Awards Follow Rewards for Dabanng

Chulbul Pandey aka Salmak Khan’s Dabanng took the country by a bang. It stood out to be the second biggest grosser of the year 2010 and stands third on the all time list as far as collections are concerned.

Now that all the rewards have been reaped, its time for the awards season now. At the first awards ceremony of this season “Big Star Entertainment Awards” held in Mumbai yesterday, the film walked away with five fearless awards.

The following are the categories-

Best Actor – Salman Khan

Best Director – Abhinav Singh Kashyap

Best Entertaining Song – Munni Badnaam Hui

Best Male Singer – Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Tere Mast Mast Do Nain) and

Best Film.

Well, that’s a start!  With no huge competition this year from any other star, Salman seems to have one hand on the beautiful statuette of the Filmfare already.

P.S. The awards function is going to be aired on the New Year’s Eve.

Has Aamir Spotted Something That Salman Hasn’t?

It is a well known fact that when it comes to choosing the right script-no one in the industry can beat Aamir Khan. His track record is enough to justify this statement.

So, recently film maker Reema Katgi, the director of Honeymoon travels Pvt. Ltd. approached Salman with a script about paranormal activities. Salman felt that the story was way too complex and showed the least bit of interest in the idea and declined the script.

Guess what! Reema took the same script to Aamir who was quick to say a yes to the thriller. Looks like Salman was unable to spot something that Aamir very easily could. Just goes to show the difference between their success rates.

This untitled project is being produced by Farhan Akhtar who also produced Reema’s first film with his friend Ritesh Sidhwani.

Farah’s Next With Salman?

The latest buzz in the corridors of Bollywood is that Farah Khan’s next directorial venture is going to star our very own Sallu.

According to the buzz, the film would be a joint production by both Farah and Salman. Salman and Farah have been seen discussing a lot nowadays which adds more weight to this news.

When Farah was asked about the same, she said that the script for her next film is only half-finished and she wouldn’t want say nothing until it is complete.

Now that TMK is ready to release, Farah is going on a holiday and is only going to complete the script after she is back from her vacation.

2 with SRK, TMK with Akki and her next with Sallu. Farah is going all guns blazing at the moment!

Would SRK’s Ra.One be able to achieve what Rajni’s Robot did?

Director Shankar apparently approached SRK in mid 2007 with the project Robot. SRK was keenly looking forward to working with this genius film maker from the South and he even agreed to produce the mega budget movie under his own banner Red Chillies Entertainment.

But, something did not work out between the actor and director and Shankar came back to Chennai only to rope in the Superstar of Tamil cinema while SRK got busy with My Name is Khan and started his own sci-fi Ra.One with Anubhav Sinha.

Well, the rest is history! Robot broke all the existing BO records in Indian cinema overtaking Dabanng and 3 Idiots.

After, the astounding success that Robot achieved, SRK immediately conducted a brainstorming session with his creative team in order to shoot a particular train sequence that was more or less similar to the one in Robot.

Rumour has it that despite the scene alone costing a whopping 3 crores, SRK was prepared to re-shoot it in order to avoid any similarities between the two flicks.

King Khan is leaving no stone unturned to make Ra.One a success. He is planning an interactive gaming for kids during the movie’s screening. He has even roped in the international music composers Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight and Inception fame) to do the background score and Akon for a special song.

The movie is going to hit the theatres in November 2011 and hope it makes his superhero dream come true.

Dabanng’s Winning Combo Could Remain Unchanged?

Abhinav Singh Kashyap who delivered this year’s biggest hit of Bollywood Dabanng could be back to wield the megaphone for the sequel as well. For the past few weeks rumours were adrift that that the Khan brothers were not too happy with the price that Abhinav was quoting to direct Dabanng-2.

There were also rumours going around that either Sohail or Arbaaz would pick up the responsibility of showcasing Chulbul Pandey. But, now Arbaaz has cleared the air and has confirmed that the winning combo would remain unaltered for now.

Well, I don’t think the audiences would mind any change in the film as long as Chulbul “Robinhood” Pandey continues to entertain.

A look at Salman’s comedy flick Ready…

From the bone-crushing action of Dabangg, Salman Khan now switches to comedy for director Anees Bazmee’s next film Ready.

The movie, starring Asin opposite Khan, is produced by Bhushan Kumar and is slated to release on May 27, 2011. It’s been partly shot in Sri Lanka for which there was a lot of protest down south in Tamil Nadu. Nowadays, the film is being shot in Mumbai.

Akshay demands Rs.27 cr to play Dawood…

It seems Salman Khan isn’t the only one in Bollywood demanding pay hikes; Akshay Kumar is trying to be a better khiladi at this game. But Akki overdid it a bit recently and he may have blown his chances of playing the dreaded underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Ekta Kapoor’s sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai.

Balaji Telefilm’s head honcho, Ekta Kapoor offered Akshay to step into Emraan Hashmi’s shoes in the second part of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai.

Says a source close to the film,“Ekta wants to take the sequel of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai to the next level. She felt that Akshay would be ideal for playing Dawood Ibrahim’s role.

She likes the way Akshay acts and feels that he has a lot of potential for playing challenging roles.”

But it turns out that the actor is not doing the project despite what Ekta feels about him. Grapevine has it that Akshay asked for a whopping sum of Rs 27 crore from Balaji for his role in the film.

He was told that it would be difficult to generate profits if he was paid this large a fee.

Akshay was then asked if he would reconsider the situation and reduce his fee. It seems Balaji is still waiting for a revertal on that. After that discussion, Balaji and Akshay never arrived at a negotiation.

Rumour also has it that Akshay wanted Balaji to sell the film to a corporate, so they could incur ready profits. But so far Balaji has never involved a corporate giant in their projects, so this did not work out either.

However, all’s not lost. Akshay’s name is apparently still being considered for Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Part 2 at the Balaji office. But if Akki chooses to ride his high horse, he stands a chance of losing the film.

Agreed, it’s fashionable to make big-budget films nowadays. But if actors’ fee skyrocket at this rate, it is bound to affect the quality of cinema. That actors are consistently bleeding productions houses dry is a fact the entire industry is grappling with.

While films in Bollywood continue to lose money, will actors develop a conscience and cut down a little on their remuneration? Only time will tell. In the meantime, Akki seems to have lost out on a relatively challenging role.

Besides Ekta Kapoor, Akshay too remained unavailable for comment.

Bigg Boss brings the couple back together on one platform…

When Salman Khan is in the mood to have fun, expect a blast. The dashing star welcomed his ex girlfriend Katrina Kaif on the show Bigg Boss 4, and together the duo brought the house down.

Surprisingly, there was no awkwardness between Salman and Katrina. Dressed in a jazzy red sari, Katrina appeared on the show to promote her upcoming film Tees Maar Khan.

Salman, who’s the show’s host, teased Katrina, made her laugh, made her dance and the lady seemed to enjoy every moment of it. At one instant he posed her a tricky question that got Katrina thinking.

He asked her who is her favorite co-stars? He gave her two options: Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan.

Katrina was at a loss for a moment. Then she gave the answer.

Don’t miss the show today.. 

SRK makes a comeback on small-screen with ‘Zor Ka Jhatka’

Shah Rukh Khan is now ready to make his small screen comeback with ‘Zor Ka Jhatka’ on Imagine TV, and claims he will beat all competition on television.

“I am the badshah of bedroom. Now people may say I am being vulgar, but the kind of entertainment I provide to my viewers enjoying in their bedrooms – no one else can,” Shah Rukh, told reporters here on Friday.

Looking dapper in a black suit and a white shirt, Shah Rukh spoke at the grand launch of the show, the Indian edition of internationally popular show ‘Wipeout’.

Shah Rukh will take 28 TV stars out of their comfort zone to battle out each other in an obstacle course set in Argentina.

The participants on the show include Akashdeep Saigal, Amit Sareen, Ashima Bhalla, Bakhtiyaar Irani, Claudia Ciesla, Debina Bonnerjee, Gaurav Chopraa, Jennifer Winget, Karishma Tanna, Kushal Punjabi, Narayani Shastri, Natasha Suri, Payal Rohatgi, Priyadarshani Singh, Raja Chaudhary, Rohit Verma, Simran Kaur Mundi among others.

They will be challenged by Shah Rukh to a series of hilarious tasks.

The prize money is worth Rs 1.5 crore, including a mega cash prize for the winner of the finale.

Known for his perfect comic timing and snazzy dialogues, Shah Rukh will add spunk to the show.

“I’m looking forward to being a super funny host-commentator. In fact, my children and I have watched the international version often and really loved it. I am sure to ‘Wipeout’ all your worries and make you have loads of fun,” said Shah Rukh, who earlier hosted shows like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?’.

Sameer Nair, CEO of Turner General Entertainment Networks India Pvt Ltd, says the show will be a hit among all age groups.

“Simply put, it is an outstanding entertainer…something that the whole family can watch together. The combination of a super star host, bizarrely challenging obstacles, enthusiastic and competitive contestants and a whole lot of bloopers will make this show a must watch, night after night,” said Nair.

The shooting will begin in Argentina in January.

After verbal war, Salman-Hrithik head for another war on screen.

After a verbal duel between Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan post the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish, the two now head for another round at the box-office. Salman Khan has now opened a new front against the star.

Kites and Guzaarish having flopped big time at the box office, Hrithik is now desperately banking on Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara to resurrect his sagging career. The film will release on May 27, next year. He is going to face a tough competation as Salman-starrer Ready, directed by Anees Bazmee, will also release on the same date!
It seems, when Ready’s release date was being discussed, Sallu told producer Bhushan Kumar to finalise May 27.

Adds the source, “When someone pointed out to him that Hrithik’s movie was also out on the same date and how the star was looking forward to it after Kites and Guzaarish’s poor showing, Salman was unswayed. He’d decided on Ready’s release for May 27 and didn’t want to change it.”

Well, Sallu’s intention is clear – to destroy Hrithik’s film at box office.

Kats to appear on Big Boss 4…

Salman and Katrina have always made headlines about their on-off relationship. Though, now it is confirmed that the duo are no longer romantically linked yet, the ex flames will soon be sharing the stage on Colors’ reality show Bigg Boss 4.

The reigning item queen, Katrina is on the sets to promote her latest movie. She will be accompanied by director-choreographer and Salman’s latest best friend Farah Khan. So will this be a platform where the (ex) lovers make up or maintain dignified silence? Viewers will have to wait and watch!

Katrina aka Sheila will also enter the Bigg Boss house. The housemates who have no clue on what to expect will surely be shocked to see the new guests in the house. Ladies of the house being unaware of this are trying to put together the performance on two most hit song of this year, Dolly and Shweta will perform on ‘Munni Badnam Hui’ whereas Veena and Seema will shake their legs on ‘Sheila li Jawani’.

Both Katrina and Farah will enter the house to select the best dancer which the housemates are unaware of. But if Katrina is unhappy with performance, she will surely shake her belly and teach some quick moves to the housemates and with Farah in the house, the sojourn is surely going to be a laughter riot.

Hrithik-Suzzane’s 10th wedding anniversary bash in Goa…

Hrithik and his lovely wife Suzzane will complete ten years of their marriage on December 20. The couple is planning a grand anniversary bash in Goa but no one knows the exact location yet; that’s a big secret. All of Hrithik’s family members and friends will attend the party.

According to a source, “This will be Hrithik’s 10th wedding anniversary and he wants to have a blast. He is on an all-time high, professionally and personally. After all, he did get a lot of praise for his performance in Guzaarish. So, Suzanne and he decided to celebrate a decade of their marriage in a grand way. The invites have gone to all of Hrithik’s close friends.”

Some of the guests who are sure to attend Hrithik’s anniversary bash are Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan, Karan Johar, Kunal Kapoor, Kajal Anand, Zayed and Mallika Khan, Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor, Arjun and Mehr Rampal, Dino Morea, Sonali and Goldie Behl, Farhan, Zoya and Adhuna Akhtar and Abhishek Kapoor among others.

Unlike Hrithik’s theme parties, this one will apparently be a simple, chilled out affair, a quiet evening with friends and family. Earlier, Hrithik and Sussanne had planned to host a party at one of the nightclubs in Mumbai but later, it seems, they decided against it because most nightclubs in Mumbai shut early.

Although Hrithik remained unavailable for comments, a friend of his said, “His parties are always rocking. It will be one lovely evening where all friends will meet and chill together. Goa is a lovely place and we all are looking forward to it.”

Sonakshi raises her transacting charge to Rs 1 crore.

Looks like Dabangg has worked wonders for Sonakshi Sinha. The one film old actress has raised her fee to Rs 1 crore, thus joining the league of highest paid actresses like Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor.

We hear that for one of her upcoming projects, the actress has already taken an advance payment of Rs 91 lakh . A trade analyst is quoted as saying by a daily, “Since Sonakshi has kept herself exclusive only to big hero projects, the girl’s market price is being negotiated very carefully.”

No other newbie has ever hiked her/his fee so astronomically as Sonakshi has, even considering the likes of Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, or Kangana Ranaut. Industrywallahs are finding it hard to digest this fact, as Sonakshi is just one-movie old.

Sonakshi is rocking this season…

Akshay-Katrina pray for success of Tees Maar Khan… Catch the stills below…

With just a week away for the release of one of 2010′s most awaited flick Tees Maar Khan, lead stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif were spotted praying for the film’s success at the Golden Temple.

The duo prayed together and were later accompanied by Gurudwara officials, who took them round of the holy shrine.

Akshay Kumar, the Punjabi munda that he is, covered head with a saffron patka with the symbol of Sikhism. Katrina Kaif was very simply dressed in a white kurta, pyjama and a black jacket.

The year 2010 wasn’t very great for Akshay, with all his films flopping at box office. Hope Tees Maar Khan will set the cash registers ringing.

Meanwhile, you check out more stills ahead.

Shahid-Priyanka relax at a spa….

Guess all is well between the two lovebirds, Priyanka Chopra and Shahid kapoor. It is heard that the busy bee PC took some time out for a spa session with Shahid Kapoor. She joined him in Chandigarh where he is shooting for his father’s film Mausam.

The duo then slipped away to a luxurious spa situated on the Shivalik Hills, near Chandigarh, and spent some quality weekend time together. Must say, a wonderful way to rejuvenate and rekindle old flames.

Just a few days ago, Shahid tweeted, “Favere favere if manhoof (manhoos) fog ne parefan kar diya hai …. Morning all ..kal ganna chabaya tha .. Aaj gana gana hai ..”

Hope the couple continue to remain like this forever… 

“I don’t enjoy watching Ash, Kats pretending to sing my songs”: Alisha Chinai…

Alisha Chinai is fed up of actresses taking credit for chart busting songs sung by her.

Alisha Chinai whose chartbusters includes Kajraa Re (Bunty Aur Babli) and Tera Hone Laga Hoon (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani) has decided not to do playback singing anymore.

Says the obstinate singer, “Aishwarya and Katrina are beautiful women. But sorry, I didn’t enjoy watching them pretending to sing my songs Kajraa Re and Tera Hone Laga Hoon.

It’s so ridiculous! Would you ever see Julia Roberts singing in Madonna’s voice? This practice of ghost voices just spooks me out. I can’t do it anymore. Sorry.”

Alisha’s latest grievance is over the chartbuster Munni Badnaam Hui. She protests, “Who knows it is sung by Mamta Sharma? Everyone sees it as Malaika’s song.”

So what’s the solution? “I’ve none. I can’t fight the system. For years and years, the heroines have been walking away with the credit for songs sung by us playback singers.

Today things have come to such a pathetic and sorry state that no one knows the singers’ identity any more.

Who knows I sang ‘Tera Hone Laga’ for Katrina and ‘It’s Rocking” and ‘Bebo Main Bebo’ for Kareena? In fact, many people think they sang these numbers.”

Alisha not only finds this continual de-recognition of playback singers degrading but also unacceptable. Says the livid singer, “I’ve told my manager to not entertain any offers for playback singing. I can’t do it.

In the past, I saw Sridevi walk away with all the raves for my song Kate Nahin Katate in Mr India. It hurt even then. I’d rather sit at home jobless than allow my talent to be used to further any actress’ popularity.”

Alisha hopes to revive the era of non-film albums. “I know I’m being unrealistic. But I can’t help it.

Either I’ll sing in non-film albums or let the singer also do music videos of songs that heroines lip-synch to on screen. I know other singers just sing their songs, take the peanuts offered as remuneration and go home.

I can’t do that. I won’t be exploited in this way. Pay me and give me my due credit. Or I am out of here.”

Well, Alisha does have a point…