India-born but internationally acclaimed director Mira Nair is making a film titled ‘Amelia’ on the life of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.

And to play the title role Nair has roped in two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank.

Swank will play the role of the brave Amelia Earhart who set many aviation records in the first half of the 20th century – like flying solo and non-stop across the Atlantic. Amelia died at the age of 40 in her attempt to fly around the world.

However, the film will not just focus on Amelia’s aviation adventures but will mostly center on her rocky marriage with publisher husband George Putnam.

Richard Gere has been signed to play the role.

Actress Virginia Madsen has been added to the cast to play Putnam’s first wife, Dorothy.

The movie has been penned by veteran Hollywood screenwriter Ron Bass. The film goes on the floors this month. It will be shot in Canada and South Africa.

Reportedly, Hilary Swank has been taking flight lessons at the Santa Monica Airport for her role in Amelia.

 American actress Megan Fox has been named the “sexiest woman in the world” in a poll in which nearly 10 million people participated globally.

‘Transformers’ star Fox, 22, flew straight in as a new entry at the top of the list after the biggest - and most surprising FHM poll in history, the magazine said.

“Megan Fox is a very deserving winner of this year’s FHM title. From out of nowhere, she’s captured the hearts - and fantasies - of British men to capture the No.1 slot,” said FHM’s editor-in-chief Anthony Noguera.

Fox knocked last year’s winner Jessica Alba, off the top spot despite another successful year for the Californian beauty. She finished second.

The sexiest UK woman for the second year running was Keeley Hazell, who was put in third place.

Movie star Elisha Cuthbert finished fourth on the list, with Heroes cheerleader Hayden Panettiere fifth, completing the top five in the poll.

Britain’s TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp was named one of the sexiest women, beating Kate Moss who has dropped out of the top 100 altogether.

Kirstie, the raven-haired presenter of a famous programme ‘Location Location Location Relocation Relocation’, made her debut at number 91. Opera soprano Katherine Jenkins was another debut at 83.

The pair beat not only Moss, but former favourites Kylie Minogue and Holly Willoughly.

“FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World delivers the original and most famous list of the planet’s most beautiful women. And this year, after 9.7 million votes from around the world, it’s never been more authoritative,” Noguera said.

 She can leave the men swooning by a mere low-neck dress. Model Kelly Brook has deservedly been voted as the celebrity with the best bikini body ever.

The curvaceous, 28-year-old British model (in the photo) has topped the poll conducted by UK department store Debenhams. According to reports, 2,000 men participated in the survey and majority of them found that Kelly has the hottest bod for bikini among the bombshells of all time.
Kelly, who is presently in Cannes with her off-and-on boyfriend, American actor Billy Zane, beat actress Halle Berry (second), a strong contender, and septuagenarian Ursula Andress (third) to grab the top spot.

Former Aussie supermodel Elle Macpherson came fourth followed by Raquel Welch, a pin-up girl of the 60s, on the fifth spot and American actress Marilyn Monroe on the sixth place.

British beauties Elizabeth Hurley, Cameron Diaz, Bo Derek and Jennifer Aniston completed the top ten in the respective order.

The rest of the top 20 in order of their rank are: Danielle Lloyd, Scarlett Johansson, Cheryl Cole, Jessica Alba, Demi Moore, Pamela Anderson, Claudia Schiffer, Carmen Electra, Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss.

Conspicuously missing from the list are hotties like Tyra Banks, Linda Evangelista and Cheryl Tiegs.

 Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston and singer John Mayer are going public with their relationship.

Jen and John’s blossoming relationship has become grist for rumour mills. Their affair came to light last month when the couple spent many days together in Miami.

Now, on Saturday, the couple was spotted again, this time showing their PDA while swimming at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Miami.

According to People magazine, John and Jen sat poolside in lounge chairs and munched on salads. They talked softly and intimately.

The couple were also spotted kissing and getting cozy inside the swimming pool.

E! Online quotes a source as saying: “They were swimming and sitting out at the pool on Saturday for more than three hours…They looked like they were completely into each other. She put her arm around him while they were in the pool. It was intimate.”

Jennifer has been shooting her film ‘Marley and Me’ in Miami. Later in the day, Jen and John attended the Miami wrap party at Nikki Coconut Grove.

 Bollywood superstar-filmmaker Aamir Khan says that he wants his production house to be associated with sensible, entertaining cinema just like the films he acts in.

“I am very particular about what goes in my name. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is the first film as a producer which I am not acting in. But, I am happy with the way it was shaped,” Aamir told reporters outside the residence of veteran actor Shammi Kapoor in Mumbai on Tuesday.

 Aamir along with the cast and crew of his film and family members visited Shammi Kapoor to present him the first audio CD of his film’s music.

“Shammi uncle is my lucky mascot. Whenever I have started something new, I have sought his blessings … be it my first film as an actor or as a director,” he said.

“‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ marks the debut of my nephew Imran Khan and hence Shammi uncle’s blessings are important,” he said.

Regarding the movie’s music, Aamir said A R Rahman ’s score is “very youthful and fresh”.

Responding to questions on how he chose to launch his nephew, Aamir said he did not believe in launches.

“Films are important. Whoever suits the characters should be taken. Abbas Tyrewala narrated the script to me and I liked it. He had already screen-tested Imran and had decided to sign him. ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ was not designed to launch Imran,” he said.

“I have to be convinced about the film as a producer. I would not like Imran to do a film which I didn’t like,” he said.

Aamir said his biggest contribution as producer has been bringing his cousin filmmaker Mansoor Khan on board to oversee the production of the film.

“We are all hoping that he will take to direction again,” he said.

 Actress Manisha Koirala , whose career is not exactly going great guns, is seeking inner peace through spirituality.

Manisha claims she has been a seeker of inner peace ever since she can remember. First, she sought it through traveling, books, and companionship. Now, she has acquired a strong spiritual bent of mind to reach her goal.

 However, the turning point came when a filmmaker friend of hers told her about Oneness University in Chennai. Manisha went to the university and instantly fell in love with its environment and its teachings. Leaving all the worries about her sapping acting career, Manisha immersed herself into spirituality.

Today, she finds herself “calmer and focused” than before. In fact so confident has Manisha become that she doled out some spiritual tips to Hollywood actor Gerard Butler who came to Oneness University, benefited from it, but was filled with doubts when he was on his way back.

Manisha, who has recently spent a good deal of time with her ailing father, says the teachings of Oneness University help her in dealing with all aspects of life.

And guess what! She has got a new man in her life. The mystery man is an American. And (no prizes for guessing) he, too, is spiritually inclined.

On Bollywood front, Manisha is working in director Partho Ghosh’s film Ek Second Zindagi Badal De in which she plays a double role.

 It seems Karan Johar is departing from his mushy, melodramatic style in his next film.

After a pretty forgettable Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna Karan is now all charged up for his next movie Khan . The movie’s story is partly inspired from the tale of a real-life couple in the US.

 While Shah Rukh Khan has been finalized to play the male lead, Kajol is in contention for the female lead.

The interesting bit is that SRK will play an autistic man in the film. Autism is a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior in an individual.

The movie has SRK playing an autistic Muslim who becomes a terror suspect in the US. This role will definitely put SRK’s acting skills to the hilt.

The film was supposed to go on the floors in the summer of 2008, but Karan Johar happily gave SRK’s dates to buddy Aditya Chopra who wanted to start his Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi around the same time.

In the meantime, Karan is traveling in American cities to scout for shooting locations.

 Now this was a special case where big stars were deliberately kept away so that newcomers could get media attention.

The event was the music release of film Haal-e-Dil which marks the debut of producer Kumar Mangat’s daughter Amita Pathak opposite Shekhar Suman’s son Adhyayan and actor Nakuul Mehta .
Ajay Devgan , who is a good friend of his secretary Kumar Mangat , took interest in this film right from the start. He, along with the likes of Vishal Bharadwaj and Anurag Kashyap , had a say in finalizing Amita’s co-stars in the film.

But when the film’s music was to release last weekend at J W Marriott in Mumbai, Mangat made an unusual request to Ajay.

The producer asked Ajay and Kajol to miss the music launch. Reportedly, he was apprehensive that if Ajay and Kajol attend the event, they would grab all the eyeballs and his daughter Amita and two newcomers would go unnoticed.

Devgan apparently understood Mangat’s point of view and did not attend the music launch.

Mangat says he is extremely thankful to Ajay for that.

The producer has apparently learnt from the music launch of Dasavatharam where Kamal Haasan was relegated to sidelines by the presence of international star Jackie Chan and a provocatively dressed Mallika Sherawat . After the launch, Mallika’s dress was more talked about than the songs of ‘Dasavatharam’.

ABC’s “Good Morning America” revealed the “Seven Wonders of America” during the morning broadcast. The show assembled a panel of experts to choose the seven destinations, which included man made as well as natural wonders. The panel included Annie Griffith Belt, National Geographic photographer; Brent D. Glass, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History; Michael Roberts, executive editor of Outside Magazine; Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, Patricia Schultz, author of “1000 Places to See Before You Die in the USA and Canada,” and Pauline Frommer, creator of the Pauline Frommer Guidebooks.

The list goes as follows:

1.The National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington DC
2.The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
3.The Grand Canyon
4.The Beautiful Badlands
5.Saturn V : The Moon Rocket
6.Golden Gate Bridge
7.New York City

Melbourne (ANI): What would you do to raise awareness about the effect of deforestation on global warming? Well, if you’re Harrison Ford then you wax your chest. The Indiana Jones star had his chest waxed in a new the public service announcement for Conservation International advertisement to help the environment. Ford, who sits on the board of directors of the environmental organisation, approved the waxing idea himself. As it turned out, it certainly wasn’t a piece of cake for Ford.

“Every bit of rainforest that gets ripped out over there, really hurts us over here,” he says in the 30-sec ad. Conservation International CEO Peter Seligmann revealed that the actor’s expression of pain is not fake. “I didn’t have to talk him into anything,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Seligmann, as saying at a news conference in Manhattan. “I was there when he filmed it. It really hurt. There’s nothing about the expression on his face that was fake.”

On the sets of Karan Johar’s Dostana, there is no gender discrimination. While the film was being shot in Miami last month, everyone from KJo to the leading men, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan, were being driven to and fro to locations by female chaffeurs.

Says a source from the unit, “It is not uncommon to have women drivers abroad. There no one calls them drivers or chauffeurs. They are PAs or production assistants. There’s no gender bias in the west. During Kal Ho Naa Ho even Karan had one in New York. Both John and Abhishek had stunners for chauffeurs they were striking women. They looked more like models and less like chauffeurs and mixed comfortably with everyone on the sets including John and Abhishek.”

The source adds, “John was comfortable with his ‘production assistant’ and chatted with her whenever he was free. Abhishek initially appeared to be friendly with his chauffeur, but the day before Aishwarya was to arrive in Miami, his lady production assistant was replaced by an African-American male. Perhaps it was just a coincidence.”

John Abraham says, “It’s not just me but the entire cast and crew had women drivers. It’s not a big deal abroad as women and men are found equal in all professions and are taken according to their capability.”

These days John Abraham is busy with wedding preparations for his younger brother, Alan, a photographer by profession. Alan is to wed Anka in Romania. John says, “Alan will get married on May 24 and I am making all the arrangements for our parents to fly out there in the next couple of days while I will fly to Romania just a day before the D-day.” After a month-long shoot of Dostana, John is now spending quality time with his parents. “For me family is priority and I am trying to spend as much time with my parents as possible.”

Sanjay Dutt is known to experiment with his looks for every character and for his forthcoming film, he will do something he has never done before sport a wig for the character of Chatur Singh in Mohammed Aslam’s film, Chatur Singh Two Star. Sanjay Dutt says, “I play an inspector in it. I have sung a song in the film and will wearing a wig. I am excited about the film as I have never played such a funny character before.”

Ajay Chandok, the director of Chatur Singh Two Star, says, “We have ordered a special wig from London made by Hollywood wig specialist and prosthetic make-up artist, Mike Stringer, to ensure comfort and quality. It’s for the special look that Sanju sports in the film. It’s a Hitler-ish wig with a side partition.” It was Dutt who recommended Mike’s name to the filmmaker. It took six weeks to make the wig. Stringer’s people flew down from London for Sanju’s measurements to make the wig.

In the film, Sanju sports a fine moustache too but it’s nothing like Hitler’s.

CSTS also stars Amisha Patel, who plays Dutt’s love interest. It’s about the adventures of a goofy, lovable, bumbling cop played by Sanju called Chatur Singh who has a two-star rank. Chandok has directed Dutt in Nehlle Pe Dehla. Chandok’s next release is Khalbali Hai Khalbali which releases on October 30 and had 30 comedians acting in the film.

After shooting non-stop through an Australian schedule and then a long schedule of the film in Delhi, Sanjay Kapoor’s Harman Baweja-Genelia D’souza starrer directed by Anees Bazmee finally has a name. It’s titled It’s My Life.

Says Harman, “That’s the name Anees sir has chosen. It may change. But we all like it, because it’s about this rich subdued boy who’s petrified of his girlfriend’s father Nana Patekar and stands for hours outside her house gathering the courage to face him. It’s all about how the boy finally takes charge of his life.”

Incidentally, Harman’s co-star in It’s My Life is Genelia D’Souza, a hot favourite in the South who made her debut five years ago in Hindi cinema with Tujhe Meri Kasam. She also pairs with Imraan Khan who makes his debut in Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na on same day as Harman in Love Story 2050

Kunal Kohli took a dig at Sajid Khan and got a dose of his own medicine. There are some people Sajid Khan can’t bear to be in the same room with, and one of them is Kunal Kohli.

The Fanaa director is aware of Khan’s aversion and that’s one reason they keep sniping at each other at every opportunity.

A source close to Sajid says, “Recently, Sajid and Karan Johar were compering the at the Zee Awards in London.

During a break, Sajid, Karan, Riteish Deshmukh and Prasoon Joshi were relaxing backstage in the make-up room when Kunal Kohli walked in and asked Sajid sarcastically,What on earth are you doing here with so much make-up on?’ Kunal made that dig knowing fully well that Sajid was compering the show.”

Giving it back

Sajid was quick to come back with a retort. The source laughs, “Sajid is known to give back as good as he gets. So he told Kunal, ‘you know I am compering the show. By the way, I just saw your promo of Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic and I wanted to tell you it seems like a f**k-all film!’

There was pin-drop silence in the room. Kunal didn’t know where to look. Finally, Prasoon tried to calm things down by saying, ‘the promos are not that bad,’ but by that time, Kunal was fuming and he stormed out of the room without a word.”

Won’t keep quiet

Sajid Khan was honest enough to admit that the incident did take place, “Yes, Kunal was very rude to me for no reason and I am not the kind of person to keep quiet when someone is rude to me, so I told him about his promo.

He has been f**king me at every turn and making pointed digs at me at every awards event and I really can’t understand what his problem is.”

Kunal Kohli, as usual, tried to suggest there was no problem, “Nothing of this sort happened. You can check with Sajid, and I am sure he will laugh about it. We go back to the Zee days when we both had shows on air.

In fact, the comment you are referring to, was made in good humour, and Sajid didn’t seem upset at all. I don’t know who is spreading such malicious rumors.”

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta may be looking pretty with boyfriend Ness Wadia but their relationship is said to have turned ugly if rumours are to be believed. The news is doing the rounds that they are splitting.

Rumours has it that Preity was stranded on the road by her beau Ness Wadia, making her bear the scorching summer sun. It is said that Preity, who was travelling in her boyfriend’s car was suddenly seen on the street alone.

Has Preity’s warm hugs with Yuvraj Singh, the captain of their IPL team King’s XI, brought about the rift? Well, Ness should understand that she hugged for their team!