SHORT
TAKES
 MISUNDERSTOOD!
Now
it’s a director who’s cribbing that he has been misquoted. In a
recent interview, Rakesh Roshan was quoted as saying that Madhuri was old
news and it was time for her to make way for the young ones. Roshan insists
that that certainly wasn’t what he had quipped in answer to the query:
Do you believe Madhuri Dixit is still numero uno? His response was more
complimentary to the dil-breaker. He pointed out that Madhuri had progressed
way beyond the numbers game and it was silly to drag her back into the rat
race. Unfortunately, he was misunderstood and, he says,
misrepresented.
 A
DANCE IN A DAY
Sushmita
Sen danced like she had never danced before. Through the day and through
the night. It was a marathon schedule. And Veeru Devgan was a delighted man
when he wrapped up a dance sequence for Hindustan Ki Kasam in just a day
thanks to Sushmita’s tireless efforts. What was the hurry, you may well
ask. Not a crisis really. Sush just wanted a day off and being a true pro
she had determined to finish her work before taking the break.
 THE PARTY
HOPPER
The
oh-so-gorgeous Marc Robinson when we spotted him recently looked jet-lagged.
No, he hadn’t been on any cross continent flight. The tired lines on
the face which has the teen crowd drooling are the result of a rush-rush
schedule. “I spend the days working and the nights partying,” confesses
the model-turned-actor. Shouldn’t he be catching up on his beauty sleep
instead? “I should,” he agrees with a wry smile, “but I’d
much rather party.”
 QUESTION
OF ANSWERS
Talking
of Shabana and Marc reminds us of Bada Din, the film the two are doing together.
Well, this Christmas special (Bada Din, that’s how Calcutta’s Bengalis
refer to December 25) is all wrapped up and ready for release though HMV
did miss their December 25 deadline. There was a press conference recently
to announce that HMV or rather Gramco’s premier production would be
unveiled to the public on February 23. And it attracted a fair share of the
presswallahs who made a beeline for either Ms Azmi or Mr Robinson and before
the PC could begin had asked all their questions and got all their answers.
So when Marc asked the mandatory question, “Any questions?” at
the end of the press brief, there was no response. Marc flashed his trademark
smile and shrugged good-naturedly, “Okay if you guys don’t have
any questions let me ask some questions.” And he turned to Shabana and
asked her how she liked doing the film. And the very vocal Shabana was ready
with her answer and before the assembled journos knew it the two were engaged
in their very own Q-and-A session.
 ARSHAD’S
LOSS, MUKUL’S GAIN
Mehul
Kumar is puzzled by Arshad Warsi’s excuse for opting out of his next
biggie starring the Big B. Arshad wasn’t too happy with his ranking
in the credits list. “But,” argues Mehul, “could I have put
his name above that of Jackie Shroff's, Nana Patekar's or Mr Bachchan's?”
However, despite Mehul’s best efforts to reason with him, Arshad dropped
out and was subsequently replaced by a more amiable Mukul Dev who was surprised
that Arshad had left such a mega project and such a challenging role that
not too many actors would be offered at the beginning of their careers for
such a small reason. Well, Arshad’s loss was Mukul’s
gain.
AFTER RAMAYAN
IT’S SARE JAHAN SE ACHCHA
Amir
Raza Husain is busy with his new play. And in keeping with the 50 years of
independence celebrations, this one too, tentatively titled Sare Jahan Se
Achcha, will focus on two of our best known freedom fighters after Gandhi
and Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and Shaheed Bhagat Singh. It will be another
mega open air production and this time Amir is trying to persuade Tabu and
Salman Khan to be a part of the cast. The play should be premiered in Delhi
in the next couple of months.
 IT'S
NOT AAMIR OR ANIL YET
With
Ishq going great guns, speculations about Indra Kumar’s next project
are hotting up. The buzz around movie town recently was that the director,
with four consecutive hits, had snapped up Aamir Khan and Anil Kapoor for
his soon-to-be-launched bonanza. When confronted Indra Kumar laughed off
the story saying he hadn’t yet given the casting a thought. He was still
busy working on the script of his next film.
THANK YOU,
JAVED
Guess
what is Shabana Azmi’s eternal dilemma? Whether to give the nod to a
project or not. “I really suffer before I say yes,” the MP admitted
recently in a rare confessional mood. She had been very unsure of whether
to accept Prakash Jha’s Mrityudand, a role which won her the Screen
Videocon award for Best Supporting Actress recently. “It was Javed who
convinced me that I should do it,” she revealed smiling fondly at her
husband. In fact, it was Javed again who ensured that she didn’t turn
down Fire either. Well, all we can say is a big thank you Javed on behalf
of Shabana's fans. And hope that he keeps doing the good
deed!. |
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