Sonakshi goes glamourous
Sonakshi Sinha might have enjoyed her fair share of box-office success but in the process, the curvy actress seems to have fallen into one of tinsel town's biggest traps — the stereotype.
After her debut in Dabangg, opposite Salman Khan, where she was seen wearing a range of elegant and pretty saris and cholis, it seems that all the roles that she has been offered have fallen into a similar category.
Whether it was Son of Sardaar, Rowdy Rathore or Dabangg 2, Sonakshi has been seen sporting ethnic attire and accessories on the silver screen.
She tried to break out of the mould for an item song in 'Oh My God' — Go Govinda, with ace choreographer Prabhu Deva — where she wore a pair of faded jeans and a white top. And now, she's going to shun desi clothes once again — this time for a special song in Sajid Khan's upcoming film, Himmatwala.
The song is called 'Thank God It's Friday', and is said to be inspired by the 80's disco theme — complete with reflective dance floors, disco balls, mirrors and shiny and glamourous sets.
Almost a 100 dancers and 400 extras will be seen shaking a leg with Sonakshi in this song, which has been choreographed by Chinni Prakash.
Sonakshi will be wearing a dress designed by Manish Malhotra for the video and apparently, her glamourous look will be something like Parveen Babi's in the song Jawani Jaanemen, from Namak Halal.
Himmatwala, which stars Ajay Devgan and Southern actress Tammanah, is produced by Vashu Bhagnani and UTV and will hit theatres on March 29.
A special wish for Deepika
Deepika Padukone turned 27 recently and the actress got quite a special wish on her big day — Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan, opposite whom she debuted in 2007 with the Farah Khan directorial Om Shanti Om, sent her a wish on a micro-blogging site. .
"Deepika Padukone happy birthday. May Allah give you all that you wish for and more, happiness being on top of the list. Lots of love, have a good life (sic)," the 47-year-old tweets to the actress.
After making a dream debut with Shah Rukh in Om Shanti Om, Deepika has now reunited with him for one of the most anticipated films of the year — 'Chennai Express'. The first look of the movie, which has been directed by Rohit Shetty, is already out and has been garnering a lot of attention.
A cut above the rest
The Ambanis hosted a bash recently and Sonam Kapoor, as always, made quite a style statement at the event. She's always been known for her spot-on sense of style, and this occasion was no different.
This time, Sonam chose an ethereal gown by Shehla Khan to stand out in the crowd. The gown was a fully-beaded, champagne-coloured wrap with chiffon baby rosettes on it, which draped elegantly on Sonam's tall frame. She accessorised this very simply with a beautiful clutch by Judith Leiber, which helped complete the look. To complement the outfit, she styled her hair in an elegant up-do.
No awards for Abhay
Abhay Deol might be celebrated as the poster boy for indie cinema in the country — but he admits that he isn't holding his breath waiting for any awards to come his way.
Despite having delivered solid, acclaimed performances in movies like 'Manorama Six Feet Under', Dev D and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Abhay admits that he's never won an award for any of his performances — in fact, he's hardly ever been nominated either. "Everyone was nominated for Dev D, but me. Mahie (Gill) and Kalki (Koechlin) even won awards, but I didn't even get a nomination," he shares.
In fact, he feels that the award ceremonies in Bollywood are like 'film family awards'. "They rarely look beyond star kids and big, popular, influential stars when it comes to giving awards," he says. Abhay also reveals that organisers of popular award shows had called him in the past and urged him to attend their ceremonies if he wanted to win anything — but he adds, "that just sounded ridiculous to me, and of course I didn't go!"
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Quick to move on
His debut movie, Aiyyaa may not have garnered the desired results at the box office, but director Sachin Kundalkar has moved on.
He is now working on a social comedy that he plans to release this year itself.
Though Aiyyaa had an interesting storyline — it narrated a middle-class girl's strange likeness for a guy's body odour — it failed to amuse movie buffs, despite the presence of Rani Mukerji in the lead role.
But Sachin seems to be determined to attain success with his next and says, "I am scripting my second film. It's a social comedy. The film is in its scripting stage.
I want to spend as much time as possible with the script because I don't want to compromise on that." His endeavour is to entertain viewers with a clean comedy. "I hope the film falls under the category of clean comedy because by the time I release the film, I don't know in what frame of mind the society will be," he adds.
Ask him when he will start shooting for the film and he replies, "The film will go on the floors this year itself. I am keen to release the film this year. Once the script is ready, I want to cast stars for the film. Let's see how things fall into place."
Aiyyaa was produced by Anurag Kashyap and Rani had teamed up with southern star Prithviraj in it.
All praises for his director
Vidyut Jammwal kick-started his career with big names from the film industry, like Vipul Shah and John Abraham, in 'Force'.
Now, he is gearing up for his second release, 'Commando - The War Within' — again with Vipul Shah — and he can't stop singing the director-cum-producer's praises.
"Vipul sir is someone whom I owe a lot to, for the kind of faith he's put in me after he saw what I was capable of in 'Force'. He promised me that whenever he does an action film next, he'll definitely do it with me and he stood by it.
I had a chance to do the kind of action I would want to see and would like audiences to see on screen, all thanks to him," says the actor.
"He's been very encouraging and seeing the kind of belief he has in me is truly humbling — it instills a sense of responsibility in me. He's someone who can be very quiet and observant but he's really a very fun-loving and intelligent man.
His experience and knowledge — not just in the business but also in life — makes him someone who's point of view really matters," he adds.