Unlike many other directors, Kunal Kohli can be a real stress reliever. A few days ago, Kunal calmed down a distraught Saif Ali Khan when he was completing some patchwork of his upcoming film Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic with the actor.

Kunal adds, “Yes, Saif was upset about Tashan not doing well. Frankly, I know him so well that he doesn’t have to actually say everything to me. I know him from the days of Hum Tum and we are very good friends. Saif didn’t have to literally say that he was upset about Tashan. His body language said it all.”

Upon asking what were Saif and Rani’s comments after seeing the film, Kunal says, “Both of them loved it. After that, Saif left for a holiday in London in a relaxed framed of mind. Saif will be back for a two day promotional activity of my film, after which he will go back to London for his holiday.”

This might give Anbumani Ramadoss more reason to rant against celebrities smoking in public places. But a hassled Shah Rukh Khan could not have worried less about the Union Health Minister’s feelings on Friday evening; he had enough of his own as, one after the other, the batsmen of his IPL team Kolkata Knightriders made a quick exit from the crease at a packed Wankhede stadium and were bundled out for the lowest total yet in the tournament.

Barely had he finished his first smoke, when Mohd Hafeez was caught, prompting him to light another one, and as Wriddhiman Saha slashed into Tendulkar’s hands, SRK was anxious enough to pull one more out of the bag.

Chris Brown — has revealed her top tip for romance is to befriend a guy as it is “easier to flirt”. She said “When I fancy a boy I always start off by hanging out with him in a group. “It’s easier to flirt with him as there’s no one-on-one pressure, but he’ll still see you’re the one giving him all the looks and attention.” When I fancy a boy I always start off by hanging out with him in a group. Despite rumours Rihanna is dating ‘Run It!’ singer Brown, she insists they are just “best friends”. She previously said: “We are best friends, honestly, like brother and sister. I won’t say that we’re just friends - me and Chris are really best, best friends.”

However, she added, “Most of my boyfriends have started out as friends first, although there are some friends I could never look at like that.” 

Having made her presence felt in Nishabd, which starred none other than Big B himself, Shraddha Arya turned her attention to Tollywood.

And with her very first film Godava, she caught the attention of many filmmakers.

Unlike other actresses, this Mumbai-based model is being very choosy and has turned down many projects. But she has still managed to have a few aces up her sleeve. She is shooting for renowned acting teacher-turned-director Satyananad’s film.

Satyanand, who trained many actors like Pawan Kalyan, is making a film with one of his disciples in the lead opposite Shraddha. And not just that, Shraddha has also completed a Kannada film and is playing the lead in Jeevitha Rajasekhar’s Satyameva Jayathe. Well, that’s what we call having the best of both worlds.

Mithun Chakraborty, we hear, has gone into severe depression.

Want to know why? Because his son Mimoh’s film bombed at the box office. “And with the media writing his son off, Mithunda is getting more and more depressed. He wasn’t expecting this and was confident that though the film might not fare well, his son will rise and will be appreciated.

But now, he will have to find another good re-launch pad for his beta,” says a friend of the family. Hopefully, Mimoh will be lucky second time round. Hope it’s not once bitten twice shy for Mimoh?

Washington: American actress Angelina Jolie has been congratulated by her ex husband Billy Bob Thornton on her pregnancy.

Angelina recently confirmed that she and partner Brad Pitt are expecting twins later in the year, and Thornton, who had divorced her 5-years ago, is thrilled to bits with the news.

“I think she was always meant to be a mother in so many ways. I’m just so happy for her,” Contactmusic quoted him as telling America’s OK! magazine.

“I’m happy for the kids to have a mother like her and a father like him,” he stated.

Besides praising her for her pregnancy, Thornton also praised Angelina for her goodwill and humanitarian efforts.

“I’m astounded that somebody has that kind of passion and that much energy for something that actually does affect people and help people out,” he added.

Thornton had first met Angelina on the set of 1999 movie Pushing Tin and the pair married in 2000.

This might look-like an odd companionship, but reports have emerged that recovering popstar Britney Spears and actor Mel Gibson have taken a flight to Costa Rica for a vacation.

If reports from the show Entertainment Tonight are to be believed, the duo took a private flight to Costa Rica on the morning of May 14. Sources have revealed that Gibson, a married father of seven, wanted to take the Toxic star and her father, Jamie, for a small vacation so that they get some relief by staying away from the limelight for a while.

Twice this year, Britney was admitted to hospital for psychiatric concerns while she was constantly grabbing headlines regarding a custody battle for her children with ex-hubby Kevin Federline.

Both Britney and Gibson used to live in the same Malibu neighbourhood and in March they were also spotted dining together at a Los Angeles restaurant.

However, Gibson’s publicist did not reveal much and just said that he knows nothing about his reported meeting with Britney.

Actress Scarlett Johansson, who is co-starring with Penelope Cruz in the new Woody Allen movie “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, did not attend the premiere at Cannes because she demanded too high an appearance fee.

Scarlett was supposedly demanding more than the studio was willing to spend. She didn’t want to stay at the same hotel as Cruz or share the same makeup artist. She insisted on her own makeup and hair people but that would have cost an extra $5,000 a day for her four-day stay, perezhilton.com reports.

Also, her decision to stay at a hotel some half-an-hour away would have created many delays in the film’s promotional schedule. An executive connected with the film said: “While Woody’s terribly fond of Scarlett, he was a little upset that she wasn’t being a team player.”

Pop superstar Mariah Carey’s comeback didn’t quite begin with her latest release “E=MC2″. The new album merely establishes the comeback she began in 2005 with “Emancipation of Mimi” and now makes her a force to reckon with.

Through the 1990s, Mariah dominated the music charts only to have her personal and professional life crash around 2001 with the release of her movie “Glitter”. It took her a good four years to get her life back together and regain her superstar status.

Mariah is the best-selling female artist of all time. She is the only artist to have a No. 1 hit in every year of the 90s. She is also blessed with a seven-octave voice and unlike most other pop artists, supposedly co-writes and co-produces most of her material.

The singer got her big break while she was working as a waitress in New York. Columbia Records chief Tommy Mottola got a demo of hers at a party and immediately signed her. He later married her, though 20 years older, and they eventually got divorced. Her debut album featured no less than four No. 1 singles and won her the Grammy for Best New Artist and Best Female Vocalist. She continued churning out hits from her next five albums “Emotions” (91), “Unplugged” (92), “Music Box” (93), “Daydream” (95), and “Butterfly” (97).

Then in 2001 things started to go really bad for Mariah. She signed a mega record-setting $80 million five-year contract with Virgin Records only to have it revoked later. After having unprecedented success throughout the 1990s and dating famous men like baseball superstars, she broke down, displaying some strange behaviour.

Her lowest point was shocking a MTV audience by performing an impromptu strip tease. She later wrote senseless, suicidal messages on her web site. She explained it away as exhaustion. She took some time out and returned with an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She also released her album “Charmbracelet” but it failed to impress. On the show she explained how the pressures of work, having to fly between Los Angeles and New York to film the disastrous “Glitter” took a toll on her. She also claimed she suffered from insomnia.

But she made a complete turnaround in 2005 with the release of “The Emancipation of Mimi”. It was a stunning comeback going on to win several Grammy Awards including Best Contemporary R&B album and Best R&B song for “We Belong Together”.

She recently released “E=MC2″. Along with getting favourable reviews, she is unofficially competing with Madonna for the title of best female pop artist. She is poised to overtake music icons like Elvis Presley and the Beatles on the singles and album charts. She is making history even as she looks like she is nowhere close to getting done.

Mariah in her more recent albums has resorted to experimenting with different genres and using that glorious voice of hers. She has definitely aged since the days she could make her voice soar and stretch. But she has matured and mellowed and her voice reflects that. She is here to carry on.

Firebrand Nana Patekar and the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia are set to act together after 14 years. The pair had last worked in the much-acclaimed 1994 film Krantiveer.

This time, they team up for Kabir Sadanand’s romantic drama titled Tum Milo Toh Sahi. The filmmaker feels that it’s the stark contrasts between the personalities of the two stars that makes their onscreen pairing exciting. “They are just perfect for the roles. It’s difficult to imagine any one else in their shoes,” said Kabir. However, there’s no love angle between the characters played by them, and their relationship is based more on companionship, shared Kabir.

Dimple, who’s excited to be working with Nana again, said, “His acting style is very contagious. His spontaneity just rubs off on his co-actors.” Nana, who’s equally happy to be working with Dimple again, chipped in, “When you work with an actress like Dimple, half your job is done.” They haven’t been in touch over the years, but behave like good friends having a reunion. The last time they came together, it rained awards. Wonder if their chemistry will work magic this time around, too.

Washington: Goldie Hawn has revealed that her daughter Kate Hudson is doing really well, despite calling off her romance with Owen Wilson recently.

The actress said that Kate is in good spirits following her split from the Wedding Crashers actor.

“She’s doing really well,” People quoted Goldie, as saying.

When asked how’s her daughter, Goldie said: “She is amazing. She is an amazing girl.”

Rumours were abuzz that the Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson recently got engaged after the 29-year-old actress was spotted wearing a huge diamond ring, however, both the actors’ rep had denied the reports.

But, later reports started circulating that the couple had called off their relationship. According to Wilson’s friend, the two actors have again ended their relationship.

“It was a pretty bad break-up,” the friend said.

“Owen said it was a tough one. He definitely doesn’t want to dwell on it. He wants to put it behind him,” the friend added.

A source close to the Almost Famous actress said, “She feels dumb thinking it was so serious.”

American pop singer Justin Timberlake is finally ready to pop the question to his girlfriend Jessica Biel, it has emerged.

The news that Timberlake was ready to ask Jessica to be his wife comes after the singer was seen looking at potential wedding venues or in his case, islands. The two have been dating since January 2007 and speculations are going around that they are already planning a family, a rumour, which had been sparked off when Jessica was seen not touching any alcohol.

“Justin is 27 and thinking about marriage and kids,” The Sun quoted a source as saying. “For the first time in his life he is feeling settled and has definitely decided to pop the question to Jessica.

“He is so happy with her. They spent quite a bit of time apart recently when Justin was working with Madonna. That made him certain Jessica was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with,” the source added.

Timberlake already has a favourite place where he would like the ceremony to take place, the beautiful West Indian island of Mustique. It has been described on websites as, “An exclusive, 1,400-acre island in the southern Caribbean with lush, rolling terrain cooled by trade winds, surrounded by pristine white beaches and clear, aquamarine waters.”

The reason he likes the island so much, is not only because of its natural beauty, but because it is privately owned, enabling him to ban all paparazzi from even landing there. “Although Justin has lived his whole life in the public eye, he feels his wedding is the one day that should remain private,” a friend said.

“To get all his close friends and family to Mustique will cost a fortune. But he can’t put a price on how he feels about Jessica. Then there are the rumours about a baby being on the way,” the friend added.

Post Race, Katrina Kaif has become the busiest actress in town.

So much so that in a bid to keep pace with her hectic schedule, the actress recently missed her flight to Bangalore. Katrina had to be there to cheer for business tycoon Vijay Mallya’s IPL team.

But alas, she could not make it on time to the airport. But that did not prove to be stumbling block for Katrina. Remember she is brand ambassador of none other than Vijay Mallaya’s IPL team?

And on learning about Katrina’s plight, the ace business quickly made arrangements and flew her down to Bangalore in his private jet.

“That’s the advantage of being a brand amabassador for Vijay Mallaya’s Royal Challengers IPL team. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have made it on time. You know they will make sure that you reach despite the maddening schedules,” Katrina laughed. Wow! Do we see other actresses getting jealous already?