By Jilawatan

Debutant Shruti Haasan-starrer Luck will only hit theatres next week, but even before the release, the actress is sporting a new nose. And find out why Aishwarya Rai is the new Karate Kid.  THE ASH AFFECT KICKS IN From sword fighting in Jodhaa Akbar to risky stunts in Dhoom 2, Aishwarya Rai knows how to push herself when her role demands it.

And the latest news is that this former Miss World will be trying her hand at karate for her upcoming sci-film, Enthiran opposite Rajinikanth. According to reports the actress has enrolled herself for karate classes to help towards her in some one-on-one action scenes with Rajnikanth himself.

DESIGNER NOSE While promoting her brand new film Luck, Shruti Hasan was seen sporting a new nose. And surprisingly Shruti did not deny having a nose job done, except it wasn’t a surgery aimed to enhance her looks but to correct a common nasal disorder.

By Jilawatan

“Whoever is on top is the dreamgirl. I feel it is Aishwarya Rai,” Hema told reporters on being asked who, according to her, deserves to be called the ‘dreamgirl’ nowadays.

For Bollywood’s original ‘dreamgirl’ Hema Malini, beauty queen-turned-actress Aishwarya Rai is the only one who deserves the ‘dreamgirl’ tag among all the new age actresses.

Taking about the hardships an actress has to face, she said: “An actress’ life is the same – nothing has changed. It is what it was even 20 years back. They have to work very hard, make themselves look beautiful and need a lot of dedication to remain at the top,” said Hema, who was in this suburb of the national capital Monday to felicitate winners of supermarket Big Bazaar’s ‘Meet The Dreamgirl’ contest.

By Jilawatan

While we may or may not endorse it, he has beaten the likes of Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and of course the current darling of the West — Freida Pinto — to bag the top spot. No mean achievement for a first-time film actor!

But, while many may rejoice at the fact, is Dev’s win really something to do with his special talent? Or, is his just a case of ‘flavour of the season’? Filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia thinks it is the latter. “These lists are generally compiled not on the basis of calibre, but rather it’s about what’s ‘in’ now. SM has been a huge success, and Dev and Freida have been all over the place. It’s all about clout and recall value. You cannot definitely compare one-film wonders like Freida and Dev to seasoned actors like Shabanaji and Om Puriji,” says the filmmaker.

By Jilawatan

The lukewarm response to her recent Hollywood release Pink Panther-II has had Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (35) conceding her position as the most popular face of Bollywood.

In the West to the new international craze 24-year-old Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), who according to reliable sources has been signed for two films — one with Woody Allen and the second with Julian Schnabel.

Freida, who is said to have earned over two million pounds, overtaking Bollywood beauties like Aishwarya, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif is also, according to a world film distributor, being wooed to walk the red carpet at Cannes in May 2009.

On the Bollywood front, Kareena Kapoor (28) has nudged Aishwarya Rai Bachchan out of the Filmfare Top-10 Power list.

But a producer from Chennai confirms that Ash is still the highest paid Indian heroine and has reportedly been paid a fee of Rs six crore for Shankar’s Robot, where she is cast opposite Rajnikant.