Why everyone is so concerned about my skin show: Gul Panag

Gul, the beautiful dimple, was seen last in Summer 2007, though for a little while as the film didn’t work well at the box office. Now the babe is ready to knock at the theatre doors with her three upcoming projects. Here is a scrap of conversation between Rajnee Gupta and the versatile actress…

Q. Please tell us about your character in Hello...
A. I play Priyanka – a girl who is very glam, and aware of the power of her good looks. She has shades of grey that makes her very real and relatable.

Q. The film is based on a novel. How did you feel giving life to such a character especially while you know that people know about the character?
A. I tried to play the character with utmost honestly and sincerity. I also had lots of discussions with Chetan Bhagat about playing Priyanka. Lastly, I left myself completely in the hands of Atul.

Q. Have you ever read the book?
A. Three times before meeting Atul for the first time. Twice again while filming.

Q. Atul Agnihotri as a director... tell about a good thing and a bad thing...
A. He is a very gentle person, and finds it difficult to be tough with people, which I suppose could be a bad thing. And because he's been an actor, he's fabulous with actors, which is a great thing.

Q. How was the experience of working with actors, especially Isha? You are doing Hello Darling with her and it's because of her that the shoot got delayed all the time...
A. Eesha is extremely talented and hardworking. I got along well with her during Hello and got even closer during Hello Darling. Shoot's get delayed for lots of reasons, but I can assure you not on account of her. She is too professional for that.

Q. Salman and Katrina are also there in this flick. Do you have any scene with them?
A. No. I shot the promo song with Salman, though, and it was a great experience.

Q. Summer 2007 flopped. What do you expect from this film?
A. So? So did many other big films. One can't stop being part of good cinema on the basis of their box office future. As for this film, it is a good film and very well made. Expectations? I never think about things that are out of my control! When a good film does well it shows that the audience has good taste.

Q. You entered Bollywood from a glamour world of beauty contest but accepted non-glamorous roles. Then after all these years suddenly you got entangled in a controversy of skin showing. Do you intend to change your image with that or have some other intention?
A. I am fortunate that I have the image of a "good" and "credible" actor. And I would not want to change that. Actors take years trying to get that.

As for glamour or the lack of it, I have to say it's a complete non issue for me when choosing my roles. And just because I've done de glam roles in the past doesn't make Gul, the person, de glam. I am what I am – someone who is versatile enough to be able to carry off everything.

And about controversy, I am not aware of any!! And skin show?? Please!! When have I ever been the demure one in a sari or salwar kameez off screen??

Not more than a few times and that, too, for maintaining the sanctity of an occasion. I have always dressed in my own way –whether it's short dresses or deep necks there's nothing new or different and certainly no 'intention'.

Q. Your forthcoming projects...
A. Right now I am engaged to three projects, namely Hello, Hello Darling and Straight. In Hello I am working with Sohail Khan, Sharman Joshi, Ishaa Kopikar, Amrita Arora and Sharod Saxena.

In Straight you can watch me with Vinay Pathak and in Hello Darling I am screened with Celina Jaitly, Ishaa Kopikar, Javed Jaffrey and Chunky Pandey.
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The secret of Katrina's hot quotient!

Finally revealed the secret of why Katrina is so super hot. Literally at that! A close friend of the actress reveals, "Katrina has shot in the most extreme weather conditions with temperatures as hot as a burning furnace

. But never once has she complained about it." Giving an example the friend added, "The Singh is King's song shot in Egypt, it was burning hot that time. The entire cast and crew were perspiring profusely except for Katrina.

She looked absolutely chilled out. In fact the hot weather only added to her energies as she went about doing her work calmly. The entire stood surprised." It is the cold weather that leaves Katrina absolutely cold.

"While shooting for Ajay Prem Ki Ghazab Kahaani in Ooty, Katrina had wrapped herself in layers of blankets.

In fact it made quite a funny sight where unit members including Ranbir began teasing her saying, "We now know that most apt gift to give you on any occasion—shawls and sweaters.

Guess success has not turned Katrina thick-skinned!
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Drona is my biggest, my best: Abhishek Bachchan

The countdown has begun for the two biggies that are slated for release this Idd: DRONA and KIDNAP. A lot is riding on these two films.

In terms of economics, both are expensive films. Plus, the careers of Abhishek Bachchan (DRONA) and Imran Khan (post JAANE TU… YA JAANE NA) are at stake. Will DRONA live up to the humungous expectations?

"It's my biggest and best film so far," Abhishek Bachchan tells me. He's supremely confident this time. "I don't speak like this, do I? But DRONA is different. It's the most expensive film I am associated with. Besides, Goldie (Behl; the director) has executed the subject remarkably," he states.

Abhishek and Goldie have got together after more than seven years (BAS ITNA SA KHWAB HAI was released in July 2001).

In between, in 2006, Goldie had plans of making a thriller with Abhishek, but decided on making an adventure fare instead. "Goldie was disheartened after his debut film failed. Later, he diversified into television; he wanted to make his company secure before he announced his next film," Abhishek reminisces.

Abhishek credits his directors for the (sterling) performances he has delivered in films like YUVA and GURU (Mani Ratnam) as also SARKAR and SARKAR RAJ (RGV).

"If at all DRONA works -- and I hope it does -- Goldie should get the credit for it. He has worked very, very hard. I am sure, the Indian audiences haven't seen an adventure film like DRONA before," he says confidently.

Abhishek has worked in the DHOOM series as also SARKAR and its sequel. There's talk that a sequel to DRONA is in the offing.

"Oh yes! Goldie has written so much in the intervening period that he's ready to take the DRONA series forward. In fact, the possibility of a sequel can easily be explored," he adds.
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Final verdict of ROCK ON is still awaited - Ritesh Sidhwani

'While ROCK ON is a clear Hit, it is still too early to arrive at the final verdict. The film has long legs and I expect it to continue doing good business for 4–5 more weeks at the least'', says Ritesh Sidhwani who along with Farhan Akhtar has now delivered yet another success in the form of ROCK ON.

For a film which is approximately budgeted at 10 crores, ROCK ON has done quite some roaring business for itself already, isn't it?

''Correction, there are all sorts of speculations that are going around for ROCK ON but let me say it on record that it is much higher than 10 crores. And I am not just talking about adding print and publicity cost.''

In that case, are the collections still good enough? ''Yes, we are very happy with the collections'', smiles Ritesh, ''Just from theatrical business we should be making good profits. Add to that all the satellite/home video rights and overseas collections and it turns out to be a neat number.''

Current numbers indicate around 22 crores from 3 weeks for ROCK ON. ''But that's not all because from so many smaller centers, it takes time to get the final number. Moreover, there are quite a few digital prints floating around and their collections have to be added up as well. I am not surprised if 22 crores is the reported number because in the final run when the balance sheet is prepared for a movie, the numbers always tend to be a little more due to additional information coming on'', explains Ritesh.

Ritesh has good expectations from the final total of the film and keeping his fingers crossed. Meanwhile, the production company has plans of launching many more films in next few weeks to come. Stay tuned!
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Arjan Bajwa flattered by female fan following

If enjoying the company of three beautiful women – Priyanka Chopra, Kangana and Mugdha Godse – was not good enough for Arjan Bajwa in FASHION, here is more for him. To his pleasant surprise, he recently discovered that he has quite a fan following for himself, especially from females. He realized this from the countless messaged and invites which he received the moment he started exploring his 'Facebook' account. Though most of the messages were cute and flattering, some of them were a little naughty as well, something which Arjan didn't really mind.

Arjan opens up after an initial hesitation here, 'Come on, this could happen to any guy, be it from the film world or outside it. Anyways, it was quite a pleasant surprise to see young females talking about me. It was quite flattering though a few of them were seemingly swooning during their compliments.'

Does he care to divulge any details?

'Hey, it would be unfair to any of them if I start giving out details', Arjan becomes a little protective here, 'The only thing I can say is that it is nice to see yourself being an object of affection for someone. I know there are lots of females out there who have very good expectations from me in FASHION. I just hope that I have done good enough work to be able to meet their expectations. A fan base can be truly enjoyed only if you give them back some good performance as well.'

As Priyanka's love interest in FASHION, Arjan is not new to the world of glitz and glamour. Making his debut 4 years back with a love story WOH TERA NAAM THA, Arjan was noticed first for his controlled performance in GURU. Earlier this year, he was also seen in SUMMER 2007 and in a month's time, he would be seen in his biggest project till date, FASHION, which is directed by Madhur Bhandarkar.

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Why sons and daughters not a hit in film

When Abhishek Bachchan had married Aishwarya Rai there was a salivating anticipation among the media planners that the whole family would be a huge brand and there was a great synergy in using them in combination for promoting a brand. However no campaign has been rolled so far, in which even the couples have been featured together, what to talk about the family as a whole.

It indeed is an interesting value proposition that the film star families, where both husband and wives are celebrities are not featured in an ad on a regular basis, though it happens in sports on a regular basis. Could it be owing to the fact that when in a family of sports star appears in a campaign as he is the sole celebrity the campaign uses him or her as the foci and builds up the copy around him, while this maxim is difficult nay impossible to operate in case of film stars as one cannot be excluded at the cost of the other for promoting a brand.

Could this also be the reason that we see a Hema Malini being featured along with Esha and Aahana in an ad campaign as the quotient of halo around Hema Malini is of a higher magnitude when compared with Esha and Aahana. Is it also the same reason that Sharmila Tagore appeared in ad with Soha Ali but has not featured with Saif Ali Khan in a campaign so far?

The celebrity couples are in large numbers but they seldom appear together in a campaign. Amitabh Bachchan for record had appeared with Abhishek Bachchan in a campaign for Maruti Versa but after that there was no follow up. Ajay Devgun had also appeared along with Kajol in few ads but now it is Kajol who is going solo, while Ajay has dropped out.

Is it owing to the fact that the campaign designers still see each of the stars as individual entities and do not go into account the metamorphosis that has undergone into their relationships or do not try to change the relationship in the mind of the consumers through designing a campaign in such a manner. LG who has Abhishek Bachchan as the brand manager tried to do it once, but did not follow it up.

Advertisement after all, is innovation so why not innovate. A beginning could be made with DRONA where Abhishek Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan are appearing together and an ad campaign could be built around it. Or for that matter in the next series of “What an Idea Campaign', Big B could be roped in. Possibilities are endless, only deconstruction in the approach is required.
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SORRY BHAI is a happy film - Onir

''MY BROTHER NIKHIL and BAS EK PAL formed a certain perception about me amongst audience as well as media. I hope it changes with the release of SORRY BHAI'', smiles Onir who has now taken a light hearted route after his earlier attempts that mainly explored dark themes.

'''Dark theme' – I guess this tag attached to me would break with SORRY BHAI'', laughs Onir who got quite some critical acclaim for MY BROTHER NIKHIL and to an extent BAS EK PAL. However, box office success evades him.

''I am sure SORRY BHAI would certainly do the trick'', says Onir whose film stars Sanjay Suri, Sharman Joshi and Chitrangada Singh in a love triangle, ''It is being presented by Vashu Bhagnani. Now from the man who has made quite a few entertainers over the years, you don't expect a serious film coming out, isn't it?''

The film is currently in its post production phase and is eyeing an early 2009 release. Meanwhile Onir continues to have fond memories about his Mauritus shoot which concluded a few months back.

''Working with Shabana Azmi was a dream come true while Boman Irani was one of us youngsters out here. We all became kids; I guess it was the beach affect'', recollects Onir, ''In fact I remember that there was this scene in the film where Sharman is required to step into the sea and play saxophone. Once I called 'cut', it was irresistible for me not to enter into the sea myself. I spent quite some time fooling around the beach even though pack up was announced.''

SORRY BHAI is a relationship based light hearted entertainer which sees two brothers (Sanjay Suri, Sharman Joshi) who fall in love with the same woman (Chitrangada).
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Kajol in RAB NE BANA DI JODI?

It's a known fact that Kajol has been SRK's lucky mascot ever since the duo shared the screen space in BAAZIGAR (way back in 90's). Whenever this hit jodi of Bollywood came together the film worked wonders at Box–office. Audiences adore seeing their blazing chemistry on–screen even if it is for few seconds. And that is the reason SRK prefers to have Kajol's presence (even in cameos/special appearances) in his movies.

Last she was seen in SRK's home production OM SHANTI OM (but in a special appearance) which again turned a massive hit.

Now that SRK's one more esteemed project RAB NE BANA DI JODI, which is being directed Aditya Chopra and stars newcomer Anuskha Sharma opposite King Khan, is impending. SRK has once again roped in his dear friend and lucky charm Kajol for RAB NE BANA DI JODI. No the bubbly actress is not paired with SRK but only doing a song in the film. If the reports are to be believed than it was none other than ace filmmaker Aditya Chopra's idea to have Kajol's presence in the film.

Reportedly, the song will be shot in Mumbai. And Kajol will appear in one of the verses of a song filmed on Shah Rukh and newcomer Anushka Sharma. The setting of the song will be a Punjabi folk event, and Kajol will appear for few seconds before the song ends.

So all those diehard SRK–Kajol fans can enjoy the glimpse of the jodi once again!

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