KATRINA KAIF

KATRINA KAIF

Katrina Kaif now officially enjoys Barbie Girl status. She was chosen by doll manufacturers Mattel to represent India on the iconic toy’s 50th anniversary and is honoured, “To have your face on dolls that you’ve played with from childhood is flattering” she said. To launch the initiative, Kats walked the ramp in a Barbie outfit at Lakme Fashion Week. Whatever next; Salman Khan as Ken?

To Demonstrate the gulf between the woods — Holly and Bolly — Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto will pocket R27.5m for her next role, way more than Bollywood’s highest earner Kareena Kapoor who is on R15m. Aishwarya normally bags as much but is doing Shan kar’s Robot with Rajni kanth for only R8m. Pinto, who stars in Woody Allen’s next film with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Josh Brolin, has also signed an Israeli film for Julian Schnabel. It’s ad apted from Rula Jebreal’s book about Hind Husseini, founder of an orphanage in Jerusalem after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. It will be shot in the Palestinian territories.

After making her mark opposite Aamir Khan in Ghajini, south star Asin could soon find herself romancing his rival Shahrukh. SRK is believed to have recommended her for an upcoming Yash Raj project which was to have star red Katrina Kaif, but while he doesn’t mind working with a star who was previously linked to Aamir, he is uncomfortable working with anyone currently linked to Salman. Asin’s going places in a hurry; the Big Bazaar string of supermarkets has signed her and cricketer MS Dhoni as brand ambass adors. And Dhoni himself is on the move as director David Dhawan convinced him to act in Hook Yaa Crook, a cricket film set in a maximum security prison. John Abraham leads the cast alongside Shreyas Talpade and the delectable Genelia D’Douza.

Preity Zinta must be unaware that last year’s inaugural IPL season was successfully broadcast on SuperSport because she has likened moving the tournament to SA as “asking an actor to perform in a theatre where nobody knows him!” The Mohali Kings owner concedes it was a case of “SA or bust” for the IPL due to security concerns in India though, and is adamant that she didn’t want to be seen to be moaning, by thanking South Africa to host the tournament. “They’ve gone out of their way to accommo date us and flung their fields open. I think they will make a beautiful home for the games”. The Dimpled One’s big worry right now is that her team doesn’t include any local players but she’s relieved that Shah rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders faces the same problem.

Akshay Kumar’s 8X10 Tasveer had a problematic release following a financial fall out between co-producers Percept Pictures and T-Series. The latter opted to relinquish all control in return for a three-part payment on their initial investment, but after receiving the first part, Percept failed to honour the rest leading T-Series to threaten to delay its worldwide release. Ayesha Tak ia, Vinod Khanna and Sharmila Tagore star alongside Akki in this supernatural thriller by Nagesh Kukunoor.

Filmmaker’s Sanjay Gupta and Pritish Nandy have filed cases against Sunny Deol for outstanding moneys. Gups claims Deol has been avoiding him ever since he paid him R2-million for a Yusuf Khan film, while Nandy insists Deol has owed him R100000 for some time now.

Deepika Padukone has laughed off her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan’s gay act when they hosted the FilmFare Awards. “I don’t feel threatened by Imran at all. In fact, I enjoyed their performance like many others who attended” said the lanky actress, who is currently shooting Kartik Calling Kartik with Farhan Akhtar.

Producer Ekta Kapoor’s decided to exclude any reference to Dilip Kumar’s character in Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, a film about Don Haji Mustan, who is widely regarded as the first underworld kingpin to make inroads into Bollywood. Kumar had introduced Mustan to the film world. Kangana Ranaut, who plays the legendary Madhubala with whom Haji Mustan had a thing, has been studying Madhubala’s DVD’s in preparation. That’s despite being apprehen sive about whether she has the looks to play one of Indian cinema’s immortal beauties. Ajay Devgan portrays Mustan under Milan Luthria’s direction.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Chenab Gandhi, which goes into production soon, is based on the life of freedom fighter Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan and John Abraham, who has replaced Hurman Baweja. Bhansali has insist ed Abraham prepare for his role by reading up on the subject based on the freedom fighter from North West Province, which now forms part of Pakistan and is widely considered as Frontier Gandhi.