Shammi and Shashi Kapoor hospitalised

The Kapoor legends so to say, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, brothers aged 79 and 72 respectively, are suffering from age related ailments. They both have been hospitalised for the past few days.

While Shammiji is suffering from kidney ailments and is recuperating at Breach Candy hospital, Shashiji is admitted at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri. Amitabh Bachchan who visited both at their respective hospitals tweeted and blogged about the visit, "went to visit Shashi Kapoor in hospital and pained to see him in such condition...prayers for him please." He also mentioned about the visit to Shammi Kapoor on his blog as he wrote, "I have been to visit Shammi Kapoor in hospital. He is unwell, in a different hospital. He was his most charming self as always and joked and laughed over his condition."

Bollywood Hungama wishes the two superstars of yesteryears a speedy recovery.

Ajay Devgn to star in Neeraj Pandey's Special Chabbis

Neeraj Pandey, who shot into the limelight with his critically acclaimed film A Wednesday, is now ready to shoot his next outing. His next directorial venture titled Special Chabbis, is a film based on a real life incident where twenty six men, posing as Income Tax officials, carried out a mock raid on a leading jewellery store in Mumbai and seized jewellery worth millions, never to return.

Bollywood Hungama has learnt from a source close to the actor that, "Yes Ajay did hear the script for the film and has also agreed to do it, though at this point no more details are available of the film."

Special Chabbis will have Ajay playing the main lead and will also have an ensemble cast. The film is scheduled to go on floors early next year.

Big B lends voice to Aamir Khan Productions' Delhi Belly

Not too long ago, the media was rife with tussle between the 'perfectionist' Aamir Khan and the stalwart of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan, over the latter's film Black. When everything seemed lost, there was an olive branch extended and Bachchan and Aamir once again became close friends. Now Bachchan Sr. will be lending his voice to Aamir Khan Productions' forthcoming film Delhi Belly.

One may recall, Amitabh Bachchan, had lent the voice earlier too for Aamir Khan's first home production Lagaan.

Couple of days ago, Aamir and Kiran were seen visiting Amitabh Bachchan on sets of a film where he was shooting. After a long closed door meeting and catching up, they left almost after two hours. And yesterday morning Amitabh Bachchan dubbed in a suburban studio for Delhi Belly.

Bachchan's voice-over will also be heard in the first trailer of Delhi Belly that will be attached with Dhobi Ghat on Jan 21. The said piece will be an introductory piece and what's interesting is that Aamir has written the piece.

Aamir has been concentrating and working diligently with Abhinav Deo the director on the final edit of Delhi Belly.

Delhi Belly stars Imran Khan, Kunal Roy Kapur and Vir Das in lead roles.

Bollywood’s top ten controversies 2010

Bollywood and controversies go hand in hand. Some of these are genuine, while others may have been staged for cheap publicity.  Here are the Top 10 Controversies. Here are the top 10 Bollywood 'chatpata' controversies which made sure that our lives became more interesting this year...

1)Ranbir, Deepika and Sonam - Love birds Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor broke up and it opened up the pandora's box. Deepika along with Sonam Kapoor joined forces and ripped the boy apart, in the name of jest, in Karan Johar's show, Koffee with Karan. All said in jest and humour but papa Rishi Kapoor took it to heart. He has unofficially declared that Ranbir will not be working with Deepika or Sonam for at least a while. Next, Sonam's papa Anil Kapoor jumped into the boxing arena by saying, it's silly of Rishi to take such petty fights so seriously. Now that the papas have got involved, doesn't look like this controversy will die soon.

2)Yana Gupta’s pantyless stunt - The item song Babu ji zara dheere chalo instantly catapulted this Czech beauty to fame in Bollywood. Hardly anything followed after, except for her on and off relationship status with Aftab Shivdasani. But boy, is she back! Yaana Gupta graced a Child Reach NGO event in a scintillating LBD sans her panty. The item girl brushed away the supposed stunt saying that she headed to the event right after her 'pantyless' dance sessions.

3)Neetu Chandra cricket scam - Neetu Chandra has enough number of controversies in her kitty, be it the sizzling photoshoot or her tiff with Pakistani actress Veena Malik over the recent cricket scam.Reports claim that the actress was in touch with Pakistani cricketer Mohammed Asif who was incidentally involved in the cricket scam. Veena Malik, the Pakistani actress who is currently a participant in the reality show Bigg Boss 4, was in a relationship with the cricketer for quite sometime. Neetu's name was dragged into the scandal when Veena stated that the cricketer was in touch with an Indian actress before the scandal came out. Thanks to the controversies, a lot of meaty roles from down South have come her way.

4)Salman Vs Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Hrithik - This is recent. A tabloid reported that the mischievous Khan at an event made fun of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film, Guzaarish. 'Usme machchar udti hai par koi makkhi bhi nahin gaya dekhne...' he is reported to have said, apart from other things. While Bhansali sulked, Hrithik took up the cudgels and chided Salman for not being too graceful.

5)Abatement to suicide case against Rakhi Sawant - The reality star and item girl has never managed a safe distance from scandals. Mika Singh's smooch made her file a molestation case against the singer. But this time, the law has not favoured Rakhi Sawant. Jhansi district police registered a criminal case against Rakhi in connection with the death of a young man. Rakhi Ka Insaaf hosted by Rakhi revolves around stories of divorce to domestic violence. The usually blunt Rakhi Sawant lashed out at a young man at one of her trials and called him 'impotent'. And this apparently pushed him to commit suicide.

6)Shobhaa De vs Punit, Sonam - Celebrated columnist Shobhaa De didn't like debut director Punit Malhotra's film I Hate Luv Storys and said in her column that he needs to be spanked. Punit straight took her on and tweeted, "Guys please don't take Shobhaa De seriously. She is a fossil going through menopause. She doesn't get action." Sonam Kapoor, who played in the said film jumped into the fray and re-tweeted Punit's tweet. De, enraged by this, wrote in her column that Sonam doesn't show signs of decent upbringing. Soon after, Sonam (apparently at the behest of dad Anil Kapoor) sent an apology tweet to De, saying "I am ashamed for my momentary lapse of judgement. Every writer, journalist and audience is entitled to her opinion and I respect that."

7)Abhishek and Prahlad Kakkar- Abhishek Bachchan and ad man Prahlad Kakkar might have buried the hatchet, but some time back they were at loggerheads. Kakkar passed a comment that the actor should be given a Guinness World Record for surviving in the industry after 17 flops. Well, the adman's constructive criticism didn't go down well with Abhishek. The actor used the social networking site Twitter to hit back: 'I'm already in the Guinness Book of World Records and a very proud son. I hope you give your sons an opportunity to say the same someday.'

8)Knock Out Vs Phonebooth - Finally Hollywood woke up to the plagiarism that Bollywood has been indulging in for years. The makers of Phone Booth took a serious interest in Irrfan Khan- Sanjay Dutt starrer Knock Out as they felt the story is a straight lift from their film. The producers of Knock Out had to pay the studio 1.5 crores as damages.

9)Sonam Kapoor takes on Imran Khan -  Khan and Kapoor have worked together in I Hate Luv Storys, and the chemistry also worked wonders for millions of their fans. But all is not well between the two fresh stars of Bollywood. The tussle between Sonam and Imran began with the rapid fire round on Koffee with Karan. Imran Khan stated that she should do less magazine covers and more roles. In response, Sonam who came on the talk show later, said that she won't take advice from a star who is still 'wet behind the ears'.

10)Shiney Ahuja's maid makes a u-turn - Shiney Ahuja's career kickstarted with Sudhir Mishra's Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. And then there was no looking back until the rape case came to light.The actor who played the hero in many of his films was incarcerated for raping his maid. After much public embarrassment, the maid retracted her statement.Now that the actor's career has gone down the drain, the maid's u-turn in the rape case might not do any favours for the Bollywood actor.

Govt cracks down on Colors for 'excessive violence', 'cruelty'

The I&B ministry found Rishton Se Badi Pratha unsuitable for children.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to Colors channel for its serial 'Rishton Se Badi Pratha', saying it portrayed "excessive violence" and "cruelty". The programme which is aired on prime time, is "against good taste" and potrays "excessive violence and cruelty", the ministry said in the notice. "The explicit scenes of torture being inflicted on a female character is barbaric and appears to denigrate women," it said.
The notice went on to say that the programme contains "disturbing visuals and scenes of eccentric and abnormal violence which does not apear to be suitable for children".
Ministry sources said the channel has been advised not to carry content on the show which constitute violation of the programme code as enshrined in the cable network act. The channel has been asked to answer within seven days from receipt of the notice as to why action should not be taken against it as per section 20 of the Cable Act.
'Rishton Se Badi Pratha' is a serial about the problems being faced by a couple who decide to marry against the wishes of their family.
The channel was in trouble earlier when the ministry issued an order last month asking it to shift its popular programme 'Big Boss' from the prime 9 PM slot to after 11 PM, saying it was not fit to be watched by children.
The channel approached the Bombay High Court and was given a stay as the court said it should have been issued a notice first. 'Bigg Boss' managed to get another stay at the second hearing and is still being aired at 9 PM.

Girl-next-door Jacqueline, sizzles in Murder sequel

Jacqueline Fernandez has been signed up for Murder 2.

The first chapter of the film 'Murder' set the male testosterone pumping with overtly bold scenes and yes, of course, the curvy Mallika Sherawat. The Bhatt camp is ready with the sequel to the much talked about film and its rightly called Murder 2. The Murder 2 cast has been changed a bit, with the lead actress Mallika replaced by the leggy Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez. After playing the cute girl next door roles in films like Aladin and Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, Jackie seems to have gone for a complete image makeover and has turned into a siren for the film.
Meanwhile, Murder's lead Emraan Hashmi, remains a part of the sequel. The film is co-written by Mahesh Bhatt and Shagufta Rafique and as per reports coming out, is based on the Nithari killings in Noida.

Shah Rukh Khan to celebrate New Year in Dubai

Shah Rukh Khan is planning to ring in the New Year in Dubai.

The Bollywood superstar and a host of other A-listers are planning to ring in the new year in Dubai. The actor will be joined by his wife Gauri Khan and a group of other Bollywood friends are likely to check into a luxury hotel on the Palm Jumeirah from December 30 to January 1.
Actor Hrithik Roshan and his wife Susanne Khan, director Karan Johar and lawyer Kaajal Anand will also join the King Khan.
Khan, who has a home on the man-made island, however, plans to throw an extravagant party there, Emirates 24/4 reported.
According to the report, actor Chunky Pandey is also on the guest list while Arjun Rampal is reportedly yet to firm up his plans.

Anorexic Model Isabelle Caro Dies at 28

Caro caused a stir after appearing in posters for an anti-anorexia campaign in 2007, but the ads were banned in several countries. File photo

A French model who posed nude for an anti-anorexia campaign while suffering from the illness herself has died at the age of 28, her colleagues confirm.
Isabelle Caro died on 17 November after being treated for an acute respiratory illness, Swiss singer Vincent Bigler, who reportedly was her boyfriend, told journalists.
"She was hospitalised for 15 days with acute respiratory disease and was recently also very tired, but I do not know the cause of her death."
Caro caused a stir after appearing in posters for an anti-anorexia campaign in 2007, but the ads were banned in several countries.
It was not clear why it took so long for her death to be made public.
The anti-anorexia campaign came amid a debate among fashion circles on the use of "ultra-skinny" models on the catwalk.
"I thought this could be a chance to use my suffering to get a message across, and finally put an image on what thinness represents and the danger it leads to - which is death," Caro said at the time.
The model, who was 5ft 4in tall (1.65m) at the time of the poster campaign, reportedly weighed 32kg (five stones).

Madhuri Dixit to pair up once again with Anil Kapoor?

Madhuri Dixit is one star Bollywood is proud of and can never get enough of her. Post marriage Madhuri has kept away from cameras devoting her time and attention to kids and family. Her last film was ‘Aaja Nach Le’ which failed to create a spark at the box office but this has not faded the lady’s adoration in any way.
Now, the reports have it that she may play the role of Sonam Kapoor’s mother in Anil Kapoor’s remake of the Hollywood film, ‘Freaky Friday’. The film revolves around a mother and daughter who magically swap roles for a day.
Bollywood actresses like Shabhana Azmi, Rekha and Kirron Kher had been previousle approached for the role but they all gave a no to the project due to date problems. Now, Madhuri is being considered for the role and if she says yes, it would fulfil Anil Kapoor’s wish which was expresses when he said that he would like to work with his former leading lady again.
Her secretary and previous manager, Rakesh Nath has said, “She has got four-five very good offers. She will definitely do another film soon, but this time we have to be very careful. I’ve worked with other actresses, but Madhuriji is Madhuriji.”
Well, some part of the story definitely seems to be true as Madhuri has tweeted, “Meeting with Anil Kapoor today. Lets see what happens….”

Katrina Kaif to go de-glam after her glam avatar in TMK

Katrina Kaif rocked the nation with her sexy avatar in ‘Tees Maar Khan’ and especially her item song ‘Sheila Ki Jawaani’. Now, the actress will be seen in a role in dire contrast to what she played in TMK. This Prakash Jha film titled ‘Satsang’ will see Kats as a woman clad in an ochre robe and in search of spirituality. This upcoming film exposes the multi-billion global religion factory in India.
Her role in Satsang is so complex that even Jha was not sure, initially, if the actress could deliver. “It would be the most challenging part of my career so far,” says Katrina.
She plays the central character in the film which is semi-autobiographical in nature and is that of a woman from the West in search of Oriental spiritualism. Katrina will be seen sans makeup for the film and will have to get informed on the intricacies of the multi-billion religious industry in India.”
Katrina is already geared up for the role and says, “Prakashji and I have discussed the part in detail. This is one film that I’ve do the most preparation for. I’m open to the challenge.”