Kashmera is making me famous: Rakhi

Bollywood’s celebrated item girl Rakhi Sawant loves publicity of all kinds – positive or negative. And she doesn’t mind even if it comes from her rival Kashmera Shah.

‘Whether she loves me or hates me, she has made me famous by playing my role, ‘ Rakhi told on telephone from Mumbai.

Kashmera apparently played an item girl named Rakhi who aspires to become an actress in a big budget musical called ‘City of Dreams’ held in Mumbai last week.

But the ‘Jungle’ girl maintained that her role had no resemblance to Rakhi. Rakhi, however, asserts that it was undoubtedly a character inspired by her life.

‘Kashmera definitely played Rakhi Sawant’s role in that play. It was entirely based on me, ‘ said Rakhi, who has just won a reality dance contest, ‘Yeh Hai Jalwa’.

‘But even if it wasn’t Kashmera, somebody else would have surely played the role, ‘ Rakhi added.

Asked if she would ever play a role based on Kashmera’s life, she remarked: ‘No, never! I would never play any such role.’

She added: ‘Kashmera is such a girl that you befriend her and then she would backstab you. She never talks anything positive. I associate only negativity with her.’

Rakhi’s remarks are a continuation of the war of words between the two Bollywood item girls.

Kashmera had recently said of Rakhi: ‘I love to hate her and I hate to love her.’

Rakhi and Kashmera’s rivalry goes back to Sony TV’s reality show ‘Big Boss’, where the two were participants. They started off as good pals but their relations soured during the show. The duo accused each other of maligning their image to gain sympathy votes.

Their relations only worsened during reality dance show ‘Nach Baliye 3′, in which they even took personal potshots at each other.

Rivalry apart, Rakhi is currently basking in the happiness of finally winning ‘Yeh Hai Jalwa’.

‘I am feeling great and very confident. My mother is very happy. Just like when the Indian cricket team wins and gets back, my win was also celebrated like that, ‘ she said joyously.

Till date, Rakhi, who stood runners-up on ‘Nach Baliye’ believes that she was the winner of the show. ‘I was the winner of ‘Nach Baliye’. Abhishek (Awasthi) and I got the maximum points but the voting system was bad, ‘ she said.

Rakhi and her partner Abhishek had filed an official complaint against STAR Plus after the ‘Nach Baliye’ results were announced. They had levelled several accusations against the channel, including tampering with SMS votes and indulging in software manipulation.

Kareena has not made me a Size Zero: Amrita Arora

Gaunt with the wind ? That seems to be the magic mantra for all the wannabe Size 0s of Bollywood these days.

The latest slim-as-a-reed candidate is the petite Amrita Arora who like her best friend, Kareena Kapoor seems to have lost a lot of weight.

Says Amrita, “Yeah, Kareena is my best friend. And like all best friends she’s a positive influence on me. She introduced me to power yoga and that changed me life and my physicality.”

Amrita insists she hasn’t lost weight drastically. “It’s only my face. Like Kareena’s, it’s naturally chubby face. I hate it when she and now I are called anorexic. What a terrible description. We both love our meals yaar.

Trust me, Kareena eats heartily, and so do I. I’m doing nothing out of the way. I still go to the gym only once a day and I’m not starving myself.

It’s just that for the first time in my life I’ve lost weight on my face. So has Kareena.”

As for Size 0, Amrita sighs, “I’m Size 6-8. O seems a distant dream and I don’t even want to get there, please. When people talk about me being anorexic and a Size 0 I feel bad. That’s not the kind of influence I want to be on audiences. “

Amrita is happy doing an assortment of films including Gol Maal Returns where her best friend Kareena also stars.

“I’m opposite Arshad Warsi and we all live as part of one family in the plot and we all make one another happy. Now how much more positive can the influence get?”

Revealed: How Vidya Balan and Shahid’s affair started

Post his break up with Bebo, Shahid is hitting the headlines yet once again. Thanks to his latest affair with Vidya Balan! Everyone is talking about it, but no one knows how it all started.

Contrary to many believes that it was Shahid who was on a rebound and found solace in Vidya’s arms, it was Vidya who took initiative and got something flowing between them.

It was on the sets of Kismat Konnection in Canada. They had never met each other or interacted before. Upon that, they were supposed to shoot an extra intimate romantic scene.

Needless to say, both were nervous and not at ease at all.

A birdie from the sets reveals, “Shahid is an introvert and takes time to open up to people. The unit was worried because Vidya and Shahid had never met each other before. Worst it was the first day of the shoot and the scene to be shot was a romantic one.”

But then our Vidya is one hell of a girl. She decided that enough is enough and she is going to break the ice between the both.

“Vidya just walked up to Shahid. “Autograph please, ” she said placing an autograph book before him. The move took Shahid by complete surprise and he broke into laughter.

The scenario changed completely. The atmosphere suddenly seemed warm and friendly. And what’s more the romantic scene was okayed in just one take, ” the source adds.

Vidya confirmed the incident saying, “Shahid and I had not known each other. He stood aloof and so did I. I decided to break the ice and begged for his autograph. An embarrassed Shahid did not know where to look. We have turned good friends since then.”

Just good friends! We wonder if everyone is lying about them!

Mallika Sherawat’s that one special Kiss – 99 SLAPS 1 KISS

Guess what’s turning out to be the USP of Mallika Sherawat’s upcoming release Ugly Aur Pagli? Those 99 slaps that she has in the offering for Ranvir Shorey.

Believe it or not but in this upcoming riotous comedy from the house of Pritish Nandy Communications, Mallika slaps Ranvir a staggering 99 times

. And all this happens even as the two are shown to be love birds in the film. One wonders if Ranvir was a real sport to this treatment mainly because at the end there was also 1 kiss reserved for him, as indicated by the film’s tagline – 99 SLAPS 1 KISS!

Ugly Aur Pagli is the story of Kabir (Ranvir), a carefree guy who has been studying engineering for ten years now.

However, his life goes through a spin when he meets the quirky and kinky Kuhu (Mallika Sherawat). Though Kabir always wanted a girl to love, never in his wildest dreams had he imagined to come across someone like Kuhu who would make him do crazy things.

And what were these crazy things? Well, nothing less than dancing around circles, run semi naked, ride cycles without seats or wear high heeled ladies shoes! Well, 99 slaps were just a few more add-ons!

A desperate Kabir tries hard to escape Kuhu’s clutches, but in the process only ends up falling in love with her even more! Will he survive all her insane demands and tantrums?

Ugly Aur Pagli brings together Mallika and Ranvir for the second time after Pyaar Ke Side Effects. In fact it is quite a jump for Ranvir who has graduated from being Rahul Bose’s sidekick in Pyaar Ke Side Effects to being the leading man in Ugly Aur Pagli.

So what if his role required him to be a recipient of 99 slaps!

As per the makers of the film, Ugly Aur Pagli is touted to be ‘This Summer’s Craziest Comedy’. Ugly Aur Pagli is directed by debutant film maker Sachin Khot and has music by Anu Malik with lyrics by Amitabh Varma.

Suggest me a new marriage date: Rani

The question for the abundantly -talented Rani is, what next? After playing angel in Kunal Kohli’s Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic she is all set to do one more thoroughly unconventional role.

Rani plays a cricketer in Yashraj Films’ next to be directed by debutant Anurag Singh. She’s paired for the first time with Shahid Kapoor in what promises to be a first of its kind not just for the actress but for cinema anywhere.

Laughing her hearty Mukherjee laughter from her swanky new home Rani says, “I don’t know if any actress has played a cricketer before.

But I am playing one for sure. In fact I’ve been learning cricket regularly on the field for the past two months. I can most certainly play the game convincingly now, though not as good as the professionals yet. How convincing I look, we’ll soon know. It’s a very big challenge for me.”

Rani is hungry for new roles. ” At this stage of my career I feel I need new challenges. When Kunal Kohli offered me angel’s role I was kicked. I don’t now of any actress who has played an angel before, do you?”

I remind her of Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black.

“Also, ” says Rani. “For the first time I was playing a character who couldn’t cry. Now they can stop saying Rani cries so much in all her films. It was pretty cool to play a character who actually doesn’t know how to cry and who had to fly around like Hrithik in Krissh.”

Being suspended on a harness was not easy. “It required a lot of physical strength to assume the correct ‘flying’ posture on the harness. I guess it’d be equally difficult for me to look convincing as a cricketer. But I’m glad to be doing work which challenges.”

So is she equipped to join the ILP now? I quip. “I don’t know about that. But I’m definitely enjoying it. My practical sessions are on full swing.”

So who on earth is Anurag Singh and what gives him the privilege to work with an actress of Rani’s stature?

“That you will have to ask Aditya Chopra. It isn’t as if I haven’t worked with new directors before. I was in Shaad Ali’s first film Saathiya, remember? And Kunal Kohli who has made a beautiful magical film with me now started his career with me in Mujhse Dosti Karoge.”

So after an angel and a cricketer what would Rani like to play? “Maybe an astronaut like Kalpana Chawla. And I’d also love to play a doctor. I’ve never done that before. Come to think of it I’ve never worked with Shahid Kapoor before either. I’m doing so now.”

Isn’t there a danger of her being branded a resident Yashraj heroine since all her recent films have been with that banner alone?

“Why?” Rani shoots back. “Wasn’t Saawariya with Sanjay Leela Bhansali? And if Yashraj is making some of the best films in our country why should I keep out of them just because people are talking?

Incidentally my marriage date February 10, 2008 has come and gone. Would mediapersons like to set another date for me so I can start getting my trousseau ready?”

People still talk about our romantic Kiss

Now it can be told. The reason Maddy and Vidya look so much in love is Maddy’s 2-year old son Vedant.

The child bonded so beautifully with Vidya on the sets of Guru that she became a part of Madhavan and his wife Sarita’s inner circle.

All said and done, it’s just an ad. But the chemistry that Vidya Balan and Madhavan share in the ad for a mobile company has spurred movie makers to plan at least a couple of movies with them together.

In fact the cellphone company has now decided to put out a series of ads featuring Madhavan and Vidya as a couple connecting emotionally on the phone. Madhavan has been running in and out of Mumbai to complete these ads.

Says the busy Southern star, “Initially I was only the brand ambassador for Airtel’s southern market. But now they’ve signed me on for the whole country. And we’ve shot a series of ads with Vidya and me.

For the last one week I’ve been running in and out Mumbai and Chennai. During the day-time I’m in Chennai shooting for a Tamil film. Then I take a night flight to Mumbai to dub for the ads.”

Curiously Maddy and Vidya have hardly shot together for these ads about love and togetherness.

“We’ve just done one shot together. The rest has been shot with the two of us separately. It’s strange people have noticed so much chemistry between us when we aren’t even together in the ad.

My wife Sarita loves the ad. She thinks Vidya is better than me in the ad.But then she’s my harshest critic. All three of us Sarita, Vedant and I adore Vidya.”

Vidya has done ads prior to her acting career. This is her first ad post-stardom.

She thoroughly enjoyed doing this new yet old experience. “Years ago I was supposed to do Tamil film with Maddy. Then we were also supposed to do a Deepa Mehta film together.

I think Maddy and I were destined to special things in limited space. Both of us had cameos in Mani Ratnam’s Guru. People still talk about our romantic scene in the rain (including a kiss).

Now the Airtel ads. It’s unbelievable how much chemistry people have seen between us in those few seconds. I always say it’s the moments that make a romance.

Oh, it was great to kiss Emraan!!!

Sayali Bhagat, the diva termed to be Miss-India World in 2004, is one such actress who has direct competition with the likes of Mallika Sherawat, Tanushree Dutta and few Bolly-babes when it comes to performing bold in front of the camera.

The glam-girl followed the ritual of getting into Bollywood after been crowned as Femina Miss India and proved in her debut film The Train, itself, that she is ready to expose to the length the Indian Censor Board permits her to do.

And who would have been a better co-star than our kissing king Emraan Hashmi to accompany her in performing some real smoochy and juicy scenes in the film.

Sayali isn’t just seductive in her on-screen appearance but also bold enough to talk her heart out.

“Emraan is a gem of a person. It was really a great opportunity to have him as an onscreen husband and to kiss him,” says Sayali Bhagat.

The model-turned-actress seems to have a great fascination for cricketers. Where Sayali proposed to Rahul Dravid on television, few days later, she repeated the same stuff with Irfan Pathan.

At the moment the young girl is waiting for her south flick Blade Balaji to get released. As far as Bollywood is concerned her fans would have to wait for some more time to see more of this sensuous actress.

Alisha warns: F…k you pay me

Ram Sampat’s 2-Crore Rupee victory over plagiarism. The entertainment industry reacts…

Alisha Chinai: “I absolutely agree with Ram Sampat’s action. Plagiarism is a way of life in Bollywood. They don’t play by rules.

They’re unethical and they rip off songs, copyrights and royalties of musicians and singers shamelessly If this continues the music industry will crash. My warning to Bollywood : f…k you, pay me!

A R Rahman: “No comments. But it’s high time everyone cleans up their act and people start getting fair to creative people.”

Mahesh Bhatt: “There’s always someone somewhere who’s smarter than you. This case is a wakeup call for Bollywood. The world has changed. We need to mend our ways. It will now be tougher for us to ’steal’ and not get caught.

Manish Acharya: “When I made Loins Of Punjab Presents….I got the copyrights for every single evergreen song that I used as part of the music contest.

Even the music companies were surprised when I sought permission even to use a 8-second clip. I don’t watch tv so I don’t know the merits of Ram’s case. Nor have I heard the Krazzy 4 songs.

But valuing the IPR is inevitable given the film industry’s growth strategy and influx of corporate money into Bollywood.

Subhash Ghai: “Though I’ve no right to comment on this case without knowing the inside story I must say, sometimes we mistake an inspired re-worked version of a song or film as our own original work of art without realizing the complications of copyright laws.

It’s no secret that we in this country have been adapting and re-working on music and movies completely ignorant of the laws. This case has warned us about the future.

However I’m sure Rajesh Roshan is talented enough not to pick on anyone’s work.

Kunal Ganjawala: “Some of us singers have been fighting an ongoing battle against discrimination in the film industry. Do you know we singers in the film industry are still legally known as ‘instruments’? Can you imagine Lataji and Ashaji are INSTRUMENTS?

We of the playback kingdom have been fighting such discrimination for as along as we can. Seen in that light Ram Sampat’s court victory is a big step ahead. I’ve known Ram for years, have worked with him.

He’s hugely talented and he doesn’t really care about doing music in films. He’s happy with his jingles and his ventures abroad including one with the European band INXS which he has just completed. Ram has opened up the discussion about the importance of musicians in Bollywood.

However the Roshans whom I’ve worked with in Krissh, are honourable people. I can bet my last song they’d never-ever do anything underhand. Apparently the cellphone company Sony-Ericsson has goofed up.

They sent the Roshans a clearance letter to use Ram Sampat’s tune and didn’t inform Ram. This isn’t done! How could a multi-national company be so irresponsible? I don’t understand this.

I must tell you, this isn’t the first time that a talented musician has been shortchanged by a cellphone company. Five years ago a composer named Rupert Fernandes was paid a pittance for a signature tune for Hutch which became their product’s international theme.

If musicians today are thinking and getting big money, I’d say about-time. But I still insist the Roshans aren’t capable of cheating anyone.

Pritam Chakbraborty: “I’ve often been accused of plagiarism, so I’m in a peculiar position as both a musician and an apparent offender. Both Ram Sampat and Rajesh Roshan are wonderful creative people. Ram is a great musician.

At the same time I’ve grown up listening to Rajesh Roshan’s tunes. In a way this judgement in Ram’s favour is a huge leap for the music industry. It strengthens the entertainment industry’s belief in the judiciary.

On the other hand, the timing of the accusation when the producer Rakesh Roshan’s film was on the verge of release and he had no option but to pay up, is unfortunate.

I’m sure nothing mattered more than the film’s release for the Roshans. However I’m happy as a musician because we aren’t paid proper royalty in this country. In the West musicians are treated decently.

Ours is a very disorganized entertainment industry and Ram Sampat has set a definite precedent. And my respect for the judiciary has gone up manifold. An underdog winning a case so speedily….wow!

However this precedent can be misused. Any composer can arm-twist a filmmaker at the last minute to pay up.To corner a filmmaker at the eleventh hour is unethical. It will encourage a lot of people to extract last-minute compensations from frantic producers. It isn’t easy to prove copyright infringement.

Even a fiercely original film like Chak De India was accused of plagiarism. I’m afraid I’ve a reputation for plagiarism and anyone can point a finger at me. Someone just the other day said my Race song is derived from U2. Not true!

Every song based on the same raga would sound similar. People say my Yeh ishq haye from Jab We Met is plagiarized. Not one note of it is pinched.

Scarily enough the Roshans tried to take proper permission from Sony-Ericsson. There was a mess-up. So their intentions were not wrong.

Abhi-Ash’s big Anniversary plans

It isn’t as if Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan planned to be in Miami for their first anniversary.

“It just happened,” says the Big B. “Abhishek is shooting in Miami for Dostana on their marriage anniversary. And Aishwarya is going to be with him.

We’ll get them by a new technology called skyscape to speak from Miami to mediapersons in Mumbai at the launch of Sarkar Raj which happens to be on the same evening as their wedding anniversary.”

Ram Gopal Varma says it’s just a coincidence that the unveiling of Sarkar Raj will take place on April 20.

“I didn’t even remember it was Abhishek and Aishwarya’s wedding anniversary on 20 April.

We decided to do the First Look party of Sarkar Raj on this day because it was six weeks before the release. It’s just a coincidence. I don’t keep track of anyone’s birthdays and anniversaries, not even mine.”

Ramu is excited about something else. “This is the first time the actors of an Indian film will be connected to the media via satellite. We’re doing it through a technology known as skyscape.

I think it’s very exciting to reach out by modern technology in this way. It’s the First-Look party of Sarkar Raj. Aishwarya and Abhishek will be live from Miami in Mumbai.”

However the Big B will be physically present in Mumbai at the event.

Tell Ramu that the Sarkar Raj event will be eclipsed by the excitement of the lead pair’s wedding anniversary, and Ramu shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. We can’t separate Abhishek and Aishwarya’s life from Sarkar Raj.

Very soon after the First-Look event we’ll have the music release of Sarkar Raj. T Series is releasing the music soundtrack.”

After all the friction with Bhooshan Kumar it’s back to T Series!

Kareena’s cute little fan

Well if Shahid has a beautiful little girl as his special fan then Kareena has gone a step ahead by making the hottest little handsome in town as her fan.

The little fan we are talking about here is Darsheel Saffary aka Ishaan Awasthi of Taare Zameen Par.

The young lad is a huge fan of Bebo and is dying to meet her at any of the award functions.

Young Darsheel when quizzed about his favorite actress said, ” It’s Kareena Kapoor and I am looking forward to meeting her at any of the award functions that are coming up.”

Kareena are you listening?