Hrithik Roshan On Small Screen

After actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Govinda and Salman Khan, it is now Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan’s turn to join the reality show bandwagon.

Hrithik has been named the goodwill ambassador of NDTV Imagine’s new musical reality show ‘Junoon - Kuch Kar Dikhaane Ka’ scheduled to start June 6.

‘I am very pleased to be associated with this show. I can identify with the participants and their desire to achieve success. I can relate to their positive and exuberant spirit because I believe I have a similar enthusiasm - be it for my work or my personal life,’ the Bollywood star said.

The actor would neither be hosting, judging or performing on the show. Hrithik would instead be a support system for the contending participants and teams on the show.

Commenting on the association, Shailja Kejriwal, executive vice president of NDTV Imagine, said: ‘Hrithik epitomises the passion, which is present in all the talented artists that are part of the show.’

The show, being hosted by Annu Kapoor of ‘Antakshari’ fame would have three teams - folk, sufi and filmy - contesting to become the country’s most popular genre of music.

The teams, each having six contestants, would be mentored by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (sufi), Ila Arun (folk) and Anand Raj Anand (filmy).

Salman Khan Goes Blogging

After Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, it’s now Salman Khan who has started his own blog.

Bollywood’s own naughty-baddy Sallu has jotted down some part of his true self and expressed his love towards his parents in his independent e-zone.

The actor has written, “My mother reminisces that I wouldn’t leave her finger even when I was sleeping. It anchored me in childhood. Being close to her, helped drive away the demons.

Today, I wish to tell my mother that I still hold her unseen finger. It is nearness to her alone that sees me through all the rough times. My father tells me that I was mortally afraid of crossing the road.

I would wait and wait and cross the road only when there was no traffic. Dad, I want you to know that even today, I do not cross the limits and boundaries of relationships.”

Where Amitabh is using his blog to promote his upcoming film Sarkar Raj, Aamir promoting Ghajini and even spreading his tear tattering news about his accidents, it is quiet evident that following the path of his fellow actors Salman, too, is using the medium of blog to promote his much hyped reality show 10 Ka Dum.

Ayesha Takia Vs Intimate/Hot Scenes

Young and chirpy actress Ayesha Takia considers Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘Dor’, a poignant tale of two women, as the path-breaking film of her career. She says after the movie, people started taking her seriously as an actor.

‘After ‘Dor’, viewers showed the confidence that I could play serious roles too and so I was offered roles in films like ‘Eight By Ten’ and ‘Wanted’ and many other big movies,’ Ayesha told.

Ayesha is on the verge of completing another Kukunoor film titled ‘Eight By Ten’.

‘Ten days of shooting is left. It also stars Akshay Kumar,’ said Ayesha who plays Akshay’s wife in the supernatural thriller.

Her next release is ‘De Taali’, which will be showcased at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, starting June 6 in Bangkok.

Talking about the film, the dimpled actress said: ‘The character is totally in contrast to what I am in actual life. I play Ammu who is a complete tomboy. She is a complete brat and grows up with Aftab Shivdasani and Reitesh Deshmukh. She does what normally guys do.’

Apart from ‘De Taali’, she has Boney Kapoor’s ‘Wanted Dead And Alive’, which marks southern dancing superstar Prabhu Deva’s entry into Hindi films as director.

The film is a remake of Tamil film ‘Pokkiri’, which was also directed by Prabhu Deva. In the action movie, Ayesha is paired with Salman Khan. Mahesh Manjrekar and Om Puri too feature in key roles.

The actress is also doing Ahmed Khan’s film on four children titled ‘Pathshala’ where she and Shahid Kapur play teachers.

Though ‘Tarzan - The Wonder Car’, for which she won the best debutant actress award in 2004, was released before ‘Socha Na Tha,’ Ayesha considers Imtiaz Ali’s romantic comedy as her debut film.

She said: ”Socha Na Tha’ will always be my first film and close to my heart. ‘Tarzan’ was an entertaining film but ‘Socha Naa Tha’ had a lot of space for acting.’

Was she approached for Imtiaz’s second film ‘Jab We Met’?

‘Initially, Bobby and I were supposed to do the film, but the dates did not work out between us. But, I look forward to working with Imtiaz.’

The actress faced the camera for the first time when she was four years old for an ad and later she did quite a few commercials and music videos.

How difficult was it to gain entry into films? ‘It was not at all difficult. I did not go looking for work. Imtiaz went through my audition tapes and called me to his office.’

Ayesha feels that making an entry is not at all difficult if one has the talent and is ready to work hard.

So far Ayesha has worked mainly with new directors - does she have a preference for them?

‘I don’t have any preferences and I cannot afford it. It is just that the offers came from them. And it is always an exciting experience as new directors are always enthusiastic and hard working and give everything for the project as they know that their life depends on the project.’

Did she plan to be an actress as a child?

‘I was raised in a normal Gujarati style with all the restrictions and reservations. As far as plans are concerned, I did not have plans to become an actress in my childhood.’

About a favourite co-star, Ayesha said: ‘I am not being diplomatic, I enjoyed working with all of them. Also, I am a very professional type of person. I finish my work and go home. I have no favourites, I enjoyed working with all of them.’

Apparently Ayesha makes producers sign a contract on her reservations about intimate and steamy scenes.

She said: ‘Yes, I do sign a contract with every producer and mother has nothing to do with it. I have lived life according to my own principles and ideologies and I adhere to it.’

The 23-year-old has done various roles ranging from comedy to serious characters, but prefers romantic movies.

‘I would like to do romantic films most and my second preference would be serious roles. Though I am not comfortable with stunts, I would definitely like to do an action film like ‘Tomb Raider’.’

She is dating Farhan Azmi and has started a boutique hotel business with him, but has no immediate plans to marry him.

‘I want to work and don’t have any plans to marry now.’

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan As A 4 Crore Actress

Now it can be told. The star-price wars has escalated to an all-time high.

With Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan carrying home a pay packet of Rs 4 crores for her proposed stint as Rajnikanth’s leading lady in Shankar’s Robot, the lady has now become the highest-paid actress of Indian cinema.

A source very close to Aishwarya says, “The media has got it all wrong. Ash has actually received twice the amount quoted in papers and on websites as her fee for Robot. Yes, it’s close to Rs 4 crores.

And she’s very very amused when she reads about this and that actress being the highest-paid actress in Bollywood.

With three hits in a row (Guru, Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa-Akbar) Ash’s equity as a Rai and a Bachchan have gone through the roof. If she wants she can preen about her successes. But that’s not her style.

However she takes strong exception to Bipasha Basu ’s quotes that she, Ash, had to ‘hang around’ to get into the international circuit.

Ash has been regularly offered international projects, from Provoked to Mistress Of Spices to Bride & Prejudice to Last Legion to Pink Panther. In fact all the other international assignments that have gone to other Bollywood actresses—including the honour of hosting the 7 Wonders Of The World event in Lisbon with Ben Kingsley—have gone to Ash first. It’s just that she feels awkward talking about herself.”

As for her astronomical fee for Robot another source close to the project says, “It is no surprise that Aishwarya is getting 4 crores.

It’s still chicken-feed compared with what Rajnikanth gets paid. He takes home Rs 15 crores plus fifty percent of his film’s profits. But still he cannot make a film commercially viable outside the Tamilian belt on his own.

The dubbed Hindi version of Chandramukhi came and went. And Rajni’s biggest hit Shivaji is in no hurry to be released in Hindi. With Ash in Robot it looks like an attractive non-regional film.”

Celina Jaitley As Brand Ambassadress of Egypt

After being made the brand ambassadress of Egypt from India by the Egypt tourism board, Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley took time out from her hectic schedule to make a trip to Cairo. The dynamic metropolis, which is also the largest city in the Middle East, left her impressed.

One of the stops for Celina and her team was Media Production City on the outskirts of Cairo. It’s what Film City is to Mumbai. “They have state-of-the-art studios with best sets which can be used for shoots. I think they are very suitable for our Indian films. A hotel nearby makes it a good option,” said Celina.

The actress and her team then met the minister of tourism, H.E. Mohamed Zoheir Garana, as well as Egyptian Tourism Authority chairman Amr El Ezaby.

His Excellency, The Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Dr. Mohammed Higazy, said: “We want people to know that Egypt is not just about the Pyramids. We are working strategically on the tourism industry in Egypt.

For its growth, we are offering easy visas, lower ticket rates, various tour packages etc. We hope to double the number of Indian tourists to Egypt by 2009. We are spending half a million US dollars in the next six months to encourage traffic between India and Egypt.”

Celina also met up with a few Egyptian actors, including Dr. Ezzat Abbou-Ouf who is also president of the Cairo International Film Festival. Celina promised them that she would be part of this year’s Cairo International Film Festival, scheduled to be held from November 27 to December 7.

For one, the Egyptian authorities have already found a frequent tourist in Celina. And many more Indians would surely follow.

Priyanka Chopra Proposes Harman For Marriage

They may be a low-profile couple, but nevertheless, Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja have never tried to hide their relationship.

While Priyanka is steadily climbing the popularity charts in Bollywood, Harman is being touted as one of the most promising debutants this year. And at such a stage of their careers, it came as a surprise to Harman when Priyanka recently popped the question.

Sources say the couple was in the company of friends when Priyanka suddenly proposed marriage to her boyfriend. However, Harman is not really prepared to tie the knot right now. He wants to stabilize as an actor before taking the plunge.

But whatever be their decision for now, there is no doubt that the pair is quite a cute one. They often drop in on each other’s film sets and chat over the phone during breaks in the shoot.

When Priyanka sustained minor injuries while doing action scenes for film “Drona”, Harman reportedly rushed to the sets. So hope this jodi enters wedlock soon.