YRF Rumors: October 2007

Kareena Kapoor to don a bikini?

If rumours are to be believed, Kareena Kapoor is all set to turn hot for Tashan .

Though Kareena has played a number of glamourous roles in her acting career, she has never exposed beyond a limit. Now, that limit might be redefined.

Tinsel town is abuzz with talk that Kareena will wear bikini for a few portions of the Yashraj Films presentation ‘Tashan’ that has Bebo pairing with her new beau Saif Ali Khan .It is learnt that director Vijay Krishna Acharya and producer Aditya Chopra want to present Kareena in an entirely new avatar in ‘Tashan’.

Aditya was previously instrumental in presenting Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu in hot avatars in Dhoom 2 . Now he is apparently doing the same to Kareena.Reports say the reason why Kareena has been shedding her flab and getting in shape in the last few months is for the bikini scenes that will be shot in February next year.However, there has been no official confirmation of this either from Kareena or from the film’s makers.

Apart from Kareena and Saif, ‘Tashan’ also stars Akshay Kumar and Anil Kapoor .

(Source : Apun ka choice)

SRK to re-make Deewar?

There seems to be a love-hate relationship between actor Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan. Over the years Bachchan has ruled Bollywood and continues to be in the ace league. And Shah Rukh as we all know is not called the Badshah Khan for nothing. He rules too. However, SRK has been found following in the footsteps of Big B very often of late – be it hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati , or then being a part of the modern age Don -drama directed by Farhan Akhtar.

And now the latest stories doing the rounds is that SRK is most keen to remake AB's Deewar , so much so that SRK has already finalised the star-cast of the flick and has even approached Yash Chopra, the original director of Deewar , to direct it. Apparently SRK, we hear, is very fond of Bachchan's character 'Vijay' in the classic 1975 action flick, and wants to 'don' a similar garb and play a similar role, because of which he has cast himself as Vijay. Rumours also have it that he wants hot Bollywood-pair Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor to play the roles that Shashi Kapoor and Neetu Singh played in the original while Priyanka Chopra, who played Zeenat Aman's role in Don, has been considered for Parveen Babi's role in Deewar . Boman Irani will be seen playing Iftekhar's role and Shefali Shah Nirupa Roy's.

Though most people claim not to have 'heard of this', filmmaker Yash Chopra's office, too maintained the same. "We haven't heard of any such thing, and aren't aware of it." If the alleged venture will be produced by SRK himself under his home-banner Red Chilies Entertainment, the big question that still remains is: Has Shah Rukh acquired rights of the film? Deewar was produced under the banner of Trimurti Films of late Producer Gulshan Rai. Thus his son, filmmaker Rajiv Rai has the rights of the film. Rajiv Rai is based in the UK, and though he wasn't reachable, his office informed us, "Rajiv is not aware of any such buzz. He has the rights of Deewar and according to my knowledge hasn't sold it to anyone yet." "Rajiv is a filmmaker himself. Why will he sell the rights to anyone, when as a filmmaker he himself can remake it? I don't think he is even aware that Shah Rukh is planning to remake it, if at all he is," says a close friend and colleague of Rai.

Well, we'll just have to wait and watch if these rumours have enough strength in them? Will SRK actually build this Deewar , or will he simply break it down by rubbishing the rumours? That now, is another big question!

Salman Khan: I turned down 'Chak De'! What was I thinking?

(Sawf News) - The lead role played by Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De India, the year's biggest hit and a favorite for the best film of the year award, was first offered to Salman Khan who turned it down!
Salman Khan rues his decision and candidly explains what prompted him to commit the gaffe.

"I had an issue with the climax of the film. Adi in fact told me that he would make this [the film] into the biggest hit and you don't know what you are missing out on," he says

"I was fortunate that 'Partner' did as well.

"People have loved Chak De! and…I was wrong…and this is the scary bit when an actor's thinking starts going wrong. Adi has made it the same way as he narrated it to me…and I am thinking how can this work dude…it can't work."

News Copyright © Sawf News

Rani Mukherjee to play a fairy

Rani Mukherjee will be seen playing a fairy in director Kunal Kohli’s next film.The movie, yet untitled, will be a fantasy fiction of sorts with Rani and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles. Amisha Patel also plays an important part in the film.

Kohli is extremely secretive about the project, but the grapevine says the film is roughly inspired from the Mary Poppins stories. The movie will reportedly have Rani playing an angel with a magic wand and a resplendent dress.Speaking of costume, it is also learnt that Rani will wear just one costume throughout the film. Fashion designer Manish Malhotra has reportedly designed the costume for Rani.RANI AND SAIF JODIRani and Saif have paired together in the past in films like Tara Rum Pum and Hum Tum .

While the former was a flop, the latter (directed by Kunal Kohli) was a superhit. Even on Koffee With Karan, when the actress was asked who was her favourite co-star, Rani named Saif.KUNAL KOHLI AND YASHRAJ Kunal Kohli has directed three films of his career for Yashraj Films .

Only one of them (Hum Tum) proved to be a hit at the box-office. His last film Fanaa had an average run and critics found the movie disappointing.With his next film, Kohli is turning in-house producer for Yashraj Films. The movie goes on the floors in November.

Big B loved Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, defends director

Filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar is an angry man these days. His latest film Laaga Chunari Mein Daag which opened at cinemas last Friday may have received lukewarm reviews from the critics, but it's still running, and Sarkar can't seem to understand why people insist on running it down.
Contrary to popular belief, he says, the film is doing good business, and throws numbers at you to make his point.

"It was tight budget film made with Rs 15 crore and already on the first week it has made Rs 25 crores gross worldwide. In what way we are saying that it is not doing well?" asked Sarkar.
Admitting that the film did take a slow start in the domestic market, he's hopeful it will grow on audiences in the weeks ahead, much in the same way that his debut film Parineeta did.

He doesn't grudge criticism, but says critics shouldn't harm a film's box-office prospects.

“People have their own point of view. Criticism is fine. But don’t say don’t see it. That is not criticism. That is actually saying ‘Don’t go and watch it’,” said Sarkar.

Refuting criticism that Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is a regressive film, Sarkar says the movie seems to have struck a chord with several people whose opinion he respects.

“My point is if it’s regressive film, there are people like Raj Kumar Hirani, Bachchan saab (Amitabh Bachchan) and Javed saab (Javed Akhtar) who have liked the film. I don’t think they are regressive people. They are very much now,” said Sarkar.

In no mood to spend his energies singing his own praise, Sarkar says he's already moved on to newer projects.
For him, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag turned out exactly the way he'd planned it. And that, for him, is what success is.

Akshaye Khanna kept out of AAJA NACHLE promos?

If you have checked the promos of AAJA NACHLE, you would have realized that it's about only woman - Madhuri Dixit. Now that's pretty much justified considering the fact that this is Madhuri's much hyped comeback film and deserves all the focus on herself.

Still, if one checks out the theatrical promo carefully, there are other actors like Kunal Kapoor and Konkana Sen who get a reasonable footage in the three minute promo. In fact even Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak get a dialogue each to mouth in the attractive promo that has made quite a splash ever since it was aired first.

But where does it lead one of the most known faces in AAJA NACHLE after Madhuri Dixit? We are talking about Akshaye Khanna who doesn't feature in the promo for even a flicker of a second.

Knowing Yash Raj?s penchant for creating a well planned promotion strategy for their films, we are sure there would be valid reasons for Akshaye not being talked about at all as of now. Now is that a surprise element in the offering for AAJA

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag : Movie Review Links

Wedding Bells For Rani Aditya

Rani Mukerji and Aditya Chopra’s “are they or aren’t they” romantic tryst took another twist this week when it was announced the pair would be getting married. The rumour mills should grind to a halt after they let slip they will be getting married just before Valentine’s day next year.
But don’t expect the major fanfare that surrounds some of Bollywood’s other all-star marriages. In an attempt to avoid the media glare of Mumbai they will wed at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
“Aditya and Rani think that Umaid Bhawan is the perfect place, but all the arrangements are being done in a hush hush manner. Only a few close friends and Rani’s family know about the wedding preparations,” said a friend of the couple.
“Yes, Umaid Bhawan Palace has been booked for the couple,” said a source from the hotel.
The soon-to-be-wed couple has been secretly dating for almost two years and actually had their roka (a pre-engagement agreement) a couple of months ago.
Aditya, 36, is the son of filmmaker Yash Chopra, and Rani, 29, will be his second wife, after divorcing Payal in 2001.

Designing the look of Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

The 28-year old Sabyasachi is very proud of the clothes that he has designed for Laaga Chunari … “as it was the third time I was dressing my favourite Rani Mukerji. It is always a pleasure to do outfits for her as she is not fussy at all. As for working with Yash Raj Films, though it was my first time, it was like going to college as everything was done systematically.

They are the most organised people and I had a good time working with the unit,” he admits. Sabyasachi has also designed the clothes for Jaya Bachchan and Konkona Sen Sharma in the film. Sabyasachi says that since Laaga Chunari …is about a humble family based in Benares, he had to keep it simple. “In the first half, Rani is a simple small-town girl. In the second half though, there is a great transition in her outlook as she is now an escort and as a high-class call girl, she is made to look very sexy.”

For this, she was given classy designer clothes, sunglasses, high heels and elegant bags, something she has never done before. “Something like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman,” he beams adding that he has worked with Rani earlier in Black (a film that is close to his heart as he bagged the National award for the period clothes) and then in Ravi Chopra’s Baabul. For the small-town look, he has given both Rani and Konkona the local printed chintz kurtas, patialas and chanderi dupattas. “I have used a lot of cottons to go according to the decorum of the characters, that of UP-ite families.

For Mrs. Bachchan, I have made her wear loose fitting jaama blouses with cotton sarees and no accessories except for hari chudiyaan. She carries a small coin purse, stating the fact that she has none or very little money to put in it. Her aging goes well with her character of a lady struggling to keep her family surviving in dire circumstances,” he says. The other designers involved with the costumes in Laaga Chunari …are Manish Malhotra, Subarna Ray Chaudhuri and Shiraz Siddique and talking about them, he says that each one had a character for whom they designed clothes and “since I am practically new and have yet to gain a foothold in the film industry, I would take the help of Subarna who I have known since childhood. We bonded very well.”

For a designer who is known for his ensembles that have universal appeal and for his ‘Indianised’ Milan collection, Sabyasachi loves to experiment with garments, his speciality being coats, jackets, skirts, sarees, as well as using a lot of lace, voiles, chiffons and georgettes. All this comes from books, confesses the designer adding that for the recent London Fashion Week held from September 15 to 20 followed by ramp shows in New York, his Nomad Collection was inspired by two books, Paul Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello and Kite Runner by Khalil Hosseini. The clothes were multi-cultured with ideas from all over like Khazakistan, Soviet Russia, Communist China, India, and so on. It was a great hit.

Presently Sabyasachi is busy with his collection in London, Paris and New York for sales. He admits candidly that films are not his main occupation, “I am doing it just for fun. In fact, I have given up a lot of offers as I was not convinced with the projects,” he adds that his work in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag will prove his potential as a designer to the film fraternity and until then “I shall wait for a fantastic script to come my way,” he beams

Rani breaks her silence

Tinselville's Miss Congeniality, Rani Mukherji, seems full of joie de vivre as usual. No nail-biting nervous Friday moments for Rani as she gets ready for her new film, the Pradeep Sarkar directed Laaga Chunari Mein Daag to hit the marquee. After staying away from public glare and media flashbulbs for months, she returns to scorch screens in a film about women empowerment.

Turning recluse wasn't a conscious choice for her, she claims. "You've got to realise that the media functions differently now. Some sections of the media are interested only about our personal lives or what we do everyday. I'm not comfortable talking about all that, so I stay away. The media has been very supportive of me most of the time and I have some very good friends.

I like to talk about my work, and whenever a film is ready for release, I am around to chat." Given that Laaga... has an unusual storyline and isn't another bubblegum romance from Yash Raj Films, how confident is Rani about the film? "Laaga... is a complete Hindi film. It's the story about a woman's struggle to fend for family and traces her journey from Benaras to Mumbai. It's also about the pressures and expectations that a child has to face if she is the breadearner. Pradeepda (Sarkar)'s eye for detailing and framing is amazing. He's like this adorable teddy bear on the sets and made the experience so much work."

The other highs were of course working with Jaya aunty (Bachchan). "She's like a surrogate mother on the sets. We bonded instantly. When you work with powerhouse performers like Amit uncle (Amitabh Bachchan), Jaya aunty or Abhishek (Bachchan), you learn so much and have fun on the way. Coming to Laaga..., everyone is like one big family, Koko (Konkona Sen Sharma), Kunal, Anupamji (Kher)," rewinds Rani. And what's this constant need to experiment with her look in every film (a flamboyant fringe in Tara Rum Pum, straight hair in Laaga... and a bouffant in Saawariya)? "Well, it's important for a character to look convincing. I have been lucky with the people who've styled my look," she says matter-of-factly. For all those number crunchers, Rani firmly points out that she's no longer bothered by the numbers game anymore. Not for her the worries of holding on to the Queen Bee or No.1 tag. "I love the experience of being in front of the camera and shooting. That's the greatest high for me.

I sign a film because I am in love with the character. And acting enables me to be different people, live different lives and face new challenges." Once the greasepaint comes off, the real Rani, by the superstar's self-admission, is a "home body. I hate parties, and whenever I have time, I catch up with friends, take vacations with my family and relax." So, no Oscar dreams? "I respect all awards I get, but I never crave for them. I only want people to love my work and if I can make them smile, that means a lot to me. And as an actor, I would love to explore new opportunities, but my first priority is and will always be Bollywood. " Whether the queen can conquer hearts again is now a million buck question.

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