Saif’s date with Julia Roberts

Hollywood beauty, Julia Roberts is in town and has expressed her desire to meet Chote Nawaab Saif Ali Khan and his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor.

Julia is shooting for Ryan Murphy’s Eat, Pray, Love in Pataudi and is accompanied with her kids, four-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus and two-year-old son Henry. Sharmila Tagore met up with Julia during her shoot and that is when Roberts expressed her desire to meet Saif Ali Khan who she had heard a lot about and Kareena Kapoor. Julia was keen on meeting Kareena after she heard that Bebo would be enacting her part in Karan Johar’s remake of Step-Mom.

At the moment Kareena is shooting for the last song for Raju Hirani’s 3 Idiots with Aamir Khan and Sharmila had a message sent requesting Aamir to let Kareena off for a day to fly to Pataudi. Karan too is gungho about the fact Julia is down in India and her meeting up with Kareena would be a great way for Bebo to improvise for her future role. While Saif and Kareena are yet to make an official assignment about their meeting with America’s very own sweetheart, here’s hoping Saifu can play his charms on the pretty woman while Kareena gets her lessons from Julia for free!

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Mallika's girlie time with Shirley

Sherawat and MacLaine gab and grab some grub in LA; they discussed reincarnation too!

Mallika Sherawat is on a Hollywood-meets-Bollywood spree in Los Angeles to promote and create awareness for her next release Hisss directed by Jennifer Lynch.

It is learnt that she recently spent some time with legendary American movie star, Shirley MacLaine. They were spotted leaving the Chanel store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

They were followed by paparazzi andducked in to a cafe for a late lunch. The meeting between the Oscar-winning actress and Mallika lasted over two hours." A few weeks ago Mallika met Shirley's brother, Warren Beatty, at the Beverly Hills Polo Lounge. It is unclear whether Warren arranged the introduction between the actresses.

A source close to Mallika says, "They discussed films, and gosipped. Shirley told her stories about Billy Wilder and the time when she 'kicked Jack Nicholson in the groin.' Ms MacLaine also enquired of her film Hisss, as she has long been fascinated by reincarnation and has written nine books on it." Since Hisss deals with reincarnation, the senior actress was quite interested in the film, and asked to see the teaser promo of the film.

Shirley is known to be one of the quirkiest Hollywood actresses, just like Mallika who loves drama. Naturally the two bonded like soul sisters, albeit from different generations. MacLaine gave the desi actress tips on how to make it in Hollywood.

The H-Town actresse's best films include Irma la Douce, Steel Magnolias, Terms Of Endearment, The Turning Point, The Apartment, Madame Sousatzka, Closing The Ring, Rumor Has It and Used People among others.

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Mallika's lips get Hollywood fame!

Famed celebrity photographer Patrick McMullan has crowned Mallika "most beautiful actress"!

While attending New York City's Fashion Week recently, Mallika Sherawat, the first Bollywood star officially recognized by Hollywood honored with a Resolution in her name from the City of Los Angeles, may have added another "first" to her resume.

Famous American photographer Patrick McMullan immortalized the lips of the bombshell, whose activities in America have brought her international recognition well ahead of the release of her newest film, "Hisss", the highly anticipated Indo-American production.

Mr. McMullan is known throughout the world as the preeminent photographer of A-list celebrities and the power elite. His collection is one of the largest archives of famous people in existence, including Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Penelope Cruz, Julie Roberts, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and more recently, Mallika Sherawat.

Miss Sherawat was the special guest of McMullan for his Fashion's Night Out event and spywitnesses say the celebrated industry insider "gave an incredible public welcome" to the global glam gal with a "special introduction in front of celebrities and socialites as the
'Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood'", before taking "a very large number of photos" of Mallika to the delight of the crowd, even going so far as to comment in public, "Mallika, you are not only the most beautiful Indian actress, you're the most beautiful actress. Period!"

Our Fashion Week NYC spywitness said Mr. McMullan capped off the evening by asking Mallika if she was once referred to as "Bollywood's kissing queen" and upon seeing her smile, said "Let me capture those luscious lips on my camera" before he proceeded to take a close-up shot of the star's acclaimed kissing instruments, pictured below.

Mallika was then spotted downtown at NYC club Sutra for a friend's birthday party, where Guiness Book of World Record hip-hop artist Chaz Kangas serenaded Mallika with a custom-made freestyle rap in honor of the star.

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‘Hanuman’ Aamir for ‘Ram’ Keanu

The Matrix star Keanu Reeves will play Rama in an upcoming movie titled Hanuman, according to reports.

Gary Oldman (Nil by Mouth) will reportedly play Ravana, while Aamir Khan (Lagaan) has supposedly been approached to play lead Hanuman.

Search is still on to find an international face to play Sita in this movie reportedly being directed by Chuck Russell (The Mask) and produced by Uru Patel (Cyborg 2).

Shooting is reportedly expected to start towards the end of this year in Rajasthan (India), while the rest will be made in Hollywood studios.

However, the film reports have let Hindus in a fix.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that if makers of proposed movie “Hanuman” intended to base the storyline on epic Ramayana, make references to it, or portray Hindu gods/goddesses in the movie, they would urge the makers to stay true to the story and the spirit of the timeless epic and other Hindu scriptures.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that Ramayana was a highly revered scripture of Hinduism. Hollywood was welcome to make a movie about Ramayana but the final product should be the true depiction of it and not a fantasized or a re-imagined version to fit the Hollywood machine, which was likely to hurt the Hindu sentiments. Moreover, as Hinduism was largely misunderstood outside India, the distortion would add to the confusion. Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly.

Zed further said that Ramayana was an integral part of Hinduism and was held in such reverence that Hindus believed that simply reading/hearing of it showered blessings upon the reader/listener. Rama, the hero of Ramayana, was incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and was worshipped by Hindus.

Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit scripture, consists of 24,000 stanzas, explores various themes, including human existence, concept of dharma, etc

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Mallika met Prince of Persia star Jake Gyllenhaal and Warren Beatty

Mallika Sherawat is having such a blast meeting Hollywood celebrities in Los Angeles, where she is parked, for during the post-production of her film Hissss, that it doesn't look as if she's planning to come back to India anytime soon.

While dining with friends at the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel, Mallika met Oscar winning actor-producer-director Warren Beatty and Jake Gyllenhaal, star of the upcoming Hollywood film Prince of Persia. Beatty and Gyllenhaal were finishing a dinner meeting when the actress, who's walked in with some of her friends saw them.

The actress who recently became first Indian actor who became an honoury citizen of Los Angeles spoke to the Hollywood actors. Says a source close to the actress, "Beatty, who is quite the ladies man said it was 'the first time' he'd ever met a Bollywood star and was especially 'thrilled to meet one.

He even went on to offer Mallika advice about working in Hollywood. Gyllenhaal, currently dating actress Reese Witherspoon, was also chatted with actress about her forthcoming film, and promised to keep in touch with her."

Mallika is currently living in Los Angeles in a penthouse apartment at one of the swankiest locations in Beverly Hills - the Palazzo in Park LaBrea and continues to tweet her experiences on twitter. She had tweeted about meeting Beatty and Gyllenhaal on the social networking website

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Mallika's our girl: Ex-Japan PM

A former prime minister and representatives from Nagoya, Japan, were present at Los Angeles City Hall when Mallika Sherawat was honored with a special recognition and resolution in her name, the first of its kind bestowed upon an Indian actor by Hollywood.

The former Japanese prime minister and his staff were supposed to be honored directly after Mallika, but instead the Japanese delegation made the entire Los Angeles City Council wait while they followed Mallika into the council chambers media room for a photo opportunity with the Bollywood bombshell.

Introduced to Mallika by Hollywood Councilmember Tom Lebonge, the former Japanese prime minister was overheard saying Mallika was "our girl" because she worked with Jackie Chan, the biggest superstar in South East Asia. The Japanese diplomat was also overheard telling the star that he was "enamoured" by her beauty, and invited Mallika to be a special guest for a trip to Japan.

Miss Sherawat, who has never been to Japan, was overheard graciously accepting the offer, and plans to make the special visit in the near future!

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Mallika's Inglorious moment

Attended premiere of Brad Pitt-starrer Inglourious Basterds and hung out with director Quentin Tarantino

Mallika Sherawat attended the premiere of Brad Pitt starrer Inglorious Basterds. Wearing a revealing black dress the actress, also bumped into director Quentin Tarantino on the red carpet.

Mallika has put up pictures of her meeting with Tarantino on Twitter. On the day of the premiere, she asked her fans for suggestions on what to wear. Her question of the day was: "What should I wear to the Tarantino premiere tonite? Would something scandalous be appropriate?" On the way to the event, she posted, "Hanging out in the limo on the way to the Inglourious Basterds premiere." She obviously was looking forward to rubbing shoulders with H-Town folks. That she loved the experience is clear from the look on her face.

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Neha Dhupia in a Hollywood show

Bollywood babe Neha Dhupia is starring in an American TV series titled Bollywood Hero, which is a three part comedy mini series.

The film stars Hollywood actor Chris Kattan. And the tagline for the film reads, ‘Chris Kattan goes to India to become a Bollywood star’.

Neha plays the role of a Bollywood actress Alima Lakhani opposite American actor comedian Chris Kattan who is popular for Saturday Night Live.

Neha said about her serial launch, ‘It revolves around the main protagonist Chris Kattan who wants to become a Bollywood hero and I play a Bollywood actress, opposite him.’

She has been trying for a while to get into television, she spoke to local media stating the same but first in America, then here, ‘Well purely because TV is treated as big as a movie there and after I saw how TV is in India and abroad, I realized there is vast difference between the two. It's going to be treated as big as a movie.’

She auditioned thrice for the role, and when she finally bagged the deal, she went about town announcing how she had landed a biggie project.

Tut, tut, take a look at the trailer, its funny no doubt but keep your eyes glued for her, she’s blinking and we miss!

Her friend Tabrez Noorani, who was a line producer on Slumdog Millionaire seems to have helped her get the role, which she denies categorically, saying, ‘I was a part of the project even before Slumdog became a hit.’

True, and who is Chris Kattan anyway? Actually, he should be thanking her instead for launching his career in Bollywood and telly all at once. We’ll watch for sure, Here’s the trailer.

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Akshay has no plans to head to Hollywood

I'm happy doing my work here, he says

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who recently shared screen space with international stars Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards and Brandon Routh in "Kambakkht Ishq", says he has no plans of heading to Hollywood.

"Why go to Hollywood when Hollywood is coming to Bollywood? I'm happy doing my work here as of now," Akshay told IANS.

Now that "Kambakkht Ishq" has registered good profits at the box office, Akshay is looking forward to his other films that include "Blue", "De Dana Dan" and "Action Replay".

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Hollywood smitten by Priyanka

Award-winning international director-producer Ben Rekhi has his eyes set on Bollywood sensation Priyanka Chopra to feature in his film based on debutant novelist Karan Bajaj's best-selling novel, Keep Off The Grass and his forthcoming magnum opus.

Ben says, "I'm writing a graphic novel with Kamlesh Pandey (writer of Rang De Basanti, Delhi-6 etc) which I'll make into a movie. It'll be ready in the next two months. The film will be called Beti and it'll be a superhero sci-fi film where I want Priyanka Chopra to play the lead."

While this American director is best known for writing, directing and producing his directorial debut Waterborne with Shabana Azmi, he's awestruck by Priyanka Chopra's beauty, he said ecstatically, "I met Priyanka two weeks back at the photoshoot of a magazine but I didn't tell her about this project of mine because I didn't want to talk about work when she was already working," he says, adding, "She is unbelievable. I would be really excited to make a film with her."

The movie based on the book will be in Hinglish and though the book mentions the protagonist joining IIM Bangalore, Ben says, "We will not shoot at IIM Bangalore for this part. I was doing a recce at the institute for Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots. I don't think I'll shoot there because I know there'll be a lot of comparisons between my film and 3 Idiots."

Ben has worked with George Clooney in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, where he shot some portions which Clooney had asked him to can. Will he cast a biggie like Clooney with Piggy? Wait and watch!

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Another Hollywood project for Sushmita

Film offered to her second time

After the failure of her first international project “Karma Aur Holi”, Sushmita Sen is once again set to act in a Hollywood film.

If reports are to be believed, Sushmita is being considered for a part in a spy thriller that has American heartthrob Mark Whalberg in it. The film is based on a series of novels and part production of the film is planned for India.

This is not the first time Sushmita has been offered this project. She had earlier rejected it because she was busy with her ambitious venture “Rani Laxmibai”. But now that the project is shelved, it is likely Sushmita will take up the Hollywood film.

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Hollywood to Bollywood

Industrialist Anil Ambani has joined hands with Hollywood directors Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider for a few joint ventures in which he will invest Rs. 4000 crore. Will Hollywood dance to Bollywood tunes?

Ambani said he was ‘delighted’ at the partnership and that the work on the first film would begin by end of this year and its release expected next year. His collaboration with Spielberg would bring the ace director of films like Minority Report and Jurassic Park to India to meet Indian directors, producers, writers and technicians.

Ambani was keen on the partnership so that he gets the freedom to explore his tastes in filmmaking without relying on Hollywood studios. Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and George Clooney are among the actors that will star in his films.

He also hopes to reach out to a global audience and Indians across the globe through his venture.

The partnership is a 50:50 venture between Ambani and Speilberg and Snider. Ambani has nominated his top lieutenant Amitabh Jhunjhunwala on the board.

“We’re very excited that we’re in business again, independent of motion picture studios,” Spielberg said in a conference call with reporters, adding, “This is a way we can have control over our products as well as co-ownership.”

Dream Works based in Los Angeles will eventually make 5-6 films per year. The goal of the partnership is quality commercial entertainment, said Snider, who was associated with the Gladiator and 21 Grams.

The rights for all these films across platforms such as theatres, DTH, television, DVD’s will remain with Reliance.

StarBoxOffice thinks that the trio will make quality films together, unlike Kambakkht Ishq which wasted its Hollywood locations and resources. It’s a film neither Hollywood nor Bollywood is proud of.

Also, more Hollywood stars and filmmakers will come to India and Bollywood stars will get more opportunities in mainstream Hollywood. Exposure to international cinema will increase whereas plagiarism of Hollywood films will decrease. There will be legitimate remakes and even Indian films will get a bigger market.

Time to raise a toast for Bollywood!

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