BollyBurst 3

Ash Rai dazzles at the French Open
While the gorgeous Bachchan bahu, Aishwarya and her elegant husband, Abhishek are in the news for Raavan, she managed to take time out to go to the French Open, as part of her Longines luxury watches endorsement. Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf threw a charity dinner, where the 3-time winner of Roland-Garros and former world number one tennis player Gustavo Kuerten was presented with the Longines Prize for Elegance by the Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, as a tribute to the elegance of heart shown by his commitment to helping disadvantaged children through his Instituto Guga Kuerten.
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Ra.One and King Khan
Shah Rukh Khan keeps his fans updated constantly, about his antics on sets, especially with his unusual home-production, Ra.One. He describes the film as: “ra.one is kind of sci fi meets superhero & genie in the bottle genre…but shrouded in a typical fun filled happy hindi film space. Flying, landing & posing like a superhero.”
He even Tweets about his bad days: “awful day at shoot. acted badly… did awful action…& gave suggestions without understanding them myself. delayed the shoot.” And laments the growing costs: “Huge blue screen… 100 cars… cranes, wires … God, I am making a film beyond my means. Will be dancing on the streets to pay for all this.”
He also speaks of film-makers he hasn’t worked with: “Would love to work with Vishal, Anurag, Mani sir, Raju & so many other gifted directors. but v have to have something which suits us all.”
In the meantime, his co-star in Ra.One, Kareena Kapoor says: “My characters in Ra.One and Saif’s home production Agent Vinod are powerful roles.”
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A rather unusual British story, produced by Mani Ratnam
Venturing into the unknown has always been Mani Ratnam’s forte and his production company, Madras Talkies is doing just that. British TV viewers may remember the rather annoying double glazing advert: "You buy one, you get one free!" Guess what? A film is being made about it and the rags-to-riches story of the founder of Safestyle UK, who moved from India to the UK. Featuring characters from Britain, India, Pakistan and Spain, the film is set to star Vivek Oberoi, who has had a spate of flops of late.
An insider from the movie confirmed: "It is all very bizarre but it is going ahead. It’s obviously hoping for a whiff of Slumdog Millionaire magic. It will create movie history, whether it is a hit or a turkey. It’s the first time a double-glazing company has starred in a film.”
Mani Ratnam’s assistant, Shivakumar takes the role of director. For the first time, Yuvan Shankar Raja works with this production house. He says: “I have been roped in for a Hindi movie to be produced by Mani Ratnam and directed by Shivakumar. I am excited to be a part of the project. It is going to be a different attempt.”
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Milenge Milenge revived
Milenge Milenge, featuring Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor (no relation, but they co-starred in hit film, Jab we met) is a hugely delayed movie, which gets it’s release this Summer by EROS.
In this film, Amit (Shahid Kapoor) and Priya (Kareena Kapoor) meet at a Youth festival in Bangkok. The attraction is instant and they spend days together cavorting around Bangkok City together. They part due to various circumstances and Priya leaves it to destiny to bring them back together if it were meant to be. As years go by and both of them are about to be married, but each still has this nagging feeling that the other was his/her one true love. Of course fate conspires to bring them back together (after about a dozen very interesting near misses) as they each simultaneously undertake one last attempt to find one another just before they get married to someone else.
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Abhishek Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan fly to South Africa for FIFA
The Tweeting stars have decided to make trips to catch the footie, this July. All fans can go stalking the top B Town stars in sunny South Africa. Abhishek, a keen Chelsea fan is supported in his passions by his family. Says his father, Big B: “There is keenness for a group that wishes to be there (World Cup) in the midst of it all to feel the punch of entertainment and game. My home enthusiasts … well just one … Mr. Abhishek Bachchan has expressed his absolute desire to be there for the final.”
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Aamir Khan – from actor to producer
Aamir Khan, the most bankable actor in Bollywood is spending the rest of 2010 being a super producer. He says: “I’m too busy with my three upcoming productions and I don’t have the time to take on anything.”
He clarifies the stance on Mani Ratnam’s much talked about, dormant project, Lajjo: “I was unaware of Lajjo being revived, until I read about it in the newspaper. It was news to me too! Because where I am concerned, talks about Lajjo were over more than two years ago.”
His next project, Peepli Live, about a village of farmers, has been bought by a major production house, he says: “So while I may not be acting in it, Peepli Live is as much my film as 3 Idiots was. If you ask me what my next film is, I’ll say Peepli Live.” He also speaks of the Danny Boyle/Anurag Kashyap trilogy: “I’m not committed to Bombay Velvet any more or any less than any other project at this moment.”
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Win tickets for the Raavan premiere in London
Releasing in cinemas worldwide on Friday 18th June 2010, ‘Raavan’ is an original film of work presented by the cinematic tour de force that is director Mani Ratnam  (‘Dil Se’, ‘Bombay’), Academy Award Winner and music maestro AR Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire), and Indian cinema royalty and off-screen couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan who reunite following the critically acclaimed ‘Guru’.
Drenched with atmosphere, emotion and gripping tension, ‘Raavan’ is a darkly intense, cinematic masterpiece that will draw audiences into the innermost depths of the human psyche to test their beliefs, convictions and emotions.
To win a pair of tickets and walk the red carpet with stars like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek, Vikram and Mani Ratnam, at the world premiere on 16th June, just email: info@thamarai.com with the answer to the following: Where will the World Premiere of Raavan take place? A) Leicester Square B) Westfield  C) BFI
Words: Ashanti OMkar © Thamarai.com
Ashanti OMkar is a London based multi-media persona, whose work in the publishing and broadcasting has gained her a huge fanbase the world over.  She works with publications like BBC publishing Cineword magazine and Canada’s Anokhi. She comes from a corporate background (Consultancy at places like Oracle, Hilton Group, Pepsi) and transitioned into media in 2003. She has since interviewed the likes of AR Rahman, Amitabh, Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Tamil stars like Vikram, Hariharan and Madhavan, musicians like Jay Sean, John Legend, Nitin Sawhney, and actresses like  Asin, Freida Pinto, Preity Zinta, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone amongst many others. She has also interviewed mainstream artistes like Sean Paul and John Legend. She also compères and leads Q&A’s at places like the London Mela, BAFTA, Sadlers Wells, Rich Mix and talent showcases.