Edition 24: Bollywood Bytes

Barbara’s Selection Not For Sex Appeal!
Joginder Tuteja/PTI
Mexican beauty Barbara Mori, who is paired opposite Hrithik Roshan in 'Kites', has been turning heads since the official teaser of the film came out but director Anurag Basu says the the actress was not hired for her sex appeal.

Hrithik has often been equated to a Greek God by Bollywood followers and his chemistry with Mori has been a talking point. The actor's lip locking moments with Mori even led to rumours that his marriage with Suzzanne was in trouble.

However, film maker Anurag Basu insists that 'Kites' is much more than just a skin fest.
"Of course, Barbara is attractive; we all know that. Still, it wasn't just her sex appeal that made us sign her. She has done so much good work in films as well as on TV. I saw them and based on that, we decided that Barbara would be the right fit for 'Kites'," said Basu.
The director is aware that Mori is one of the top searched celebrities on internet today, at least in India, and audience expectation is pretty high from the young woman who is also a mother of a grown up kid in real life.

"Yes, people do search for her pictures on internet. However, as a director I can vouch for the fact that she surprised when we were shooting the film. She has quite a few dramatic scenes in the film and I was wondering if she would be able to pull then off. But I was taken by surprise by her acting," Basu added.

The director says he was so impressed with Mori's performance that he started rethinking about some of the scenes that he had originally written. Basu decided to sizzle up the act by rewriting a few scenes and adding a different perspective to them.

"Really, I was blown over by the chemistry between Barbara and Hrithik. Some of the very scenes that originally looked great to me were seemingly fake once I saw the two on screen. I had to throw these scenes away and improvise at the last moment. Call it ironical but some of the best scenes in the film are those which were written at the very end. Hrithik and Barbara really look so real and good together."

Ekta Hunting New Faces On Net
PTI
It''s not just Bollywood filmmakers who are hunting for new faces. After Ashutosh Gowarikar launched an online hunt for a new face for his period film on Buddha, Ekta Kapoor, the queen of idiot box, is on a look-out for fresh faces through the Internet.

Ekta is leaving no stone unturned to make her upcoming show ''Tere Liye'' on Star Plus her most memorable body of work. The 34-year-old TV mogul, who has created pairs like Sujal-Kashish, Om-Parvati, Tulsi-Mihir on the small screen is on a lead hunt to find the next ''it'' couple in Taani and Anuraag.

"A team of eight members are investing night and day surfing through profiles of young and fresh faces, age group 18-25 on all social networking sites (Facebook, Orkut) to hunt for the leads that can portray Taani and Anuraag. So if you are on these social networking sites and make the cut, you could be the lucky one," a source said.

Plane Enjoyment For Akki
IANS
Akshay Kumar recently took a break from his hectic shooting schedule and flew to Barbados in a private jet to enjoy the T20 World Cup finale between England and Australia.
His friends coaxed him to take a break to catch the match and celebrate the success of his last release 'Housefull'.
'Akshay flew his friends in a private charter for a four-day-long all guys vacation where they stayed at a friend's bungalow on Bridgetown beach,' a source close to the actor said.
The star made sure he and his pals got the best seats in the stadium.
'Seated in the most expensive seats in the stadium, they cheered their hearts out during the England v/s Australia final at Barbados and were seen having a riot of a time,' the source added.
England lifted the World Twenty20 beating Australia by seven wickets in the final Sunday at the Kensington Oval.
Soon after the match, Akshay flew to London in a private jet to shoot for Nikhil Advani's 'Patiala House' since all flights to and fro to London were cancelled due to volcanic ash.
'Yes, Akshay did take a private jet since he wanted to reach London on time for the shoot schedule. He has always been a thorough professional,' Akshay's spokesperson said in a statement.
Apart from 'Patiala House', the actor is also working in Farah Khan's 'Tees Maar Khan' and Anees Bazmee's 'Thank You'.

Shammi Shares Secrets Of Dancing
Dibyojyoti Baksi/IANS
His energetic, untamed, inimitable and sometimes crazy dance moves were a hit with all age groups. Veteran actor Shammi Kapoor reveals he never worked with a choreographer and created every step spontaneously for the camera.
'I was very much influenced by my own self,' Kapoor, 78, told IANS in an exclusive interview.
'Technology at that time was not all that advanced. We used to go to the cinema halls once in a while. Things that I used to like in the movies used to stay in my mind and later I used to use them in my songs.
'As far as the dancing is concerned, I made it all by myself. I never knew what would be my next step.'
Some of his timeless hits include 'Baar baar dekho', 'Badan pe sitare', 'Yahoo', 'Aaja Aaja main hoon pyaar tera', 'Aye hasina zulfon wali', 'Aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke charche'. And they have been heard and enjoyed time and again over the decades and are played at dance parties even today.
Asked if anyone among today's actors resembles his traits, he said: 'No. They are much better. Hrithik Roshan and all of them are much, much better. Even Shah Rukh Khan has done some excellent work...I did my things and they do their things.
The 78-year-old, who gave hits like 'Junglee' (1961), 'Bluff Master' (1963), 'Kashmir Ki Kali' (1964) and 'An Evening In Paris'(1967), retired from movies long time back. But he surely keeps a track of the new films and says that he misses innocence and melody in today's movies.
Despite his age, Kapoor keeps himself abreast with new technology. He was first among Hindi film celebrities to use Yahoo e-mail.
In fact, people used to think that Kapoor owned Yahoo Internet browser as their ad used to say something like 'Shammi Kapoor has got Yahoo.com'.
'When my nephew Randhir Kapoor started using internet, he called me up and asked why I didn't tell him that Yahoo belongs to me (because of that promo). I told him that it doesn't belong to me. Had it been mine, I would have been in America. He regretted that it wasn't mine or we could all have settled in America. Lots of people were under the impression that Yahoo was my company.
'When Jerry Yang (co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo) came to India, he opened Yahoo India.com. He invited me to the Taj (Hotel) and as a matter of fact they played my 'Yahoo' song,' Kapoor recalled.