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This blue-eyed boy of the Bhatt camp first made his mark with Vikram Bhatt’s Footpath. However, it was his next release Murder which not only catapulted him to the big league but also earned him the infamous tag of Bollywood’s ’serial-kisser’. Post that, one big hit followed after the other. Be it Gangster, Aksar or Aashiq Banaya Aapne. Yes, we are talking about the Good Boy who loves playing Bad Boy on screen- the one and only Emraan Hashmi.

Bollywood Hungama brings you a chance to chat with the super cool Emraan as he talks about his latest release Jannat. So what are you waiting for? Book your appointment with Emraan on Saturday, May 17 at 1600 hrs IST.

The battle of the Blogs has just intensified; what with the Taare Zameen Par self-crowned genius and the universally acknowledged clutter-breaker, Aamir Khan proclaiming that he has a dog named Shah Rukh Khan.

The shocking display of insolent humor has sent shock waves in the otherwise-insulated and unconcerned film industry. Says a very popular character-actor who has worked with both the actors, “I guess the freedom provided by a blog tends to loosen tongues. Amitji has never been known to be as undiplomatic as he’s on his blog. Aamir must have thought it’s time to increase the odds, what if Amitji’s blog gets more eyeballs! Also, his nephew’s film is around the corner. During the release of Taare Zameen Par, Aamir created a controversy by taking on Amitji and Black. Now for the nephew it’s Shah Rukh being called a dog. All I can say is life’s a bitch.”

Shah Rukh remains characteristically unfazed and humorous in the face of his colleague’s uncharitable and tasteless remarks. When this writer expressed shock and indignation at Aamir’s remarks, SRK responded, “Earlier on, people used to name their children after famous people. Somebody naming a dog after a known person is a new beginning in that direction. I don’t have a copyright over this name if used non-commercially.” But a close friend of SRK on promise of anonymity reacted far more aggressively. “Aamir’s megalomania has been brewing for a while. Earlier he declared himself No.1 as compared with SRK who took it smilingly. Now Aamir is down to street-level provocation. You know those neighbors who try to get your attention by breaking your windows, letting their dogs crap on your lawn or just dirtying your car. It’s best for Shah Rukh to ignore these efforts to get his attention.”

He is Bollywood’s one and only ubber cool dude whose effortless acting can be seen in his hazel eyes, which also paves the way not just to his fans but also to every award function! He is one man in today’s Bollywood who epitomizes dignity and grace that’s sprinkled with attitude and style! And…guess what! Today is his Birthday! So, simply put down your wishes to the Man of Every Reason and also Every Season!

We all know that you must by ‘dying’ to know about this ‘Birthday’ boy! He is none other than Shiney Ahuja, the eternally Shining man, who has to his credit, sharing his birthday with the Diva of Bollywood, Madhuri Dixit! Well, considering both their birthdates, one is simply forced to believe in the adage that ‘It’s never a coincidence that Great Legends are born on the same day, as they are born only to be a Legend!’

Over to you readers …simply pour your hearts out by posting your B-Day wishes for Shiney.

In today’s cut-throat world, you have to have gleaming degrees like MBBS, B-Tech to match up to the ever-heating competition. But the degree that takes the cake is ‘M.D.’, which is undisputedly the ‘baap’ of all the degrees.

Bollywood also follows the same rule. The only difference is that, here, ‘MD’ is considered as the ‘Maa’ of all the names, for the fact that it belongs Madhuri Dixit, the name that spells Class, Grace, Élan, Style, Poise, Glamour, Magic, Romance…in short, the A-Z of Bollywood!

Today is the Birthday of the biggest Diva that Bollywood has ever produced. Right from her debut in Abodh till Tezaab, Dil to her latest release Aaja Nachle, her fan base has been growing so wide that it can give any Solar Constellation the hugest inferiority complex that anyone can ever get!

So, what are you waiting for? Write your wishes to Madame’ Dixit, for you never know what luck has in store for you! Go ahead…Aaja Likh Le!

Dear Readers, Kya aapko Woh Lamhe yaad hai jab Aawarapan karte karte Dhoom Dhadaka hua?

Well, before you conclude something about anything, let us tell you that there is nothing in the abovementioned statement except for the fact that all of these highlighted names are the movie names in which one can get to see Shaad Randhawa, the futuristic face of Bollywood.

There’s no denying the fact, that even though his role was comparatively small in Woh Lamhe, he made such an impact in the viewer’s mind that whenever there’s a mention about the film, his name immediately buoys up in every mind. This was justified by him bagging the Stardust’s Best New Menace Award.

This nephew of yester-year’s star actress Mumtaaz, is all set to give the top stars a run for their money with his histrionics in his forthcoming venture Dhoom Dadakka. So, here’s your once-in-a-lifetime chance of speaking your heart out to Shaad Randhawa, only on Bollywood Hungama on Friday, May 16 at 1500 hrs IST.

A lot is happening on the world cinema and Hollywood front at Cannes 2008, but a few quick pointers on what Day 1 held for the Indian film community specifically:

The market was largely sluggish but many expect the second day to witness a pick-up in the business.
Santosh Sivan’s Tahan featuring Rahul Bose and Rahul Khanna among others, and Jag Mundhra’s Shoot On Sight with Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri were screened at the market.
The big boys exhibiting this year are UTV, Eros, Indian Films-Studio 18, and new player, Reliance ADAG. Shemaroo is around as well promoting their animation feature, Ghatothkach.

Eros’ front-running products on display include Sunday,
Sarkar Raj,
U Me Aur Hum,
Bhoothnath and
Om Shanti Om, among others, while UTV’s Cannes advertising stresses on Taare Zameen Par,
Race and
Jodhaa Akbar. Indian Films-Studio 18 are promoting
Jab We Met,
Welcome,
Singh Is Kinng,
Kidnap and
Golmaal Returns, to name a few.
From the teaser poster of Singh Is Kinng presently doing the rounds on the net (featuring a clean-shaven turbaned Akshay Kumar), Indian Films-Studio 18 unveiled an attractive creative of the Vipul Shah-produced film, featuring a bearded macho-looking Akshay holding Katrina, clad in a dazzling skin-hugging orange gown.
Dev Anand’s 1960’s classic Guide is set to glow at the Festival’s Classic section, and the legend is likely to visit the palm-lined town of South France to celebrate the occasion
From the Asian markets, India and China, in this order, have the largest presence at Cannes 2008. India and China are followed by Japan and Korea.

(Media and international business expert, Tanuj Garg, will do an honorary Cannes 2008 diary for Bollywood Hungama. This will feature periodic updates on the mood and the action on The Croisette over the next fortnight. Tanuj is currently Marketing & Distribution Head for the UK & Europe at Studio 18)

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One minute this way or that way it could’ve proved fatal for the young talented Neil Nitin Mukesh. “Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to move out of the way just in time before the calamity struck,” shudders Neil at the thought of the near-disaster that struck him last week when he wasn’t looking while shooting a dangerous stunt on the roads of Andheri with action director Shyam Kaushal for Jehangir Surti’s Freeze.

Neil plays a photographer on a mission. Recalling the incident in some detail, Neil says, “It was a carefully planned chase sequence on a highway. I was in an auto rickshaw and I was being chased by a skidding car. It was supposed to swerve to the right while my auto was supposed to go the other way. Instead, both the vehicles turned in the same direction.”

To the shock of the entire crew the speeding car hit Neil’s auto rickshaw. “If I didn’t have the quick reflexes and presence of mind to jump out just in time, anything could’ve happened,” Neil shudders.

The incident recalls what transpired in Nasik three years ago during the shooting of Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Khakee when a car lost balance and struck Aishwarya. Says Neil, “These things happen. Not because of careless planning. No amount of calculation and planning can immune you against a miscalculation during a stunt. I’m game for it. Because I’ve lots of stunts in Freeze and also in Kabir Khan’s film for Yashraj films. But after what happened last week, I intend to take precautions.”

Neil has decided to provide walkie-talkies and uniforms for all his staff. “That’s to make them more easily identifiable and accessible when I’m shooting. That day when I was hit, I looked around for my own staff in the chaos. I couldn’t find a single person although they were all right there in the crowd. I confess, I panicked more because I felt isolated at the time of the crisis.”

Neil’s faithful staff will now be easily accessible to him. “I’ll carry a walkie-talkie at all times. Making my staff walkie-savvy and putting them in a uniform is not a form of self-glorification for me. It’s a way of joining hands with my own people in a crowd. We all wore a uniform in school for no other reason except that feeling of oneness. These are people who have been with my family for years and treat me like their son. Our driver insists on driving me home and then going home to the other end of the town no matter what time it is.”

Even before Jannat has arrived on the screen, a section of media has already started speculating about it’s Hollywood source. Traditionally, films coming from the house of Vishesh Films have always sought inspiration from West (or East) due to which Jannat too is not being spared. There have been murmurs about the film being an alleged rehash of Hollywood flick Two For The Money (2005) that starred Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey.

Reacts Emraan Hashmi with a shocked expression, “Which is this movie Two For The Money’ Isn’t it the film about a bookie and his mentor and the conflicts they face in the course of their business? Sorry to disappoint those who believe they have managed to crack the code but by no means is Jannat remotely similar to Two For The Money.”

Settling down from the initial shock, Emraan goes on to explain, “Jannat deals with a different aspect altogether. Time and again we have tried to tell through the promotion of our film that Jannat is not just about bookies and betting. This is a story about a young couple where the guy is a go getter and wants to give his girl everything that she desires. For that he is even willing to do through an illegal route.”

Explaining the psyche of the character he plays, he defends, “This guy feels that when everyone out there in the world of cricket, whether he is an entrepreneur, media baron or a product launcher is going and making money with the help of the sport, why shouldn’t a bookie too have his share of pie.”

“He has his own way of reasoning too”, jokes Emraan, “He feels that when a government can get away after ‘hera-pheri’ of millions in the arms deals, then what’s the harm in a little bit of cheating in something as harmless as the game of cricket. Of course, the girl doesn’t feel the same way since she is happy living a simple life. In the end, the guy has to decide whether money actually means everything in life or there is something more that he needs to find his ‘jannat’.”

Kunal Deshmukh, director of Jannat, is more relaxed though in his defense for the film, “Nahi nahi, Jannat and Two For The Money are not connected in any means. In any case, I didn’t want to copy a film at all. I didn’t want to start off as a filmmaker who looked at lifting screenplays from other films. I guess I have enough potential to make a film of my own and don’t have to resort to being a DVD filmmaker.”

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After endorsing stylish brands like Maybelline, Levis Strauss and Tissot SA, Deepika Padukone has gone one step ahead by becoming the new face of Dubai’s Aspire Real Estate.

The chairman of the company, Harshit Kantaria, who has come a long way since he came to Dubai three years ago with a vision to make it big in real estate enterprise today is proud owner of Dhs5.5 bn portfolio with developments from Business Bay to Jumeirah Village and Dubai Marina, and special focus on waterfront properties as well.

Aspire Real Estate being referred as a rising star in real estate enterprise in Dubai feels proud to have Deepika Padukone as a brand ambassador because of her image as a true rising star of Bollywood, claimed the chairman Kantaria.
Thus, Union of ‘Rising Stars’ is the name given by the company to the association.

Milan Luthria has been given an unenviable task by his producer Ekta Kapoor. He has to make a gangster film with Sanjay Dutt which would be completely different from anything done so far in Hindi films.

Considering the underworld cinema has been done to bludgeoning death by every director from Mahesh Bhatt to Ram Gopal Varma, and considering Dutt has played a gangster in at least three dozen prominent and inconspicuous films, Luthria is at his wit’s end as to how he should approach the age-old theme of gangsterism.

“I’ve been focusing on the getting the writing right. It’s not easy to make a film that looks at the era and still manages to tell a powerful story. To compound my problems, there’s hardly any material on the underworld in the 1980s. That in a way is a blessing because it gives a free reign to the imagination.”

The director of Kachche Dhaage and Taxi No 9211 is trying to get the fundas right for this project. “My film for Ekta Kapoor will take a penetrating look at gangsterism in the 1980s. I’m quite enamoured by the period, quite taken up by the period and its flamboyance. There was a lot action and lots of inner life in some of the films from during that period. I think the last film that looked at gangsterism from inside was Anurag Basu’s Gangster.”

“Earlier when I was assisting Mahesh Bhatt he did some interesting takes on gangsterism like Saathi and Sir. The challenge is to have a fresh take at the whole era. I’ve to take the whole period into account and yet it can’t be a rambling look at the era. It has to have a strong story to tell. It has to be a clutter-breaking gangster film.”