Kareena Kapoor's upcoming movie 'Kurbaan', a romantic thriller

Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor promoted her upcoming movie 'Kurbaan' at a gala event here last evening.
Set in the United States, ''Kurbaan'' is a romantic thriller with terrorism as its backdrop.

Kareena said that the film provides a balanced dose of love, intensity and emotions.

"''Kurbaan'' is a very different kind of film, it is more like an English movie. As far as the issue of tagline is concerned, I can say that it is because the film contains lot of intensity and emotions, it has gritty," said Kareena

The film tries to depict the post bombing effect on the daily lives of Muslim population living in the US after September 11 attacks on the World Trade Towers.

On this score, Kareena said that though the film deals with militancy, it is a romantic thriller.

"It has nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre. Though it has terrorism as a backdrop but it is love story," she added.

She also promoted this film on a private FM radio station.

Directed by a debutant Rensil D''Silva, the film stars Saif Ali Khan, Dia Mirza, Kiron Kher, Vivek Oberoi and Om Puri.

Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant have composed the music for the songs penned by famed lyricist and screenplay writer Prasoon Joshi who is also renowned in the world of advertising and marketing.

The film is slated to release November 27.

“I’m big fan of Kareena”- Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif is going ga ga over Kareena and their bond. Recently giving an interview to a news channel Kat was excited to talk about her friend. Not many people know that both the vivacious actress shares the same manager too.

“She is very nice girl and I like her as well as her work. We even shares one manager and I am a big fan of her,” says Katrina.

There had been news in the industry about their cold war but with this statement of Kat, she is putting it all the rumours at rest. Kareena Kapoor was the unchallenged queen of B-Town at as far as her price was concerned. But Katrina Kaif started competing with her at every turn: with the price, the number of film, as well as endorsements.

“Whenever we meet each other she talks with me very nicely and I too love her company. I really do admire her as one of the great actress in the industry,” she states in the interview to the entertainment channel.

Looking at this statement it seems the cold war between the two actresses has ended. All’s well that end’s well is what we can say in this case.

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.

Kareena-Saif get cosy

Recently, Kareena and Saif publicly said that the two were ready to take their relationship to the next level. While this bit of news had everybody excited about an impending wedding, what the couple really meant was that they were now prepared to kiss on screen and in full public view as well. The couple was recently spotted getting cosy in public unmindful of the shutterbugs around.
This latest development however, comes as a bit of a surprise considering Kareena was embroiled in a rather embarrassing kiss-and-tell controversy a few years ago with former beau Shahid Kapur. Kissing on camera seems to be the latest fad in tinsel town.

Bad boy Salman Khan rescues Kareena Kapoor

So far we’ve heard horror stories of Salman Khan’s misbehaviour with his leading ladies. But Kareena Kapoor has a different story to tell.
“Salman has always been very protective. He has been there for me whenever I needed him. That’s partly to do with the fact that my sister Karisma is very close friends with Salman and also his favourite co-star,” Kareena, who features with him in “Main Aurr Mrs Khanna”, said.
Just how caring Salman can be was proven to Kareena when they were shooting a romantic song on the Phi Phi Beach in Thailand for his home production “Main Aur Mrs Khanna”, releasing Friday.
The beach is not sandy but pebbled. And Kareena had to go barefeet into the water with Salman. But before she could reach even halfway, she cut her foot badly on a sharp pebble.
“Kareena doubled up in pain and almost fell to the ground. Salman reflexively reached for her and swooped her into his arms. And he carried her to the water,” said a source.
The shot has been retained, although it was never meant to be part of the film.
“Throughout the shooting you could see the special bonding that they had. But that day on Phi Phi Island it got really special,” said film’s director Prem Soni.
“We came much further into the land from the sea than we imagined. When it was time to go back, we realised we had to walk through the pebbled beach and wade into almost head-deep water before reaching our boat. We had to do it. Otherwise we’d have to spend the night on the beach without food or water.
“Kareena was in this long gown and barefoot. She was in pain. Before we knew it he swooped her into his arms and carried her into a boat. It was a very romantic-looking moment and we couldn’t let it go,” he added.

Salman and Kareena on top of the world

There is already a lot of buzz surrounding UTV and Sohail Khan Production’s Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. The movie is said to have been shot extensively in Australia. A source said that, “The production team wanted to shoot in one of Australia’s leading hotel Realto and that too in the 125th floor. Usually the Australian government doesn’t allow such film shootings to take place in the hotel, but when they found out that it was none other than Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor who were going to shoot there they readily agreed for the same.”

“Salman and Kareena have a huge fan following down under. There were huge crowds gathered at the shoot locations, so much so, that sometimes they required added security to control the crowds,” added another source.

A unit member said, “The view from the 125th floor was breathtaking and overlooked nearly the whole of Melbourne. Most of the romantic scenes between Salman and Kareena have been shot here since the location was important to the scene.”

Kareena attends workshops to shed glamour image

Kareena Kapoor is leaving nothing to chance this time. Determined to match strides with the formidable scene-stealer Kajol in the Hindi version of 'Stepmom', the actress has been quietly attending acting workshops with the film's director Siddharth Malhotra.
"The last time I rehearsed for a part was for Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Omkara'. But that was a more unconventional film and role where I had to get into a milieu and character I knew nothing about. But 'Stepmom' is urban and very contemporary. I play a very normal metro-centric working girl," Kareena said.
Malhotra's film is inspired by director Chris Columbus 1998 hit drama "Stepmom", a heartwarming tale of two women - divorced Susan Sarandon and the new woman (Julia Roberts) in her ex-husband's life - and the problems they face to find a common ground of understanding.
And to attend the workshops, Kareena has been stealing time out of the rehearsals for a song she began shooting with Aamir Khan in "3 Idiots". Through the workshops Kareena is discovering how difficult it is to play a normal girl. "I walk, talk, dress like an ordinary working girl. I'll be using no makeup."
Bollywood's ace designer Manish Malhotra too is having a hard time trying to bring down Kareena's glamour quotient in "Stepmom" to look like an ordinary working woman. "I couldn't cut my hair as planned because of continuity clashes. And I didn't want to cut my long hair. But I'm going for a new hairstyle," said Kareena. The two actresses start shooting together from the end of this month.
Talking abour Kajol, Kareena said: "She's always been one of my favourite actresses. We worked together in 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'. But this is something else." There will be a lot of dramatic scenes between the two women in the movie. "The desi version of 'Stepmom' is very different from the original. My role is also a big departure from what Julia Roberts played in 'Stepmom'," Kareena said.

Salman Khan gifts Kareena Kapoor Rs 250,000 bag

Bollywood star Salman Khan went out of his way and gifted a branded bag worth Rs 250,000 to his "Main Aur Mrs Khanna" co-star Kareena Kapoor.

Kareena and Salman went shopping together in Australia while they were shooting for the film and the young actress fell for a Dolce and Gabbana handbag.

"Kareena would usually land up shopping in the evenings after the shoot in Australia. She would go alone. But on one occasion, Salman accompanied her too," said a unit source.

"She instantly liked a Dolce and Gabbana bag, stepped in and bought it. When she was about to pay the storekeeper refused to take the money saying it had already been paid for. Kareena stood zapped and wondered who could be that generous soul. It was only later that she got to know that it was Salman who had paid," the source added.

The two actors plays main leads in Prem Soni's directorial debut "Main Aurr Mrs.Khanna". Sohail Khan, who has co-produced the movie with UTV SpotBoy Pictures, is also starring in it.

The film is scheduled for release Oct 16

‘Diploma in Bollywood acting now from Canada’

A management institute in Canada is reportedly offering Bollywood Acting Course headed by an instructor who claims to have trained the likes of Hrithhik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Imran Khan, and Priyanka Chopra.

Canadian Institute of Management and Technology in Mississauga (Ontario) is said to be giving this 16-week course to be taught by a team of “industry professionals”.

With English proficiency as pre-requisite, it will instruct students in subjects such as dance, body language, action, diction and improvisation, memory and voice styling, yoga, etc., costing 9,000 dollars with additional 500 dollars for books.

Graduates will receive Bollywood Acting Diploma.

Acclaimed Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), urged that with the increasing prestige of Bollywood worldwide, Bollywood filmmakers should use original Indian themes and stories instead of blatantly copycatting of Hollywood and other foreign cinema.

Kareena thinks from her heart

Kareena Kapoor always thinks from her heart. A friend says, 
”Kareena is very emotional by nature and will go out of her way to do things for friends. And this is not limited to her inner circle. Kareena takes her decisions from her heart when it comes to close friends and she will go to any length to be a part of their movies.”

Like the actress did it for Main Aur Mrs Khanna. A source close to Kareena said, “The Khan’s- Salman and Sohail have always been close to the Kapoors since years. The Salman-Karishma duo have been paired a lot in various movie and are very close friends, Karishma was glad that Kareena accepted her suggestion to do the movie.”

“Kareena has also known director Prem Soni. And since this was his 
first brush with direction, Kareena lent her full support to him. Prem 
is completely moved, as Kareena has time and again gone out of her way 
to be a part of his film.” 
Overall Main Aur Mrs Khanna turned out to be a pleasant experience for 
Kareena. “It is one of the most memorable roles she has done,” said
 the source.

Saif not flamboyant in real life: Kareena Kapoor

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor, who doesn’t like to make her private life public, has opened up about beau Saif Ali Khan and says he is not as flamboyant in real life as he looks on screen.
“Saif is very different (from his on screen image). On screen I think he is very flamboyant, but in real life he is very understated and relaxed,” said Kareena.

“He is very classy but he has an amazing charm about himself, an inherent charm which can be seen on screen. And I think that is what’s there with him personally also,” she told choreographer-director Farah Khan on STAR Plus’ chat show “Tere Mere Beach Mein”.

The episode featuring Kareena will be aired Saturday at 9 p.m.

Kareena and Saif’s Secret love nest

Nothing stops Kareena from being a loving girlfriend to Saif, not even her packed schedule. She took off with Saif to an undisclosed location near Chicago for a secret vacation, as a birthday present to Saif (his birthday was on August 16). They took off after completing their professional commitments and spending some time with close friends.

Incidentally, they left for their secret retreat a day after Saif’s birthday. According to sources, they were busy with prior commitments in Houston due to Independence Day, after which they had to attend a meet and greet event in Chicago. They reached Chicago late in the evening on August 15 and attended the event with Shah Rukh and Katrina, after which they had dinner with them.

Kareena planned the holiday to surprise Saif, informed sources. The destination is still unknown and they will be back in Mumbai by the end of this week.

Imtiaz’s New flick has Kareena-Akshay

A proud Director Imtiaz Ali has choose Kareena Kapoor and Akshay Kumar to star in is next flick.

According to reports, Imtiaz has struck a deal with ‘Shree Ashtavinayak’ to make a film starring Akki and Bebo. Though the script for the movie is not yet complete but the star cast has been finalised.

Kareena is seems to be on cloud nine for she is desperate to repeat her ‘Jab We Met’ success.Even she is desperate to work in “Love Aaj kal” but it does not happen.Finally she gets this new flick.

Imtiaz seems to be wanting to cash on Akshay and Kareena’s ‘Kambakht Ishq’ popularity. With a sequence of hits of ‘Jab We Met’ and recently ‘Love Aaj Kal’in his bowl already, here’s hoping that Ali is able to strike gold this time too.

Netaji move-over Kareena will sizzle Khaki

For Kareena Kapoor playing a female politician for Sudhir Mishra’s Dhruv won’t be the same as Katrina playing the politician in Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti where the director has dressed her up in severe cotton and khadi to look the part.
But Sudhir feels the khadi-dressed politician is obsolete and also unwarranted. “That stereotypical look goes against the young dynamic honest and incorruptible image of the new Indian politician. Kareena in Dhruv will be dressed how you’d expect a beautiful and glamorous people’s representative to be. Look at today’s young smart politicians. They wear what they’re comfortable in.”
Apparently the three generations of Gandhi women Indira, Sonia and Priyanka are being taken into sartorial consideration to model Kareena’s natty neta’s look.
Says Sudhir, “If you remember Kareena’s printed-sari look for Chameli was a craze. I feel Kareena’s politician’s look will also be a craze.”
Reacting to Pritish Nandy’s great sense of betrayal over the apparent translocation of the Devdas script from Pritish Nandy Communications to Excel Films Sudhir says, “All I’ll say is, Mr Nandy is like my elder brother. And if my brother is angry with me I apologize.”
Sudhir has offered to make another film for PNC is lieu of the Devdas project. “We’re yet to work out the details. But the offer is unconditional. Any time he wants me to I’ll make a film for him.”

Kareena’s racy secrets revealed by Saif

Saif Ali Khan could not contain the joy of Kareena joining him in the sequel to Race and spilled the beans.

Revealing he has convinced producers to rope in Abbas-Mustan again as directors and Bebo instead of Bips for the second inning of Race, Saif said the new Race would be larger than the previous one.

Well this news surely won’t go down well with the Bengali tigress, who has been slyly written-off the new Race.

We hear Saif was so convinced about the Race magic that he went out of the way to convince the producers to hire Abbas-Mustan again as directors; applauding them for doing a wonderful job on a fast-paced thriller like Race.

Saif also shocked Bipasha by writing her off the Race sequel in favor of his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor. Saif is hoping to make Race 2 bigger and better than the original thriller and has sidelined fuming Bipasha in the name of script demand.

This is not the first time Saif has miffed a reputed actress, his current co-star in Love Aaj Kal Deepika Padukone is also left fuming at Saif who goes on raving about Kareena in all his press meets and promotions for the film. This has irked Deepika to such an extent that she is telling media on how she was the original choice for Love Aaj Kal, director Imtiaz Ali and that she was offered the role before Om Shanti Om happened. Not very professional of Chote Nawaab we say, going around B-Town putting-off leading ladies is surely very ungentlemanly.

By the way, looking at the rate at which Chote Nawab is vexing his leading ladies we feel it won’t be long before he is left with no one else but beloved Bebo to work with

‘Kambakkht Ishq’ director is Kareena fan

Kareena Kapoor might be facing the flak for her ‘bitchy’ role in Sabbir Khan’s directorial debut “Kambakkht Ishq”, but that hasn’t deterred the one-film-old director from expressing a desire to work with her again.

“I loved working with her. She is a brilliant actress and I’d love to work with her again. She is born to act and be in the movies. In fact, I think if she hadn’t been in the movies, she wouldn’t have been anywhere else,” Khan told IANS.

Also starring Akshay Kumar, “Kambakkht Ishq” proved to be a commercial hit, but was panned by the critics.

Imran Khan keen to work with Kareena, not Aishwarya

He is the latest heartthrob in tinsel town and there are many actresses who would love to be paired opposite him. But the two-film-old Imran Khan would rather share screen space with Kareena Kapoor than Aishwarya Rai.
“No,” said Imran when asked whether he is keen to work with former beauty queen-turned-actress Aishwarya. “I’m most keen to work with Kareena. Both of us shot for a chat show last week and I had great fun,” Imran told reporters here Thursday.

Dressed in a casual blue T-shirt and a tattered and torn pair of blue jeans, Imran was at his wittiest and generous best at an event to celebrate the success of FM Radio Mirchi’s show “18 Hamesha” along with RJ Stutee.

Imran, who also came here to promote his upcoming film “Luck”, not only hugged young girls but also 50 plus women when they screamed out his name in excitement and cheered every time he flashed a smile for the shutterbugs.

He even sang few lines of the hit song “Kabhi kabhi Aditi…” from his debut film “Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na” and did a jig on the song “Pappu can’t dance…” from the same movie on a special request by his young female fans. He also sang the original song “Jaane tu ya jaane na”.

Though Imran looked little embarrassed due to all the attention he was getting, he loved every bit of his interaction with the fans.

“I always love meeting my audiences and fans face-to-face and I love interacting with them at live events such as these. I feel I make fans for life,” Imran said.

“Luck”, which releases July 24, also stars Imran’s childhood friend Shruthi Haasan who is debuting with the film. Apart from them, the action thriller, directed by Soham Shah of “Kaal” fame, has Sanjay Dutt, Mithun Chakraborty and Ravi Kissen.

Jay Sean plans to Steal Piggy chops

Well Kareena recently said that twittering and computers are only for people who have no work to do, while commenting on Pritish Nandy’s rude remarks on her and Kambhakkt Ishq made on Twitter.

Hmm… well Bebo needs to set up her own twitter account because the world really swings that way and it’s the best way to tell the world what you are up-to and make contacts like the way Piggy Chops is doing.

We recently heard via Twitter that Priyanka Chopra and UK-based pop star Jay Sean are planning to work together, well there goes Bebo’s theory on Twitter and “having no work to do.’ Jay it is learnt, is smitten by Piggy Chops and wants her for his new album.

The actress is well known to be a big fan of Jay Sean’s music and gets VIP enclosure for his performances. They are said to be active friends and share a mutual understanding and trust level, as Jay told Piggy Chops on Twitter that no matter what, he will “steal’ her for his video!

So well, Bebo can lay to rest all her inhibitions about Twitter being a place meant for nerds and people who have nothing to do!

Though being miles apart Piggy Chops and Jay have bonded well and are known to exchange pleasantries over the web.

Jay Sean has earlier worked with the sultry Bipasha Basu who made a guest appearance in his music video Stolen. The track Stolen is from Jay Sean’s debut album Me Against Myself, released in 2004.

Kareena recommended Imtiaz Ali: Saif Ali Khan

Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, who has turned producer with his forthcoming film “Love Aaj Kal”, says it was Kareena Kapoor who recommended Imtiaz Ali as director for his first production venture.

Kareena had worked with Ali in the successful romantic comedy “Jab We Met”.

“Kareena highly recommended Imtiaz when I decided to produce a film. At that time ‘Jab We Met’ hadn’t released. So I met him… it was the script and the way he narrated it to me that really impressed me and we decided to make ‘Love aaj Kal’,” Saif told reporters here.

“I love the way Imtiaz works. He is amazing,” he added.

Saif was in the capital Thursday with his co-star Deepika Padukone and Ali to promote the film that is scheduled for July 31 release.

The film also stars yesteryear hit couple Neetu Singh and Rishi Kapoor along with Rahul Khanna and focuses on relationships in two different eras, showing that the experience of being in love remains the same.

Asked why he decided to venture into production, the 38-year-old said: “I decided to turn producer because I wanted to own the work that is done. I wanted to be more creatively involved in a project apart from just acting in it and take the responsibility. Basically, after working in the industry for so many years, I wanted growth.”

So did he change in anyway after taking this step?

“Yes, I have become more conscious of small things now after becoming a producer – I became more conscious about small details during shootings like whether an artist is coming on time or not, production plans are working in close coordination with other, et al,” Saif said.

The actor, who is co-producing the film with Dinesh Vijan under their banner Illuminati Films, says it is an unconventional move and will appeal to viewers.

” ‘Love Aaj Kal’ will appeal to people since it has got very genuine dialogues. It has a certain newness and boldness in character. It is unconventional, yet very commercial,” he said.

Saif On The Dilemma Of Doing Torrid Love Scenes With Kareena

Doing love scenes with Kareena for Rensil d’Silva’s film was not as easy as Saif would have thought.

How far to go with the comfort level? That was Saif’s dilemma. Though they’ve acted together in J.P Dutta’s LOC and Yashraj Films’ Tashan, Saif Ali Khan had so far not done intimate scenes with his lady-love Kareena.

But in Rensil d’Silva’s film, which he insists on calling Jehad, Saif finally gets up-close and personal with the love of his life.

Says Saif, “It’s a love story; a very passionate story, with a relevant and disturbing theme. And yes, there’re kissing scenes. See, Rensil is shooting a very real and contemporary film. We can’t have flowers touching one another to show intimacy. At the same time we wouldn’t do anything that would make us squirm while watching the film with our parents. So, there’re scenes of kissing and intimacy which have been done tastefully and within the limits of decorum.”

Saif says he had to be constantly conscious of the fact that it was the woman he loved; to whom, he was making love to on screen.

“Obviously having her as my co-star made it easier to be intimate. And it would be the easiest thing in the world for me to say I’ve done intimate scenes with other co-stars and doing them with Kareena was the same. But that won’t be true. Having her with me made me feel more responsible. I didn’t want to end showing off my relationship by accentuating the intimacy. So it was a double-edged sword. At the end of the day we’re all actors. But this was different. If we had to do the same scenes with other co-stars we may not have been as comfortable. Yes. Definitely I was more comfortable sharing intimacy with Kareena on screen than I was with other actors. ”

Considering the film belongs more to Saif, is he happy to see Kareena take the backseat? “It’s hard to say whose film it is. It’s her movie as much as mine. Hers’ is a great role with great dramatic potential.”

Now having completed Rensil’s film Saif and Kareena are off on their mysterious holiday. “We’re flying out of New York this week, stopping over at London, a city we both love for a few days and then we’re in Italy for our holiday. …Yeah one likes to be a bit private about the holidays. But then in this day age nothing is private. And I’m not Johnny Depp to have stalkers following me to my holiday. I don’t think Indians fans are that obsessive. And if some Indian fan follows us to Italy he should be applauded for his resilience.”