CONTROL NAHIN HOTA
Once upon a time, long before KBC, Mahesh Anand had treated his building kids to a tete-a-tete with AMITABH BACHCHAN. The kids were obviously much in awe of the Bachchan and did nothing more than shake hands with him properly. Only one chubby-cheeked cherub reached up and planted a wet kiss on his cheek before heading for the door. However, as he was stepping out he hung back and looked over his shoulder entreatingly. “Uncle, can I give you one more kiss?” he asked appealing. Amitabh beckoned him over and got another chumma. This time as he was leaving it was the Bachchan who stopped the cutie. “One more?” he asked gravely. “Nahin bas,” the boy told him equally gravely.

Cut to the present day. Some time ago a hot-shot director’s wife bumped into AB at a party. She gave him one big hug, then another and another. As they were driving away her husband reprimanded her. “Why were you embracing him again and again?” he frowned at her. She blushed becomingly and told him in a small voice, “Kya karoon, control nahin hota.” Mr Bachchan, are you listening?

SWEARING BY THE PENDANTS
AKSHAY KUMAR, never mind the reputation of a philanderer that always seems to precede him everywhere, is the pious, religious sort and has always been. What’s more, he’s taken to sporting lockets (see pic alongside) handed down to him by some saint or the other, and even swears by each of these pendants.

And that’s not all. While other stars are apt to greet you with a cool “How do you do?,” Akshay has his own trademark greeting, if you’ve noticed: it’s always “Jai Mata Di.

THE TELL-TALE KEEPSAKE
WE’VE just gotten hold of a cosy family pic we thought we must share with our readers. Well, here’s this happy twosome smiling ever so proudly into the camera. One of them, of course, is RATI AGNIHOTRI, but we’ll leave it to you to figure out which of the two is her.

Rati and her husband, as is well known in industry circles, meet up with sister Anita, who lives in Poland, and together, they go off on a holiday every year without fail. This year, they didn’t inform us where they were headed, but we sure did get hold of this keepsake from the jaunt.

The sisters look so alike that even close friends are often in a tizzy trying to figure out who’s who — the photograph should bear us out. Okay, okay, we’ll let you in on a little secret: Rati is the slimmer of the two, having maintained herself over the years. But there’s yet another way you can make her out — she’s got a mole on the top of her lip, while Anita has her’s on the chin.

CLUB OF THE PENSIVE DADS
UNTIL recently, one was apt to run into a rather pensive Jeetendra on occasion, the reason being the impending release of son Tusshar’s debut effort as hero. With Mujhe Kuch Kahna Hai hitting the jackpot, Jeetendra, sure is now a mighty proud papa.

Well, Jeetendra has company. For RAJ BABBAR has joined the club of Anxious Daddys. What, pray, is he mulling over, do you ask? Babbar, we find out, is keeping fingers crossed over daughter Juhi’s launch. She’s being featured as heroine in Babbar’s own Kaash... Aap Hamare Hote opposite Sonu Nigam.

SUCCESS, THE BEST COMPLIMENT
IF any one’s gung-ho about the success of Mujhe Kuch Kahna Hai, it’s got to be producer VASHU BHAGNANI. And he’s got every right to be.

Satish Kaushik, for one, claims he’s the best producer any director can get. He has his hands off the project during its making, while at the same time, remaining accessible at all times. Then, when the product is finally ready, he takes over, and prefers to call the shots in every thing from the promo campaign to the release dates. Says Kaushik, “Most directors don’t give him credit for the success of their films. As for me, I’d rather give him all the credit for the success of Mujhe Kuch Kahna Hai. All I’ve done is look after the creativity aspect of the film, and he’s been in charge of everything else. I believe the film was promoted better than I’d hoped for in my wildest dreams. He deserves the success he’s got. Success, after all, is the best compliment any producer can get.”