This Diwali is going to be a photo finish between two Bollywood girls Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor.

Both Bebo and Ash are clashing at the box office with their respective films Golmaal-3 and Action Replayy. Also, while Bebo has done a Shakira style hip shake in G-3, in the song Zor Ka Jhatka from Action Replayy, Ash has dance movements that apparently resemble those of the international pop icon Beyonce Knowles.

Those who’ve seen the gaana say Aishwarya’s look is also reminiscent of Beyonce. Of course, Ash’s fans say that she moves better than Beyonce! But Ash doesn’t believe in all these comparisons. She’s happy to just do her work and move on.

For a few months, till Vipul Shah announced November 5 as D-Day, the grapevine had been buzzing about Action Replayy lining up for an Eid opening. And setting up a moonstruck clash between Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Salman Khan, whose Dabangg had also zeroed in on September10.

However, the producer-director denies this, “Ash versus Salman? Eid was never an option. We had earlier locked on July 23 but the post-production is taking longer than expected because the film has a lot of special effects. So another Akshay Kumar starrer, Khatta Meetha, opened last Friday,” says Shah. “Diwali is a good time for our fun film.”

But the new date has put him on a collision course with another ‘fun film’, Golmaal 3. Shah argues that over the last five years, there have been two biggies coming every Diwali. He says, “Last year we had three, All The Best, Blue and Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. There’s enough business in the festival week for a good film. Golmaal 3 is a much-awaited film with a terrific cast but even Action Replayy has Akshay and Ash.”

New Day
Remind him about Raavan, and he reasons, “Ash is not a one-film wonder. She’s one of the few actress with a following abroad. Besides, every Friday is a new day.”

Action Replayy goes back to the swinging ’70s, so does Ekta Kapoor’s don drama Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai that releases this Friday. Shah insists that he’s not following any retro trend: “My film is based on a 1994 Gujarati play by the same name. The ’70s was a colourful decade and the look of both films is eye-catching. I’m looking forward to seeing Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. I never miss an Ajay Devgn film.”

Oh John!
Meanwhile, Vipul Shah has bought the Hindi remake rights of Gautham Menon’s 2003 film, Kaakha Kaakha, from Feroz Khan who had planned to make it with son Fardeen. Ajay Devgn was keen to act and produce it. Sunny Deol and Salman Khan had also been approached for the cop story for which John Abraham is now beefing up. Buzz is that he is even ready to produce the film.

Shah reacts to the rumour with a surprised, “John wants to produce it?” Is he? “Why should I answer that question? Let the rumours grow, they are good publicity for my film.”

Those who are die-hard Aishwarya Rai fans can take pleasure from the fact that the swelteringly beautiful lady is all set to ignite your life this Diwali, one of the biggest festivals of India.
Aishwarya shall be casting her hypnotising spell on the silver screen this Diwali as her film ‘Action Replayy’ hits the theatres on November, 5th, 2010. Other trivial snippets about the film are as follows:
1. Aishwarya pairs up with Akshay Kumar for the 1st time in her career. This is astonishing given that both have been in the industry since the 90s and have done numerous films.
2. Action Replayy can be branded as a film from the sci-fic genre with a touch of romance.
3. The story gets woven around the theme of time-travel as the protagonists are transported backwards to the era of the 70s and likewise.
4. The film is being touted as an inspiration from the Oscar-nominated flick ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ that starred Brad Pitt.
5. The film’s shoot has already been wrapped up as July 15th marked the end of the last leg of shoot in the exotic Manali.
6. But, we have some Golmaal here. As per the current scheduling, Action Replayy shall release on 5th November along with ‘Golmaal 3’, the 3rd edition of the hit Golmaal franchisee.

There will be fireworks this Diwali as Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Action Replay comes up against Ajay Devgn’s Golmaal 3.
Two weeks later, on November 19, Kumar’s Patiala House takes on Bachchan’s Guzaarish. And then there’s Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 that arrives to wean audiences away from these two big-ticket desi movies.
The new Potter movie will unleash with at least 700 prints in regular, Imax and 32 format in English, and also Hindi, Telugu and Tamil dubbed versions. Warner Bros Pictures India will be unleashing at least 700 prints in India.
Denzel Diaz, Deputy Managing Director (Theatrical), Warner Bros. Pictures India, says that the number of prints could go up to 1000.
“The first Potter film released with around 150 prints. But the fan base since has grown by at least 25 per cent. We’re expecting a bigger draw since this is the last chapter in the series and is now in 3D too,” says Diaz.
Not worried
Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures, that is co-producing and distributing Guzaarish, is not perturbed by the Potter mania: “We’ll go with a huge number of prints too, given that this is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film toplining Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. Their earlier film, Jodhaa-Akbar, that we co-produced and distributed too, was a big hit.”
Vinod Mirani, managing editor, Box Office India, agrees that Potter is a big brand but doesn’t think our filmmakers should be worried. “There’s always curiosity for new films,” he asserts.
Fellow trade analyst Amod Mehra however believes that given the huge sale of Potter books, the movie should make a dent in the collections of the two Hindi films, even though the Order Of The Pheonix didn’t do too well.
“The 3D format is an advantage,” he says. “Also, two weeks after Diwali isn’t great timing. Last year, both London Dreams and Aladin bombed. And Hrithik’s last film, Kites, flopped too. Having back-to-back releases isn’t a good strategy for Akshay.”
Interestingly, Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince released on the same day as Akshay Kumar’s Tashan. It remains to be seen if the Khiladi Kumar will escape The Deathly Hallows this time.

The heart-throb of Bollywood Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been offered a whopping 10 crores by Bobby Pushkarna of Page 3 fame. Sources reveal that producer Bobby Pushkarna is planning to make a movie in the lines of Jag Mundhra’s Provoked, and the producer is very keen to cast Aishwarya in the film.

Bobby Pushkarna is the son of producer Baldev Pushkarna, who made films like Chacha Bhatija. Ash is currently busy with Guzaarish, Action Replay and Endhiran. Earlier there were reports that actress Kareena Kapoor has been paid seven crore for her upcoming film Golmaal 3 which raised many eyebrows.

Even as her recent releases are bombing at the box office, Kareena Kapoor still remains the most sought after actor in Bollywood.

Till now, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan is the highest paid actress in Bollywood, but Kareena could soon take it over if she accepts the huge sum of Rs 10 crore, believed to have been offered to her by Rohit Shetty to be a part of ‘Golmaal 3.’

A source told DNA, “Post ‘Jab We Met’, Kareena’s success graph has risen even more. She was apparently paid Rs2.5 crore for ‘Kambakkht Ishq’ and little more for ‘Golmaal 2’. Rohit’s film went on to become a hit and the director wants to repeat the cast for his next that will take the story forward. Till now, Kareena has never been a part of any sequel. So to make her sign this film, Rohit has offered Rs 10 crore.”