BOLLYWOOD BUZZ

Lata acts in Boney’s Pukar
Lata Mangeshkar will play Lata Mangeshkar in Boney Kapoor’s ambitious film which is now being made on massive sets and locations in Hyderabad. A song recorded in the voice of Lata will also be picturised by director Rajkumar Santoshi. Lata will be appearing before the camera after a gap of more than fifty years when she made her debut as an actress before making it as a singer. Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar and Om Puri play leading roles in Pukar which has music by AR Rahman. “It was the subject, the music and the message of the film that made us ask Lataji to take such a big step and she was very graceful to accept our offer. It will certainly add dignity to our film,” producer Boney Kapoor says.

Bobby, Karisma teamed
Bobby Deol and Karisma Kapoor team up for the first time in KPS Films' Hum To Mohabbat Karega. The film is to be directed by Kundan Shah for producer KP Singh and is being presented by Girdharilal Sakseria. Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Shakti Kapoor and Johnny Lever play other key roles. Story-screenplay by Ranjit Kapoor and Kundan Shah, dialogue by Neeraj Pathak, choreography by Farah Khan, art by R Varman, music by Anu Malik and cinematography by Thomas Xavier are other credits. The first 15-day schedule will start on June 1.

I haven't quit, says Shilpa
Shilpa Shirodkar denies all reports and rumours that she has quit films. She called Screen to say that there were “wild rumours” being spread about her. She also said that she has been signed to play “a very crucial role” in MF Husain’s Gaj Gamini, also starring Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Ashish Vidyarthi and Farida Jalal. The film is being produced by Rakeshnath.

Dil To Pagal... now in French, English
Yash Chopra is busy dubbing his national award winning film Dil To Pagal Hai into French. Work is already on. He next intends to dub the film in English. There are offers to dub the film in various languages of the world.

Govind shoots Takshak again
Govind Nihalani, who returned to Mumbai after a number of successful screenings of Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, has started another hectic shooting schedule for his first "artistic, sensitive, mainstream" film, Takshak, with Ajay Devgan, Tabu and Rahul Bose at Mumbai locales. Amrish Puri and Govind Namdeo also play key roles.

14-day shoot for Raj Kanwar film
Producer-director Raj Kanwar has commenced a 14-day shoot for Inderjeet Film Combines' yet to be titled film at Panvel and Mumbai. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Chandrachur Singh, Mahima Choudhary, Shakti Kapoor, Sushma Seth, Mohan Joshi, Himani Shivpuri and Johnny Lever. Raj Babbar makes a special appearance.