By Jilawatan

The 12th edition of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) concluded with the presentation of the Ficci-Frames Excellence awards.

The awards honoured excellence across four major entertainment verticals cinema, television, music and radio.

Starting with the film awards, Dabangg bagged two awards – one for best film of the year and the other for the best music of the year.

Shah Rukh Khan was adjudged the best actor for his role in My Name is Khan while Karan Johar took home the best director award for the same film. As anticipated, Vidya Balan took home the best actress award for Ishqiya.

The highlight of the awards ceremony was Ficci conferring the Excellence International honour to Hugh Jackman, the Australian actor best known as Wolverine in the X-Men series.

In the best debutant category (female), Sonakshi Sinha bagged the award for her performance in Dabangg, while Ranveer Singh collected the best debutant (male) award for his role in Band Baaja Baaraat. Maneesh Sharma won the best director debut trophy for the same film.

Aishwariya Rai Bachchan was honoured with the ‘Decade of Global Achievement’ award for her completing a decade in Hindi cinema.

In the Television category, Star Plus was given the most successful television channel of the year award while Sony’s popular reality show Indian Idol-5 was declared the most successful non-fiction show.

In the acting category, Sushant Singh Rajput from Pavitra Rishta bagged the best actor (male) award, while Rashmi Desai of Uttaran took home the best actor (female) award.

Radio Mirchi was declared the ‘Most Successful Radio Channel’ of the year.

Speaking on the occasion, Ficci Entertainment Committee chairman Yash Chopra said: “The entertainment industry in India is booming along with business excellence and we are happy to recognise such levels of talent in the respective fields. We take pride in honouring best performers for their contributions in their area of work.”

The event was a joint venture between Wizcraft International Entertainment and Ficci to honour talent for their contribution in the entertainment industry.

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

Many a times in the past as well Vidya Balan has confessed her love for Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, and the southern beauty is not changed at all, she is still the same crazy self for SRK.

Recently at Karan Johar’s chat show, “Koffee With Karan”, Vidya said to Rani that she didn’t like her in ‘Mitwa’ song, even though she is a big fan of KANK. When Rani and Karan asked her why? She said I wanted to be in Rani’s place romancing with SRK.

In our perception, her craziness enhanced multiple folds when we got to know that she even calls her current boyfriend (Siddharth Roy Kapur) as SRK.

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

A film corporation honcho, who is said to be friendly with Vidya Balan, blushed a shade of crimson when he was spotted strolling around the award-winning actress’ suburban neighbourhood .

The fair-skinned, tall, pleasant looker with oodles of charm, said he was in Vidya’s neighbourhood to have coffee at a popular joint just across the actress’ home.

A little flustered with the media intervention, he quickly added that he was in the area to also pay Karan Johar’s office a visit. Whatever… but he should perhaps know that if it’s coffee he is looking for, then the coffee served at Vidya’s home is better than the one available in her neighbourhood.

By Jilawatan

Is one of the things Ashley Rebello intends to do in the near future. So what if others of his ilk are yet to begin work on film projects they were to take up?

Manish Malhotra and Vikram Phadnis’s directorial ventures are still up in the air, but that hasn’t deterred Ashley Rebello from wanting to make his film. After working with Vidya Balan for over a year and a half on product endorsements, Ashley plans to direct her in a film in the near future. Calling it an extension of his creative personality, he’s quite kicked about filmmaking.

About working with Vidya, he notes, “I have known her over a year now. We share a great work relationship. I style her for all her product launches and endorsements. I design all the clothes that she wears on hoardings and banners and in commercials. In fact, we are currently working on the launch of a new hair product.”

Ashley adds, “I want to do many more things than simply design clothes. One of them is making a film with Vidya. I think it’s the next natural step for me in terms of creative fulfillment.” Not bothered by the failures to launch their film by others from his fraternity, he says, “I am not really affected by any one else. I feel one should want it more than anything in the world and the Universe will manifest it for you.”

He feels that Balan has left her fashion faux pas days behind. He notes, “I think Vidya looks stunning in earthy tones like mehendi, brown and such, rather than loud colors. Her personality really comes across in these shades and she’s also confident enough to carry them with ease. It’s important for her to know what she wants to wear than what people would like to see her in.”

Waiting in the wings
Vikram Phadnis was to direct the Stepmom remake, but gave up the project when Karan Johar bought the rights for the original. Vikram is currently working on the script for his next. Similarly, Manish Malhotra too has been preparing for his directorial debut over the last two years. However, the project is yet to take off.

By Jilawatan

The two have reportedly been seen together at quite a number of occasions, whether it be at functions where they were spotted sitting together or even at Johar’s home and office. Vidya was seen at Karan’s office, which is incidentally diagonally opposite to her new house. She even went to Karan’s house at Union Park for dinner and was there for four hours, reported the Mumbai Mirror.
If all goes well, Vidya may soon find herself in one of Karan Johar’s forthcoming productions. While Karan Johar may currently be busy with I Hate Luv Storys and will be working on Dostana 2 subsequently, he definitely isn’t ruling out the possibility of signing Vidya up for a film some time.
The director is believed to be suitably impressed by Balan’s varied performances in Paa and Ishqiya, Mumbai Mirror quoted a friend of Balan’s. Confirming Vidya’s visit to his home, Johar said “Vidya is a tremendously talented actress. My company, Dharma Productions, is very keen on working with her. But there is no film as yet.”
Vidya too was all praises for the filmmaker saying that she had always loved all of KJo’s films. “Karan Johar is one of the wittiest people I have met. He had me in splits. No wonder, he writes beautifully,” she told the Mumbai Mirror.
Whether or not we’ll see Balan in the next Dharma Productions project remains to be seen, meanwhile, there sure is a mutual admiration society going on here!

By Jilawatan

Karan Johar and Vidya Balan are the latest members of the film industry to become friends.

Apparently, Karan was very much impressed with Vidya’s performances in Paa and Ishqiya. The two have been meeting regularly, especially since Vidya’s house is right opposite Karan’s office.

Vidya also had dinner with Karan and his family at his house, for four hours. Karan admits that he wants to work with Vidya soon, but they are yet to finalise a script.

After I Hate Luv Storys releases this Friday, he will get busy with Dostana 2. Only after that will he start scripting so it will be a while before Vidya will sign a Dharma Productions film.

By Jilawatan

Karan Johar seems to have found a new friend in Vidya Balan. These days the two have been meeting quiet often. She first met him in one of the function, later she made a visit to his office and the latest we hear, couple of days ago she had been to his house for dinner and stayed with him there for four hours. There closeness apart from a healthy friendship, also hints on a new film from the kitty of Dharma Productions with Vidya Balan. About which even Karan agreed and said that he is looking forward to work with her but there is no film yet.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is once again caught in traditional attire: Vidya is once again caught in traditional attire and this time at the HT Café Relauncch Party.

At this party Vidya was dresses in a lovely pink and black cotton saree and an embroidered blouse.

Her make up, hair style and minimal jewelry made her look even prettier. Karan Johar present at the panel discussion rated Vidya 8 on 10 stating that it was not impressive.

He himself being perfect with his clothes this time got it wrong for himself.