1 lakh for used towel! Welcome to online celebrity bidding

Imagine shelling out Rs.100,000 for a used towel! A lot of people might, if the towel belonged to a celebrity. From clothes to cricket bats - Indians are fast opening up to the idea of bidding for celebrity memorabilia online.
"People have started buying such merchandise nowadays. And there are various reasons to it - some buy them for the resale value of an item, some go for it because they are a fan of the celebrity or some just want to give for charity," Deepa Thomas, senior manager (Pop Culture) at eBay, said.
Thomas says the craze among people for celebrity memorabilia started around 2005. A Salman fan paid as much as Rs.100,000 for his used towel. Thomas says her company decided to cash in on the demand in 2005 only and the trend is now scaling high.
"The money people are ready to shell out for such memorabilia's depends on how rare the item is and also on the brand power of the celebrity. Between 2005 -2008, ebay has earned Rs.1.8 crore through sale of personalised celebrity auctions," added Thomas.
Kolkata-based Riddhi Nair decided to bid for Olympic gold-medalist Vijender Singh's boxing gloves auctioned on choreographer-director Farah Khan's chat show "Tere Mere Beach Mein" because she was moved by the way his mother brought him up.
She spent Rs.17,800 for the item and says she will treasure it like "heirloom" forever. "I happened to see the repeat telecast of 'Tere Mere Beach Mein' where Vijender's mother spoke about how she never bought a new sari for herself for a long time so that she doesn't have to compromise on her son's training. It left me very emotional.
"I was touched to see his rising - from a remote village to being a world champion. It's very thought provoking. It is the perfect example for my daughter that she must always do something big in life," said Nair, a 33-year-old housewife.
Another motivation for Nair to bid was that the money will be transferred to Mumbai-based NGO Sneha, which works towards quality nutrition, education and health care of women and children. Nitin Jain, a 39-year-old investor, bid for Priyanka Chopra's autographed Gavin Maguel designer dress auctioned on Farah's show. He paid Rs.50,000 for the outfit.
Jain says he often bids for items if the proceeds go for charity, but also had a special eye on Priyanka's dress as his 15-year-old daughter is a huge fan of the actress. "Recently, there were several items that were auctioned on 'Tere Mere Beach Mein' - the chat show on STAR Plus. We had bid for many of them and were, in fact, the second highest bidders for Bipasha Basu's shoes. But my daughter is a Priyanka Chopra fan - so she also wanted it," said Jain, who is based in New Delhi.
Other items sold through the show include Shahid Kapoor's cap for Rs.28,500, Kareena Kapoor's blue dress for Rs.22,300, Yusuf Khan's cricket bat for Rs.60,750, et al. Selling celebrity memorabilia also makes business sense for celebrities themselves at times, says small screen actor Sachin Sharma, who launched a web portal called sbuy two months ago. TV and movie stars can auction their items through the site.
"There are many celebrities in India who don't get their due. And when they land in tough times and need money, they can turn to such auctions. I had a friend from the industry who wanted to sell his car but wasn't getting the right price from the dealer. But he struck a much better deal with a fan," said Sharma, who was seen in "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii".
Sharma's website has already had 300,000 hits in two months, he claims it is evidence to the demand of such items nowadays.

Movie Review: All The Best

All The Best: Total time pass flick

Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu, Mugdha Godse, Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Ashwini Kalsekar and Mukesh Tiwari

Director: Rohit Shetty

Settled in Goa, Veer (Fardeen) is a singer by profession and is making a daily living out of his older brother Dharam’s (Dutt) sent pocket money. Veer has even lied to Dharam that he is now married and aiding him in all his lies is his buddy Prem (Ajay Devgan). Though in reality Veer is in love with Vidya (Mugdha) but her father hates him. Prem however is married to Jhanvi (Bipasha) who is looking after his ancestor’s outdated gymnasium. Things go awry for Prem and Veer as they end up losing a lot of money and are neck deep in debt. Just then Dharam takes a detour to Goa en route his travel to Lusoto. With his sudden arrival, Veer and Prem don’t get time to cover up their lies and Dharam mistakes Jhanvi to be Veer’s wife and Vidya to be Prem’s girlfriend. What chaotic situations it all leads to with multiple characters dropping in to make their problems more complicated forms the rest of the film.

All The Best is undoubtedly the most entertaining film amongst the 2009 Diwali releases. Rohit Shetty has yet again got it right when it comes to keeping his audience laughing without resorting below the belt humour and vulgar interludes. Witty one-liners and hilarious sequences involving Dutt and Johnny Lever have you laughing out loud. However, the first half isn’t that gripping. But the second half covers up for it with confusions multiplying and each actor also contributing his comic best. The length however appears stretched as it runs around 2 hours 25 minutes. Some gags could have been shorter one feels. Pritam’s music is perfect for the film.

Ajay Devgan showcases his improved comic timing and towers above the rest. Dutt too is in top form and entertains. Fardeen is passable. Bipasha and Mugdha don’t have much to do but be a part of the chaos which they do ably. Johnny Lever finally after a long time gets a meaty funny part and he utilizes this opportunity to the maxim. Sanjay Mishra and Ashwini Kalsekar make the proceedings funnier.

It’s a total paisa vasool entertainer and worth a Diwali outing. Go for it guys and forget your recession worries!

Pervert attacks Model!

It seems perverts are on the rampage what with Bipasha Basu being groped at a Durga Puja recently. Now, model-turned-actress Maushmi Udeshi was a victim while she was on a flight from Delhi to Mumbai.

The troublemaker, identified as Khan Mehfooz, was sitting behind her on the plane when he suddenly began to caress her shoulder and make lusty noises. She tried to change the way she was sitting but he grabbed her shoulder. Annoyed to the extreme, she turned around and slapped him. She then realized that he was the same man who had tried to push her not once but twice when they were boarding the flight. His friends, who were sitting next to him, started laughing. She was disgusted by the man.

Maushmi asked the flight crew to do something about the incident. Khan was then made to change his place. At first he denied touching her but when the security was called to take him away, he began to apologize. She was asked if she wanted to register a police complaint but she didn’t want to get into any kind of hassle. The incident was confirmed by the airlines.

Bipasha has never looked so simple: Rocky S

Dusky beauty Bipasha Basu, known for her bold and sensual image, is playing a Kashmiri girl in “Lamhaa” and designer Rocky S, who has draped her in the Bollywood movie, says that she has never looked so simple onscreen.

“In this movie, you will be surprised to see Bipasha in a non-glamorous role. She is without any makeup and has worn simple clothes to fit in perfectly for this role,” Rocky S said in an interview.

“She is looking very simple, and trust me, she has never looked that simple. She has always looked glamorous onscreen but this time, it would be the girl next door look,” he added.

Elaborating on Bipasha’s look, Rocky said: “In this movie, you will see her in salwaar kameez, kaftans and dupattas. The colours that I have used there are also very subtle.”

“She is playing the role of a tortured girl in the movie and this demanded a very subtle look,” he added.

Was it difficult to portray Bipasha as a simple girl?

“Not at all. She is someone who carries every outfit with elan. She is beautiful and sexy and looks very feminine. The character of this simple Kashmiri Muslim girl has brought out that femininity,” Rocky explained.

“It took me about one-and-a-half months to create the look for her. But at the end of the day, I am very happy with her look,” he added.

Mumbai-based Rocky S is in the capital to participate in the three day Van Heusen India Mens Week (VHIMW) that opened Friday.

Rocky’s Bollywood clientele includes John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Shilpa Shetty. When asked which celebrity would walk the ramp at VHIMW, the designer said: “Now I don’t need any celebrity to prove myself.”

Apart from “Lamhaa”, he is also designing for Katrina Kaif in Priyadarshan’s “De Dana Dan” but refused to divulge any details.

Bips will swear no matter what!

Swear words are “in’ now. Director Sudipto Chattopadhyay didn’t want the Censor Board chopping off the part where Bipasha Basu says the “F’ word in the film Pankh, even if it meant the film would get an A certificate. Bipasha says the word twice in the film and Sudipto was very sure that he didn’t want the Board either deleting the word or beeping it. Some of the other characters in the film use foul language too, but those parts have been beeped. He just didn’t want Bipasha’s part to get deleted because in that scene she has a fight with Maradona, whom she stars opposite. She supports as well as opposes him in the film. The dialogue is apparently relevant in the film.

When Bappa wished ‘All the Best’!

Trust Ajay Devgan to surprise us with the most unusual antics!

If you thought that making the most expensive Bollywood song and performing a somersault in a car for his upcoming film “All The Best’ was crazy enough, here’s some more news… The producer- actor launched the music of the film at Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak temple on Friday!

The entire team of the film, including Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu, and Mugdha Godse along with Director Rohit Shetty visited the temple on Friday morning to launch the music of the film. Giving them company were music director Pritam and Krishan Kumar representing T-Series (as head honcho Bhushan Kumar was not in town).

Bollywood stars, producers and directors visiting temples at the time of a film’s release in not a new phenomena, but a producer actually releasing the music of his film at a temple was something unheard of in Bollywood so far!

Interestingly, Ajay Devgan picked up Fardeen from his Juhu residence and went straight to Sanjay Dutt’s place at Bandra, where Bipasha and Mugdha were already present. The team then left together from Sanjay’s place for the temple at Prabhadevi; a clear sign of the camaraderie amongst the cast members.

The promos of “All The Best’ are already high on the popularity charts with their fresh and colorful illustrations and music director Pritam has created some rocking numbers for this comic caper; including 5 songs and 2 remixes packed in the audio CD.

Produced by Ajay Devgan Films and directed by Rohit Shetty, “All The Best– Fun Begins’ is a rib-tickling comedy resulting from mistaken identities and hilarious goof-ups.

Starring Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu and Mugdha Godse, this Diwali Dhamaka packs in some breath-taking locales, extravagant sets and a carnival of colors!

Looking at Ajay Devgan’s passion towards his films, we are sure that all the gods will be smiling down on him!

Bipasha all praise for ‘Shob Charitro Kalponik’ co-stars

Dusky beauty Bipasha Basu is riding high on the success of her debut Bengali venture “Shob Charitro Kalponik” and can’t stop praising her Bengali co-stars Prosenjit and Jishu Sengupta.

“Prosenjit is a senior and a very nice human being. He made me feel very comfortable for scenes that we did together. On the other hand, Jishu was somebody I could really get along and joke and laugh with, as we are from the same age group,” Bipasha told IANS.

Directed by maverick Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh, the film released Aug 28. “Shob Charitro Kalponik” revolves round a non-resident Bengali girl who returns to her roots through her dead poet husband’s poems.

Bipasha gets ready to rock ‘n’ roll

Bipasha Basu fans are in for a treat as the sultry actress will be seen not just shaking a leg in Ajay Devgan films’ “All The Best-Fun Begins’ but also belting out notes in this mad-cap comic caper

Adding another feather to her cap, this sexy actress will be seen in a new avatar, singing along with her co-stars Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Fardeen Khan and Mugdha Godse in a lavish song costing nothing less than a whopping 6.5 crore

Choreographed by Bosco-Ceasar and shot over 6 days on a beach in South Goa, the song titled “Dil Kare’ is a colorful pot pourri of milling crowds, fun, dancing, singing along with fighter, expensive cars and bikes- all signifying director Rohits Shetty’s trademark

Well, Bipasha has proved repeatedly that she can scorch the screen with her moves. And now with her rock-star avatar, she surely seems set to leave a blazing trail behind

This Diwali bonanza produced by Ajay Devgan Films is all set to hit the theatres on 16th Oct ‘09.

Ajay’s Stunt to Propose Bipasha!

Ajay Devgan has broken all records. In a never-before-seen scene in Bollywood, Ajay has proposed to Bipasha Basu in an upturned car, suspended in mid-air, in his upcoming film, All The Best.

According to sources, the stunt is quite unique and a lot of precautions had to be taken. The car was suspended in mid-air and it was quite a task for Ajay to maintain his balance as well as look romantic because it was a proposal sequence. It took a whole day to shoot and two days to plan out.

Bipasha Wins The Home Round Over John

Both Bipasha Basu and John Abraham have been busy this year getting their respective homes renovated.
Bipasha, it seems, has won the race to renovation. Her home in Khar (Mumbai) under renovation for the past one year is finally ready.
And Bipasha is moving back to her home.
Heaving a sigh of relief she says, “The housewarming puja is tomorrow (Wednesday) since there is no other auspicious day close by. But it will take another ten days for all of us to move back into our home. It’s been one helluva wait. The architects and designers took much longer than we thought they would. But finally I’m going home. I can’t wait. I’m tired of living out of suitcases.”
Bipasha’s boyfriend John, currently shooting in London will have to wait more for his home to be ready.
His family home on Bandra Bandstand has been under renovation for some months now, with no sign of completion yet.
Now with John in London until September the work may take longer.
“But I’m not worried. My brother is an architect and he’s taking good care of the renovation work,” says John from London with a false bravado.
However now that his better half’s home is done John intends to fly back from London periodically to check out the progress with his home.
“I’m thinking of coming down for one day every weekend, if that’s possible. But I’m glad Bipasha’s home is finally ready. That’s as good as my own home, no?”

Rituparno’s film to be screened at Durban film festival

Bengali film-maker Rituparno Ghosh’s new celluloid venture, “Shob Charitro Kalponik” (All Characters Imaginary), has been selected for the 30th Durban Film Festival 2009, in South Africa. It will be the first ever premier for a Bengali film in the African continent.
The film - produced by Indian conglomerate Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)’s flagship media arm Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd (RBEL) - will be screened in the Panorama Section of the festival, alongside films by directors such as Woody Allen, the Dardenne Brothers, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Winterbottom and many other foreign film-makers.

“Our efforts to broaden international horizons for Bengali films are beginning to be successful. Rituparno’s work has also been widely acclaimed globally,” BIG Pictures chief operating officer (COO) Mahesh Ramanathan said here Monday.

He said the BIG Pictures, RBEL’s motion pictures brand, had secured selection for 10 of its world cinema titles in over 12 prestigious international festivals in the last six months.

Written and directed by Ghosh himself, “Shob Charitro Kalponik” is a story of death and loss with many emotional and romantic moments staring Bipasha Basu, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupa, Pauli Dam and Sohag Sen.

The Bengali film is scheduled to be screened July 30 in the festival.

“Shob Charitro Kalponik” is the story of Radhika’s (Bipasha Basu) journey into the life of her late poet husband Indraneel (Prosenjit Chatterjee) and the revelations and contradictions she learns about Indraneel as a poet and husband.

Now it’s Bips-Mugdha at loggerheads!

It’s not the season but a trend in Bollywood to keep it hot and happening with cold-wars. We have heard so many cases, and now the latest one is on the sets of Rohit Shetty’s flick All The Best.
Well the gorgeous Bipasha and showstopper Mugdha seem to be at loggerhead when it comes to the length of their roles in the film. “These two beautiful damsels are not on talking terms with each other and had created a lot of drama on the sets, during a song sequence,” reported our khabroo straight from the sets.
“Recently they were shooting for a particular song which involved lot of dancing. Bipasha and Mugdha were in the sequence, but one of them gave a nightmare to the chorographer. We all know Bips is good at her steps, it was Mugdha who giving a tough time to them,” adds the source.
“Mugdha was taking a lot of time to learn the dance steps; now instead of practicing her own steps she started teaching dance steps to some newcomers. This act of hers set Bipasha fuming and she was all set to leave the shoot and go, but somehow Bosco Caesar handled the situation,” concludes the source.
Recently there was news of a cold-war between Bipasha and Katrina, which is reported to have been sorted out amicably. But when asked by the media about their khatti takrar Katrina did mention that, two actors can never become good friends.
Well Kat’s statement seems to be true. So for now all we can say to Rohit Shetty is All The Best dude, you have a major catfight on your hands!

Lady with a phone: Devgan gifts Bipasha a Blackberry

Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu has got a swanky new toy - a Blackberry - gifted to her by her co-star and producer Ajay Devgan for working round the clock for his new film “All the Best”.
And though Bipasha has lost all her numbers and she can’t identify any caller, she just can’t get enough of her new phone.

“I love it! I’m going totally crazy with it. Though I’ve no numbers on it and am trying to figure it out, I just can’t get enough of it,” says the actress who finished shooting for Ajay Devgan’s comedy “All The Best” in Goa this week.

Devgan gifted the phone to Bipasha out of the blue (or shall we say, black?) on the last day of shooting for working round the clock including late nights and early mornings. In fact Bipasha kept off the phone to the extent of not even connecting with her boyfriend John Abraham who was limping around on crutches in Mumbai trying to promote his new film.

Apparently Bipasha also agreed to do an additional role in “All The Best” without charging a single penny extra.

Devgan known to be a generous producer had heard Bipasha mention she wanted a Blackberry.

The actress said: “Yeah, Ajay knew I wanted it. In fact it was he who got me interested in it. It is actually a gift in appreciation for working long hours and changing at lightning speed between shots when we had loads of work to finish. Ajay is a fabulous co-star and producer.”

Bipasha soon leaves for Hyderabad to shoot the songs for “All The Best”. On Saturday she also watched her boyfriend’s new film “New York” finally.

“I’m so proud of him,” she whispered.