Andhranews

As the release date of J.P. Dutta’s Umrao Jaan nears, the media seems to be falling over each other to present the first images of Aishwarya Rai from the film. “We are inundated by calls from all the newspapers and channels for Aishwarya’s pictures from Umrao Jaan,” said a source from Dutta’s camp.
Dutta has kept Aishwarya’s new avatar under wraps.

“So far, Aishwarya has played a modern woman in films, except in Devdas where people liked her role. They are waiting to see her as the courtesan Umrao Jaan. People in the trade are positive about the film because of Dutta,” said Delhi-based distributor Sanjay Mehta. “Aishwarya is not known as a bankable actor. People think of her as wooden and that she can’t emote. But Dutta is not only a good director, he is also a good technician. He knows how to extract work from his artistes. We are confident that Aishwarya must have played the role convincingly,” he added.

Mehta couldn’t be more right, Dutta had put Aishwarya under rigorous training so that she could play the role made famous by Rekha in the original. “People are also curious to see Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan’s chemistry on the screen,” added Mehta. The obvious question is whether Aishwarya can ever match up to Rekha. Said Dutta, “Aishwarya has given her best to the film.” Dutta has gone into meticulous detail for the costumes, jewellery, the buildings and the indoors. “He gave the most minute details to Anna Singh and his wife Bindiya. They have carried out his vision exactly the way he wanted it to be,” said an insider.

In 1981, Muzaffar Ali directed the first screen adaptation of Ruswa’s book. It was a masterpiece and Rekha’s performance as an emotionally unfulfilled courtesan was appreciated with a National Award. Dutta’s Umrao Jaan, made on a budget of Rs 20 crores, was shot mainly in Jaipur. It also stars Shabana Azmi, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.

If Asha Bhonsle was the voice of Rekha, Alka Yagnik will sing for Aishwarya Rai. Javed Akhtar has penned the songs for this classic tale and Anu Malik has composed it. Malik’s daughter Anmol is learnt to have lent her voice to a young Aishwarya in the film.

Love stories and emotional relationships haven’t exactly been Ram Gopal Varma’s main area of interest, so when he decided to make an intense saga about an old man’s obsession with a young girl in Nishabd it raised several eyebrows. But Varma says that the film with Amitabh Bachchan wasn’t a sudden decision. “It was an idea I was sleeping with for a long time. What fascinates me is how would it seem to place a man of Mr Bachchan’s character, demeanour, grace and image in such a position? The relationship with a young girl will look even more effective,” Varma said.Varma doesn’t deny that he has shied away from sex and love in most of his films.

“It could also have something to do with the genre of films I generally do. Nishabd allowed me to go into areas I haven’t visited before. But I wouldn’t like to give it a pompous terminology like ‘soul-searching’. I’m not equipped for that sort of exercise. In Nishabd, I’m basically interested in capturing a conflict within a man between his feelings and his responsibilities. The girl is only a device to trigger off that conflict,” he said.

Right now, Varma is hogging the limelight for his two remakes, Shiva and Sholay. While explaining why he and Amitabh are working on a series of films together, the director says, “I think we’re addicted to each other. We’re both in the mood to create poetry in Nishabd.”
Denying that he is getting mellower, he says, “This is my once-in a while moment of seriousness. I’ll quickly go back to making Bhoot and Kaun before people start taking me seriously and give me awards.”

Those who have had a sneak peek of Mani Ratnam’s Guru can’t stop raving about Abhishek Bachchan. “Guru will take his career ahead by leaps and bounds,” reveals an insider. The film also stars Aishwarya Rai, R. Madhavan, Vidya Balan and Mithun Chakraborty.

Mallika Sherawat will appear in a special number in the film. In fact, the seductive song, that features Abhishek and Mallika, was especially shot in the deserts of Istanbul. The film is also being talked about because Ash has especially put on weight for her role in the film. The story is reportedly based on the life of business tycoon late Dhirubhai Ambani and his wife Kokilaben.

If the industry buzz is to be believed, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya, that marks the debut of Rishi Kapoor’s son Ranbir and Anil Kapoor’s daughter Sonam, will have less than 22 songs in the film. Interestingly, Ranbir and Sonam had worked with Bhansali as his assistant directors during the making of Black before being launched as actors.

Right from the time he began Khamoshi, to his latest release Black, Bhansali’s passion for music is well known in the industry. “The director has a ear for music. He even makes it a point to sit through the music sittings,” says Monty Sharma, who had done the background score for Black and who is now doing the music for Saawariya. “I had given the background music of Black and am lucky to get the opportunity to do the complete music score for Bhansali.” About scoring tunes for 22 songs, Monty clarifies that Bhansali had decided on 22 songs earlier, but finally they came up with 16 tracks.

“Out of the 16, Bhansali will choose the best tracks to be retained for the film,” Sharma informs. It is also interesting to note that it is after a decade that a film with record number of songs is being made. Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Aapke Hain Kaun that had music directors Raam-Laxman scoring its music, was the last film to have a record number of songs, 14, to be precise. “We have broken that record by scoring 16 tracks,” Sharma says. Bhansali plans to release Saawariya in 72 countries simultaneously. The film is being backed by Sony Classic who began their association with Bhansali in Black.

Scarlett Johansson thrilled fans and critics at the Venice Film Festival. The Lost in Translation actress brought some vintage Hollywood glamour to the city at the premiere of her new movie The Black Dahlia.

However, it appears that the actress’ infamous curves proved too much for one critic that he told Scarlett exudes so much sex appeal in the movie that it could distract audiences from the plot.Scarlett replied, “Of course it’s nice to be considered sexy, as a young woman in my prime. But I try not to think about the sexiness. And I never think about it being distracting from a scene”.

Wearing a full-length embroidered silk gown, with a wide gold satin sash around her waist and a diamond butterfly clip in her hair, Scarlett, complete with signature ruby-red lips, waved to the crowd as she sashayed down the red carpet. The actress revealed she had spent days looking for the “perfect gown”. She said, “Hidden away I found a 40s embroidered silk dress that is a perfect fit, not just for me, but for the era my film is set in”.

Kate Moss has posed nude for a new photo shoot. The supermodel, who is dating drug-addicted rocker Pete Doherty, is seen stripped off in several shots for fashion magazine Pop. In one photo Kate is seen wearing just a giant white head dress, while in another she is naked apart from a huge pair of angel wings, however, her breasts are covered by her arms which are clasped in a prayer position.

The catwalk beauty even chose the angel costume herself. A source said, “When she was asked which outfit she wanted she immediately shouted, ‘The angel, of course!’ Kate said she wanted it because it reminded her of the part she played in a school nativity.” Another shot has the 32-year-old model posing topless wearing a pirate’s hat and a pair of 60s’ style briefs.

Meanwhile, Pete Doherty’s mother has claimed that Kate and her son are “deeply in love”. Despite the hysteria surrounding their relationship, the Babyshambles rocker’s mum Jackie insists their feelings for each other are genuine. She said, “They’ve been deeply in love and people just won’t leave them alone. I think everyone should leave them alone”.

Orlando Bloom has turned down a role in the new Knight Rider movie. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor was approached by David Hasselhoff to play the son of Michael Knight, the character he made famous in the original 80s TV show, in the upcoming remake.

Bloom told UK’s Daily Express: “He’d heard I was a fan of the old show and said, ‘We’re doing the movie version and I’d love you to play my son in it’.” Bloom says that he decided to pass on the offer because he was never really a die-hard fan of the series.

Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have reportedly started using a sex schedule to put the spice back into their love life. The couple have been at the centre of negative rumours about their marriage for months but it seems they have now decided to take matters into their own hands to rescue their allegedly ailing union.

Madonna and Guy have come up with a plan to completely devote themselves to each other three times a week, including making love. A friend of the Hung Up singer told Britain’s Grazia magazine: “They’ve made appointments to have a ‘connection’ with each other three times a week. Madonna has also requested ‘M time’ each week, when she will talk to Guy about her career and he will offer advice”.

Sharon Stone has adopted a third child. The Basic Instinct star, who already has two sons, six-year-old Roan and 15-month-old Laird, became mum to new-born Quinn Stone in June. A friend of the star told the New York Post newspaper, “He’s absolutely adorable and the apple of his mommy’s eye. Sharon is tickled blue.” Sharon’s new son is named Quinn, which follows in the Gaelic tradition of her other children’s monikers, meaning “counsel”. Meanwhile, Stone has quit dating.

The 47-year-old actress has turned her back on men because she claims after initially dazzling them with her glamorous persona, her dates can’t cope when they discover she is just a normal person. Earlier this year, she revealed, “You date somebody and three months into the relationship you get the flu and he’s so furious, he goes to his front row seats at the basketball game without you because he doesn’t want to be with the person who gets the flu. “I stopped dating about a year ago, and decided to take some time to heal myself from a variety of traumas, that being one of them.”

Mariah Carey has been given £3 million worth of diamonds by the Sultan of Brunei’s son. The singer received a eight-carat, flawless diamond necklace and matching ring from Prince Azim just as she was about to go on stage in New York last week. The 24-year-old prince is third in line to the Sultanate and his father is worth a whopping £25 billion.His representative told Mariah, “We were sent by private jet to deliver this gift.” The singer was so delighted to be performing in her hometown that she splashed out £30,000 on Cristal champagne for friends and family at the show, which took place in Madison Square Gardens.

Mariah made sure her 150 guests enjoyed themselves, although she could only drink wine. The 36-year-old singer is quoted by Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper as saying: “Champagne’s bad for my voice so I can’t have any on tour. I am on total voice rest between shows and not even supposed to speak.”