Neha Dhupia has been a busy lady this year. She has numerous movies lined up including the eagerly awaited Singh is Kinng, with Akshay Kumar.

She’s also rocking the small screen with AXN’s action awards and an international music video with R&B artiste Ginuwine.

Neha talks to Ameeta Gupta about her releases, and what she’s been up to all this time.

Your film, Maharati, will release in July. Tell us about it.

Maharathi is based on a Gujurati play of the same name. It is directed by Shivam Nair [of Ahista Ahista fame].

It has an amazing star cast. I’m surrounded by all these ‘maharathis’ like Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Boman Irani and Naseeruddin Shah. This is my second film with Naseer this year. We were together in Mithya as well.

Talk about your role.

I don’t want to get into details. Since it’s a thriller, if I’m not careful about what I say I might spill out something important and ruin the surprise element.

Are you happy with your performance in it?

I know that my director and producers are happy with my performance. I can’t judge my own performance. I’ve always been critical about my work. It pushes me to work harder.

For the longest time, I was very conscious of the camera while doing a scene. It wouldn’t seem natural. But gradually, I’ve become more comfortable. I have gained confidence in front of the camera.

How did you get involved with AXN action awards?

This is the third year running for the award and AXN was looking for a new face. They approached me and I agreed.

I have not done an action film but have always wanted to play a very rough and tough kind of a girl. This has given me the opportunity.

Will we see you in an action movie after this?

I hope so. I have been narrated an action film recently. If everything goes according to plan, it will be out next year. But nothing is concrete now, so I can’t say much.

Director Farah Khan’s Bollywood movie Om Shanti Om has been declared the most successful movie within 3 days of its mega release on 9th of November.

Om Shanti Om was released in India during Diwali and within 3 days, the movie claimed to have collected Rs. 84 Crores which crossed the sales of any other Indian Movie released during this period.

This movie has been so much successful in the box office that it defeated the sale of the Tom Cruise starrer movie Lions for Lambs which collected 52 Crores till date.

Om Shanti Om claimed Rs. 68 Crores in India while it claimed Rs. 16 Crores from US, Canada, Britain and other European Countries.

According to Bollywood sources, Shah Rukh Khan is said to have released 2,000 prints of the movie worldwide which is a record in itself.

Recenly Divya Dutta is in too much of skin show. Why?Because she wants to get rid of her bhenji image. If you check out her latest movie U , Me aur Hum then you would actually notice that majority of  her dresses has a low neck line. But who is gonna explain her that bhenji don’t turn sexy like this it takes a lot of hard work and Skin Show over process to get to that stage. After her roles in movies like ‘Veer Zaara‘, ‘Aaja Nachle, ‘Umrao Jaan‘ and ‘Apne‘, she is now going for an image makeover and even had the audacity to refuse a meaty role in the next Yash Raj flick.Not that they still have the credibility they had a few years back. Still, it does take a lot of guts to refuse a banner as big as them.

Especially, if you are still a spec on the tinsel town map! Apparently, she wasn‘t satisfied with the role she was offered and wanted to do a lot more. At least the makers didn‘t think so! 

After veteran actor Manoj Kumar threatened to sue filmmaker Farah Khan and actor Shah Rukh Khan for aping him in their newest film, Om Shanti Om, SRK has come forward with an apology.

Denying that there was a “conspiracy to humilitate and ridicule Manoj Kumar”, Shah Rukh Khan said, “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I dont think this film should be taken seriously, it’s a comedy.”

He also said that since Manoj Kumar had not said anything to him in person, he would not take it otherwise.

“Elderly people get jolted. Our fathers and grandfathers do that. I have a lot of respect for Manoj Kumar and I admit we should have been more careful,” Shah Rukh added.

In a lighter vein he said, “I have been copying actors for the past 15 years. I never took anyone’s permission. I think I should have called him to take his permission.”

He also said that they have been getting a lot of messages from actors appreciating their work in the film and calling it a tribute to Indian cinema.

Earlier on Friday, Manoj Kumar had told CNN-IBN, “People who make such movies do not know the meaning of respect and decency. They are criminals.”

The actor who gave a new definition to patriotism on celluloid said that the scene in Om Shanti Om — where his young double is shown being beaten up by the police outside a theatre — is in bad taste.

Om Shanti Om’s Shanti was in the Capital for the second time in the same week to endorse yet another clothing line.

Deepika Padukone is riding high on the post OSO euphoria and currently is the ad world’s favourite.

According to experts the model turned actress now commands a brand valuation of over Rs 80 lakh – more than five times what she used to get before her debut film.

“The Movie has done very well. I have to do a lot of hard work and enjoy the years to come,” said Deepika.

And she says she owes it all to co-actor Shah Rukh Khan and director Farah Khan.

“I feel like I have a family in Bollywood. I can call them up anytime and they are there for me,” said Deepika.

But talking about real family, do we see Deepika teaming up with her legendary father Prakash Padukone for any brand endorsements in the future?

“I know what to go to dad for and what to not,” said Deepika adding, she would surely do an ad with him.

When asked on her opinion of veteran actor Manoj Kumar’s grouse with Om Shanti Om spoofing him, the debutant said, “We didn’t intend to make fun of anyone. We didn’t intend to copy anyone and I don’t want to comment on anyone in particular”.

Hrithik shakes a leg on ‘Junoon Kuch Kar Dikhaane Ka’, Mumbai

He is regarded as one of the hardest working actors in Bollywood and now, Hrithik Roshan is the goodwill ambassador for ‘Junoon… Kuch Kar Dikhaane Ka’, the exciting new musical show on NDTV Imagine. 

Celebrating the show’s cultural and artistic diversity, Hrithik will lend his support to the participants of the Sufi - Folk and Filmy genres on the show. The actor shared, “I can identify with the participants and their desire to achieve success with their God-given talent. I relate to their positive and exuberant spirit because I believe that I have a similar ‘Junoon’, be it my work or my personal life.”

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Choreographer-turned-filmmaker Farah Khan gave birth to triplets at a Mumbai hospital on Monday, a doctor attending on her said.Khan, who directed the blockbuster hits “Main Hoon Na” (2004) and “Om Shanti Om” (2007) and choreographed song-and-dance sequences in over 70 films, is married to film editor Shirish Kunder.

“She has given birth to one boy and two girls this morning,” Firuza Parikh, a doctor at Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital, told Reuters.

“She is doing extremely well and the babies are also doing fine. They are very healthy.”

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Choreographer-turned-filmmaker Farah Khan gave birth to triplets at a Mumbai hospital on Monday, a doctor attending on her said.Khan, who directed the blockbuster hits “Main Hoon Na” (2004) and “Om Shanti Om” (2007) and choreographed song-and-dance sequences in over 70 films, is married to film editor Shirish Kunder.

“She has given birth to one boy and two girls this morning,” Firuza Parikh, a doctor at Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital, told Reuters.

“She is doing extremely well and the babies are also doing fine. They are very healthy.”

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Choreographer-turned-filmmaker Farah Khan gave birth to triplets at a Mumbai hospital on Monday, a doctor attending on her said.Khan, who directed the blockbuster hits “Main Hoon Na” (2004) and “Om Shanti Om” (2007) and choreographed song-and-dance sequences in over 70 films, is married to film editor Shirish Kunder.

“She has given birth to one boy and two girls this morning,” Firuza Parikh, a doctor at Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital, told Reuters.

“She is doing extremely well and the babies are also doing fine. They are very healthy.”

Hats off Production’s popular show Baa Bahoo Aur Baby will soon see celebrations and excitement galore!! Reason…. it’s Benaf Dadachanji aka Baby’s Birthday and that too with a special flavour – a Masquerade theme!!! The entire cast is gung-ho about the celebration, as they will get to wear masks and different costumes.

As no birthday is complete without a cake so a huge, three-tier white marble cake was brought in, the entire set up was decorated and everyone will be seen dressed up in different costumes, disguising themselves behind the mask, as per the theme. To double up the fun quotient there is a surprise package, which is for us to know and you to guess. So, stay tuned…

Catch the exciting episode this Sunday at 8:30 p.m on Star Plus.

Bollywood divas Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are back on billboards in Pakistan’s troubled North West Frontier Province after the ouster of the previous hardline regime in the recent elections.

Such billboards were removed during the tenure of the hardline Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government, which termed the display of women’s images as ”un-Islamic”.

With the new provincial government headed by the secular Awami National Party in place, billboards have been reinstalled at prominent junctions in Peshawar with the Bollywood actresses smiling down at Pushtuns who love music and dance.

Along with the Indian divas, cutouts of prominent Pakistani models too are up on the billboards.

Besides banning such billboards, the MMA government had shutdown cinema houses and the famous cultural hall, Nishtar hall, bringing all such activities to a grinding halt.

CD shops and cyber cafes were bombed by pro-Taliban militants and their owners took up other trades.

While most residents have welcomed the change, conservative forces are still opposing the installation of the billboards.

”Most of these boards have been put up outside girls’ schools and women’s colleges, which would certainly promote vulgarity in our society. We should discourage it. The government should also take measures to stop the practice,” Ameenullah, a resident of Peshawar, told a newspaper.

But university student Baryal Khan was happy to see the billboards back. ”This will help portray a soft image of the NWFP to the world,” he said.

Deepika-n-Ranbir in ‘Bachana Aae Haseeno’

They are Bollywood’s hottest couple and their lip-locking is sure bound to set the screen on fire. Ranbir and Deepika will be seen together for the first time in Yashraj’s ‘Bachana Aae Haseeno’; to make their first on-screen appearance even more sizzling Yashraj decided to add an intimate scene as part of the spin.

Ranbir and Deepika are quite the contemporary actors so director Siddharth Anand was sure that the two love birds would have no issues kissing in the movie; but to his surprise Deepika agreed and Ranbir refused as the young Kapoor lad is apparently not too comfortable with getting intimate with his love on screen.

Ranbir may have done a towel-drop act in his debut ‘Saawariya’, but he is not comfy with any intimate scenes even with his Deepika. As the title goes ‘Bachana Aae Haseeno’ the movie should be about girls hiding away from Ranbir, but it seems to be quite the other way around here as Ranbir is trying hard to ‘Bachana’ from this bold ‘Haseena’.

To be or not to be……..after much contemplation Rajshree Thakur has finally decided to call it quits from the much talked about celebrity musical show Zee TV ‘s Ek Se Badhkar Ek.

She was an eye sore for the judges Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Ahmad Khan, but she somehow managed to make a foothold on the show despite average performances.

Just when the competition was heating up with Shayantani, Jasveer and Sanobar on one side and Kushal and Abhishek on the other, the lady pulled a fast one and before she could be ousted from the show, she made a quiet exit herself.

For quite sometime now, the grapevine was rife with speculations that Rajshree is suffering from arthritis but Rajhshree vehemently rubbished all such reports and claimed on the show that she has a ligament problem and hence has been advised complete bed rest.

Did somebody say, “ She was scared of competition??”

Aishwarya Rai has been offered the role of Yashodhara, wife of prince Siddhartha, in an English-Hindi bilingual film called Buddha being made by a Paris-based Indian filmmaker.

The star, whose portrayal of Jodha in Ashutosh Gowariker’s epic romance Jodhaa Akbar was well-received, has been offered the role by director of spiritual and crossover films Pan Nalin of Samsara fame.

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