Big B and Rajini working together?

Apparently Amitabh Bachchan and Rajini will get together for Puri Jagannath’s next

The Big B is possibly getting himself a very popular costar!

The biggest news that is doing the rounds nowadays is the Big B teaming with South India’s revered superstar Rajinikanth.

The true veterans of Indian cinema have apparently been approached by filmmaker Puri Jagannath for an ambitious, untitled project. It is also believed that Puri is currently in Chennai to discuss the story with Rajini.

An insider revealed that Rajini Sir was very excited by the idea of sharing the screen space with Amitabh and at the same time also felt that Puri had the capability of taking on such a challenging task of putting together a good story with memorable characters that would do justice to their presence.
Puri who previously worked with the Big B in ‘Buddah Hoga Tera Baap’ confirmed the news and said that it was his dream to work with Rajinikanth just as much as his dream to cast the Big in his movie, and that getting both of them together was nothing short of an overwhelming achievement for him.

Rajini and Amitabh previously starred together 21 years ago in ‘Hum.’ The movie went on to become a huge hit so we are expecting director Puri Jagannath to face a lot of pressure to make his movie a treat for die-hard fans of the legends.

Read more...

Mallika’s Extra Dimension

Get ready to be entertained by Mallika’s special 3D presence!

Mallika reaches a milestone in Hollywood

Mallika Sherawat may be known for her item songs and vamp roles in films but soon she will be recognized as the first B’wood actress to feature in a 3D magazine for Hollywood.

The 35-year-old siren gushed about her experience to the media. She said she was approached as the best face to represent India as she had gained some high-profile attention after meeting US President Barrack Obama and also attending the Oscars. The actress expressed that she believed 3D had great appeal for the young people and she was especially proud to grace the cover of the magazine as the 3D magic was being developed by Indian men.

In a playful mood, Mallika also added that the magazine came with 3D glasses to ensure the readers really felt they were seeing her close enough; like she was with them as they were reading!Now if we were parents of teenage boys we would take Mallika’s admission as a threat and ensure that the magazine was kept as far away from them so that they wouldn’t get distracted!

Read more...

Deepika's upcoming break-up

Sid and Deepika are apparently headed for splitsville

Sid and Deepy may be calling it quits!

Gossipmongers are excitedly discussing the state of working affairs between the exes Deepika and Ranbir, who are going to star in a romantic movie together.

But while we may get to see the much talked about relationship of the exes in the spotlight - at least while they are working together, another one of Deepy's relationships seems to be slowly coming to a sorry end. The sad couple we are speaking about is none other than Deepika and her billionaire boyfriend Sidhartha Mallya.

Insiders say that there are many reasons to believe that the gorgeous couple has grown weary of each other. Apparently, Sid didn’t show up in Deepika’s apartment on her birthday earlier this month. Sid’s grand New Year bash also didn’t include Deepika among the guests. Both the events seemed strange for a couple who has often shown keen interest in getting their intimate moments photographed by the media.

A source revealed to a tabloid that since August 2010 although the couple made several public appearances together they seemed withdrawn and uninterested in talking about their relationship. The source also added that the couple’s relationship turned sour when Deepika agreed to do a film with her ex-boyfriend Ranbir. Sid continually expressed his disapproval but Dippy paid him no attention. That Deepika and Sid had since then stopped talking with each other was also revealed by the same source. A friend of the 26-year-old actress confirmed the news and said that although Deepika was distraught about the rifts in the relationship she was trying to stay strong and hope for the best.

Now, we know when Deepika broke up with her alleged ‘boyfriends’ Dhoni and Yuvraj she found Ranbir and when it was over with Ranbir she found Sid now we are really interested to know what happens next or shall we say in this ‘Break-up Ke Baad!’

Read more...

Why Saif made Kareena do Mujra?

In today's time when hot item numbers are in great demand and add sparkle to films, Saif Ali Khan is treading a different route with his upcoming film AGENT VINOD. Saif is reiterating the magic of 'Mujra' in this film, which seemed to have vanished from Hindi cinema. Saif's beloved and co-star Kareena Kapoor will be seen doing her first Mujra song in the Sriram Raghavan directed film.

	view SUAVE SAIF ALI KHAN LAUNCHES AGENT VINOD TRAILER picture gallery

When we probed the actor-cum-producer about the idea behind having 'Mujra', Saif unequivocally said, ''We haven't seen a classic Mujra happening on-screen for a long time. We had enough discussions over it - like should we do an item? Should we get another big star and do a hot number? As most Hindi films have hot songs. Hot in terms of outfits and the presentation of the camera. And finally we thought we would go slightly different and make it interesting in terms of expressions and music.''

Not just Saif even his business partner at Illuminati Films, Dinesh Vijyan wanted to have a Mujra than a raunchy item number in the film.


Saif divulges, ''Even Dinesh was also pushing for Mujra rather than a raunchy kind of nightclub song.''

He further asserts, ''In AGENT VINOD raunchy night club song is there in the background and that's happening most of the time. We needed to make our item little more different.''

AGENT VINOD commences his mission on 23rd March 2012.

Read more...

Ajay & Tusshar are 2012's 'Singhs'

Playing a Sardar in a Bollywood film is definitely the 'in' thing. Akshay Kumarstarted it all, Saif Ali Khan joined in as well, Salman Khan played one in HEROES and Ranbir Kapoor in ROCKET SINGH. Going by the current fad, Ajay Devgn is all set to play a sardar in his upcoming film SON OF SARDAR. Not only Devgn, but the most unsuspecting Tusshar Kapoor is also happy to wear a pagdi in his next release - CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI.

''Yes, of late quite a few B-town folks are playing a Sikh protagonist'', says a filmmaker, ''Earlier it was pretty much the territory of the likes of Dharmendra andSunny Deol who were rightly known as the 'sons of soil'. Other senior actors likeAmitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt too have experimented by playing a Sardar. However in recent times it is Akshay Kumar who started the trend with SINGH IS KINNG and now other actors are hopping on to the bandwagon as well.''

	TUSSHAR KAPOOR and AJAY DEVGN

It seems that Ajay will be well-liked by the audience in a sardar look. ''Ajay is playing the central protagonist in SON OF SARDAR and has already shot for it in Punjab. He had earlier played a Sikh protagonist in THE LEGEND OF BHAGAT SINGH but it was a relatively serious affair. SON OF SARDAR has been designed as a full-on-entertainer though and Ajay has gone an extra mile to get the nuances of a Sikh character right'', says a source from the production team.

On the other hand CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI would see Tusshar Kapoor as a sardar for a major segment of the film. An out and out comic affair, the film is directed by Samir Karnik who hit gold with his full-on Punjabi drama in YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA. Though he doesn't have Deols on his side this time around, the filmmaker is hoping that 'being Punjabi' would reap benefits for him yet again for his latest outing.

Tusshar says, ''The film has a North Indian backdrop to it and I had fun playing this character here. Personally for me comedy has always worked and Samir has made sure that this one is a full-on masala out and out romantic comedy. CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI is totally my genre and honestly, this film is the best thing that could have happened to me in the recent times.''

A couple of years ago it was Saif Ali Khan who turned sardar for one of the two characters that he played in LOVE AAJ KAL. It was a serious character but Arshad Warsi got into a comical zone when he portrayed a sardar character in DOUBLE DHAMAAL. This year though it would be the turn of Ajay Devgn and Tusshar Kapoor to get into the Sikh zone.

Read more...

Genelia: Kareena was very innocent

Kareena Kapoor's portrayal of a slapdash, chulbuli Geet in JAB WE MET has made a special mark in people's hearts and it will be remembered for years to come. So any actress who even relatively tries to play a character on those lines, comparisons are bound to happen. Genelia D'Souza's bindass & bubbly character in upcoming film TERE NAAL LOVE HO GAYA is being widely compared with Kareena's character in JAB WE MET.

	GENELIA DSOUZA and KAREENA KAPOOR

However, Genelia asserts the two characters are as different as chalk and cheese. There's hardly any similarity between the two.

Genelia rebuffs, "Kareena was very innocent in JAB WE MET. Kareena's characterGeet was a girl who did things out of her innocence. Whereas Mini, the character that I play in the film, is adventurous and brat. She wants to do quirky things and she knows about it irrespective of the consequences. She is extremely bubbly and enjoys the flair of life. But both the films have a similar backdrop."


While talking about her role in the film Genelia also points out that very few characters are etched out on women.

"Very rarely you get full-blown characters for girls. There's a very rare chance you'll get a character which will be remembered for a long time, provided the film works," says Genelia on a parting note.

Read more...

The really dirty picture: A look at the world of B, C-grade films

HitList offers a delicious bite into the fascinating world of B, C, D and E-Grade films of Bollywood

While Neha Dhupia's famous quote 'sex and SRK sells in Bollywood' holds true for A-Grade-films, there is a blooming parallel industry of B, C, D and E-Grade films that can easily do without any Khan. All they need is a heavy dose of 'erotica and cheap thrills' to get the desired eyeballs.

We chat up with a cross section of people a B-Grade-films-enthusiast Aseem Chandaver, the director of Miss Lovely (which pays tribute to C-Grade films) Ashim Ahluwalia, the king of B-Grade-films Kanti Shah, to find out the ABCs of the industry and what makes it such a cult.

What is a B-Grade film?
A B-movie is generally defined as a low budget film that is definitely not art house or pornographic.

Ahluwalia, who has spent 10 years researching on this industry says, "It's actually a meaningless term. In its original usage in 1950s America, the term specifically described a film intended for distribution as the unknown; bottom half of a double feature, often in drive-in cinemas.

It doesn't mean anything in India except it is often a raunchy film without major stars, although Dharam-ji has appeared in many." According to Chandaver, the evolution of B-Grade films started in 1987 with a film called Raat Ke Andhere Main.

Is B = Sleaze?
The popular notion is that B films are all about sex and sleaze. "They don't follow any rules, " says Ahluwalia. Chandaver who boasts of a collection of 400 titles says, "The directors express their wildest fantasies through these films. In the 80s there wasn't much nudity in B movies except for films like Pyaasa Shaitan."


Poster of Sheila Ki Jawani

The ABC of B-Grade films
These films range from B, C, D to E grade. What separates a D grade film from B and C is bad production and very bad actors.

In D grade films if there is shortage of actors they cast their spot boys as well. There are also various genres in these films horror, daku, junglee, Tarzan, erotica, naag and action.

"The horror genre inspired by the Ramsays is unfortunately dying." Ashim confesses, "C-Grade films are more honest and are characterised by violent, gory, and mostly sexual content and a minimum of artistic interest. They are not even trying to mimic A-Grade films and often have something unintentionally interesting going on."

The cult fan following
These films might be targeted at 'the jhuggi jhopri crowd', but has also managed to attract some cinephiles. Ahluwalia says, "Most people find them funny because they can be accidentally quite hilarious, " and adds, "The target audience are the people who find Aamir Khan or Amitabh Bachchan boring and would rather see a Chudail rip someone's head off or have an erotic shower."

The Baaps of B films
The founding father of B grade films are Vinod Talwar, Mohan Bhakri and D films are Raj Kumar Kohli, Joginder and K Bapaiya. "The Khooni Dracula director-producer Harinam Singh is hailed as the God of D-Grade films.

He defies every rule in the book, " says Chandaver. Suresh Jain is the uncrowned king of erotica. He made a series of films titled Doodhwali, Machhiwali, Maalishwali, Kelewali, etc. Kanti Shah is one of the most notable names

The superstars
Chandaver says, "My all time favorite was Joginder Shelley who passed away in 2009. Ahluwalia says, "The actors I like from C grade films are mostly from the 1980s. Sapna, Poonam Das Gupta, Jyoti Rana, Sheetal, J Neelam and Joginder are all terrific. My favourite performance is Harinam Singh in/ as Shaitani Dracula."

Bumps ahead
Producer of Sheila Ki Jawani Kanti Shah says that the industry is going through a rough patch due to the rise in multiplexes and the single screens shutting down.

"My next, a horror film will release in a multiplex. The budget will be thtice of my other films, " he adds saying, "Also now all the films are releasing on YouTube or digital media." Shah says, "Nearly 100 films release annually and the average budget of a B film is around 40 lakh. Their DVDs come at a cost of anything between Rs 25 to 99."

As a rule these movies make profit. Shah says, "Most movies make double the amount invested."

Read more...

Popular Celebrity Spouses

It won't be wrong to call tinsel-town the Mecca of popularity. Being spouse of a silver-screen celebrity, entitles one for the status as well. Let's have a look at some celeb spouses who, inspite of not being an actor, enjoy a parallel status in popularity. 1. Avantika Malik Nobody was aware of the name of Avantika Malik till the lady tied wedding knot with Imran Khan. Since the pious sacrament between the two, Avantika seems to be enjoying the star status with hubby Imran at all events. 2. Raj Kundra This British born Asian, a college dropout entrepreneur gained popularity for his relationship with Bollywood diva Shilpa Shetty. Now Raj is amongst some of the most popular celeb spouses to be seen on page 3 events. 3. Suzanne Khan Roshan The envy of many young women Suzanne is another celebrity spouse who was an unknown name for the cine fans. The pretty lady fetched huge stardom because of hubby Hrithik during the early days of their relationship, but now the lady herself is an iconic name in the industry. 4. Gauri Khan Forgetting the Begum of Badshah Khan of bollywood in this league will be a sheer injustice with the lady luck of Shah Rukh Khan. Gauri is another famous celeb spouse with a celeb status at par with SRK. 5. Manyata Dutt When this fair skinned diva made her debut in Bollywood with an item number in Gangajal, nobody even bothered to notice her. But as soon as Manyataa got Dutt suffixed with her name, the lady started grabbing the paparazzi attention. 6. Sanjay Kapur Sanjay Kapur hit the limelight when he wedded Karisma Kapoor in 2003. The journey to stardom for this Delhi based businessman took off from there only. His appearance on any of the public gathering, be it with Lolo or without her, started making headlines of the tabloids. 7. Shri Ram Nene Beating millions of fans of 'dhak dhak girl' Madhuri Dixit Dr.Sriram Nene, the cardiovascular surgeon from Denver, emerged as another non celeb name who had all the popularity flashes focused on him when Madhuri announced him as her soul mate.

Read more...

Veena's item number deleted for Anna!

Pakistani actress's song 'Channo' in ‘Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai' was removed from the special screening held for Hazare

Veena Malik's item number Channo in Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai was deleted from the screening held for Anna Hazare.

The film, which takes on corruption, had its cast which included Akshaye Khanna and Mugdha Godse attend the screening at his village Ralegan Siddhi.

The item number has the starlet doing her act during election time to gather more votes for a political party. Now wonder what Anna would have to say to this!

Read more...

Demystified - SRK and Priyanka's Special 'Friendship'

He calls her his 3 am friend, while she turns red even at the mention of his name.

Few actors have shared the camaraderie Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra do, but it's not a bond that hasn't burnt some bridges along the way.

May 2000
Twelve years ago, when Shah Rukh Khan crowned Priyanka as Miss India, little did they know that their names would be spelt together, more often than they could have expected. He was her lucky charm, she had said back then.

Mid-2004
It was a time when apna Miss World was facing enough trouble from her then-secretary Prakash Jaju who sued her for non- payment of dues. The first time she sought help from Shah Rukh who ensured things would get better and encouraged her to concentrate on her career. She even accompanied him on the Temptations tour back then.

August 2006
After six years, the lady landed a role beside her favourite Bollywood star in Farhan Akhtar's Don. Thanks to his allure and her acting abilities, both would often fall short of words of praise for each other. Priyanka said, "I still cannot believe I'm working with King Khan!" To which he responded, "She's beautiful and the best actress we have today."

November 2008
This was the year PC apparently found love with Shahid Kapoor while shooting for Kaminey (after breaking up with Harman Baweja of course. Remember him?) The relationship seemed fickle, yet feisty. Not to mention, it was one that good friend SRK approved of. The couple was seen spending time at Khan's Bandra residence many times since then.

January 2009
By now Chopra's love life was even more unpredictable than the Mumbai weather. Stories about trouble in the PC-Sasha paradise started doing the rounds every few months. The only constant was her affection for SRK. (By this time she had fallen out with Salman. She and Aamir on the other hand have never worked together).

October 2010
Don and his junglee billi were reunited as they began shooting for the Don sequel in Berlin. Apparently PC just couldn't stop blushing after SRK complimented her at a press conference saying, "Priyanka looked prettier than Berlin." Sweet!

December 2010
In the season's hottest episode of Karan Johar's Koffee with Karan, PC gushed like a teenager when KJo mentioned how close she was to SRK. All poor Sasha could do was provide background score. However we hear that Gauri wasn't too happy with it.

January 2011
In a surprise twist in the tale this time, it's SRK who went out of the way to announce his fondness for her. At the Screen Awards co-hosted by Khan and Kapoor, SRK asked Shahid, "Is Priyanka your sister?" Ouch!

February 2011
Shahid was well out of her life, and she needed a friend more than ever. PC promoted both her films 7 Khoon Maaf and Don 2 with SRK who was hosting the show Zor Ka Jhatka. He went down on his knees for her and the cameras. "If he was one of the seven husbands in the film, I'd never kill him, " she said.

September 2011
By now their alleged closeness was too serious to be brushed off as a promotional gimmick for Don 2. Every time the media mentioned their 'relationship', she'd get defensive, while he took it lightly. This is when wife Gauri decided to throw an Eid bash.

Priyanka was invited, but apparently ignored. Buzz was that Gauri's friend Mehr Jesia walked up to SRK and confronted him about why Priyanka was part of the party. SRK jumped to came to PC's defense saying she is a friend like most others.

October 2011
They appeared on friend Hrithik Roshan's reality show Just Dance and spent more than quality time together.

November 2011
Buzz was that by now Gauri and SRKs close friends had started smelling the coffee. Most of them empathised with Mrs Khan. A close friend was quoted in a magazine saying, "Priyanka is at every party that Shah Rukh throws. She's always hovering around him. Of course, Gauri is upset."

December 2011
Best friends Hrithik Roshan and Arjun Rampal walked out of Dabboo Ratnani's calendar launch the minute SRK entered. A few days ago Priyanka was spotted in his office late in the night.

January 2012
Over the weekend, SRK and his new best friend hosted an awards function together in Macau.

Excerpts from an interview that SRK and PC gave to HitList in November 2011... 

You both have never masked your admiration for each other. In all these years how has the equation changed?
PC: Ever since I remember, I've wanted to grow up and be like him. Perhaps like a female version. He has always been associated with the most important aspects of my life ever since he crowned me Miss World. So he has been instrumental in honing me in a lot of ways.

SRK: Personally, I am quite uncomfortable around actors. I get very conscious. But she makes me feel comfortable. She'll fix my hair if it's out of place. It's nice working with a friend like that. Also she has realised that I am as insecure as anyone else.

In the last three months much has been written about your growing 'friendship'. It seems like a perfect publicity build-up to the film (Don 2).
SRK: As an actor when you put in long hours of work, and then you have someone who you really love or feel for to share that space, you feel fortunate. What's unfortunate is when people give it a name or a tag.

Sometimes friendships or relationships are beyond what people say. So when things out of the ordinary are said, it's not embarrassing to us at least, because we know what it really is.

So why do they say you don't make friends in Bollywood?
SRK: That's a generic line. F*** off if people say so. I'm happy she's around. I can take the advantage of calling her and asking her to do a three-day shoot for me, where all she's doing is hanging from a rope. And she does it for me. She shoots on her birthday.

It may be beyond professionalism, but that's what friends do. The process of work becomes beautiful when you share that kind of relationship. I read what's written, think about it, but it won't come in the way of what we feel for each other.

Read more...