Finally it has been released… The poster of Vidya Balan’s most awaited film ‘The Dirty Picture’ is out and, we say, the first look speaks a lot.

Going by the poster, we feel the makers have successfully managed to bring alive the late south sex bomb Silk Smitha through Vidya. Her looks, body language, expression – Vidya has transformed strikingly from the simple, traditional beauty to a sensual sizzler.

The three men – Nasseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and Tusshar Kapoor – who play Vidya’s love interests in the movie are no different as well. Wearing moustaches, the three are well presented and one can look forward to some fabulous performances from them.

Directed by Milan Luthria, ‘The Dirty Picture’ is produced by Ekta Kappor and Shobha Kapoor. The movie, which was slated for November release, is now hitting the screens from 2nd December 2011.

While one waits to see what really unfolds on screen once Heroine arrives on the big screen, at least off screen the film is pretty much turning out to be a saga in it’s own. So much so that Madhur Bhandarkar could well think of including that as a chapter within his film itself.

Even though Kareena Kapoor camp is insisting that the numero uno actress has reached a ‘middle path’ by working out a deal that amounts to Rs. 8 crores as her overall remuneration, sources deny any such progress.

“It is surprising to read a different theory making rounds every week. First it was said that she had demanded for Rs.10 crores to play the title role of Heroine. Then a few days later it came down to Rs.8 crores. Now it is being said that it would be a mix of fees as well as profit sharing, all of which will finally amount to Rs.8 crores, hence making it a win-win situation for her as well as the makers (Bhandarkar and UTV Motion Pictures). The fact though is that none of this is true and the price as well as deal is all coming out of nowhere”, informs a reliable source.

No one is blaming Kareena for such rumours making the rounds though and insiders claim that some within the industry are having a field day giving rise to such speculations and assumptions.

“At a career stage where Kareena is currently, she doesn’t need to encourage any such stories. If you look at all so-called breaking news pieces carefully, she hasn’t said a single word about her fee so far. All she is saying is that she is getting what she deserves. The makers too respect this and hence everyone is on the same page. However, there are people around them who are throwing numbers, something which has started to seem a little repetitive off late”, the source adds.

Meanwhile insiders claim that while there is no profit sharing deal with either Kareena or Arjun Rampal (as has been claimed), the final remuneration is less than half of what is being claimed.

“But again as they say, never ask a man’s salary; or for that matter even a woman’s”, a trade insider quips, “What is of paramount importance is that Kareena has been confirmed for the film and we can now expect a terrific film in the offing. With the kind of insider’s view that she can bring to the role as well as the only actress at the top who comes with terrific acting capabilities coupled with glamour quotient, Madhur indeed has a winner in hands. It would be better if everyone starts contributing to making a good film now.”

Well that can pretty much be expected, what with the film kicking off with one schedule in November/December and then wrapping up by July next year.

Oh, what hath Jim Carrey wrought?

A day after his viral ode to Emma Stone blew up his own new website, Kathy Griffin was so inspired by his delicate words that she, too, decided to confess her inappropriate love for a much younger man.

And who’s the teenager of the millennium? Why, Justin Bieber, of course!

“You are all the way beautiful, even with those lesbian bangs—but that is not any diss to the LGBT community,” the My Life on the D-List star deadpanned into the camera, her face in super close-up mode, as was Carrey’s.

Talk about being the woman behind the successful man. The newlywed Kalki seems to be taking the phrase a bit too seriously.

She made her acting debut with Dev.D in 2009, but this year, she’s making another debut of sorts. Here’s how… While scripting the first scene of That Girl In The Yellow Boots, Anurag wanted to get a female perspective on the treatment of white women at Indian government offices.

“I’ve never been a foreigner in the country and I didn’t know what to do”, says Anurag. Luckily, Kalki stepped in and penned the scene. Anurag added, “It would have been impossible without her contribution. She has experienced the objectification of women by desi officials; she was the perfect person to write it!” Well, that’s what we call stepping into someone’s shoes. Or yellow boots, perhaps! For more Bollywood news & gossip, watch Planet Bollywood News every night at 7, only on zoOm – India’s No. 1 Bollywood channel!

Fresh out of his deadly villain mode (he’s the big bad man in Ra.One), Arjun Rampal visited us at the zoOm studios and spoke about his films, (the absence) of controversies in his life, his next film Heroine, and he also strummed a lovely tune on his guitar for us.

And once the work was done, he showed us his sporting spirit. Arjun insisted on playing a round of table tennis with the zoOm team, and boy, was he good at it! One friendly game led to another, turning into a fierce battle and he even won the TT game, defeating our reigning champion.

One visit can have several benefits. Ajay Devgn’s sudden stopover on the sets of Akshay Kumar’s Rowdy Rathore has just proved to be extremely beneficial.

Kumar, who had earlier refused to part with the title Son Of Sardar, has willingly given it to Devgn. And this change of heart seems to have happened just over one single meeting.

The meeting not only yielded a joint venture by the stars, but also made Akshay change his mind about the rights of the title Son Of Sardar. “Ajay visited Akshay on the sets of Rowdy Rathore to ask him for the rights of the title.

Akshay refused to part with it. However, he agreed to join hands with Devgn and act together in an action film to be directed by Rohit Shetty,” informed a source.

Just a day later, Akshay had a change of heart. “On Monday afternoon, he sent across a letter of consent, giving away the title Son Of Sardar to Ajay Devgn. Ajay was thrilled,” added the source.

When contacted Ajay Devgn confirmed the news and said, “I had asked Akshay for the title. The title was extremely close to his heart. It is a very good gesture Akshay Kumar’s part and I am indebted to him for it. We will start the film in January.

Australian model Miranda Kerr and her British actor husband Orlando Bloom look like setting up home in New Zealand, as the couple checked out property in the country earlier this week. Miranda and Orlando were looking around a large house in New Zealand on Tuesday, August 23.

28 year old Miranda and 34 year old Orlando were looking around swanky, four bedroom rental property. The house is also believed to include a gym, a home theatre, a wine cooler a spa and a swimming pool. It is not yet known if the couple are taking the property.

Miranda Kerr recently took to Twitter to share her love for her fellow Australians and admitted that she cannot wait to get back there. She tweeted, “Thank you Australia for being so wonderful. I’ve loved my time back in Aus. Can’t wait to see you on the 27th in Melbourne & 29th in Sydney.”

Actor Ashton Kutcher has revealed that he is not at all nervous about taking over from Charlie Sheen in Two and a Half Men, as he thinks the show will increase in popularity. Ashton admitted that he had been laughing non stop during filming for the forthcoming season.

Kutcher also showed his appreciation for the talent of Chuck Lorre, he explained, “I really like this job, this is an amazing show! It’s the same show … maybe the dynamics have shifted a little. I think it’s going to go through the roof, I really do. I’ve been laughing really hard.”

Ashton then said of Lorre, “He’s a great guy and really creatively collaborative.” It was recently revealed that Denise Richards, the ex wife of sacked star Charlie Sheen, rejected the chance of appearing in the new season of the show. Two and a Half Men is set to return to CBS on September 19.

It has been reported that the new Sarah Michelle Gellar TV show Ringer has been lined up to run for at least three seasons. Now Sarah herself has confirmed the reports and also revealed that the show will not leave too many unanswered questions at the season end.

Gellar explained, “What’s great about Nicole and Eric is they have the first three seasons all mapped out. So the layers [in the plot] are there for a reason. One of the things that did worry me was I didn’t want red herrings [and] I didn’t want unanswered questions.”

She then added, “I play Bridget and Siobhan now, but I also play [them] in flashbacks. It’s almost like playing 40 different characters!” Ringer is set to premiere in the US on CW on Tuesday, September 13 and is also due to air in the UK on Sky Living.

Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt have shared screen space in films such as Saajan, Chal Mere Bhai and recently were even seen together in a shot in Ready. Now the duo will be seen together on the small screen hosting the popular reality show ‘Bigg Boss 5′.

While Salman was the host of ‘Bigg Boss 4′ earlier, this is the first time Sanjay Dutt would be seen hosting the reality show. While it is yet uncertain whether Sanju Baba will be co-hosting the entire season along with Salman, one thing is for sure, the audiences won’t complain even if they get to see the duo create magic on the small screen for a few episodes.

It’s become a trend these days, to ‘sue’ big filmmakers by some of the wannabe starlets. The latest to join the bandwagon is a certain model- actress Pinki Gaur, who is planning to sue the Bhatts by sending a legal notice to Vishesh Films, for using her photograph in the film Murder 2 without her approval.

The scene in question is when an agent is talking about supplying prostitutes and showing pictures of a number of girls. Pinki Gaur (who has earlier featured in shows like Dil Dosti Dance, Karam Apna Apna etc…) says that one of the pictures in the shot was hers.

She feels that the filmmakers should have procured her permission for using her pictures. She also added that while it may or may not be of any concern to the filmmakers, her picture in that particular scene may just prove as a dampener to her career. That’s why, on the suggestion of her friend, she is planning to send a legal notice to Vishesh Films today. She also added that if they (Vishesh Films) don’t reply, then, she will file an FIR against them for using her photograph, without her consent.

On the other hand, Mahesh Bhatt said that their intention was not to demean or tarnish the image of the people whose photographs feature along with that of Yana Gupta in that particular scene. He reasoned the situation by saying that instead of getting the images cleared by the concerned seniors; the trainee (who was responsible of arranging the props for the said scene) messed it up.

Bhatt also added that if Pinki wants to go the legal way, it could just cause her hardships. That’s why he was ready to resolve the issue arbitrarily. He further said that if Pinki wants a graceful apology from Vishesh Films, he will be ready to do that.

Katrina Kaif finds herself in yet another controversy following her remarks about Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi. When she was asked about her Nationality, Katrina replied that she wasn’t ashamed to be half Indian and half Brit. She further said even Rahul Gandhi is half Indian half Italian.

These remarks have not gone down too well with Congress members who are fuming at how the actress could make such statements. However, the actress has now apologised and said that the statement was blown out of proportion by the media and made in a completely different context by her. She has added that it was not her intention to hurt anyone.

Since Shield Ki Jawani performed by Katrina Kaif in Tees Maar Khan is the current gold standard amidst Bollywood item songs, which actress would have a better chance of outdoing it and raising the bar than Katrina herself?

That seems to be what Salman Khan believes, because he has requested Katrina to perform an item number for Bodyguard that will roll with the film’s opening credits.

According to Bollywood Hungama, the item song will be scored by Himesh Reshammiya and choreographed by Ganesh Acharya; and yes, Himesh is back in Salman’s good books, having apologized and made up for his past brashness.

Bollywood’s two top beauties – Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif – have turned another year older. National award winning actress Priyanka on Monday (July 18, 2011) turned 27. The gorgeous Cancerian has no plans to throw a big bash. Priyanka has just returned to Mumbai after a vacation in Los Angeles. But just before her birthday, the actress has returned to Mumbai to shoot some scenes of ‘Ra.One’ with Shah Rukh Khan. On her birthday, she plans to spend time with her family and friends.

Priyanka is known to hate throwing parties and hasn’t hosted a single bash after the one for Gerard Butler in April 2009. Buzz is that SRK may throw her a surprise party. Priyanka is presently looking forward to a number of upcoming releases including ‘Don 2’, ‘Agneepath’, ‘Barfee’ and ‘Krrish 2’ and an untitled film with Shahid Kapoor. The worlds sexiest woman ,Katrina Kaif , had her birthday on July 16 and reportedly spent a part of her day promoting ‘ZNMD’ and later drove to Salman Khan’s house for a special birthday lunch! The menu was kheema-pav, rajma-chawal and a lot of other Khan house specialties.

Apparently, Kat ate to her heart’s content with no diet constraints. Later in the evening, she spent time with her personal assistant Sandhya and her team planning the look test for her film ‘Ek Tha Tiger’. Salman who was on his farm at Panvel was expected to join Kat for the test but couldn’t make it.

Interestingly, Priyanka is currently in the news for another reason too. A kind of a tug of war is going between Priyanka and Kareena Kapoor to get the coveted lead role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Heroine’ following Aishwarya’s pregnancy . This is to recall that Madhur who had earlier approached Priyanka for ‘Heroine’ before Aishwarya signed the film, and is waiting for her to be back from her long vacation in the United States.

Though she is back now but Madhur is faced with a problem. Madhur’s producer UTV head honcho Ronnie Screwvala is keen to rope in Kareena Kapoor for the film and has apparently asked her to once again consider doing it. At a recent media interaction in the capital, Kareena didn’t deny having been approached for the role in ‘Heroine’ and chose not to comment. We wonder who would heroine be—Priyanka or Kareena in Madhur’s ‘Heroine’?

Great news for Sri Devi fans: she’s back! After a fifteen year hiatus, Sri Devi will be seen in a a new film titled Hinglish Vinglish, which has just hit the sets. The diva bowed out of comeback in 2003, when Yash Chopra offered her a role in Veer Zara, as she’d just given birth, but having wowed audiences at Toronto’s IIFA awards ceremony, she’s clearly ready to re-enter the limelight…

Debutant director Gauri Shinde, wife of Paa director R.Balki, will be heading up the production and starring alongside Sri Devi will be none other than the Big B, who’ll be playing a cameo in the film. In the film, Sri Devi will be playing a housewife, who meets Bachchan’s character on a flight. The last time they were seen together was eighteen years ago in Mukul Anand’s Khuda Gawah.

About working with her again Amitabh tweeted, “Shooting today with the effervescent SriDevi. Still the same… spontaneous and lovely…!!



Joining her in the world of glitter will also be her older daughter Jahnavi, whose debut Sri Devi is busy preparing; rumour has it that Jahnavi may be launched in a Mani Ratnam film shortly. With husband Boney’s son Arjun Kapoor being launched later this year in a Yash-Raj film and brother-in-law Anil Kapoor’s Hollywood debut in Mission Impossible 4 – this is one busy family to watch out for!

Anjana Sukhani, who paired opposite Raviteja in Don Seenu has reportedly bagged a biggie in Bollywood. Despite being in B town for many years, Anjana hasn’t really achieved anything in Hindi cinema. Finally luck showers on Anjana in the form of Department.

Bollywood news circles report that Anjana Sukhani replaced Kangana Ranaut in Ram Gopal Varma’s Department. This is the second replacement in this movie as Rana Daggubati kicked out Abhishek Bachchan from this project.

Anjana Sukhani recently did an item song in Bezawada Rowdeelu and may be Ram Gopal Varma spotted her talent and is giving her this big break in Bollywood.

When Tollywood panned its camera on Venice, it became big news. Now, city’s musicians have gone to Venice to woo Italians.

Recently, Kaushiki Desikan and Subhankar Banerjee went to Venice to perform at a concert. They returned to Kolkata with fond memories of a trip and a desire to return to perform there again. Excerpts from an interview with Subhankar Banerjee:

When did you go to Venice to perform?
I went to Venice on June 27. I have performed in Italy before as well. But, this was the first time I was performing in Venice with Kaushiki Desikan. We stayed there till June 29. This concert was very special since it was hosted in one of those old aristocratic houses in Italy. Performing there reminded me of the various occasions when I have
performed at some of the heritage houses in India.

Do these aristocratic families in Venice understand Indian classical music?
Yes, they do. Most of them are regulars at our Indian classical concerts in Europe. Some of them even come down to India during the winters to attend all the classical music conferences. I would call them connoisseurs of Indian classical music. They know about the quality to expect from the music we presented. Why just music? They are very familiar with Indian art too. Some of the houses I went to have unique Indian handicrafts. I was pleasantly surprised to see that a person had bought a silver bed from India and had taken it there. That holds true for other unique artifacts. It felt so good to see them appreciative of our art and culture.

So, did you manage to steal a short vacation during this tour as well?
Yes. Performing abroad is nothing new for me. But this time around, I managed to actually visit the place where I was performing. The gondolas are fascinating. They are parked outside the houses just the way we park our cars in front of our apartments here. Though we never took a gondola ride, we did use speed boats that are shaped like gondolas. I saw a king’s palace that had a connection both on the ground level and underground to a prison! It was truly fascinating.

Recently, Europe is also being talked about because of Tollywood movies being shot there…
Yes, I do see that. Sometimes, it seems funny too. Much before Bollywood started shooting abroad, Indian classical musicians have been going there to perform. Pt Nikhil Banerjee performed in Rotterdam way before the Hindi movie stars shot in Europe wearing chiffon saris. Today, when Tollywood actors flaunt their experiences of shooting in exotic locations abroad, we musicians share a little laugh between us. We have all been there, done that. But the problem with classical musicians is that we have never
really gone to town promoting this. We didn’t market our tours in the media.

But don’t you think that’s important now?
Perhaps, it is. I am not too sure whether Indian classical musicians are keen on taking that path to popularity. I will be accompanying Pt Shivkumar Sharma and Rahul Sharma on a tour of South Africa in another month’s time. But I doubt if I would have really flaunted this as a front page news because touring South Africa is no big deal for
classical musicians. Those who’ve never been there are the ones who want to flaunt it. Of course, there are some places where I have performed that are very unique. Like the time, when I got a white passport to perform in Pakistan. Or when I went to Mexico or Brazil. The rest of the places in Europe and the US, for musicians like me, are pretty regular touring destinations.

Art Karat, one of India’s most popular jewelry brands, has designed jewelry for more than 10 Bollywood blockbusters, including Devdas, Monsoon Wedding, Kamasutra, and Zubeida.

The brand’s most recent collection, known as Aishwarya, was inspired by some of the most memorable on-screen styles of the amazing Bollywood actress, Aishwarya Rai, and her roles in Umrao Jaan, Jodha Akbar, and Devdas. The collection includes some of the most beautiful and classic styles among Indian jewelry.

From whole sets to earrings to necklaces, rings, and bracelets, Art Karat has everything you could possibly need in the world of jewelry. Asha Kamal Modi is the designer behind India’s most renowned designer jewelry brand. Check out their designs above and see what you think of this Bollywood inspired designer!

If you were a fan of sequel Double Dhamaal, and of course the original Dhamaal film, it looks like you’re in for another treat. Riding high on Double Dhamaal’s success, director and co-producer Indra Kumar plans to take the franchise forward with Total Dhamaal. The film will star Arshad Warsi, Ritesh Deshmukh, Javed Jaffrey, Ashish Chaudhary and Sanjay Dutt.

“I have an idea for part three and a title too, Total Dhamaal, but the script is being developed. You won’t have to wait four years for the next Dhamaal movie. It’ll be ready in two years with the four boys and Sanjay Dutt who are the life of the film,” Kumar says.

The sequel hit impressive numbers during it’s opening week, getting the second highest opening this year after Ready. “That’s great because we didn’t come during festival season and we didn’t have a Khan.”

Though Dhouble Dhamaal received compliments from various sources, Dhamaal didn’t get one good review. “That’s why it wasn’t a commercial blockbuster but was widely watched later on TV and DVD. This time the response was mixed and divided,” Kumar reported. “I wasn’t making a classic comedy but a film for the aam janta who weren’t disappointed. They went back home laughing, they didn’t have to take the movie home with them.”
Do you think the Dhamaal team should go back into hiding? Or are you ready for a third film? V

Disney is being brought to India as The Walt Disney Studios recently announced the North American release of three films to be released on July 26th. The movies will be simultaneously on DVD, video-on-demand, and digital download and will be featured on iTunes – all on the same day!

Designed to expand the entertainment options of diverse cultural groups in North America, the movies feature some of the most recognizable local talent from India. Disney was involved with the production of each film, which are to be released in their local language and subtitled in English.

The first film, Do Dooni Chaar, is a heart-warming comedy about the dreams and challenges of a middle-class family. The film won India’s prestigious National Award for Best Hindi Film of the Year as well as the Best Actor Award from the 2011 New York Indian Film Festival for Rishi Kapoor.

Once Upon A Warrior is a film about the ultimate battle between good and evil. In the tradition of Pirates of the Caribbean and Prince of Persia, the film features an all-star cast including Siddharth, Shruti Haasan and Lakshmi Manchu.

The third film, Zokkomon, is a thilling Hindi action adventure film about an ordinary boy who overcomes extraordinary challenges to become a magical hero. Featuring well-known Indian actors Darsheel Safary and Anupam Kher of Bend It Like Beckham, the film features music by India’s most popular trio, Shankar Ehsaan Loy.