Priyanka, Kareena in race for Heroine

Madhur Bhandarkar's desperate search to find Aishwarya Rai's replacement for Heroine has become a race between long-time rivals Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor.

While Bhandarkar has been pursuing his Fashion leading lady Priyanka Chopra, currently on holiday in the United States, to sign on the dotted line, UTV head honcho Ronnie Screwvala is in talks with Kareena Kapoor.

Aishwarya had to leave the film after she got pregnant, resulting in a war of words between the Bachchans and Bhandarkar over why she did not break the news before shooting began.

"When the film was shelved, owing to Aishwarya's pregnancy, Madhur Bhandarkar went into a shell.

But some he has decided to go ahead with it, and there are various names floating around - Katrina Kaif, Vidya Balan, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.

But the race is now between Priyanka and Kareena," a source close to the project told Mumbai Mirror.

The dates are being worked with both. Kareena is busy with Bodyguard, followed by Agent Vinod.

Priyanka, on the other hand, is committed to a film by Kunal Kohli and Anurag Basu's Barfee. "Ronnie is trying to work the schedule around them so that the film can go on the floors soon.

Ronnie had called Kareena but since she was busy shooting for Bodyguard with Salman Khan, they could not meet immediately.

Priyanka is in LA and Madhur has spoken to her. He is waiting for her to get back."

Bhandarkar's dream project, Heroine, has been in the news ever since the proud grandfather-to-be, Amitabh Bachchan, announced Aishwarya's pregnancy on Twitter. Though wishing her well, Bhandarkar admitted to being shattered by the news.

Aishwarya was required to portray the rise and fall of an actress in the film and the role would require her to be at her fittest best.

Further, Aishwarya had refused to do any smoking scenes early on, but Bhandarkar added that since the other characters would be smoking, the passive smoke could affect the actress and her baby's health, a risk he could not take.

The chaos was followed by an official statement by UTV that the production house and Bhandarkar had shelved the project.

However, with search for a leading lady on in full swing, all that is awaited is the official announcement of the film getting back on track.

I was delighted to work with Katrina Hrithik Roshan

Farhan Akhtar complained that he was only being asked questions that had one-word answers. "Please, guys, ask me other things – I want to talk!" he said.

Did you all have any bad experiences on the trip, or feel that this was a bad idea?
Farhan: No.

Some people say this film looks like it takes off from "Dil Chahta Hai". Is it like that?
Farhan: No.

Do you really believe life should be lived to the fullest, since we have only one life?
Farhan: Haan.
Katrina: Farhan's taught me a song that has only three chords, so now I can actually play a whole song on guitar.
Hrithik (on being asked about Katrina as a co-star): I hadn't seen any of her films before this, but I was delighted to work with her. What I've seen her do is not even 10% of what she's capable of.
Katrina: Thank you, Hrithik, for not seeing any of my films. I've seen all of his, by the way.
Hrithik (on the toll booth experience on the highway between Ahmedabad and Jaipur): I had to call out to people to make them look up at me, otherwise most of them were like, 'chal jaldi kar na'. But once they did, they were very happy, I'm sure, because our producer paid for all their cars!

On being asked what they want to do in this one life:
Ritesh: I want to do a film course next year.
Zoya: I want to do something for my city, Mumbai – the roads, cleanliness.
Farhan: Katrina will tell you what I want to do.
Kat: He wants to be part of a band, part of a skydiving competition club, and he wants to write a book. See how well I know my friends!
Abhay: I want to build houses for the poor.
Kat: And I want to help Abhay build houses for the poor.
Abhay: Promise? Seriously, let's shake on it. I'm going to call you up on that, you know!
Kat: OMG, everyone's answers are so emotional!
Kalki: Just to beat Abhay, I want to educate the poor, because education lasts a lifetime, but houses can be destroyed in a minute. Ha ha! And I wanna learn how to dance. I can't at all, and Hrithik is such a fabulous dancer.
Hrithik: Apart from teaching Kalki how to dance, I want the answer to this question!
Hrithik (on whether there were any funny moments): Yes, our mental boy, Abhay, usne kuch zyada kha liya aur uske pait mein visphot ho gaya. So while we went out to dinner that night, Abhay slept in the loo.
Aap Salman Khan aur Rahul Gandhi ko kya kahengi ki woh shaadi ke liye maan jayein, kyunki zindagi na milegi dobara?
Katrina: That's so mean – Abhay's not married either!

The Greek God and Barbie together for this film – how was the chemistry?
Abhay: Who? Ritesh-Zoya?

Farhan, do you believe zindagi milegi na dobara?
Farhan (after a second of surprised silence): Kya aap punarjanam ki baat kar rahe hain?

(Contributed by Kashika Saxena & Chandna Arora)

I’ll always be a bad boy Emraan Hashmi

With the success of Murder 2, Emraan Hashmi insists he has graduated from a serial kisser' to a bankable star. In five years, he says that his returns will be on par with the Khans

Did you ever expect such a positive reception of Murder 2 ?
We knew that we had a great product at hand, but yes, as an actor, I had Friday jitters. Your most intrinsic fears on a Friday are how many people will turn up at the theatre; will people turn up at all?

So, how was this Friday for you?
It has got the second-largest opening after Ready this year, which is phenomenal. I want to celebrate. In the Emraan-Bhatt combination, it is our biggest hit. Now we have to make Murder 3.

All your films produce hit songs. Do you participate in their making?
No, the day I will, the music will stop working (laughs). These decisions are taken by the creative team, the music directors and singers. It is a responsibility that you have to constantly live up to: they believe Emraan must have good music, that is one of the essential elements.

Do you think you've established yourself as a bankable actor?
The perception has always been that I am a mass actor but Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai was a huge game-changer for me. Before the release of the film, it was being said that it is a mass movie but later it was endorsed by the entire audience.

I reinforced that with Murder 2. I am not being boastful but if you ask any trade person, he will say that I stand second only to Salman as far as single-screen audiences go.If this statement makes people feel that I have gotten too big for my boots, probably I have with this film.

You have always played grey characters. Do you think that audiences will accept you in a positive role?
I find the grey characters are not unidimensional. The roles of protagonists have changed over the years. People now like a bad boy. They feel he is more adept to dealing with society. A good guy is a pushover, someone who can be trampled over.

They see strength in a good bad-boy because he's street smart and has qualities to deal with everyday life. In Murder 2, the lead is against the flesh trade, he respects women that adds to his persona as he takes on the bad-boy.

But does this limit you as an actor?
Playing the good guy would be interesting. But right now, it has to be a bad guy because I like characters with no reference point. I like them to set trends. So if I have to play the good guy then it has to be a path-breaking, out-of-the-box script which unfortunately I haven't come across so far.

Does it help your market price?
It does, reasonably. I don't want it to get to my head. I understand that an unreasonable hike affects my investors. So I would like to quote a price where everyone makes money. That's why a film like Murder 2 is a huge hit.

It is made in just Rs 13 crore, including publicity. With this, after the second day you have an overflow from your distributors. I can double or triple my price, but that is not fair.

You are working with Dibakar Banerjee and Vishal Bhardwaj
I've always admired these filmmakers and it's a dream to work with them. I've just finished shooting Shanghai and Dibakar stands for a different kind of cinema. He has a certain sense of logic and relatable characters.

For me, this is a growth in the actor in me. Vishal's Daayan is again a very interesting film and it's an entirely new genre. There is no reference point for Dayaan.

There were reports that Rani opted out of Daayan because of you. Earlier, Mallika Sherawat spoke against you. Do you get affected when actresses don't want to work with you?
I would like to say that it affects me, but it doesn't. If Rani has done it for personal reasons, it is her loss. But I think that the film will happen with or without anyone and I am a part of it.I have no problem working with anyone. I am a fairly well adjusted person. I leave the casting to the director.

You have often said that you are not happy with your serial-kisser image.
I have no problem doing films with sexual content. The audience has evolved and this is not a taboo, except for people who have not evolved with time.

But my issue is peoples' lack of imagination, which makes them only think about the kissing. It's annoying and irritating because many people work on the film, and all that is talked about is me being a serial kisser. I would not like to have any label at all.

After the success of Murder 2, you can now be compared to actors such as Ranbir and Imran?
As far as the business and trade goes, I would want to be compared to the Khans and not to new people. After 25 years the business of my films is half or one-third of the Khans. Considering I've been around for only seven years, give me five more and I will be at par with them. These are straight statistics.

Sohail Khan in Dabangg 2

Buzz is that the third Khan sibling might join Salman and Arbaaz Khan in Dabangg sequel.

While Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan were seen together in Dabangg , chances are that the third Khan sibling might make his presence felt in the Dabangg sequel. While Arbaaz Khan, who produced Dabangg has already taken charge of the sequel as a director, there is buzz that the youngest Khan sibling has expressed his desire to be a part of the sequel as well.

It is a known fact that Salman Khan has been a big support to the career of both his brothers – Arbaaz and Sohail Khan. Sohail has often tagged along big brother Salman Khan in films like Veer, Heroes, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, God Tussi Great Ho and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya . Arbaaz had done that earlier in Garv and now with Dabangg .

 This time seems like it will be a complete family reunion if the trio come together in Dabangg 2 . And knowing how the success of Dabangg helped Arbaaz Khan resurrect his career, Dabangg 2 might additionally help Sohail Khan as well.

While Sohail Khan had directed Salman and Arbaaz in films like Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya and Hello Brother early in his career, if all goes well, Arbaaz will direct Salman and Sohail (along with himself, of course) in Dabangg 2 . However before that Salman has to work on Sohail Khan's Sher Khan .

Nevertheless, what the purported remake of Amar Akbar Anthony (that never took off) could not do, perhaps the sequel of Dabangg 2 would do.

Katrina has film with Salman, not Ranbir

Katrina believes that characters can actually change an actor's career graph.

She feels that every character she has done so far has been different. "I want to put pieces of all of them together and do good films.

" Recently, the actress was in Ahmedabad and she told reporters that she isn't doing any film with Ranbir Kapoor but she is surely doing a film with Salman Khan.

Video : Ali Azmat - 'Bum Phatta'

Ali Azmat New Video Bum Phatta

Vocalist
Ali Azmat

Director
Jami

First AD
Umair Nasir Ali

Second AD
Absar Mughal ABBY

DOP
Farhan Hafeez

Editor
Armughan Hassan

Asst. Editor
Irshad Tanoli - Random XS

Casting Director
Saima Ghazzanfar

Guitar Player
Omran Shafiq
Harmonica Player
Kamran Zafar

Drummer
Absar Mughal ABBY

Trumpet
Shaan

Victim 1
Ali Shaikh

Victim 2
Khalid Malik

Child Artist Victim 1
Basim @ Citrus Talent

Child Artist Victim 2
Uzair @ Citrus Talent

Styling
Ehtesham @ E Styles

Wardrobe
Munib Nawaz

Stunts, Blasts and Action
Mehboob Shah & Team

Circus Team
Naeem & Co.

Little People
Shahid Rana
Danish Maqsood
Afzal Beg
Akbar Chanchal
Usman Saeed
Kamran

Pipe Band
Noor Muhammad

FX Make Up
Sir Kamaluddin Ahmed
Majid
Sikander
Mehwish

Art Director
Marium Ali

Set Design
Aqeel ur Rehman Set Act
Set Building & Carpenters
Set Act

Floor Incharge
Eastern Studio
Babar

Assistant Cameraman
Nabeel J Qureshi

Focus Puller
Basheer Baig & Waqas Younis

Video Assist
Faraz

Camera Assistant
Michael Aziz
Grip
Azhar Abbas

Grip
Muhammad Akbar
Qureshi
Shahid
Zeeshan

Driver
Nazar Muhammad

Lights
Popa Lights & Team

Gaffer
Nawab Khan

Small Jib
Shakeel Ahmed

Sound & Fog Machine
Zia - Audio Link

Posters
ARD

Transport
Haji Dildar Ali

Behind The Scenes
Adnan Bilgrami

Travel Agent
Syed Asad @ Travel World

Hotel
Beach Luxury Hotel

Food
Karachi Zaika Food (Hammad)

Finance Manager
Inam Khan

IT Manager
M. Naseem

Executive Producer
Nazira Ali

Producer
Rehan Noorani

Production Manager
Faiz Muhammad

Production Assistants
Salman Attari
Munib
Bilal Malik
Bilal

Special Thanks To
Nida Aslam
Maira Opal
Sara Jamil
Sarfaraz Khan
Ahmer Raza

www.azadfilm.com
Email: info@azadfilm.com

Veena Malik to make Bollywood debut

MUMBAI: Pakistani actress Veena Malik is all set to make her Bollywood debut. The official announcement was made at an event in Versova, Mumbai, Geo News reported.

A participant from the famous Salman Khan hosted reality show Bigg Boss 4, Veena Malik made headlines for her speculated romantic relationship with Ashmit Patel. Veena’s Bollywood debut does not come as a surprise since Bigg Boss earned her a considerable fan base in India.

Her debut movie has been titled Daal Mein Kuch Kaala Hai. Buzz suggests that Veena will be playing a double role in the movie.

Daal Mein Kuch Kaala Hai will be directed by Aanand Balraj, the younger brother of Deepak Balraj. Deepak has directed the movie Hafta Bandh.

A fact worth mentioning is that while Veena is making her acting debut through this movie, Aanand Balraj is making his directorial debut! Aanand was previously an actor and was seen in various short roles in the Subhash Ghai films like Ram Lakhan, Khalnaayak, Saudgar and Pardes.