Mumbai, (IANS) Looking alluringly beautiful in a single-shoulder long

dress, Bollywood yesteryears diva Sridevi wowed the audience as she

walked the ramp at the Lakme Fashion Week here.

“It was a good experience and I was comfortable. The collection was

very beautiful,” Sridevi told IANS after the show, that was also

attended by her husband Boney Kapoor and daughters.

Sridevi, 44, walked the ramp for designer duo Prriya and Chintan in a

golden hued dress with a corset bodice that was attached to a flared

skirt. The audience reaction showed that the reigning queen of the ’80s

and early ’90s had not lost her magic. Known as the female Amitabh

Bachchan, Sridevi has given super hits like “Chandni”, “Chaalbaaz”,

“Lamhe” and “Mr India”.

“Sridevi-ji has been in the industry for so many years and has so much

of confidence. She did a brilliant job on the ramp,” said Prriya.

Inspired by 1920’s French artiste Erte, the designer duo had tastefully

incorporated drapes, pleats and prints in skirts, saris, dresses and

jackets.

“When we looked at Erte’s drapes we realised that our traditional

garments are no different. So we gave a new look to them… reinvented

the sari and lehenga,” she added.

Rich lavenders, greens, beige and gold dominated the colour palette.

Using fabrics like net organza, chiffon and satin, the saris had borders

attached to the sleeves of the blouse, the skirts had dupattas stitched

with the cholis, the single-shoulder dresses had asymmetrical hemlines

and there were also dresses with umbrella sleeves.

The men’s wear line offered sherwanis, jackets with deep V-necks

teamed with Patiala salwars and salwars stitched in dhoti-style. The

line was tastefully embellished with sequin work and intricate

embroidery.

Mumbai, (IANS) Bollywood actor Rani Mukherji moved a petition in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court Thursday, challenging the cancellation of her ownership of a piece of land in Maharashtra.

Rani’s father Ram Mukherjee arrived in Aurangabad and furnished the necessary documents pertaining to the land deal before the registrar of the court.

The petition challenging the Shrirampur sub-divisional officer’s (SDO) order directing her to surrender the land in Ningaonkovali village, on the border of Nasik and Ahmednagar districts, will come up for notice before the court Friday.

Nandkumar Suryavanshi, the SDO, said that earlier there was a sugar factory on the land that was subsequently closed. Since the factory had excess land, the government took it over in accordance with the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA) and handed it over to the Maharashtra State Farming Corporation (MSFC).

As the land remained unused for a long time, the MSFC sold it to the original owner, a farmer who worked in a hotel in Shirdi town. From the farmer, Rani bought the plot in December 2005 for Rs.3.3 million.

However, when she applied for registration of the plot in her name, the revenue department refused permission and stressed that as it was an agriculture land, only a farmer could buy it.

The deputy collector of Ahmednagar district conducted an inquiry and Rani was asked to pay penalty for buying a farmland. Since the actress failed to pay the penalty, the Shrimanpur SDO ordered her name be deleted from the sale deed.

Suryavanshi told IANS that instead of going to the court, Rani could have availed of the options of either regularising the plot in her name at a reduced penalty or ask to reconsider the decision.

“But as per the ULCA, the penalty on her could not have been waived totally,” he said.

The actor’s father Ram told the media in Aurangabad that Rani did not commit any irregularity in the land purchase.

“The deal was transacted as per the laid down procedure and the payment of the stamp duty. Rani was not the first person to purchase the land - it has changed hands at least six times before Rani bought it,” he said.

“The penalty imposed on her is totally unfair. Why did the objection not come up earlier? Is it because she is a celebrity, a Bollywood star? Would this ever have happened if any common man had purchased the land?” he added.

Mumbai, (IANS) Actress Esha Deol, who has played a loud Tamilian in the comedy “One Two Three”, has one regret - that her mother Hema Malini, a true-blue Tamilian, was not around to watch her recently released comic caper.

“My mother has become quite a jet-setter travelling all over the place for her dance recitals. She’s in Kolkata right now. I’ll make her see ‘One Two Three’ as soon as she returns,” Esha told IANS.

The boisterous bit on screen notwithstanding, Esha stood out at the premiere of the movie in her chic makeup and elegant gown. “I guess I wanted to create a contrast to my loud brassy character in the film. People see me as a tomboy. But I can be quite a lady if I want to be,” she said.

Esha is now gearing up for the release of her first action film “Hijack”.

“But let me warn you, I don’t do any of the kickboxing and all that stuff I’m dying to do on screen one day. Though this is a hijack-adventure story, all the action converges on Shiney Ahuja. I’m the airhostess and therefore very timid and gentle. The director, Kunal Shivdasani, made sure I don’t jump out of character suddenly. It’s a very realistic action drama,” the actress said.

She dismisses stories of her differences with Shiney. “I don’t know where that came from. Shiney and I had a great time shooting ‘Hijack’,” Esha said.

“Hijack” would be Esha’s last film for a while. “I haven’t signed anything. And I won’t until something worthwhile comes along.”

Mumbai, (IANS) Raj Thackeray, chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the man whose remarks and activities of his followers sparked off parochial unrest in Mumbai, has met Bolloywood director Ram Gopal Varma to watch a part of “Sarkar Raj”.

Loosely based on Shiv Sena’s chief Bal Thackeray’s life, “Sarkar Raj” is a sequel to Varma’s “Sarkar” and stars Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in key roles. Raj Thackeray had also taken on Amitabh Bachchan in his diatribe.

“Raj and Varma have been friends for some time now. In fact, when ‘Sarkar’ was made, it was Raj who coordinated between Varma and the Shiv Sena supremo,” a source close to Varma told IANS.

“Raj is keenly interested in movies. So when after chatting up, Varma asked Raj if he wanted to watch some of ‘Sarkar Raj’, he readily agreed. He watched about 30 minutes of the film and apparently loved it,” the source said.

Raj was amused to see one of the actors in “Sarkar Raj” resembled him.

“Yes, one of the actors does resemble Raj, but his role is not modelled on him,” added the source.

Mumbai, (IANS) Director duo Abbas-Mustan’s racy thriller “Race” has hit the box office jackpot, grossing Rs.700 million across the country within 10 days of its release.

Produced by Tips Films, “Race” was distributed worldwide by UTV and is also faring well in the overseas markets, fetching Rs.200 million for the distributor so far. It occupies 18th position in the US box-office chart and 9th in Britain.

The movie’s collection in Mumbai itself hovers between 80 to 85 percent.

The audiences have particularly appreciated the slick production values of “Race”, even though the content is rather weak.

The movie features Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy, with some good music thrown in.

Its box-office success has retrieved the slipping career of the director duo who had been trying hard for a hit.

After getting the domestic box-office all to itself for one week, its collections in Mumbai slumped a little when Kumar Mangat’s “One Two Three” was released last week. But being a comedy, it could not wean away a big chunk of the audience from “Race”, a lavishly mounted thriller.

Although “One Two Three” did not have a spectacular opening, it is having a fair run at the box-office. Apart from “Race”, it has had no opposition at the box-office so far.

Ironically, the movie that is going to give “One Two Three” a tough competition from next week will be “Krazzy 4″, written by Ashwani Dhir who has directed “One Two Three.”

Also due for release April 11 is Ajay Devgan’s directorial “U Me Aur Hum”.

This week Percept Picture Company releases the Pakistani movie “Khuda Kay Liye” in select centres in India, inaugurating a new chapter in the Indo-Pakistan relationship.

Mumbai, (IANS) After an eight-month sabbatical, the irrepressible David Dhawan, who churned out hits like “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi” and “Biwi No. 1″, is back in the swing of things and will direct two films.

“The layoff has done me good. I needed the break from direction, yaar! It’s not as if I was sitting idle at home. I was a judge on a dance show (’Nach Baliye’). That I enjoyed thoroughly. I was finalising the scripts for my next two films and spending time with my family,” Dhawan told IANS.

Dhawan is teaming up with Govinda for producer Vashu Bhagnani’s next film. The duo has given successful films like “Hero No. 1″, “Coolie No.1″ and last year’s hit movie “Partner”, which also starred the director’s another favourite actor, Salman Khan.

“The first would be for my friend Vashu Bhagnani with my dear friend Govinda in the lead. It’ll be an out-and-out David-Govinda dhamaka, the kind that audiences will expect from us,” said Dhawan.

“This would be my sixth film with Vashu - can you believe it? We still continue to believe in each other! We’re looking for an interesting title for the film. But my next ‘Hook Ya Crook’ written by Rensil D’Silva is a complete departure from everything I’ve done so far.”

In Bhagnani’s untitled film, Dhawan is repeating the Govinda-Lara Dutta pair after Ravi Chopra’s “Pappu Pass Ho Gaya”. The film will also star Riteish Deshmukh.

While the Bhagnani project takes him into familiar territory, Dhawan has decided on a completely new team for “Hook Ya Crook”.

“Rensil wrote the full script for me immediately after ‘Rang De Basanti’. He’s an amazing writer. His film for me is unbelievable. I’ve decided on John Abraham for the lead. One more major leading man has to be selected. This is a darkish film with violence in it. But nothing that would make the audiences alarmed, ‘What’s wrong with David Dhawan?’

Dhawan’s son Rohit is also ready to turn director this year.

“In a couple of months, Rohit will be ready with his project. I’ll most probably be producing the film along with a corporate house.”

Mumbai, (IANS) That Ekta Kapoor, the camera-shy czarina of the home medium, is all set to do her first acting role is not new. But very few know that it was her brother who convinced her to take it up.

Earlier, Tusshar had coaxed father Jeetendra out of retirement to play his son’s dad in “Kucch To Hai”. Sis Ekta was a harder nut to crack.

Tusshar told IANS: “But Ekta couldn’t say no to me. Besides, the role is tailormade for her. You see, she plays Ekta Kapoor in the film. And who else butcan play Ekta?”

“It’s for our home production ‘C Kompany’. We’re doing this rib-tickling satire on the underworld featuring Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav and I. Mithun Chakraborty plays an underworld don,” added the doting brother affectionately.

“It’s just a cameo. And it won’t take up much of Ekta’s time.”

Ekta laughs delightedly about her acting debut.

“I’m giving them some time this week to shoot my scenes. It’s a small role and how could I say no to my brother? I don’t turn him down for anything. My scenes are with Mithun Chakbraborty. So you can imagine how nervous I am,” said Ekta.

Donning different caps seems to be the order of the Friday.

While Ekta is gearing up for her acting debut, director Farhan Akhtar is currently facing the camera for the hardcore rock musical “Rock On”. And last but not the least, Himesh Reshammiya is busy singing, acting and composing.

Mumbai, (IANS) Bollywood actress Diya Mirza, who walked the ramp after a gap of two years at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW), says she used to be scared of sashaying down fashion runways but has become confident over a period of time.

Event: Ranbir & Deepika at Manish Malhotra party
Venue: Prive Lounge, Mumbai
When: Saturday (night), March 29th, 2008
Present: Ritesh Deshmukh, Dia Mirza, Ranbir, Deepika, Raima Sen, Manish Malhotra, Lucky Ali and lot more
Note: The post show party by Manish Malhotra at prive saw the young bollywood couple Ranbir and Deepika enter hand in hand to wish Manish Malhotra on his grand show. Ritesh and Dia Mirza also dropped in to party with Manish.