Bollywood’s A-list actresses, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vidya Balan will be handing out backstage passes into the glitzy and glamourous world of the showbiz industry with their next releases titled; Heroine and The Dirty Picture.
However, Aish and director Madhur Bhandarkar are one step ahead with their film Heroine, which has already been launched at the Cannes Film Festival, and what better place to create awareness than at an international event? The film is said to be an entertaining, daring, emotional, shocking, glamorous, scandalous behind-the-scenes look at the reality of the showbiz world. The buzz is that the movie is based on the real life story of America’s pop and cultural icon, Marilyn Monroe, however the Heroine team begs to differ and says it’s a story of a Bollywood star.
Film marker Madhur Bhandarkar, who is known for his female orientated movies having previously worked with some of Bollywood’s top actresses, Tabu, Konkana Sen Sharama, Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra, was asked why has he opted out for Aishwarya this time to be his lucky mascot? At the Cannes film festival he told the press, “Rai is a much-talked about actress internationally and I think she truly is a global star in every sense.”
On the other hand, director Milan Luthna has decided to cast the recent award winning actress, Vidya Balan in the movie, The Dirty Picture. Rumour has it that the movie will have elements of soft porn incorporated, however the director has reassured Vidya she will not be presented in a cheap manner, but shown in an aesthetically artistic and sensual manner with a touch of class.
In the meantime, Vidya has been asked to study the English films, Burlesque and Chicago – even the big stars in Bollywood have homework to do!
So which movie are you looking forward to watching?

Stardom isn’t exactly a cakewalk for our celebs. Take the handsome couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan for example. The duo have had a busy year churning one release after the other and now they don’t even have time to take a holiday off for their fourth wedding anniversary!

Abhishek, who is looking forward to the relase of his film Dum Maaro Dum on 22nd April, will be busy promoting the Bipasha Basu, Prateik Babbar and Rana Daggubati starrer. And to add to his cramped dates, he will immediately start shooting for Abbas-Mustan’s Players after DMD with a huge star cast of Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Bipasha Basu, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Omi Vaidya.

Last year, Abhi had taken Ash to the US on their anniversary. The year before that, the two were busy with Mani Ratnam’s Raavan but had managed to take some time off for themselves. On their first anniversary in 2008, Aishwarya had joined Abhishek in Miami as he was shooting for Dostana with John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra.

But this year, Aishwarya Rai is taking it a bit easy and doesn’t have any projects in hand. We’re sure she can have a nice surprise planned for her hubby on 20th April. Any ideas?

A dialogue mentioning Aishwarya Rai in the promos of upcoming film Lamhaa has caught the attention of many. But producer Bunty Walia and director Rahul Dholakia clarify that it does not mock her.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who plays a Kashmiri separatist leader in the film, says in one scene: “When Aishwarya Rai is unable to see the moon, it makes news. But why don t the media report the plight of those thousands of Kashmiri wives who haven t seen their husbands for years?”

This dialogue has raised eyebrows. But Dholakia says: “The dialogue in the film by the separatist leaders uses Mrs. Rai Bachchan as a metaphor to the Bollywood centric media who prefer covering the personal lives of icons and intrude into their private lives, making breaking news, instead of covering the real life poignant stories of Kashmiri half-widows. The comment is not a slur or an attack on the actress in anyway,” Dholakia said.

“The purpose of the scene was never intended to mock Aishwarya Rai. We would never do anything to hurt anyone’s sentiments,” said Bunty Walia.

Produced by GS Entertainment and distributed by PVR Pictures, Lamhaa is set in Kashmir and stars Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Kunal Kapoor and Anupam Kher. The movie, releasing Friday, deals with the life of Kashmiris in the valley.

Aishwarya Rai has nothing to do with the upcoming Bollywood movie Lamhaa. Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu are the two leading characters of the movie. Just Rai’s name was uttered in a dialogue and Sanjay Dutt had to take the clearance from Amitabh Bachchan about the promo of the movie.
There is no hide and seek about the matter that Amitabh Bachchan is very sensitive about his daughter-in-law. The Bachchans were very unhappy with the kissing scene between Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2.
Anyway, Lamhaa does not contain anything bad about Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter in law. Just, according to Times of India, there is a dialogue like this:
“When Aishwarya Rai is unable to see the moon it makes news. But why doesn’t the media report the plight of those thousands of Kashmiri wives who haven’t seen their husbands for years?”

This single line caused some fear in Director Rahul Dholakia and some others related to the movie and they asked Sanjay Dutt to talk to Amitabh and get his approval about it.
It is understood that Amitabh approved of the dialogue and all the members of Lamhaa team felt a sigh of relief.
This is indeed a nice joke as it seems that next time, when someone takes the name of Aishwarya Rai then they might have to take permission of the Bachchan family or suffer Amitabh’s wrath!
The irony is that the dialogue has become true. India has so many problems and instead of them, taking the name of Aishwarya Rai has indeed become a big news.

The votes are in. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is Bollywood’s most coveted actress. Sixteen years after she was declared the most beautiful woman in the world, her flawless features still top the list of inquiries made at the plastic surgeon’s office.
“We get maximum requests for Aishwarya Rai’s narrow jaw line and high cheekbones. Most people still think of her as the one with a perfect face,” reveals cosmetic physician, Dr Rashmi Shetty. Plastic surgeon, Dr Meenakshi Agarwal adds, “Patients also ask for her eyebrows. Fine features like hers are very popular.”
Dr Jamuna Pai concurs: “Most people who come in to fix their nose want a sculpted, aquiline look, and they usually refer to pictures of Aishwarya Rai.” Pai adds. “Patients are also conscious of skin and that’s another area where she scores. She has the most beautiful and robust skin. From the enquiries we get, people seem to have noticed that.”
Other icons
While Angelina Jolie’s lips have conquered the globe, Bollywood’s leading ladies don’t fall far behind in the copycat game. “Kangana Ranaut’s lips are perky and full, people like that they’re not too dramatic,” Pai reveals. While pouty Priyanka Chopra’s lips may have only male fans, many women covet Katrina Kaif’s pink kiss.
“The pouty look is here to stay,” insists Pai. “Thin lips will never be popular because they age you. As you grow older, you lose volume on your face. I have a knack for subtly filling up the lip, though an actress might opt for a more emphasised look.”
Eyes on you
Reportedly, Bipasha Basu’s eyes have a fan following of their own. “She’s got a beautiful uplifted shape, close to almond eyes. We can create that using botox and fillers. Many people have requested it too. Shilpa Shetty’s eyes are emphasised by her luscious lashes. People who have thin eyelashes, like her lashline.”
Cheekbone implants are popularly used to give the face a youthful look. Instead of going under the knife, cosmetic physicians inject fillers into cheekbones to create glamourous apple cheeks. “The procedure is popular among girls who lose weight, especially on the face, because of heavy dieting. Madonna looks like she has opted for this procedure. The gaunt look with extremely prominent cheekbones and hollowed-out cheeks ages you,” claims Shetty. The results last between six months to two years, depending on the amount and quality of filler used.
Another popular trend is the dimple effect. Agarwal says that Deepika Padukone’s dimpled cheeks have tempted patients to ask for the same.“Today, everything from your smile to your nose can be bought,” grins Pai. “You can achieve anything you want.”
Never grow old
Among the older stars, people still love Rekha’s strong jawline. She hasn’t faded from public imagination,” reveals Shetty. Patients also want to know the secret behind Dimple Kapadia’s luminous skin, while Madhuri Dixit’s smile still reigns as the most coveted of all. “It’s been a while since they’ve seen her, but many still think of her smile as the most beautiful.”
Skin deep
Beauty is skin deep, cosmetic physicians will testify to that. Bipasha Basu’s dusky skin may be looking considerably lighter, but Pai attributes her glowing skin to her new workout: “People love her glow, they’ve noticed the change in her skin texture. It’s mainly her fitness regimen that’s flushing all the toxins out of her system.”

Shetty adds that Kareena Kapoor’s pink flush also attracts a fair share of admirers. “Her skin is really flawless, she needs no make-up,” she avers. Sushmita Sen is another torchbearer for the dusky skin tone.
Body line
According to Dr Rustom Ginwalla, there was some truth to that size zero phenomenon. “One of the things that people ask for, unrealistically, is to have Kareena Kapoor’s figure. Some actually come with photographs of the stars. If it’s unachievable, I shoo them away because they will never be satisfied with the results.” Ginwalla admits that most Indian women, with their heavy bone structure, cannot realistically copy Kapoor’s narrow frame. “They want to have the same proportions, especially the slim waist.”
Liposuction being the key method used to reduce fat, is one of Ginwalla’s most popular procedures and is used to tame flabby arms, thighs and abs. He’s also launched a new method called baser high-def, which makes it possible to construct a six-pack without spending long hours sweating it out in the gym. “You need to be someone who’s relatively fit anyway,” he mentions. “What we do is sculpt the body, especially the chest and abdomen area, to emphasise the muscles. Most men who come in for these procedures want to look like Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om.”
And while actress Jennifer Lopez may have the world’s most desired derriere, in Mumbai, Malaika Arora Khan’s voluptuous assets have many women asking for the same. “But Malaika was born with that butt,” reveals Pai. “I’ve known her for many years. So I have to tell patients who ask for the same, that she is genetically endowed.”

Here is Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to wipe out all the other Bollywood beauties with her finance power. No, we are not speaking about the huge estate of the Bachchans. But this is to do with the pay slip of Aishwarya which is gonna have a signed amount of Rs. 10 crore.

Glam Sham reports that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is all set to make her mark now in terms of the money being paid as an actress. It is reported that Aish has been offered Rs.10 crore for one of her forthcoming films. However, the title, costar and other details of the movie is not yet known.
If the reports are to be believed, Aish is certain to defeat all the other Bollywood actresses as well as some actors too. With Rs.10 crore on the go, Aish has beaten Karina Kapoor and her Rs. 7 crore. The other on the list of losers are Priyanka Chopra (Rs. 6 crore), Katrina Kaif (Rs. 3 crore) and Bipasha Basu (Rs. 2 crore).
Aishwarya has proved once again that the brand Aish is here to stay for long. And even marriage can’t shrink her value in Bollywood.
Kudos to the latest AB…lady AB!

Some you might know and some you might not know! Where there are celebrities, there has to be some scandals. They simply cannot be separated from it! It’s a part and parcel of their lives. The website (santabata.com) unraveled some of the hottest and spicy scandals straight from Bollywood for us! Check it out folks:-

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: The former Miss world and daughter in law of the Bachchan clan made up with Shah Rukh Khan at Karan Johar’s birthday party this year. Things went bitter between the two after SRK replaced Ash with Rani Mukherji in ‘Chalte Chalte’ in 2003. Awww! Did you know about this?

Abhishek Bachchan: “Ignorance is bliss” but when it came to the actor we can very well make out what he would have felt about it, when his wife got all the attention in Cannes Film Festival with the international press running only after his wife and L’Oreal ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The ignorance reached the limit, when Abhi was sidelined and asked to wait at the end of the Red Carpet while all lenses were only interested in clicking a solo Ash or with the rest of the L’Oreal team. Ohh! That would have pissed him off for sure! Poor husband! But it is common in the filmy world.

Amisha Patel: This year Amisha decided to go for a live-in relationship with beau Kanav Puri. All the best with your love nest girl.

Amrita Rao: Amrita, the sister of the very sexy Malaika Arora Khan dropped her ‘behenjee’ (sister-like) look and also lots of clothes this year. Fashion designer and her old friend Manish did the makeover of the year. The result: we got a sexy, hot avatar of Amrita, completed with plunging necklines, hot pants and perfect make-up.Hmmm…… Hey Sexy Lady!

Asin: The ‘Ghajini’ actress surely got lucky this year too. If one Khan (Aamir) gave her a successful break in Bollywood, media buzz said the other Khan (Salman) got the Southern siren a new house in Mumbai. So sweet Sallu! As usual, Asin denied the news and said: “I earn enough to look after myself.” Well Asin, you should be thankful then if the reports are true!

Bipasha Basu: Bips denied sharing screen space with Tabu in Rohit Shetty’s ‘All the Best’. Bipasha convinced Rohit to have only her in the climax; hearing this, Tabu refused to play a second fiddle to someone like Bips. Aww! Old enmity Bips?

Celina Jaitley: ‘Hot Bod’ Celina got into a verbal war with yoga guru Baba Ramdev over homosexuality. While Ramdev claimed he can ‘cure’ homosexuality and accused Celina (who works on the rights of homosexuals) of ‘knowing nothing about Indian tradition’, Celina, in turn, said Ramdev has ‘no right’ to comment on other people’s lives and preferences. Well a fight like this is a very rare occasion to see a monk and actress fighting over…..Hey Homosexuality! Hilarious isn’t it?

Kareena Kapoor: Saif Ali Khan said Shahid Kapoor got ‘Kaminey’ because he rejected it; in turn, Shahid slammed him in public. Kareena intervened between her lover and ex-lover and tried to soothe things down, voicing all praise for Shahid. Bebo, who had earlier said she will never work with her old flame, again, changed her tunethis year-“Who said I won’t work with Shahid again? I liked his performance in Kaminey.” Oh god! Stuck between the two Bebo?

Deepika Padukone: Deepika called off her relationship with Ranbir Kapoor. Both the actors are tight-lipped about the reason behind the break up. Earlythis year , Deepika came under the fury of Kareena ‘Size Zero’ Kapoor for playing Saif Ali Khan’s lady love in his home production ‘Love Aaj Kal’. As it is, Bebo was disheartened as Saifu and director Imtiaz Ali cast Deepika in the film instead of her. Adding to the fire, Deepika left out Bebo from the invitee list at a trial of the film. What a triumph Deepika? At the end of the day the film was really appreciated and earned huge accolades.

Priyanka Chopra: Piggy Chops got humiliated at IIFA Macau this year while collecting her Best Actress trophy for ‘Fashion’ by none other than Ashutosh Gowariker. Ashu, prompted by Jaya Bachchan, said: “Priyanka I love you. But I don’t know how you got the award when Aishwarya is also nominated for ‘Jodha Akbar’.” Oh ho? Jealous Ashutosh? Well she truly deserves it!

Well these were a recapitulation of the most important scandals of 2009 straight from Bollywood clan! I hope you have enjoyed reading them.

Looks like all beauty queens believe Tamil Cinema is the best place to kickstart their film career! Almost every Miss India in the recent past has made her presence felt down South before embarking on her Bollywood journey.

Aishwarya Rai debuted in Iruvar and continued to appear in Tamil films on and off (Jeans, Kandukondein Kandukondein). Now she will be seen after several years in Shankar’s Rajinikanth starrer Enthiran.

Sushmita Sen too tried her luck in South Indian films. She appeared opposite Nagarjuna in Rakshagan. Priyanka Chopra too made her cine debut with the Tamil film Tamizhan opposite Ilayathalapathy Vijay and Lara Dutta appeared with Action King Arjun in Aarasatchi.

The trend still continues, not only with beauty queens, but even Bollywood actresses doing more than shaking a leg or two in South Indian films. We have seen Kajol, Tabu, Sameera Reddy, Bipasha Basu, Kangna Ranaut, Tanisha, Riya Sen, Neetu Chandra and of course Mallika Sherawat in Kollywood. And then we have Genelia and Tamannaah who debuted in Hindi but found name and fame in Telugu and Tamil.

And now, we have Tanushree Dutta and Sarah Jane Dias all set to debut in Tamil with Theeratha Vilayatu Pillai. The movie stars Vishal in the lead role. Neetu Chandra completes the glamour trio.

Bollywood’s Bengali beauty Bipasha Basu is quite upset about losing out on the opportunity to play an important role in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’. Bips was to play Abhishek Bachchan’s wife Mandodari in the film, which also stars Aishwarya Rai, but the latest news suggests that the actress is not doing the film anymore.
When asked about the reason for her role being scrapped, Bips responded, “I am sad… but it’s better than having my role chopped or totally edited… when lot of effort had gone to work out the role for this guest character.”

Although the real reason behind Bipasha’s ouster is unknown yet, an insider alleged that her character in the film was proving to be a bit too strong and was kind of disrupting the length of the film. Grapevine has it that Bips has been moved out of the project as she might be proving to be a threat to other actresses in the film like Ash and Priya Mani.

However, it has been clarified by Mani Ratnam’s spokesperson that the filmmaker did want to work with Bipasha but, at the same time, didn’t want to do injustice to the actress’ role.

Now let’s see if Bips will be replaced or Mandodori’s role will be completely scrapped in the movie.

Bipasha Basu, the husky dusky sexy bombshell of bollywood who oozes oomph with every twist and turn, has been selected to play the character of Abhishek Bachchan’s wife in upcoming mega- budget flick ‘Raavana’.

Bipasha Basu will play the part of Mandodari, who was ‘Raavana’s most loved queen and had the authority to advise him on any state matter without inviting wrath of the demon king. Sources close to director Mani Rathnam say that Bipasha will play a full-fledged role in the flick, and she is going to start shooting in right earnest from the middle of September. The highlight of Bipasha Basu’s character in ‘Raavana’ will be a sizzling hot item number, which is likely to be in the same genre as that of ‘Omkara’s ‘Bidi jalai le….’

In all, Bipasha will have around forty minutes of footage in Mani Rathnam’s magnum opus, which is likely to take around twenty days of her shooting time. Aishwarya Rai plays the part of Sita (not Abhi’s wife as was the case in Mani’s earlier flick ‘Guru’), while Vikram essays the part of Rama in the flick.

Sources close to Bipasha Basu say that Mani Rathnam had approached the sizzling hot bollywood diva for the role opposite Abhishek Bachchan around a month ago. Bipasha seized the opportunity and immediately said yes to the project. However, Mani had prevented her at that time from disclosing about it to anyone else, and so she kept mum till now.

But now when Bipasha Basu’s costumes are ready, she just can not hide her excitement about the project. Her look as Mandodari, ‘Raavana’s chief queen, is gorgeous, and sultry beauty has been waiting with bated breath to join the unit of ‘Raavana’ to shoot her sequences.

The buzz doing the rounds in the industry is that Mani Rathnam chose Bipasha Basu to play the part of Mandodari as she can project the right balance of oomph and intelligence in the scenes, which was a must for the character of Mandodari to come alive on the screen.

In fact, Mandodari was not only Raavan’s queen but is also credited with the invention of chess, which is purely a mind game. It is for this reason that whenever Mandodari would reprimand Raavana for abducting Sita, he would just laugh it off without being angry. In fact, Raavana had a deep respect for her intelligence and righteousness.

However, the grapevine has it that Bipasha Basu was not the first choice for Mandodari’s character and got the part only after Sushmita Sen rejected the offer. Insiders reveal that Sushmita Sen did not have any objection to the role, and in fact, wanted to enact the character but Aishwarya factor finally led her to opt out of the project.

It may be recalled that Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai have been bitter rivals from their initial days of Miss Universe and Miss World respectively. They never liked each other and have always tried to avoid as much as possible. So, there was no possibility of Sush forgetting all that for Mani Rathnam’s ‘Raavana’.