Cine Perk

Actress Priyanka Chopra is on a roll these days. Despite the debacle of Love Story 2050, she has a lot to look forward to this year and so do her fans. The actress is believed to have done a bikini number in Tarun Mansukhani’s Dostana . And if reports are to be believed, then she has gone ahead and done a sizzling number in the soon-to-be released Drona.

The actress will be seen in a lot of glamorous avatars this season. First was her golden bikini bit in Dostana, then there is the Drona item number, finally culminating in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion. But coming back to Drona, the actress has just shot an item number for the film. It is believed to be the female version of the title track, to be sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. The dance has been choreographed by Ahmed Khan. The actress plays a character called Sonia in the film.

Sonia is Drona’s bodyguard. Her character is portrayed as being tough and intense and powerful. The actress professes to have enjoyed shooting for the film as her character was a different one and for which she had to undergo a lot of training. Priyanka’s role is perhaps a first for Hindi cinema, where the female is the bodyguard and a sexy and tough one at that. Goldie Behl’s Drona is supposed to be a fantasy film, on the lines of Hollywood classics like Indiana Jones and Pirates of The Caribbean.

South Indian actress Lakshmi Rai, who has starred opposite Malayalam superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty, has finally realised her dream of entering Bollywood by signing a film opposite singer-actor Himesh Reshammiya.

Lakshmi plays the role of a Punjabi girl in the film “Hey Gujju”, directed by Satish Kaushik. And she has already shot two songs for the film. Lakshami says her dream is finally coming true. “I had always dreamed (of working in Bollywood). I have been extremely busy ever since I started working for my first debut film ( Karka Kasadara ) in Tamil.” She added: “And bagging this Hindi film is the best thing that has happened in my career. Since Himesh is the hero of the film, I’m sure the film will be well publicised and will be a huge project. I was able to bag this project only because I look like a Punjabi,” said a delighted Lakshmi.

The young actress made her foray into Kannada films with “Snehaanaa Preethinaa” opposite Darshan. Her second Kannada film “Minchina Ota” with Vijaya Raghavendra and his brother Murali, has evoked mixed response. Lakshmi has also made her presence felt in Malayalam cinema opposite top stars Mohanlal in “Rock n Roll”, and Mammootty in “Annan Thampi”. But the actress maintains that despite stepping into Bollywood, she would continue to act in films down south. “Signing a Hindi film does not mean that I will not be part of south Indian films. I am looking forward to the release of my two Tamil films Dhaam Dhoom in which I am paired with Jeyam Ravi, and Muthirai with Nithin Sathya and Daniel Balaji.

After delivering back to back super hits, Trivikram is gearing up for his next film with Mahesh Babu. The film is tentatively being referred to as Varudu.

Trivikram Srinivas is very busy with providing final touch ups for the film. One item still pending is the confirmation of the heroine. Even though several heroines were considered, the cue now points to either Priyanka chopra or Tamanna. A few sources say taht Tamanna is pretty much confirmed. But there is no strong note on this yet.

It could go either ways. Second heroine is confirmed to be Parvati Melton. Parvati Melton also played second heroine in Jalsa. Regular shooting of the film will start towards the end of August. A song and few scenes along with a major action episode will be pictured in this schedule that will be shot in Rajasthan.

Manjari, who rose to fame as Imran Khan’s girlfriend in this year’s hit film ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’, will soon be making her Tamil film debut.

The venture titled ‘Muthirai’ (stamp) will go on floors shortly, Manjari said.

‘Though I am yet to see a real Tamil film (I have seen some dubbed in Hindi), I am a fan of Mani Ratnam,’ the actress added.

Manjari, however, is not completely new to the film industry down South. She will be seen in the Telugu film ‘Siddhu From Srikakulam’ opposite Allari Naresh, which will be released soon.

Sources close to Manjari said she was considering as many as five film offers.

‘Muthirai’ is being produced by Anees Tanvir, widow of late Tamil director Jeeva, a press release added.

The famous FM radio channel BIG 92.7 has now planned for a rare feat which could fetch them a record. They are looking at a non stop marathon session of talking starting 9.27 am on Friday and there will be about 44 stations which will take part in it. The first target of the event is to reach 92.7 hours of continuous Radio Jockeying and speaking about it the RJ in Kerala station ‘Kidilam’ Firoz said that he has been going through some intense breath control and yoga exercises for the upcoming event.

The second season of reality show “Bigg Boss” is all set to hit television screens Aug 17 and will be hosted by Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty on entertainment channel Colors.

It would be the first reality show to be telecast on all seven days of the week, Rajesh Kamat, CEO of Colors, said a press conference here announcing the programme’s launch date.

The Indian version of the popular British reality show “Big Brother”, “Bigg Boss” will see 14 people, including celebrities, locked into a house under the surveillance of over 30 cameras for a period of three months. These housemates will have no contact with the outside world.

Shilpa, who won “Big Brother” last year, was almost a natural choice to host the second season of the Indian version. And she had a word of advise to those participating in the show.

“The winner needs to just be oneself … that’s the main mantra,” Shilpa said.

The actress also emphathised with the participants as she had been through the situation herself.

“I’ll try to give them a little respite as I know that they will be going through a tough time. I remember what it was to live with strangers in a house cut off from the outside world with nobody to trust and vouch for,” she said.

Asvini Yardi, programming head of Colors, said Shilpa would be more like a mentor for the participants as she has gone through a similar experience.

CEO Kamat refused to divulge the names of the participants and said they would be revealed only on Aug 17 - the first episode.

He said that the second season would see many additions to the first one.

“For the fist time we have included newsmakers as well as common people on the show. Besides, we are also introducing a half-an-hour live and unedited slot everyday starting second week that will be aired at 12.30 a.m.”

While there won’t be any privacy, the house located on the outskirts of Mumbai would have no phones, television, internet, books or even a clock.

The 14 participants competing for a prize money of Rs.7.5 million will be allowed to bring only essential items to the house and they would have to cook and clean the place themselves.

Participants are voted out by housemates and the audiences periodically. The first season of “Bigg Boss” was aired in 2006 on Sony Television.

Actress Shilpa Shetty is just back from a spirituality course in Andhra Pradesh where she observed a three-day vow of silence.

‘I was at the Oneness meditation camp in Chittoor district. I had undertaken a ‘maun vrat’ till the end of this week. I did a spiritual course there and returned to Mumbai Sunday,’ Shilpa told IANS.

The actress has discovered a new affinity to meditation thanks to the spirituality course at the Oneness University.

‘The place was so beautiful and calm. Though it’s hard for me to keep quiet for more than 10 minutes, I found it easy to remain quiet when nature seems to second my tranquil emotion,’ she added.

Shilpa, constantly into health and fitness activity, discovered the spirituality course through a common friend.

‘It’s a fabulous mind and body healing course. When I met the spiritual leader at the Oneness University, I could feel his divine energy flow from him into me. I know it sounds like mumbo jumbo. You’ve to experience it to know how it feels.’

The Bollywood actress is also into yoga in a big way and has even brought out a CD called ‘Shilpa’s Yoga’ that was released in June.

The Oneness course has become very popular among celebrities in India and abroad. Big names from Hollywood like Gerard Butler, Uma Thurman and Richard Gere are some of those who have undergone the course. And from Bollywood, Manisha Koirala has enrolled at the Oneness University.

Actress Asin much before completing her shoot for first Hindi film ‘Ghajini’ had signed for a project with Director Priyadarshan. However, now she has been eliminated from Priyadarshan’s ‘Aisae KoThaicha’. Ever since, Priyadarshan had offered to play female lead role for this film, she had an assertive approach. But then as she signed set of TV commercials, she insisted Director Priyadarshan to postpone the shooting. Frustrated by her reply, Priyadarshan has now eliminated her and is now looking for a new heroine.

Buzzes are that he would be roping in Genelia for she had earlier performed in his ‘Mere Baap Pehle Aap’. Sources close to Asin have revealed that since the film has three heroines, she thought that her importance would be less and that’s reason lying beneath her refusal.

Superstar Rajnikant’s mega Tamil film ‘Kuselan’ was released in Karnataka Thursday night with two special shows organised for the actor’s fans at two theatres here, hours after he accepted his ‘mistake’ for remarks that had angered Kannada activists.

But the release of the much-awaited film was preceded by high drama that saw the Tamil film icon, who was stationed in Hyderabad, giving an interview to a channel accepting that he had made a ‘mistake’ in speaking at a protest rally organised by the Tamil film artists association in favour of a water project being built on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border.

Pro-Kannada activists in Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka began a protest agitation Wednesday to block the release of ‘Kuselan’ in Karnataka, saying the Tamil superstar should apologise for his ‘anti-Kannadiga’ statements. The Kannada activists were not satisfied with the letter written by Rajnikant to the president of the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce requesting a trouble-free release of his film.

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, headed by Narayana Gowda, had even questioned the authenticity of the letter. ‘We have doubts about the authenticity of the letter. I think that the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce (KFCC) created a letter on its own. The KFCC members somehow want the film to be released,’ Gowda had told reporters.

On Thursday, volunteers of pro-Kannada Karnataka Rakshana Vedike headed by Narayana Gowda sat on a dharna in front of the office of the KFCC and demanded that ‘Kuselan’ should not be allowed to be released in the state until Rajnikant makes a personal apology about his anti-Kannada stance during a rally in Chennai for the Hogenakkal project.

A delegation of pro-Kannada activists met Jayamala, the president of the KFCC in her chamber. After nearly two hours of talks with Jayamala, the delegation returned unconvinced. They said the protest would continue and they would stall the release of the film.

Jayamala then contacted Rajnikant, who was in Hyderabad where he had gone to attend the preview of ‘Kathanayakudu’, the Telugu version of ‘Kuselan’. A private TV channel was requisitioned for an interview with the actor. The TV channel has its offices in Bangalore where its Kannada channel is established. The actor spoke in Kannada and said that he had ‘learnt a lesson’ from the episode and ‘will think 10 times’ before he is asked to speak in any function. He also reiterated that he had not spoken against pro Kannada activists but only against people who were using violence as a means to achieve their ends.

After the TV interview appeared live on the channel, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike volunteers felt satisfied and announced that they were taking back their agitation programmes. However, some dissenting voices were still heard.

But Jayamala requested them to co-operate and allow the release of the film.

As earlier planned, ‘Kuselan’ was released Thursday night at the Cauvery and Urvashi theatre and tickets were sold exclusively for fans of the actor.