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EVERYTHING
THAT GLITTERS... 
IT’s hard to tell which has the more sparkle: MADHURI
DIXIT’s 1000-watt smile or the expensive jewel-studded
necklaces she gets to show off in the movie. Well, no prizes
for guessing.
Deepak Shivdasani seems to have pulled off several coups with
his opus in the making, Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke, shoots for
which were recently on in Delhi. For one, there’s the
coup in the casting, with Ms Dimples, Preity Zinta pitted
against Madhuri in the lead. And for another, there’s
RITU BERI. Beri’s designed not just the costumes in the
film but also the jewellery. And no, none of it is fake —
it’s been sponsored entirely by a leading designer.
But who says Madhuri needs jewels to complete her make-up?
That would be like gilding the lily, as her fans, including
a certain Dr Nene, will soon be writing in to tell us.
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SHAADI? KIS KI?
WELL, never mind the reports in the press about MANISHA KOIRALA
getting set to tie the knot. We’d reported in these very
columns the rumours linking her with the Australian ambassador
to Nepal, Crispin Conroy. In fact, there were photographs,
too, of the twosome visiting a Mumbai art gallery together,
and journalists assumed they were either married or about
to be. In a faxed message, Koirala informed Screen she was
“disturbed” and “extremely disappointed”
by the insinuations in the press that she was soon to be married.
Curiously, the letter makes no mention of Conroy, or what
we ought to make of the photographs of them together. The
message, obviously is “Wait.” Her fans can take
heart, she isn’t about to desert them. “At this
stage of my life, I am completely dedicated to my career.
I have recently signed several projects and am fully committed
to completing them,” she assures us.
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SHE
AIN’T READY YET
SONALI BENDRE’s amused by all this talk of her engagement.
Last week, Screen had reported there were rumours that the
winsome lady was all set to wed Goldie Behl, a rumour that
had been reported as fact both by the press and the leading
websites.
“The fact is I haven’t got engaged. I will, but
only when I’m ready for it,” she tells us. So, there
you have it, that’s another rumoured engagement denied.
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EW SCRATCHES
FEBRUARY 10. Cut to the idyllic isle of Langkawi, Malaysia.
It was a day when it was all happening for the unit of SUBHASH
GHAI’s Yaadein, who were canning a song sequence there.
The shoots went off well, without a hitch, but for a minor
misadventure, when Kareena Kapoor fell off a bicycle while
rehearsing a scene. The result? Only a scraped knee.
More was to follow. After packup on the said day, HRITHIK
ROSHAN was attempting to give Ghai a hand up on to the jetty
from the yacht on which they’d been shooting. And the
tottering wooden plank gave way just then. But Ghai needn’t
have panicked. Help arrived in time to haul them out of the
water. The result? A scraped elbow here and an injured arm
there, and not to forget, soggy, dripping clothes. Band-Aid
and a warm fire can take care of that.
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A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW
FOR the musical trio of Lekin, its comeback time. Thats right,
LATA MANGESHKAR, brother  HRIDAYNATH,
and GULZAR are teaming up again. Only it won’t be Dimple
Kapadia who gets to keep Lata’s voice in the film this
time, but Nandita Das. And the movie is Lal Salaam, not a
sequel to Lekin.
So what if Lekin will be a tough act to follow? Producer Sanjiv
Karambelkar and director Gaganvihari Borate are confident
the trio can pull off the same magic together. Gulzar will
write the lyrics, of course, and Hridaynath will score the
music.
Music major HMV, who had been associated with them in Lekin,
is said to have acquired the audio rights to Lal Salaam at
a mega fortune. For a small budget movie, every penny helps.
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ENGLAND
AND BACK
HE’s an alumnus of the Royal Academy of Drama, London.
And he’s the latest sensation in moviedom, thanks to
a wow performance in a bit role in Shyam Benegal’s Zubeidaa.
So how was it, acting with the likes of Karisma Kapoor and
Manoj Bajpai, we ask him. “I wasn’t fazed by the
prospect of matching my acting skills with theirs. To me,
the roles more important, not who I was working with,”
he says.
On his return from England, the Ajmer-born RAHUL MAHARYA had
to settle for work in teleserials and theatre when he found
work in films hard to come by. However, on a chance meeting
with Shyam Benegal, he managed to convince the reluctant filmmaker
to grant him an audition. Benegal was floored with the very
first take. “Young man, you have a future,” he said.
Well, Maharya’s just wangled a few more roles for himself,
as in Rose Movies Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai and a Mushir Riaz
production. And Benegal’s words are already coming true.
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UNFINISHED
SYMPHONY
SOMEONE recently asked the resplendent REKHA why she wasn’t
writing her autobiograhy yet, a question even Dev Anand’s
been asked a countless times. And here’s what we heard
her say: “Where’s the end? Abhi kahani khatam kaha
ho gayi hain. Abhi to asli shuruvat ho rahi hain. Dekhte raho.”
Well, we’re all eyes, lady.
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ANY DAY NOW
JUHI CHAWLA’s all eager and waiting to go into labour.
And a little bird tells us, the baby can be here any moment
now.
Juhi, understandably, isn’t keen on talking to the press
though, for there’s only one question on everyone’s
mind, right now, and that’s to do with the baby. So all
interviews with the lady will have to wait till the the baby
has finally arrived.
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ANOTHER
ONE TAKES THE HINT
CLOSE on the heels of POONAM DHILLON launching a website comes
the news of DEEPAK TIJORI’s following suit. The former
big screen hunk, now a big cat on the small screen, who launched
a software company all his own, Tijori Films Inc., is the
latest star to join the website bandwagon. While Poonam Dhillon’s
site offers you a ride down nostalgia lane, with a peak at
her career track record, in addition to tips on fashion, make-up
and cookery, tijorifilms.com tells you everything you want
to know about Tijori and his films.
Wait, there’s more: the site also has a talent bank of
actors and actresses of all ages. The features on each actor
have the latest photograph or two, bio data, vital statistics
and contact address and telephone.
“The site’s been uploaded for testing, and once
the formalities are completed, I’ll have close to 1500
role aspirants featured on my site. No, I shan’t charge
them even a penny for my services. I got very limited opportunities
as an actor. The same shouldn’t happen to them,”
says Tijori.
Shaju George Alex
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Story
