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

Akshay Kumar is ready to bring us some more laughs in his next starrer Thank You and now the buzz is none other than Vidya Balan is set to make a cameo as Akki’s wifey! The actress will appear in a few flashback scenes and we bet fans are excited to hear this little piece of news!

Thank You stars plenty of A-listers, including Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Irrfan Khan, Suniel Shetty and Celina Jaitley. The romantic comedy tells the story of a young tennis player, played by Sonam, who falls in love with a playboy, portrayed by Akshay. Bobby, Irrfan, and Suniel are all hardworking men who head off for work each morning. However, Bobby is often distracted by pretty women! By night these three men are ready to take on the town at the hottest parties.
Things get messy as all these men are married! As the wives are clueless the boys get in no trouble – that is until Akshay Kumar steps into town. He charms all the ladies and soon exposes the men and ruin their lives. This movie’s trailer is packed with laughs, drama, music, and fun so we can only imagine what Thank You has in store for its full release on April 8. Are you excited about Vidya’s cameo?

By Jilawatan

Anees Bazmee is super busy shooting his next comedy Thank You starring Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Suniel Shetty, Celina Jaitly and Sonam Kapoor. The crew shot extensively in Canada recently. As expected, it’ll be a comic film from Bazmee.

Buzz up!
If the aforementioned star cast wasn’t enough, director Anees Bazmee has now decided to add one more star to this already star studded film. Our sources reported that Vidya Balan recently shot for the film in Mumbai. Vidya however will be seen only in a cameo role as Akshay Kumar’s wife in Thank You. When we spoke to Anees Bazmee, he refused to comment on this.

With so much star power, Thank You definitely is one film to look forward to.

By Jilawatan

When everything from her love life to her fashion sensibilities were dissected, one thing that no one could point their fingers at was Vidya Balan’s acting abilities. Considered by almost every film-maker as one of Bollywood’s finer actors, Vidya has only let her work do the talking.

The last two years of her acting career have been phenomenal as she has swept every award for her performances in films like Paa, in which she played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother and Ishqiya, where she was a conniving seductress.

“I feel humbled and thrilled at the same time. The last two years only validated my belief that good films always work and that I should only choose films with good scripts. I have got a good response in out-and-out commercial films as well as different cinema. I’m not pigeon-holing myself into any typecast. I choose exciting work. I’m too greedy to just work in off-beat movies and let go of commercial films,” says Vidya.

Talking about if she experienced the same kind of alienation that the late model Viveka Babajee was reported to have faced, she says, “It is hard to cope up with constant criticism. Those days whenever I used to open the papers it was like Vidya Balan’s name had to be there either for her personal life or for her fashion sense. But no one could say anything bad about my acting. That is where I drew my courage from and concentrated to channelize my attention,” she says.

Vidya adds, “Like modeling, even in acting it is very easy to fall prey to depression. But I believe nothing is worth giving up life for. I’m a heavily optimistic person and I would tell one and all to believe that there are rays of light after darkness.”

The actor says she is more at peace with herself by accepting how she looks and dresses up. “I think I was trying to be someone else and trying to fit into a mould which people were not accepting. I’m grateful to those criticisms about my weight, dressing sense because I realized that I was trying to forcefully do something. I realized I just have to be myself,” she says.

When asked if she has done something different as her recent photoshoots have her going glam, she adds, “It’s the same Vidya but in a happier and fearless space,” she ends.

By Jilawatan

Don’t know if you’ve noticed but Vidya Balan, who’s making a big comeback to Bollywood with Paa this week, is suddenly one of the nattiest dressers in tinsel town. And, just by repeating stylish variations of the same Indian garment once popularised by Madhubala as Anarkali in Mughal-e-Azam.

Vidya, who was notoriously considered Bollywood’s worst fashionista after her disastrous wardrobe in Heyy Babyy, has glamorously reinvented herself. And, by choosing to wear the Anarkali-styled salwar-kameez in different avatars, the actress has inadvertently become a trendsetter of sorts.

Several Bollywood divas have been spotted wearing the Mughal-e-Azam look after Vidya. Aishwarya Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor carry it off well, and so do Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra, Rani Mukerji and Sonam Kapoor. Even some telly stars are seen in the long flowy garment these days.

Vidya refused to take credit for this new fashion trend and said, “I’m flattered. It feels good to know that women are liking it.” She has always preferred ethnic wear to western. “Though the Anarkali covers you from head to toe, it’s still very sensous… like the saree,” said Vidya who has an Anarkali in almost every colour and style. “I might have brought it back in vogue,” she reluctantly accepted, “but Indian women have always been wearing one.”