Bollywood Masala Mix
Aishwarya to be model for new Bollywood Barbie doll
Rai sprung to fame when she won the Miss World contest in 1994, which spawned a lucrative modelling and acting career.
She made the transition to Hollywood with starring roles in Bride and Prejudice, Mistress of Spices, The Last Legion and more recently in Pink Panther 2 alongside Steve Martin.
She became the face of L'Oréal cosmetics in 2005 and is one of only two Indian film stars to have their waxwork image displayed at Madame Tussaud's.
She formally became a member of Bollywood's "royal family" when she married actor Abhishek Bachchan, the son of India's most popular star Amitabh Bachchan.
Now she is set to join the ranks of Hollywood immortals and pop divas like Beyoncé Knowles, Elizabeth Taylor, and Diana Ross, who have all had "celebrity Barbies" modelled on them.
Rai's representatives were yesterday reported to be in negotiations with the toy manufacturer as it plans to transform the iconic doll into a Bollywood star and sell it throughout India.
If successful, the new Barbie will have Miss Rai's striking green eyes, and wear outfits created by India's top designers.
New Delhi, (IANS) — Such is the oomph that Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai exudes that it can even leave speechless a hard-bitten politico like Amar Singh who has mastered the turn of phrase and is used to being surrounded by TV reporters eager for a sound byte.
That's exactly what happened at the Rashtrapati Bhawan Tuesday as Aishwarya arrived in style to receive her Padma Shri civilian honour from President Pratibha Patil.
Tall and lissome and clad in an embroidered pink sari, she was quite naturally the cynosure of all eyes as she regally swept into the ornate Durbar Hall for the ceremony.
It was only a little later that the audience realised that she was accompanied by her equally tall father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and the rather shorter Amar Singh, who is the general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and a very visible face on TV these days in the run up to the general elections.
As the TV cameras rolled and the still photographers clicked away furiously, Aishwarya quite visibly savoured the moment even as Singh seemed lost.
Cut to the Banquet Hall where the guests adjourned to after the ceremony for high tea.
As she entered, Aishwarya was quickly surrounded by eager autograph seekers thrusting forward everything from invitation cards to writing pads to pieces of paper for her to sign.
A smaller group surrounded Bachchan and as for Amar Singh, he moved from one to the other, not quite knowing what to do.
Finally, he decided to call it a day and slunk into the background, his expression seeming to say: "What am I doing here?"
And, when Aishwarya trooped out as grandly as she had swept in, Amar Singh quietly followed her and Bachchan.
"Come on, give him a break," remarked a wag. "Perhaps he's feeling lost because this is one place he can't play his politics."
"It's not that," remarked another. "It's called the Aishwarya effect of being overshadowed."
By Surender Bhutani
Warsaw, (IANS) — Shah Rukh Khan once again stole the hearts of the Polish fans with his performance in "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" at the Second Bollywood Film Festival in Poland where Aamir Khan's "Taare Zameen Par" and Deepa Mehta's "Water" were also screened.
Shah Rukh, who is almost a household name in Poland, didn't leave much scope for others to replace him in the hearts of his fans at the weeklong festival entitled 'Experience the Taste of India' that concluded Sunday.
"Shah Rukh is well-established in our psyche and we feel close to him with his performances. For us, it doesn't matter who are the other great stars in India these days - whether it is Amitabh (Bachchan) or his son Abhishek, Aamir Khan or Hrithik Roshan," said Anusia Sancewicz, a well-known media personality.
"Shah Rukh is really superb in most of his movies that have been shown in Poland in the past four years starting from 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' which took Poland by surprise. In a sense, this film opened the floodgates for Bollywood films," added Anusia.
All the tickets of "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" were sold much in advance though the film was screened on the last day. In Warsaw, two multiplexes screened the film to meet the heavy rush - despite that many had to face disappointment as they couldn't get a seat in any of the two halls.
"Aamir Khan's 'Taare Zameen Par' is an excellent movie and it has been appreciated by educated people, but the craze for Shah Rukh remains unabated," observed Riki Rana, a successful businessman and son-in-law of legendary Bollwyood singer Talat Mahmood.
"The role of a commoner portrayed by Shah Rukh in 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' created more ripples in the minds of the Polish audience as Raj Kapoor had done with his roles in 'Aawara' and 'Shri 420' in 1950s and 1960s in the erstwhile Soviet Union," added Riki Rana.
J.J. Singh, president of the Polish Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that to promote Aamir a separate festival of his films needs to be organised.
"To promote Aamir Khan we should organise an exclusive festival of his big films such as 'Ghajini', 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Fanaa'. The climax of 'Fanaa' was filmed on the Tatra mountains of Poland, yet the film has not generated much curiosity in this country, which is surprising," said Singh who was also the main patron of the festival along with the Epelpol Entertainment.
Deepa Mehta's "Water", Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham starrer "Dostana" and Yash Raj Films' "Tashan" were also screened along with "Outsourced" and "Hello".
"Since Poland produces very artistic movies with great directors like Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Roman Polanski, that is why Mehta's 'Water' was highly appreciated by the artistic Polish fans," said Gabellia Krzyzowska, an eminent Indophile.
"There is scope for films of Shabana Azmi, Nasiruddin Shah and Om Puri," she added.
London, (IANS) — Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has spoken out against allegations that she is a 'marriage-breaker', saying she started a relationship with her fiance Raj Kundra only after he got divorced.
Shilpa, 33, found fame in Britain when she appeared alongside late British reality TV star Jade Goody in Celebrity Big Brother and won the series. She met millionaire Kundra, 34, shortly afterwards.
Kundra was separated when he met Shilpa, but his estranged wife Kavita publicly blamed the actress for the break-up of the marriage.
"It actually made me feel physically ill. To be called a marriage-breaker was the worst thing possible. It brought such shame on to my parents, and I felt so bad for their sake," the Daily Mail online quoted her as saying.
"To be honest, I think I was in love with Raj from day one but I was in denial. I made it clear to him that our relationship could go no further than friendship until he actually had his divorce," she added.
The couple, who recently bought a five-million-pound, seven-bedroom mansion that they named Raj Mahal in Weybridge, Surrey, is planning to marry around October, and Shilpa says she can't wait to start a family.
"I'm desperate to start a family. I just love children, and we've a beautiful readymade nursery (in the new house). I want at least two children.
"There is already a child's bedroom here because Raj has a nephew and I can certainly see my children running around this place. And there is enough space for us to live at one end while Raj's parents live at the other. In Indian culture you live as an extended family and this home is perfect for that," she added.
Mumbai, (IANS) — From topics like multiplex versus single screen films to the new economy to Bollywood going global - Abhay Deol wowed the audience with his speech on various aspects of avant-garde cinema at the prestigious Wharton business school.
"It was a fun experience. The audience was very receptive and excited. I didn't go with any theme in mind. I was asked questions about Bollywood. A lot of them were to do with how the industry has been up till now and about how it is changing rapidly," Abhay told IANS on phone from New York.
Abhay gave the speech March 21 at the Wharton School Of The University Of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
"We spoke of the 'multiplex' film versus the 'single screen' film, of the new economy, the new generation of film watchers, the possibility of Bollywood going global, and talent out there which is yet to be tapped," he added.
After Anurag Kashyap's "Dev D", Abhay is being seen as the voice of a specific kind of niche avant-garde cinema in Bollywood.
Johannesburg, (IANS) — Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty says she has "learnt a lot" from her former "Celebrity Big Brother" housemate Jade Goody who died of cancer March 22.
"Two years ago we were bickering and fighting on television and now when I look back it all seems so futile because she's not even there," Shilpa told www.thetimes.co.za. here when asked how she felt about Goody's death.
"Life is so unpredictable, may her soul rest in peace. I have no grudges, we patched up and became great friends," added the winner of the British reality TV show.
At the time of Shilpa's win, many had said it was because she had won sympathy from voters after being seen as the victim of alleged racism.
In the video interview to the South African website, Shilpa also spoke about her impatience with long cricket games and being stopped at an Indian airport because there was a criminal charge against her pending for kissing Hollywood star Richard Gere in public.
"The funniest thing was, I was leaving the country and they stopped me at the Indian airport because I had a criminal case! I don't want to give it too much importance. It's still pending. There are so many cases it takes time for the case to be heard," she said. Calling the pending case in a Rajasthan court the work of "a lunatic fringe", the actress said Gere would still be her first choice as co-star if she had to choose someone from Hollywood.
"I've always liked Richard (Gere). I like him more as a person. I'd take his name first."
The actress was here over the weekend to support her Rajasthan Royals team for the Indian Premier League (IPL) which starts in South Africa April 18.