the final blow came during the last year’s Filmfare Awards, when she mentioned Manish’s name on stage. That miffed Manish so much that the designer lashed at her some very blunt, sarcastic and stinging comments.

But the actress is in a forgiving mood; she decided to break the ice at a recent social function and asked Manish to forget about the past. According to the designer, they are friends now and he is happy that Vidya has clarified that whatever went wrong with ‘Heyy Babyy’ wasn’t his fault.

The designer, who has given distinctive look to actresses like Kajol and Rani Mukherjee , met with harsh criticism for styling up Vidya in ‘Heyy Babyy’.

As for now, the lady is playing safe with wardrobe and opting for all-Indian traditional look at many occasions and functions. And she can try Manish’s outfits now that their differences have been ironed out.