Saif all set to become teacher

 MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor's latest fascination for French language might land Saif into teacher's shoes. Bebo showed interest to learn the language while shooting for Agent Vinod in Morocco.

If sources are to be believed, no sooner Saif started conversing with one of the assistant directors of the film who also knew French that Bebo fell in love with the language. And now is all set to learn the same under Saif's guidance.

It will be interesting to see whether Saif will strike a balance and spare some time for his lady-love for French classes.

Saif all set to become teacher

 MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor's latest fascination for French language might land Saif into teacher's shoes. Bebo showed interest to learn the language while shooting for Agent Vinod in Morocco.

If sources are to be believed, no sooner Saif started conversing with one of the assistant directors of the film who also knew French that Bebo fell in love with the language. And now is all set to learn the same under Saif's guidance.

It will be interesting to see whether Saif will strike a balance and spare some time for his lady-love for French classes.

Jolie visits flood-stricken country

ISLAMABAD: Angelina Jolie arrived in Pakistan to meet victims of the floods and highlight the need for international help, the United Nations said.

Jolie was in the country on Tuesday in her role as a "goodwill ambassador" for the UN's refugee agency.
International relief agencies sometimes enlist celebrities to draw attention to their work and get more funds.
The UN gave no details of Jolie's itinerary.

Jolie visits flood-stricken country

ISLAMABAD: Angelina Jolie arrived in Pakistan to meet victims of the floods and highlight the need for international help, the United Nations said.

Jolie was in the country on Tuesday in her role as a "goodwill ambassador" for the UN's refugee agency.
International relief agencies sometimes enlist celebrities to draw attention to their work and get more funds.
The UN gave no details of Jolie's itinerary.

Ranbir Kapoor, the next Amitabh Bachchan

MUMBAI: Director Siddharth Anand is apparently very confident about actor Ranbir Kapoor, the hero of his film ‘Anjaana Anjaani’. Siddharth finds him promising and hardworking among the younger league, with a prospective talent to become the next iconic actor, Amitabh Bachchan. Convinced with Ranbir’s caliber in acting, Siddharth stated that he’s got everything it takes to be the complete Hindi film hero that Bachchan was in his days. Further praising about his film’s hero, the director believes that if Ranbir chooses to do an action film, he would definitely fill the void that Amitabh had created. It is believed that Ranbir who has already worked with Siddharth in his earlier film ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, was always made to do the strangest of things in his films. In his last film, he made the actor to stand at the tip of a cliff for the ‘Khuda jaane’ song in ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ even though he was aware that the young actor has a vertigo problem. For one sequence in ‘Anjaana Anjaani’, he made Ranbir to stand in the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean. Admitting about the sequence, Siddharth stated that Ranbir did the scene even though he has aqua phobia. Having given hits like ‘Salaam Namaste’ and ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, the director is all confident that his latest comedy film ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ will be a hit among the audience. ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ which is releasing on the 24th of this month, is about two strangers who accidentally meet in a strange situation and then sometime later they part as strangers. Unlike other typical Bollywood films ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ has a unique concept, reveals the director. “It's a very unique concept for a Hindi film, but it's deep-rooted as a Hindi commercial film. It has songs, stories, beautiful locations and fabulous performances,” stated Siddharth. Talking about his lead costar’s Ranbir and Priyanka pairing in the film, Siddharth stated that he wanted a virgin pair, since the film is about the chemistry between two people. "Ranbir is a brilliant actor; so I needed someone who would be able to match that. Priyanka just fitted in unbelievably," further added the director.

Ranbir Kapoor, the next Amitabh Bachchan

MUMBAI: Director Siddharth Anand is apparently very confident about actor Ranbir Kapoor, the hero of his film ‘Anjaana Anjaani’. Siddharth finds him promising and hardworking among the younger league, with a prospective talent to become the next iconic actor, Amitabh Bachchan. Convinced with Ranbir’s caliber in acting, Siddharth stated that he’s got everything it takes to be the complete Hindi film hero that Bachchan was in his days. Further praising about his film’s hero, the director believes that if Ranbir chooses to do an action film, he would definitely fill the void that Amitabh had created. It is believed that Ranbir who has already worked with Siddharth in his earlier film ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, was always made to do the strangest of things in his films. In his last film, he made the actor to stand at the tip of a cliff for the ‘Khuda jaane’ song in ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ even though he was aware that the young actor has a vertigo problem. For one sequence in ‘Anjaana Anjaani’, he made Ranbir to stand in the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean. Admitting about the sequence, Siddharth stated that Ranbir did the scene even though he has aqua phobia. Having given hits like ‘Salaam Namaste’ and ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, the director is all confident that his latest comedy film ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ will be a hit among the audience. ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ which is releasing on the 24th of this month, is about two strangers who accidentally meet in a strange situation and then sometime later they part as strangers. Unlike other typical Bollywood films ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ has a unique concept, reveals the director. “It's a very unique concept for a Hindi film, but it's deep-rooted as a Hindi commercial film. It has songs, stories, beautiful locations and fabulous performances,” stated Siddharth. Talking about his lead costar’s Ranbir and Priyanka pairing in the film, Siddharth stated that he wanted a virgin pair, since the film is about the chemistry between two people. "Ranbir is a brilliant actor; so I needed someone who would be able to match that. Priyanka just fitted in unbelievably," further added the director.

Maggie Cheung still playing hard

 VENICE: Chinese megastar Maggie Cheung, in Venice for the screening of Isaac Julien's art film "Better Life", has shunned the celluloid since becoming the first Asian actress to win in Cannes in 2004.

The recognition for "Clean", she said, "concluded one stage of my life" following her 2001 divorce from the film's French director, Olivier Assayas.

"I got my own fulfilment, or my own explanation to what I've done in the last 25 years," she said of the best actress award.

"You didn't waste your time, you did do something significant... and that was good to know; but it was enough for me to move on," she told reporters on Saturday.

While she has turned down offers aside from the two-day gig for "Better Life", the 45-year-old Cheung said she remains open to a project if the right one comes along.

"It's not impossible something would come up, but it would be a chance, it would be fate. Fate has to come in the right way, the right project, the right moment, the right person," said the star of "In the Mood for Love" (2000).

Meanwhile, Cheung is using the down time to "age a bit", she said, adding that while she is based in Hong Kong her "love life" now takes her to Beijing.

"I'm at the age that of course I still want to do something like 'In the Mood' that I look beautiful and everything (but) you have to know where you are."

Declaring herself to be "in between", she said: "I feel that at my age I'm a bit too young to play the grandmother yet, and a bit too old to be Jackie's girlfriend," referring to her opposite number Jackie Chan in the "Police Story" series.

"Maybe I'll come back to cinema and play a woman who is not the same as the woman I was playing before," Cheung said. "I will feel better when I am looking a bit older and can play older and forget about all that... You can still be old and beautiful in other ways, but I don't think I've reached there yet."

Meanwhile, Cheung has taken up music, and dreams of being able to score a film. "If I could make music for films that would be a joy," she said.

In "Better Life", Cheung plays the goddess Mazu from a 15th-century Chinese fable, one of three interweaving "ghost stories" in Julien's examination of why people migrate, often risking everything for a worse fate than staying home.

"He found a very good way to put the images to these ideas," Cheung said.