What's cooking?

Is newbie Shazahn Padamsee and cricketer Yuvraj Singh the new jodi in town? Buzz around them seem to suggest so...


Actor Shazahn Padamsee, who had a dream debut in Bollywood opposite actor Ranbir Kapoor in Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, is currently riding high in terms of her Bollywood career. After bagging a role in Sajid Khan's multi-starrer Housefull 2, the actor apparently has been signed on as the brand ambassador of a major pen brand, replacing actor Soha Ali Khan.
The brand's commercial will feature Shazahn opposite cricketer Yuvraj Singh. Now, the buzz is that there is something more to Shazahn's inclusion in Soha's place. According to our sources, Yuvraj might have something to do with Shazahn signing on the same brand as him. "Soha, who has been the brand ambassador for the brand for quite some time now, was suddenly replaced by Shazahn. There is no doubt that Shazahn is, probably, in the best phase of her career right now. She has some really good projects in her hand. But one can't ignore the Yuvraj factor in all of this," the source adds.

Recently, both Yuvraj and Shazahn have been hitting the same events in town — beginning with a magazine's annual awards do. They were later seen together at the launch of author Chetan Bhagat's new book. More recently, the rumoured pair were seen attending the launch of a new restobar. Another source tells us, "They are attending the same events, but go to the place separately. Now it's come to light that Shazahn has just been signed on as the ambassador for this brand and guess what, it's opposite none other than Yuvraj!"
Now only time will tell if anything is indeed going on between them.

Followers of Bigg Boss season five would be in for a surprise of sorts on Wednesday. In a bid to boost TRPs, Bigg Boss' house will see a splash of saffron.
Before you hit the alarm on this one let us assure you that this is a different hue of saffron. Joining the bad boys, girls and others of the House will be left-liberals poster boy and self-avowed agnostic Shyam Vepa Rao aka Swami Agnivesh.
As we wait outside, a large red strolley arrives for the swami to pack his stuff into. We learn that the first 14 guests got one each but for the new ones the same 14 are being recycled. We wonder why a man of renunciation would need a bag so large and he just laughs, "I'm sure I don't have enough to fit a small one too. But this is the format and I am going with it."
Not exactly a stranger to controversy, we ask the 72-year-old Chhatisgarh born swami whether it was this aspect of the show or the money that was an attraction. While he ducks the latter he says, "Why not Bigg Boss?" According to him, "The show is a huge draw among urban middle class viewers. It offers the best platform to sensitise masses to critical developmental issues which affect the country. I want to go there and make people aware of issues like hunger, poverty, rural agrarian distress and displacement."
But isn't participating in something which is part of a crass, voyeuristic narrative going to create problems for his image, we ask, and the man in robes vigorously disagrees.
"I have watched the show and I don't think there is anything pornographic about what is shown or done. So where is the question of voyeurism?" he asks, but concedes, "Yes, the bitter fighting over trivial issues between inmates of the house does seem unnecessarily negative."
He quickly remembers to add, "I am not entering the house to compete with anyone or evict anybody. I just want a platform to speak about issues."
He says he was enthused with the sustained huge response to Anna Hazare's movement against corruption. "I have been part of movements since the 60s but this one was an eye-opener for me too. I have never seen these levels of enthusiasm and vigour among the urban middle class ever. I admit it was perhaps our failure to enthuse them enough."
He says he wants the battle against corruption to go beyond 2G, CWG, Adarsh and other scams. "The vulgar wastage of money at weddings in a country where people die hungry is as much part of corruption as the scams and I want the masses to take this up as well."
But will the masses indeed get enthused to see him in this new reality avatar?
Watch this space.

'I believe in making Sundays special!'

...says actor Shahid Kapoor, as he talks about his indulgences on the holiday



For actor Shahid Kapoor, Sundays stopped existing soon after he entered the film industry. So when he does get the day off from his hectic shoot schedules, the young star tries to make the most of it. "Working is a seven day affair here and the concept of Sundays usually just doesn't apply in Bollywood, so yes we try and make the most of the Sundays that we do get for ourselves. Not that I don't enjoy the working, but a day's indulgence on a Sunday is always welcome," says Shahid.
"Work outs are something I don't compromise on at all, so apart from that there's nothing regular about my Sundays," he adds. "Listening to music, catching up on movies, playing with my dogs, meeting up friends," is usually that comprise the actor's Sunday schedules, he reveals.
"If I can manage to take a few days break, then I often try and head out with my friends. I love the outdoors, as much I love chilling indoors. So, basically on my Sundays I try to pack in everything that I usually can't indulge in on a regular weekday," he adds. Recalling his Sundays as a child, Shahid says, "As a kid I used to hate Sundays as that meant not being able to meet school buddies, but then it also meant getting the whole day to play and dance and I would love that too."
An avid biker, Shahid is known to be quite passionate about his mean machines. "Yes, I love my bikes and biking, but I don't wait for Sundays to get on them," he points out. "I usually ride out late nights, sometimes as late as two in the morning as the roads have less traffic." So where does he ride out to? "The bike decides the direction really," he laughs. On a serious note he adds, "It could be just about anywhere. There have been times when I have rode to Nariman Point and back, just like that," he adds.
But one thing that the actor hopes to start doing on his Sundays is to take cooking classes. "I want to learn cooking really. I think it'll be fun," he shares.

Actor Sameera Reddy who had been
working non-stop for her upcoming
films is taking it easy and busy doing up her
house as of now, as she has finally moved in
her new apartment. The actor who lived
with her parents till now has shifted in her
new house which is just minutes away. The
new house is also in Bandra, considering
that the Bandra girl has some rather fond
childhood memories associated with the
place. The actor is now spending time doing
up her pad. However, the dusky beauty is in
a state of dilemma because on one hand she
has bought a new house, but on the other
hand she will now be staying away from her
parents and on her own. Sameera tweeted,
“Loving my new place!! It’s a strange feeling
though! To shift from my childhood home.
Super excited! Grah pravesh puja happened
yesterday!”

KISMET - Ashok Kumar

Released in 1943, Kismet was
the first Hindi film to feature a
anti-hero. Ashok Kumar played
Shekhar, an unapologetic thief
with trademark flamboyance
On being released from jail
Shekhar picks the pocket of a
thief who has stolen a watch
from an old man. Shekhar run
into the same old man who tel
him that the watch would hav
bought him tickets to a pla
which features his daughter

BAAZIGAR - Shah Rukh Khan

Baazigar is the film that esta
lished Shah Rukh Khan as a versatile actor. Ajay Sharma
played by Khan, is the son of
businessman who is cheated by
his employee Madan Chopra
Ajay’s father and sister die because they can’t
afford medicines when ill. Ajay swears
destroy Chopra and his family
He is ruthless as he fakes love
with both of Chopra’s daughters, even killing one of them.

KHALNAYAK - Sanjay Dutt

This film released at a tim
when Sanjay Dutt was arreste
for his alleged role in the 1993
Bombay riots. The poster
showed a dark photo of a co
man behind bars. And the film
lived up to the hype. Dutt play
Ballu, a dreaded criminal who
has only one match: Inspect
Ram Kumar Sinha. Ballu break
free from a maximum securi
prison and later kidnaps Ram
girlfriend, Ganga.

Yuva - Abhishek Bachchan

Lallan Singh in Yuva is one
the best anti-hero characters
the last decade. It helped A
hishekh Bachchan establis
himself as a serious actor. La
lan Singh is a goon working f
a politician in Kolkata. Wheth
it is in his relationship with h
wife, or beating up college st
dents, or even dealing with h
own elder brother, there is
streak of madness in Lalla



Neil Nitin Mukesh - JOHNNY GADDAR

Vikram is the youngest of a five
member gang of crooks and going
by his looks, the most innocent.
But he is having an affair
with one of the gang member
wife. A big deal is about to go
through and each member
stands to make a profit of
Rs50lakh. Vikram realises tha
he stands to make crores if h
steals everyone else’s share
Things go awry when one of the
gang members dies while
Vikram is stealing the money

For any documentary editor, there's always the problem of plenty. There's usually a lot of footage at hand, running into hundreds of hours, and it takes some time to figure what to go with, and what to leave out. In the case of George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Marty (Martin Scorsese, director) and me had more than 600 hours of footage sourced from three different sources: one is from George's personal archives, another source was Apple Records — the record label formed by The Beatles — and the third source was our research team, scourging around the world looking for footage on George.
A lot of stuff you would never expect to find popped up in the process. A clipping of George performing 'Roll Over Bethoven', which is used in the film, is from a local TV show in Poland. My favourite footage is shot by the head of one of George's fan clubs years ago. She visited his house and shot his parents — the only footage we had of the two. We used a lot of still photographs of George's, most of them from his personal collection, like from his first trip to India.
After having edited the film, Marty and I came up with a version that lasted a little over four hours. But Marty wanted audiences to watch the entire film in one sitting, and hence we had to bring it down to three hours and thirty minutes. There was a lot of footage we shot that never made it to the final movie (but will be part of DVD extras) not based on whether they were close to George or not, but on how articulate they were. At the end of the day, they had to fit into the story Martin wanted to narrate about George. The film took three years of my life, but it felt like working on two movies — one about the life of the Beatles (part I of the documentary) and the other is Harrison's own life after the band broke up (part II).
What differentiates a documentary film editor from a feature film editor is that a documentary editor is also the film's script writer. In feature films, there's a designated screen writer. But in a documentary, or at least the ones I've worked on, there's no script. The director and editor have to structure the footage, and then script as they edit it. I'm not saying it's easier or more difficult than editing a feature, but editing a documentary gives you a different kick.

Sachin Tendulkar has been stuck on ‘99’ for the last 149 days. After his free flowing 111 in a World Cup match against South Africa in Nagpur on March 11, the iconic Mumbaikar has had 12 chances — four ODIs, including the World Cup final, and eight Test innings — to get that cheeky ‘single’. As the first Test against West Indies starts in New Delhi on Sunday, cricket lovers are talking about the much-anticipated milestone yet again. Fate will present him with six more chances over the next three weeks. And given the not-so-threatening attack, Tendulkar could well rewrite history again. Delhiities, Kolkatans and, of course, Mumbaikars (the three host cities) would be hoping the landmark event takes place in their city. Whose prayers will god answer

Actor Diya Mirza and Zayed Khan have earned more than just accolades from fans, post
their film Love, Breakups, Zindagi. The production company set up by the two actors has
won a Hero to Animals Award from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India,
as in the film, Dia and Zayed bring home a stray dog who they find sitting on the road.
“We give Love, Breakups, Zindagi ‘two paws up’ for reminding moviegoers that India’s streets
are full of loving animals in need of a good home”, says PETA India Chief Functionary Poorva
Joshipura. “We encourage everyone who has the time and resources to care for a dog or
cat to adopt a homeless animal in need — you’ll have a loving companion for the rest of his
or her life.” Well, incidentally, the two are known to be quite the dog-lovers in real too.

 

Audiences have seen actor
Amar Upadhyay
spend time with the ladies
and have his share of arguments
inside the Bigg Boss
house. However, one thing
that most might not be
aware of is that Amar is a
complete fitness freak. Having
dealt with some weighty
issues during his previous
television stint, Amar seems
to have become extra careful
about his looks and food
habits. A source says, “Amar
spends hours a day toning
his body and keeping him in
shape. In fact, he has also has
been seen helping the ladies
with lifting weights.” But
wonder if starting fights too
is another strategy to burn
those calories Amar?

Actor Rati Pandey is a vibrant
and vivacious girl,
but ever since she’s playing
the role of a serious, dominating
young woman in Zee
TV’s latest show Hitler Didi,
she’s apparently trying to
shrug away her outgoing
mode to stay in character.
But recently while shooting
in Delhi for a shaadi sequence
in Chandni Chowk,
no one could stop Rati from
breaking into a jig to the
sound of the band baaja.
Standing amidst several
baraatis swaying to the
catchy beats of the band,
Rati could hardly carry on
the pretence of being all
grim and grumpy and joined
her favourite co-star Smita
Singh, who plays Sunaina
Bhabhi, for a quick jig.
While director Mohit Jha
was a little irritated initially,
later he too joined in the fun,
as did the rest of the cast and
crew. Seems that Rati follows
the work hard and party
harder funda, right?

South calling

Actor Manjari Fadnis, who is best known for her performance in Jaane
Tu Ya Jaane Naa opposite Imran Khan, will soon be making her debut
in a Kannada film Munjanee. She is cast opposite south actor Ganesh
and the movie is directed by filmmaker S Narayan after he saw her role
in Telugu film, Shubhapradham in which she played a simple Indian
girl. Probe her to share a few details about the film and she replies, “All
I knew was that I loved the script.

There are big names attached to the
film and it was being produced by a very big banner.” Apart from this
film, she already has three Telugu, one Tamil, one Bengali and another
Kannada films in her kitty.

Remember Duryodhan in BR
Chopra’s Mahabharat? Well,
Puneet Issar has now turned a filmmaker
and he is now making a film on
the racial abuse that Sikhs faced in
the aftermath of 9/11 bombings. His
directorial venture I Am Singh is a
film which gives out a social message
on the racially motivated atrocities
committed on Asians, particularly the
Sikhs, in the US, in the aftermath of
the 9/11 terrorist strikes. In the film, Puneet plays the role
of the real LAPD cop who was suspended after refusing to
remove his turban and shave off his beard post the 9/11
blasts.