Sonam... Oye ‘Masakali… Zara Matakali’

The duo behind the super hit song ‘Masakali’, girl next door Sonam Kapoor whose the face in the song and its ‘word master’ Prasoon Joshi spill the bean this week along with an electrifying performance by ‘sitar sensation’ Anoushka Shankar on a sizzling episode of Oye It’s Friday March 6th at 10pm only on NDTV Imagine.

This week Farhan meets up with one of the latest stars in the making…the pretty and lissome Sonam Kapoor, who shares her experience of working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, as an Assistant director in ‘Black’ and later as a debutant actress in ‘Sawaariya’. Sonam talks about her experience working with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on ‘Delhi 6’.

She can’t get over the appreciation from her fans for her role in Delhi 6. Sonam gets gaa-gaa about her dad, the veteran actor Anil Kapoor, how much she idolizes him …his latest Oscar winning film, also admits her obsession for the X-box and a lot more...

Sitar maestro Anoushka Shankar, spellbinds the audience with her soulful Indian Classical Music giving a taste of it to the Gen Next.

Anoushka Shankar, daughter Legendary Sitar Virtuoso Pandit Ravi Shankar, she began training on the sitar with her father as a child, gave a public performance at the age of thirteen. Her ever-growing audience cannot help but acknowledge the familial roots and established her self as the young prodigy.

Farhan puts her in the spotlight to as Anoushka gets candid about her passion for music, her world tour and lots more.

This week, Farhan salutes acclaimed Ad guru, Prasoon Joshi who is no stranger to the world of lyric writing with chartbusting albums like ‘Maa’ from Taare Zameen Par, Prasoon has left his indelible mark on all these works of art.

This Friday, get geared up to enter the mind of this genius as he gets candid with Farhan and admits about being a trained classical musician, some of his most memorable advertising jingles, his unique punch lines and a lot more.

Catch Farhan dancing on the tunes of 'masakali' with Sonam Kapoor on Oye It’s Friday March 6th at 10pm only on NDTV Imagine.

Attack on Lankan pals angers Harman, slams Pak

Hurman Baweja was shooting in New Delhi for Boney Kapoor-Anees Bazmi’s It’s My Life on Tuesday morning when he heard about the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan.

Friends after having shot with them for Victory , Hurman couldn’t shoot until he heard from them.

Finally an sms arrived from test cricketer Farveez Mahroof saying, “We’re all well. Don’t worry. Thanks for asking. ”

Sighs Hurman, “That was when I breathed easily. When I heard what had happened in Pakistan my heart went straight to my mouth. These Sri Lankan guys are my friends. I had bonded bigtime with them for Victory.

We played ate and fooled around together. We even had a Sri Lankan premiere. Not only had I played cricket with them I had also done scenes with Ajantha Mendis and Kumar Sangakkara. In fact Sanga is a special friend. ”

Hurman has kept in touch with his Sri Lankan pals from the cricket world after the film. “All kinds of concflicting reports kept coming from Pakistan. When I heard some of them were injured I just couldn’t believe this was happening.” Mahroof’s message pacified Hurman.

“Thank God they’re well. But what I want to know is, what is happening in Pakistan? The country is isolating itself from the rest of the world. At this rate they’ll end being another Afghanistan. Shame on them for attacking sportspersons. ”

The minute I set my eyes on Shakeel I knew he was THE man I'll marry: Amrita Arora

It’s arguably the most important day of her life. And Amrita Arora is naturally excited as she prepares for her Christian wedding to beau Shakeel Ladak. The nikaah is two days later.

“We were supposed to have a church wedding today, ” Amrita chatters excitedly as the makeup lady does her most challenging job ever for the actress. “But there were some security hassles. So we quickly moved the venue to Olive. But no hassles because we always had a standby ready. ”

Amrita gives full credit to her sister Malaika for all the arrangements.

“I know nothing about the wedding arrangement. It was all done by my sister who put her own life on hold to look into my wedding details. I’m blessed to have such a supportive family.

I’ve my wedding today (Wednesday 4 March) and I’m talking to you while my folks are taking care of everything, ” the bride got emotional as her mother reminded her she needed to hurry up with the dressing up. But Amrita decided to get introspective.

“You know, the minute I set my eyes on Shakeel I knew he was the man I wanted to marry. It’s like a karmic connection. I just felt it. I had never felt this before. Shakeel is everything that I want my husband to be. And I’m determined to make our marriage work. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Ask her about the honeymoon which will follow the sangeet on Thursday and the nikaah on Friday and Amrita shrugs, “ The problem is, both Shakeel and I are so widely traveled we’ve nowhere to go that we can claim as being our private honeymoon spot.

There doesn’t seem to be any place that neither of us has not visited. I guess we’ll just hold each other’s hand close our eyes and point to any part of the globe as our honeymoon spot. It doesn’t matter where we go as long as we’re together. ”

Ash: I'm the most bankable star abroad? Wow!!!

Forbes magazine has just voted Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan the most bankable star from Bollywood in Hollywood.

And this, just when the desi media has been carping about her abbreviated role in her latest Hollywood release Pink Panther 2.

Aishwarya has been voted among Forbes’ “Most Valuable Actors” ahead of Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Irrfan Khan.

And now there’re a number of hush-hush international projects on the anvil for Aishwarya including, apparently, one with actress and chat-show hostess Tyra Banks and a project with Will Smith who has been craving to cast Ash right from the time he offered her Hitch and the recent 7 Pounds. The long-pending project Chaos with Mery Streep is also likely to be revived shortly.

Reacting to this flurry of international activity in her choc-a-block schedule Aishwarya said from Kolkata, “Wow! Me the most bankable Bollywood star in Hollywood? Thank you! I must confess that any acknowledgement of hard work makes me feel content. In all humility I want to thank all those who feel I ‘m bankable.”

I am not Sita: Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai, who is currently shooting for director Mani Ratnam's film "Ravana" here, said her character is not called Sita in the film that also stars her husband Abhishek Bachchan.

"The name of my character is not 'Sita'. I am playing a woman who has similarities with the Sita of 'Ramayana', " the actress told reporters at the press conference of her new Hollywood flick 'Pink Panther 2' here.

Aishwarya, however, refused to give further details about "Ravana".

"I can't give any details about 'Ravana' at the moment. You will have to wait and watch. All I can say that it is an intense film set in today's time and Mani has given a totally new perspective to the art of storytelling, " she said.

Asked if she is paired opposite Abhishek, Aishwarya said they never played a conventional couple on-screen.

"We have never been paired opposite each other in the conventional way, apart from the film 'Kuchh Naa Kaho'. Be it 'Dhoom 2' or 'Sarkar Raj', it's not the conventional man-wife pairing. Even in 'Guru', the film revolves around Abhishek. So, by the time 'Ravana' happened, we have become used to this, " she said.

"But, director Abhinay Deol has decided to cast us in his new film. Hopefully, the audience will see us romancing on screen there, " she added.

Aishwarya said it is always a pleasure to act with Abhishek.

"It's always a pleasant experience working with actors like Abhishek. I am not saying it just because I am his wife, but the fact remains that he is one of the nicest co-actors I have seen so far, " she said.

Talking about "Pink Panther 2", which has released in India Friday, Aishwarya said the film is a "joyride".

"Anyone who is familiar with English films and 'Pink Panther' will know what I mean when I say the film is a joy ride. Although I have a small role in the film, I said 'yes' only because I wanted to work with institutions like Steve Martin.

"Besides, I have highest regard for comedy because it is the most difficult emotion to portray on screen. 'Pink Panther 2' is an easy comedy and every one can watch it with family, " she said.

The actress has been shooting for "Ravana" here since Feb 17. Abhishek is expected to join her soon. The shooting will continue till mid-March.

What actually went wrong with Katrina?

If director Rohit Shetty (of GOLMAAL RETURNS) had his way, Katrina Kaif would have been his leading lady for ALL THE BEST.

An Ajay Devgan production, it already boasted of an enviable cast comprising of Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu and Sanjay Dutt. For Fardeen Khan, another male lead in the film, it's a sort of comeback and Katrina Kaif being roped into the film would have only added to the star quotient.

Confirms a source on condition of anonymity, "Makers of the film were convinced that Katrina Kaif was just right for the role of this glamorous 20 something young woman. Since Rohit's films are always high on glamour quotient, Katrina would have been a welcome addition to the multi starrer."

Narrating an interesting anecdote, he adds, "Also, it would have been a casting coup since Katrina has never worked with Fardeen before. However, she has shared screen space with his dad Feroz Khan in 'Welcome'. It seemed that she was set to play a role in the film."

However, this wasn't the case to be as Katrina couldn't be a part of the film that resulted in an overnight search for another actress. This is where Mugdha Godse came into picture and the young glamorous woman was more than happy to grab the role in a multistarrer like ALL THE BEST which looks like a winner from the word Go.

So what actually went wrong with Katrina?

"No one knows", promptly says the source, "Entire cast of the film that comprises of Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Sanjay Dutt and Fardeen Khan was announced but the slot was kept wide open for a leading lady. Suddenly, Katrina Kaif's date issues came up and it was decided that Mugdha Godse would be the part of this action comedy."

Of course Katrina's loss is Mugdha's gain. With this film, she finds herself consolidating further in the big league with first FASHION and then JAIL where she is paired opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh and is being directed by Madhur Bhandarkar again.

Excited about working in this Ajay Devgan home production that should see it's shooting kick starting in Goa this March, she adds, "I am happy to be paired opposite Fardeen Khan and I love that man's style. It's a full on commercial film and has come at just the right time. I can't wait for the shoot to begin." what actually went wrong with Katrina?

People say I need to get a boob job, but I’m comfortable the way I'm: Freida Pinto

Indian actress Freida Pinto Made it to the U.S. without doing the same old song and dance. Though the 23-year-old former model from Bombay auditioned for melodramatic Bollywood roles, she’s going Hollywood with her film debut, playing a child of the ghetto in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Hood never looked so good.

How hard is it to break into India’s film industry?
It’s really difficult. You have to have a godfather or parents who can get you in. I got into modeling for the visibility factor, hoping that portals would open up for me to act.

I did a lot of print because people found me too skinny in India to do television. We have the voluptuous, full-figured woman thing. People say I need to get a boob job, but I’m just comfortable the way I am.

Is Bollywood as sleazy as Hollywood is?
Three or four years back, I was auditioning for a film and I met this man who was like, “We can be good friends, ” with a twinkle in his eye. I knew where that was coming from, and it didn’t feel right.

Would you ever do nudity or a sex scene?
I don’t think I’d have an issue (doing a love scene), but it all depends on the director—what kind of work he’s done in the past. In India, I probably wouldn’t do something like that; it’s kind of taboo. It usually gets cut off at the censorship board level, so what’s the point of having shot it?

What’s the best way for a guy to approach you?
Back in college, if boys did the most stupid thing, like compose a silly song, I’d listen. It could be something really stupid, like a rap for all I care.

Have you ever used your acting abilities to manipulate men?
Hmm… (Laughs.) If you have it, you gotta use it.