John Abraham is sexiest Asian in the world

John Abraham has been adjudged the sexiest Asian man in the world in 2008. In the annual round conducted by Eastern Eye, a leading British Asian weekly, Abraham emerged the top in a shortlist of 10. The weekly sent judges a shortlist of 10 names. The judges then ranked the names according to their individual preferences and the newspaper then compiled the results to produce a final list. "John Abraham made up for a quiet year with a sensational look in Dostana, with one of the greatest physiques ever seen on the big screen. His body helped to make the film a hit with Asian women," Hamant Verma, editor of Eastern Eye, said. The judges included Brianna Ragel, editor of Asian Woman Magazine, Che Kurrien, editor of GQ India and the former editor of FHM India, Farhad Dadyburjor. 2007's top guy actor Shah Rukh Khan stood at third place after Hrithik Roshan in second place. Abraham was at third place last year. Newcomers to the 2008 list include TV presenter Rav Wilding (20) and actors Harman Baweja (22) and Stephen Uppal (21). Britons on this year's list include Upen Patel (five), Jay Sean (nine) and boxer Amir Khan (ten). The top ten sexiest male includes, John Abraham, Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ali Zafar, Upen Patel, Ranbir Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Imran Khan (actor), Jay Sean and boxer Amir Khan.

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I am an employee of the myth of SRK: Shah Rukh Khan

We don't start with ABC here but with SRK. So tell me what makes an extraordinary SRK ordinary? I think the reason people become extraordinary is because their roots are ordinary. I don't think it works the other way round that you happen to be an extraordinary, and then, with humility and modesty talk about your ordinariness. First of all, I don't believe I'm extraordinary. My very good friend and writer of Chak De India, Jaideep Sahni told me yesterday that the irony of your life is that when you tell people the truth, they believe either you're being too humble or honest, which is true. I don't find anything extraordinary in what I do. It's a job like everyone else does. I wake up every morning, apply my make up and try and get my best shot possible. You are here to interview me and you'll hope that this one is better than the last one. That's what I'm doing since last 20 years and our film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is akin to that. Is that being diplomatic or simplistic? I always say this; I am an employee of the myth of SRK. For the first time you will see the worker behind this myth and Rab Ne's Surinder Sahni, the character, is that worker who is a little boring, hard worker, may be not good looking but he is actually the engine what drives the myth. It's being simplistic. What ideas, values or experiences did you and Aditya Chopra bring along with you from 2000 to 2008, from Mohabbatein to Rab Ne...? What we've realised from DDLJ days is that a lot of faith has been put in our creative ability to entertain. For years, what we've tried to do is cater to what we think people want to see. They've always said that we'd like to see a cool guy singing 'Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam' in Switzerland and we gave that to them. It's not important that we keep giving them what they want to see, but the question is, can we give them what we want to show them and ask them whether they liked what they saw. That is the difference from Rab Ne... to DDLJ. When we made DDLJ we were very anxious. We tried to show the Lamborghini or the Harley Davidson, but now we want to show them the engine that drives these things. We are now challenging the status of faith given to us by the audiences saying, 'You guys told us that you like us, now we will show you what we like and not what you like to see'. And what is Adi going to show them this time around? Rab Ne is a big entertaining film and the funniest film Aditya Chopra can make for the simple reason that he is not a funny guy. Even during DDLJ, I had to bring in a lot of humor. We've tried this time to bring this same humor in an ordinary way. People, when they travel abroad eat chicken in KFC or a burger in McDonalds or some grilled food in some restaurant. But when they come home after a month or two and sit down and are being served hot paratha and curd, you feel it's the best you've ever had. Rab Ne... is the best you've ever had. What about today's kids, let's say...Aryan, will he identify with his extraordinary status? When I am trying to show my son Aryan heroes of today's day and age and even heroes of our mythological era, he is not interested. For kids, a hero is a guy who is normal and ordinarily extraordinary.. They don't need their hero to be in flashy clothes. But as long as he performs he is a hero for them. Like the footballer Ronaldo is a hero for kids because his actions are performance based.. 'Hero toh woh hota hai jo Shah Rukh Khan hota hai', that's not true. Hero is one who does his job well. For Aryan, I might be his hero too because he knows I do my job well. I've seen that an ordinary man is very secured about his status. . The purpose of life and your existence is becoming more important. I tell my kids that I did Om Shanti Om because I believe that if it's not happy, it's not the end. . What's your status then? It's strange but the people of Malaysia knew what my status was when I went there to receive my knighthood. They were holding these huge banners which said, "The person who likes to see people smile - Datuk Shah Rukh". . That's what I am. It's another thing that I get paid crores for doing that now. But I got Rs. 5, 000 for my first film to do the same thing and will continue doing that in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.. It's strange to be working with a stranger. You expect the unexpected from them. How did the debutante Anushka Sharma come across? All these girls are really wonderful. They are in a world which is very well informed, more informed than my world when I was 20. They have access to information and because they have access to information, I believe that they have access to expressions that I didn't have at that age.. I've grown up with some expressions of life. I didn't know what a terrorist was; I didn't know what an internet was. I had to first access it and then learn it. So when you're working with new comers as talented as Anushka what happens is they express themselves in a language that I'm just getting to know.. Over the last couple of years, I've learnt not to correct them (new comers) because I need to correct myself. When I said a line in DDLJ which went - 'Zindagi mein do raaste milte hai, ek sahi, ek galat'. . Everybody told me how beautifully I had said those lines. I don't think Anushka will say the same lines like I did. But when she says it the way she says it now, it'll be as beautiful.. I truly believe that new comers are great actors because they do things completely out of the box. I just thanked Anushka and her parents last night by saying, "Thank you for allowing me to do something different.. Luck plays a significant part in everyone's life. It has played in your life and mine too. I want to know how luck has affected Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi? Adi says that this film is made by 'Rab' and not luck. I just called him and told him that should we just postpone the release of our film keeping in mind the situation in Mumbai right now and he said, "This film is made by 'Rab' and we will let it release on time as planned. All what is happening was made to happen. Rab knows what He is doing". I never planned to work with Aditya Chopra and he never planned to make a film. It all just happened. The reason I did Rab Ne... is because Raju Hirani's film got cancelled. So Adi came to me and said that he had written a film in 12 days and wanted me to be a part of it. I agreed and we finished the film in 47 days. Rab Ne is 20% better than what we planned to make. It's all in Rab's hands!

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I love Abhishek to death: John Abraham

John Abraham talks about his physique & remedy for homesickness after 3 months of shooting in Philadelphia for New York. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the film is called New York and you're why were you shooting it in Philadelphia? Because the topography is similar. A lot of films located in New York are actually shot in Philadelphia. I was shooting for three long months and if it wasn't for my parents, brother and sister-in-law and Bipasha visiting, I'd have gone crazy. When they all came to see me, I stopped feeling homesick. I was away for so long, sometimes when I woke up, I forgot where I was. Before Philadelphia I was in Miami shooting for Dostana for three months. Homesick? I love Phili. The hotel had become a home. Now I go to Boston for Abbas Tyrewala's film where star with Abbas' wife Pakhi. She's perfect for the part. When I'm away, what I miss most is the ghar ka khana. My parents had come over. But I wouldn't let my mom cook here. No way. I pampered her. Looked after her like a little baby. That's what one is supposed to do with one's parents especially when they get old, no? They need clean healthy air. I think I'll take them to Boston too. Dad is an architect so he loves to check out the buildings and architecture. But before Boston, I come back to Mumbai to do a film called Hook Ya Crook with David Dhawan written by Rensil D'Silva. It's not a typical David Dhawan comedy. We're both excited like two children. You're a good son. I'd really want to believe I'm a good son. How was the shooting in Philadelphia? Gruelling but very satisfying. I shot the most emotionally and physically exhausting scenes of my life. Frankly, I haven't done an action film since Dhoom. It's a genre I really enjoy. This film New York that I'm doing has very effective action. I not only had a lot of running around to do. But I enjoyed myself. At this point of my career I just want to push myself beyond the limits. By wearing the briefest and briefs and giving an interview on why you wore it? Oh that was an endorsement for Dostana. And besides I'm never ashamed of talking about my body. Though at times I do feel like a meat shop. So why go on and on about your body? I am proud of my physique. But I feel I'm also good with emotions. In fact I perform the best when I'm unhappy. I function best when in angst. New York is your second film with Kabir Khan? I loved doing Kabul Express with Kabir. I loved shooting in Afghanistan right in the midst of Taliban. Now I'd love to shoot in Iraq. I'm a sucker for pain and agony. I'd love to shoot in Iran. My grandfather was from Iran. My mother's cousins are in Iran. You collaborate well with your directors these days? Yes, I'm equally at home with someone as commercial as David Dhawan and as niche as Nagesh Kukunoor. I believe as much in my directors as they believe in me. You may be right when you say I was the outsider when I did Dostana with Karan Johar. But it took me no time to settle in. Karan is a fair person. As for Abhishek, he's no co-star or colleague. He's a friend. I dote on him. I love him to death. We never compete. We complement each other in Dostana. We share a great chemistry. Abhishek and I are a couple in the film. Yes, so we've been told. Let me ask you a 'straight' question. Do you think Indian audiences are ready for gay jokes? I'll give you a 'straight' answer. People laughed at the Kantaben track in Kal Ho Naa Ho. It was very essential for us in Dostana to not take advantage of a certain sensibility and project that as a caricutural as a joke. We've succeeded in doing that in Dostana. Happy to be a gay icon? I've been told that. And I accept it very graciously. But women have reacted as strongly to me in Dostana as men. Some have reacted to the sensuality others to the fitness. But everyone has a query about my body. Sometime I feel I belong to a meat shop. I really am not comfortable talking constantly about my anatomy. Very often I don't know how to react. Initially it was fun to be regarded as a body-beautiful. I wonder how audiences will react to my physicality in my next release Aashayein where I've lost 30 pounds. No stripping in that? None whatsoever. Not that I believe that if you show your body you can't act properly. I really like fielding questions on food, diet and other clichés on health. I always advise people to be clean in body, mind and environment. Neil Nitin Mukesh who's shooting with you in Philadelphia has great respect for you? He's like my younger brother. I love him for the fact that he dotes on his parents. He's a wonderful kid with a great future. He's a simple and clean. We spend a lot of time together. Out there you've no choice. You have a point. Deepa Mehta's Luna with Rachel Weisz is off. So I got to know from your article. Deepa and I haven't spoken about it. As for Kamagatamaru I'd still be willing to play the other lead because it's as important as Akshay Kumar's role. It's always a pleasure working with Akshay. I'm very happy for him. He's a very positive person. We get along beautifully. Why the delay in the release of Aashayein? I think some negotiations are going on. Percept has now decided to release it around December. Aashayein is a beautiful film and Nagesh is great storyteller. What else have you signed? Only Abbas Tyrewala's film. Beyond that I haven't really opened my accounts book, I'm happy doing films I'm completely convinced about. I'd love to work with Anurag Kashyap again. I can talk to him for hours. Like me, he's happy doing his own thing. I'm an off-roader while other actors are on the highway. Do you miss home when you're away? I miss the people though not the city. I'm happy wherever I am as long as my work goes well. But I like to be in Mumbai, though not in the rains. I believe Mumbai should have rains. But we don't know how to cope with it. We don't have a civic sense. We Mumbaikars have it in us to be an international city. When I travel abroad I wonder why we can't be like the other big cities of the world.

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I don't want to be 'Size 0' anymore: Kareena

In her next release Kambhakt Ishq Kareena plays a surgeon who moonlights as a super-model. A surgeon who's a super-model? Sounds like a deadly combination. "Yeah my character flies to Italy to become a super-model to support herself financially. I didn't want to play the character looking like an international model because she's basically in another profession. So she can't really have the figure of Victoria Beckham, can she? I had to look more filled up. Again, for my next release Mr & Mrs Khanna with Salman I play a wife. So I wanted to look more filled up. Not that wives can't be curvaceous. The one I played in Golmaal Returns certainly was." For her forthcoming films Size 0 is out. No more international anorexic looks for her. Kareena Kapoor is down to a healthy normal desi girl's model-like figure. Reason? "My forthcoming releases required me to get back to a fuller shape. Now Kareena has decided to hold steady with her new weight. "I weigh 54 kgs now, which for a girl my height is quite fine. People used to wonder what 'Size 0' is and I'd joke, 'Just look at me'. I don't want that anymore. I want to look like a nice normal healthy girl."

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Nandana Sen is a topless wonder!

Nandana Sen is a bold chick. Her fans are in for a pleasant surprise as she has indulged in full frontal nudity (well, almost) in the movie. Her fans are in for a pleasant surprise actually, thanks to her bold ways. The lady will reportedly be seen fully naked from her waist above in her much talked about Ketan Mehta flick 'Rang Rasiya'. Well, initially people thought that the Censor Board would cut the scene but now the buzz is that Nandana Sen's assets will be witnessed by all and sundry. Nandana has reportedly said, "I'm not surprised by the decision at all. That scene forms the very core of the film. 'Rang Rasiya' is itself about censorship of art. The political message as well as the emotional drama in our film revolves entirely around that particular scene, making it absolutely essential to the narrative." She's added, "Everyone who has seen the film has commented to us about how the scene complements the film, so why would the censor board think any differently?"

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Rab Ne Bana De Jodi sweeps the nation

Yash Raj Films reeling under the impact of a series of setbacks in 2007-2008 is all set to make a grand comeback with his latest big-time release Rab Ne Bana De Jodi.

In spite of the terror attacks two weeks ago and the downward curve in Yash Raj's recent image, the film had a massive opening which is expected to get better over the weekend and past it.

Roshan Singh a leading exhibitor of Bihar sums up the unexpected euphoria surrounding the latest Shah Rukh Khan starrer. "It's opened to full houses, the best opening I've had for a Yash Raj Film in the last two years. I should know, because my theatre screens all the Yash Raj films in Patna. People love the film. Nobody expected Rab Ne... to be such a sweet love story. Shah Rukh as an ordinary small- town guy proves he is truly the king. And the new girl Anushka is a revelation."

What's working for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is the working-class ambience.The film delineates the dreams and aspirations of ordinary people.

"And the whole idea of putting the couple into a dance reality-show is a stroke of genius. Audiences immediately identify and connect with this new medium of getting famous overnight," says Roshan Singh.

In Mumbai, the responses on Friday ranged from exceptional to very very good. Said the Singh Is Kinng producer Vipul Shah, "I'm not surprised by the warm welcome that the film has got. After 26/11 Mumbai needed a feel good film. And the Shah Rukh-Aditya Chopra combination after eight years....Their last film together was Mohabbatein. I was really looking forward to the film. We don't get a film from the team that gave us Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge that easily."

With the heartening opening of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi the industry reeling under the twin impact of a recession and 26/11 can breathe easy.

The best reaction to the film's opening came from film's director Aditya Chopra and leading man Shah Rukh Khan's best friend Karan Johar in New York. "Rab Ne Bana Di will prove once and for all that the Adi-Shah Rukh jodi is god sent."

Don't 'Rab' that combo the wrong way.

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Thumbs up to Shah Rukh's 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'

A cinema hall here resonated with the sound of applause as soon as superstar Shah Rukh Khan made his entry in 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'. It continued, reaching a crescendo towards the end of the film.

The film is a hit, the audience and members of the film fraternity say.

'It is a super duper hit', 'Shah Rukh looks so good', 'The songs are great' were just a few of the reactions of those who managed to see the first show of the film Friday.

Retired Major-General Jasbir Lacshar and his wife Triptinder watched the film and both of them felt it is a 'very clean movie'.

'You can go and watch it with your family. The movie is too good. I think it is exceptionally well-made. The overall packaging of the movie is also excellent,' Jasbir Lacshar said.

Set in Amritsar, 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' is the story of a mismatched couple played by Shah Rukh and newcomer Anushka Sharma and how the two of them find love in the backdrop of a dance competition.

The film is Shah Rukh's first release of the year. Apart from this, it is the first Shah Rukh Khan-Aditya Chopra film in over eight years. They had last collaborated for 'Mohabbatein' in 2000.

'Rab Ne?' saw a massive opening despite the recent Mumbai terror attack and the business for the film is expected to get better over the weekend.

Roshan Singh, a leading exhibitor in Bihar, told IANS: 'The film has opened to full houses in the cities, the best opening we have had for a Yash Raj Film in the last two years. People have loved the film. Nobody expected 'Rab Ne?' to be such a sweet love story.'

According to Singh, what's working best for the film is the very fact that it is about an ordinary man.

'The film delineates the dreams and aspirations of ordinary people. And the whole idea of putting the couple into a dance reality show is a stroke of genius. Audiences immediately identify and connect with this new medium of getting famous overnight,' he explained.

People from all walks of life have loved the film.

'This is a super duper hit movie and Shah Rukh Khan has proved that he is the real King,' said 22-year-old Gurmeet Singh, a college student.

For Lalita Tripathi, 20, the film was completely 'paisa-vasool' (worthwhile). 'For a change, Shah Rukh has not overacted and he looks very good,' she said.

The response to newcomer model-turned-actor Anushka Sharma is also positive.

While exhibitor Roshan Singh said she is a 'revelation', Neeraj Chauhan, a film buff, felt she has acted very well.

'The way she has danced, it seems as though she is a thorough professional,' said Chauhan.

Filmmaker Vipul Shah of 'Singh Is Kinng' fame says he is not surprised by the warm welcome to the film, as 'after 26/11, Mumbai needed a feel-good film'.

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Vidya: Mean with men and machines!

Vids could well drive the boys crazy with her dusky beauty and sex-appeal (so what if she’s nowhere close to size zero, our desi men like all
kinds, no?).

But ask her to really drive, we mean drive a four-wheeler mean machine, and the gal pushes the panic button. The lovely Vids fears driving more than anything else. Apparently many years ago, while she was at the wheel, she crashed into a truck and narrowly escaped disaster. And for years nothing could bring her out of her ‘drive-o-phobia’; Vidya Balan would rather sit on KJo’s hot-seat everyday, than take charge of some swanky hot wheels. Such was her fear. Until now, of course. For her movie, Ishqiya, a scene demanded that she had to be on the driver’s seat; and no, she wasn’t allowed to ghumao the audiences with a body-double.

So Ms. V was left with no choice but to step on the gas
. Well, the director, Abhishek Chaubey, and the unit were very supportive. They had a van parked outside the sets throughout, so between her shots she could practice driving. Now the other question is — who will risk their life with her? Will it be Arshad? Or Naseer? Yep, they’re supposed to be in the car with this dangerously beautiful diva as she vrooms around town. Goodluck to the brave men, this is sure gonna be one helluva ride. As for Vids, we gotto tell you this babe, you’ve to be fast ‘n furious with both men and machines. Unless you know that already, of course.

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