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Monikangana Dutta

Monikangana Dutta: I have a boyfriend already!: The Guzaarish debutante Monikangana Dutta finds it a bit hard to stomach the rumours linking her with co-stars Hrithik Roshan and Aditya Roy Kapoor because she is already dating someone.

"Thank you, I have a boyfriend already," Moni is quoted as saying. Though she hasn’t revealed his name, she does make it clear that she wouldn’t date anyone from her professional line and also that she can never marry an actor. So, who is that lucky fellow whom this lithe lass is dating? He is an entrepreneur, says Moni.

The model plays Hrithik’s beautiful ex lover and assistant in Guzaarish. Moni says she never faced any problem on the sets. Her co-star Hrithik was not only supportive but also helped her during the shoots as the model was new to working in a movie set-up, and she thinks herself lucky because she found Hrithik to be as handsome and gallant as she had imagined him.

Moni is just speaking her mind about Hrithik, so no rumours please!

Kareena Kapoor Interview: showering praise on the Shahid Kapoor: Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor might not be on talking terms but this does not stop Bebo from showering praise on the actor.

Recently, in an interview, Kareena has admitted that she likes Shahid as an actor and thinks highly of his talent.

Kareena also made it clear that she is open to working with Shahid in future and will not shy away if the right opportunity comes her way.

Though Kareena might be contemplating marriage with Saif Ali Khan, it seems the actress has no qualms about dealing with her past love Shahid when it comes to being professional.

Aishwarya Rai Interview: i play best role in the industry!: Aishwarya Rai, who plays a 'typical' girl of the 1970s in the retro comedy " Action Replayy", says she didn't try to imitate any particular actress, but picked from the looks and mannerisms of all reigning heroines of that era.

"There isn't any particular actor whom I followed. In terms of visual styling, make-up and hair, there are lots of actresses from that time. There is no signature reference of any particular actor of that time. It's a collage of all actors," Aishwarya, 37, told in an interview.

Preceded by serious roles in period films like " Umrao Jaan" (2006) and " Jodhaa Akbar" (2008), it was the word 'retro' that caught her attention when the film was offered to her.

Aishwarya reveals that "Action Replayy" was originally a play by the film's director Vipul Shah himself, and he did not deviate much from the original script.

"It's wonderful that I had so much of period films to do and yet they are all different. When Vipul said he wanted to do a retro film, the word retro was quite catchy. He didn't call it historical era, period piece, pre-independence, he called it retro era," she said.

"The moment you say retro, we all go into the 70's. I instantly knew it was different," she said.

"It's a fun genre. Vipul was very clear about the film he was making. It was a play that he made several years ago. He was very clear in his narrative, and didn't want to change anything except when most necessary. Of course, we improvised, but not that much, because Vipul was clear about what each character was supposed to do," Aishwarya said.

The actress said though it's a comedy film, she got enough scope to exhibit her acting skills.

"This film gave me the opportunity to do something. We have pushed the envelope even in the comedy genre, where we have revisited another era. Of course, visually there are aspects of styling, make-up and costume, and there are nuances in acting. As my character is very boisterous in the beginning of the film and then becomes mellow and feminine, we have spoofed it in the acting style of that time," said Aishwarya.

Did she ask for tips from her parents-in-law Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan?

"No, I didn't sit with Ma or Paa because, like Paa has always said, your work speaks volumes. You need not sit with them and literally speak. You have their films to refer to," she said.

Aishwarya feels her career has come full circle in the past two years as she is doing films with directors she worked with in her initial days.

"I am thankful to get such good roles in my career. It's a blessing and there are lots of very good memories and they were fulfilling," she said.

Dev Patel loving punched to Freida Pinto!: Freida Pinto still remembers small incidents that brought Dev Patel closer to her while filming Slumdog Millionaire.

One such incident was when Dev accidentally punched her in the face while giving one of the promotional interviews for the Danny Boyle-directed film.

“Small things bring so much joy to us, like when we were first doing interviews, there was one time when Dev punched me in my face by mistake,” Freida is quoted as saying by femalefirst.co.uk.

Apart from this ‘love’ punch, there were many other small incidents that Freida says only she and Dev can fully appreciate.

“The only two people who can understand what happened on Slumdog... are the two of us. Even our families, who appreciate and support us, are still on the outside and that is why we hold it so very dear to our hearts,” the 26-year-old star said.

Freida is presently in the news for her film Miral and the soon-to-release You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.

Kareena Kapoor Interview: I am a good actress!: Kareena Kapoor says she hasn't been doing good roles because she knows she is a good actress and doesn't have to prove it to anyone. No! Gossip Mamu didn't make that up!

Loud mouth Kareena, who turned 30 in September, made her histrionic brag in an interview with CNN IBN after host Rajiv Masand observed that Kareena's ambitions appear to have changed.

Masand quizzed her on why she was going for big ticket movies such as RA.One, Agent Vinod and Bodyguard, instead of seeking challenging roles such as the ones that she did in Chameli, Dev and Omkara.

"Everyone knows that I am a good actor. I have proved it time and again. I can always come back to those kinds of roles," Kareena replied without a trace of humility.

Bebo went on to explain that talent doesn't matter these days. At the end of the day what matters is the box office success or failure of a film.

"How many people are concerned about an actress' talent? Let's be honest here."

Gyaan for Vidya Balan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji?

Bebo went on to say that other actresses like Katrina Kaif (Rajneeti) and Priyanka Chopra (Kaminey, Saat Khoon Maaf) are now getting good roles only because she cannot be paired with Ranbir Kapoor.

Because of it, "they are having a field day!" says Bebo.

Gossip Mamu is perplexed with the Ranbir logic, considering he didn't feature in Kaminey and Saat Khoon Maaf?

Here are some other Bebo nuggets from the interview.

"I stay miles away from action. I am the song and dance chick, not an action chick."

For those of you who don't care to listen to Kareena for the entire 6m 41s duration of the video clip below, jump to 2m 54s to hear her brag.

Aishwarya Rai to attract the Directors at 37: For most leading ladies in tinsel town, their career takes a downfall after they touch 30. But certainly not in the case of Aishwarya Rai, who continues to flourish in Bollywood as she turns 37 on Monday and has two mega projects -- “Action Replayy” and “Guzaarish” -- lined up for release.

The former beauty queen has come a long way from being crowned Miss World in 1994, to working in Tamil films, moving to Bollywood and finally topping it up with international fame through movie projects as well as attending prestigious foreign film festivals. But all through her 13-year film career, filmmakers feel she has remained a director’s delight, and is here to stay for a long time to come.

“Aishwarya always followed me during the shooting of ‘Taal’, and is a complete director’s actor. I’m proud she has evolved so much as an actor.

She is giving good performances, she has achieved international fame, and she is leading a happy married life -- what else can she ask for from life? But she is as grounded as ever,” filmmaker Subhash Ghai told IANS.

The director, who worked with Aishwarya in 1999, says the actress will “definitely be in Bollywood for another 10 years” and is looking forward to associating with her once again.

Ace filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who gave Aishwarya’s career a big push with “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” followed by “Devdas”, says she is a timeless beauty.

“Aishwarya is my muse, my jaan and I get terribly excited when I make a film with her because she is very, very special. Some people are timeless and Aishwarya will be there for another 20 years,” said Bhansali, whose third project with the actress, “Guzaarish”, releases Nov 19.

Aishwarya, who married actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, has broken the notion that married actresses discontinue their film careers... and her husband is proud of her.

“I feel great about Aishwarya’s achievements, I’m very proud of her. Whatever adulation she has got, she truly deserves it. I’m happy that she broke the notion that women can’t work after marriage. Why are we so regressive in our thinking? If she wants to work, her audience wants to see her, what is people’s problem? I as a husband am very happy that she is doing so well. I think she is doing better work now,” Abhishek had said.

Aishwarya started acting in 1997 with Tamil film “Iruvar”, followed by her Bollywood debut in the same year opposite Bobby Deol in “Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya” -- both of which flopped.

But the next year, she won her first Filmfare Best Actress award South for Tamil film “Jeans”. She also bagged the Filmfare Best Actress Award for Bhansali’s “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”.

She gave a power-packed performance in “Taal”, but then delivered a string of duds like “Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai“(2000), “Dhai Akshar Prem Ke“(2000), “Albela” (2001), “Hum Kisise Kum Nahi“(2001).

But it was Bhansali’s “Devdas” that resurrected her career and fetched her another Filmfare award in the Best Actress category.

She also gave good performances in “Chokher Bali“(2002), “Raincoat” (2004), “Guru“(2006), “Dhoom 2”, “Provoked“(2007), “Jodhaa Akbar” (2008) and “Sarkar Raj” (2008). She recently featured in Mani Ratnam’s “Raavan” and opposite superstar Rajnikanth in “Robot”.

Some of her English projects include “Bride & Prejudice” (2003), “Mistress of Spices”, “The Last Legion” (2007) and “Pink Panther”.

According to a 2009 Forbes list, Aishwarya Rai is India’s most bankable star in Hollywood, and is also counted among the 100 most beautiful women in the world.

She has been attending many international film festivals and was also the first Indian actress to be on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 2003.

Now she is gearing up for the release of “Action Replayy” on Diwali and “Guzaarish”, and is busy promoting them. But she hopes to spend some time with her family as she steps into her new year.

Aishwarya Rai celebrate her birthday with family:
The Bollywood still the best queen and bachchan's Bahu Aishwarya Rai, who is busy promoting two of her upcoming films releasing next month, will squeeze out some time to be with her family on her birthday Nov 1.

‘I am busy promoting my films. ‘Action Replayy’ is releasing on Nov 5 so lots of intense work every day.

I have kept aside time on my birthday as always I spend it with my family, and how the day will roll I have no idea,’ Aishwarya, who will turn 37, told IANS in an interview.

After director Vipul Shah’s retro comedy ‘Action Replayy’, Aishwarya has Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Guzaarish’ releasing Nov 19.

I wanted to be a writer and a director: Salman Khan: Had director Sooraj Bharjatya not prodded him to become an actor, Salman Khan might have been a writer and director today.

“I don't even know how acting happened. I wanted to be a writer and a director. I guess the Barjatyas liked my shakal (face), though I don't know what they saw in it,” Salman is quoted as saying by a news daily.

Salman Khan shot to fame with director Sooraj Bharjatya’s film Maine Pyar Kiya. After the film’s stupendous success, there was no looking back for Salman. He rose to the status of a superstar.

Eventually, he also wrote a script that was made into the film Veer, which, sadly, came a cropper at the box office. Following the movie’s debacle, Salman is staying away from script writing. And what about direction? Salman says he’s content being an actor presently. But he may direct a film someday.

Hrithik Roshan in depression!: Hrithik Roshan is eagerly looking forward to his next release 'Guzaarish' with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. While talking about the film, he takes awhile to ponder and then reveal that he can completely relate to his character in the film.

The actor can relate his character to the time when he was nursing a knee pain and was on wheelchair for more than six months. He had given up hopes of acting and dancing ever again...

Recalling that phase as one of the learning experience, Hrithik informs that he was in depression for six moths when his knee surgery failed to cure his pain. "After Jodhaa Akbar I was treating my knee for six months. I did a lot of things to cure it. I did Chinese therapy, ayurvedic treatments, visited more than 35 to 40 specialists and tried local massage too but nothing helped. I was in depression for six months.

"I did a lot of things during that time. What I didn't think of during that time was acting and dancing. I was completely disheartened and thought of giving up acting for good. It was then that Sanjay Leela Bhansali came to me with the script. I did not think twice before accepting it as I felt it would be my last film," he reminisces.

Hrithik informs that playing a paraplegic wasn't easy but it definitely boosted his confidence. "I interacted with a lot of paraplegic patients before taking up the film. Before that I used to be irritable and edgy but they taught me to live. My character of a paraplegic touched my heart," he concludes

Aishwarya Rai and Bhansali have a special connection!: Aishwarya Rai, who once again teams up with Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Guzaarish, says they share a strange connection. The beautiful actress also says that the sensitive film helped the whole team reconnect with the goodness inside them.

"We are so strangely connected that we can communicate so much in silence. You can't bring down the experience of working with Sanjay in one word, sentence or a paragraph. Sanjay can't be contained in a word. We all say he is a genius, multi-faceted, but actually he is a real artiste. He sings, he breaks into dance, he loves music and he is very intense," Aishwarya told IANS in an interview.

Guzaarish being her third film with Bhansali after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas(2002), the actress reveals that she has always felt being an important character in his films and not just the lead heroine.

"In his film, everyone is a character integral to his narrative and it's a pleasure working with him. You always feel that you are in a team. I experienced that in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, I experienced that in Devdas, I experienced that in Guzaarish," said Aishwarya, who plays a nurse to actor Hrithik Roshan's character of a paraplegic in Guzaarish.

The actress refrains from saying that intense roles are harder than playing the typical Bollywood heroine. Citing her last two films with Hrithik - Dhoom2 (2006) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Aishwarya says her roles were equally intricate to the genres of both the films.

"I have done a lot of intense films, lesser comedy films, and lesser commercially typical heroine films and yet I say all could be equally easier or tough. When you go without make-up, wear a sari, suddenly that role becomes more intense and just because you put make-up, wear dresses and do hair styles the role becomes frivolous...I think it's unfair to compartmentalise creativity like that. How you pose for the camera is also a craft.

"In Dhoom we had to look smashing in every frame, the character's incidental in terms of acting nuances, but everything had to look perfect. That's also a method of the craft.

"In Jodhaa Akbar we were doing a history together, but in every point while we were working with the detailing and authenticity with a director like Ashutosh Gowariker, we brought that in. It always played in our mind that it shouldn't look that today's kids are donning historical costumes. That needed a certain kind of craft," Aishwarya explained.

In Guzaarish, Hrithik plays a paraplegic and "yes, I am playing a caretaker nurse, but within that we had to bring in the story that Sanjay really wants to tell and at the same time we have to be honest to our character in terms of expressing our inter-personal relations," Aishwarya said.

Asked if through the journey of making the film, she had subtly evolved as a better human being, she said: "The whole team felt that. Everyone has goodness in him or her. But everyone has experiences which help you connect or reconnect with the goodness in you or the goodness you wish to share. This film has been a very positive film for the whole team because of the intensity of the genre and the sensitivity of its nature."

Vivek Oberoi's wedding will be grand!: October 29 is the day when actor Vivek Oberoi will tie the knot with the Bangalore girl Priyanka Alva. He says his wedding would be a grand affair.

“The wedding will be grand but a very private affair followed by a reception in Mumbai with family and friends attending,” Vivek told a news agency.

However, the groom-to-be has not even started doing shopping for his wedding.

“I am so preoccupied with Rakta Charitra that I did not do any shopping for my marriage. Now my family is taking care of that. I will soon be a married man but the feeling is yet to sink in,” Vivek added.

Incidentally, Vivek is so tied up with the promotion of the film, that he’ll also postpone his honeymoon. And when he explained his reasons for doing so to Priyanka, she did not complain.

“Priyanka has been very understanding and supportive. It is very unusual for a bride to be this practical and understanding about my career. She is really a lovely girl and means a lot to me. I thank Karnataka for giving me their most beautiful daughter,” Vivek said.

Incidentally, when Vivek visited Bangalore to promote the film, he was referred to as Karnataka ka damaad.

Vivek Oberoi's most powerful film 'Rakta Charitra': Even though his wedding is just a week away, actor Vivek Oberoi is fully committed to promoting his film Rakta Charitra. He calls it his most powerful film till date.
The movie, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, has Vivek playing a character based on the slain Andhra politician Paritala Ravi. It’s an intense role with a lot of emotional turmoil for the character.

“It is the most powerful film I have ever done. It is a very relevant story and something that is happening in Indian heartland. For me it was a challenge to understand Ravi's degree of pain, which forced him to turn into a rebel,” Vivek is quoted as saying by a news agency.

The 34-year-old star added that the nuances of his character in Rakta Charitra made it an acting challenge for him.

“With my performance in this film, I hope to take my acting career a few notches higher from my Company days. After all it is the toughest role of my life and also marks my debut in Tamil and Telugu,” Vivek added.

Rakta Charitra faces tough competition from other releases this Friday - Hisss and Jhootha Hi Sahi - but Vivek is hopeful that the film will find its takers at the box office.

Vivek Oberoi excited about his marriage!: Vivek Oberoi is bubbling with excitement these days. He’s got a lot coming up in the days ahead - a movie release and a wedding.Vivek is busy with the promotion of his upcoming film Rakta Charita. The movie will release on October 22, just a week ahead of his wedding to Bangalore’s Priyanka Alva.

So how is Vivek feeling in the run-up to his wedding and the film’s release?

“I am excited about my marriage and nervous about my film,” said Vivek who was in Bangalore to participate in an awards press meet and promote the film.

Upon his arrival in the city, Vivek was referred to as the son-in-law of Karnataka.

“Today I was referred to as Karnatak-ka-damad, instead of the usual terms like actor or hero when I arrived,” said Vivek who is set to marry on October 29.

However, after the wedding, Vivek and Priyanka won’t head to honeymoon straightaway. Vivek will be busy with the promotions of Rakta Charitra and honeymoon will have to wait till November.

Bipasha basu shocked for John punishment: The 15-day jail sentence for actor John Abraham has shocked everyone close to him, and that includes his parents and girlfriend.

A day after the verdict, actress Bipasha Basu is still reeling under shock. "We'll go to a higher court to fight the verdict. We can't just accept it quietly. John has been treated unfairly," she said.

When the jail sentence was read out in the courtroom, Abraham went so pale that people around thought he would pass out. More than himself, he was concerned about what his God-fearing parents, who have never seen the inside of a police station or courtroom, would go through when they heard about the sentence for an offence that was committed so long ago that even the people closest to him had forgotten about it, a source said.

Basu, who was at a shoot, didn't hear of the verdict till late in the night. She said, "Can you believe it? My phone had stopped working on Thursday. We knew John was going into court, but thought the matter would be closed this time." While Abraham remains tight-lipped about the jail sentence, his friends are concerned about how he has taken the shocking news.

"More than himself, John's concern was for his family and for  youngsters who look up to him as a role model. He is not an irresponsible person. In fact, he's very conscious of his social responsibilities. It's unfair to
punish him for an incident in which he was hurt the most," Basu said.

"We'll fight this together. John is a good human being. I'm not saying this because I am his girlfriend. To his credit, he continued the promotional work for Jhootha Hi Sahi despite the shock," the actress said, breaking down.

"As an individual and   a citizen of this country, I can only say what I feel. And I have to say, with due respect to the legal system, that John doesn't deserve this. Just because he happens to be a star, he's an easy target.
The same offence committed by a non-celebrity would most likely be treated differently. Since he rides a bike, he's very careful about road rules. He doesn't allow any of his friends to drive out on a bike without a helmet. He doesn't bribe the cops, he pays his taxes... what is he being punished for?"

Close friend and director of his forthcoming film, Abbas Tyrewala said, "The best rumour I've heard recently is that John's predicament is a publicity stunt for our film. On Twitter, a woman asked me if AR Rahman's misadventure at the Commonwealth Games was a publicity stunt for  Jhootha Hi Sahi. All I can say is, have a heart, guys. Don't celebrities have feelings?"