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 foraying into Bollywood with ace Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’, followed by Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Rakta Charitra’, the national award winning actress Priyamani is signing more projects in Hindi.
Rumour-mongers insisted that she will be the heroine opposite Salman Khan in the sequel of his 2009 super hit ‘Wanted’ (tentatively titled ‘Wanted 2′), directed by Prabhu Deva. However, the dusky beauty has already denied these reports.
“I wish someone had approached me for the role in ‘Wanted 2′; sadly no one has as yet! But if I get an offer, I will grab it instantly! Who will want to miss out on the chance to act with Sallu bhai?” Priyamani was quoted as saying.

By Jilawatan

Actually, the twist is the charming ‘Paa’ actress is not all part of this Ram Gopal Varma’s trilingual flick. In fact her cousin is….

Priyamani, a south Indian actress and cousin of Vidya Balan, is reported to feature in RGV’s ‘Rakta Charitra’. The film, a biopic of political leader Paritala Ravi, features Vivek Oberoi and south Indian star Surya. Priyamani said to act opposite Suriya here.

According to sources, Varma was mighty impressed with the actress after seeing some of the South films which she has done.

Incidentally, sources revealed that RGV had seen Priyamani’s Tamil film ‘Paruthaveeran’, for which she had won a National Award. And with this he made up his mind to cast her in the film.

Produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma, ‘Rakta Charitra’ is being made in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.

As a matter of fact, Priyamani also features in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’.

By Jilawatan

Ram Gopal Varma has signed Vidya Balan’s cousin Priyamani to play one of the female leads in his forthcoming film Rakta Charitra, starring Vivek Oberoi and Surya (the actor who did the original Ghajini).

Priyamani will play Surya’s love interest. A source says, “Priyamani is a talented actress and Varma was mighty impressed after seeing some of the South films which she has done.”

Ramu took the final decision of casting her when he saw Paruthaveeran, for which Priyamani won a National Award. Confirming the news, Varma said, “Yes, Priyamani is doing Rakta Charitra.”