Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

If you thought a break from her film career had affected Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s popularity, think again. The Bollywood actor has been ranked second in the top 20 most popular brand ambassadors worldwide, according to a recent survey. The study was conducted by WorldWatchReport, a leading international marketing research company in the luxury watch industry.

Ace golf player Tiger Woods, brand ambassador of Tag Heuer watches, tops the list with 16.2 per cent, while Aishwarya bagged 9.00 per cent votes for being the brand ambassador of Longines watches. The other Indians on the list are cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (3.3%) and actor Preity Zinta (1.7%). Tendulkar and Zinta are placed in the ninth and fifteenth places respectively.

Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bahchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Oprah Winfrey

Escorted by the Bachchans, Oprah then headed for a party thrown in her honour by socialite Parmeshwar Godrej. Oprah had earlier interviewed Aishwarya Rai and her hubby Abhishek Bachchan on her show The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009.

Oprah Winfrey

For the event, Oprah draped a burnt orange-fuchsia pink Tarun Tahiliani sari with a gota & antique zardosi embroidery blouse. Oprah even met Aishwarya’s daughter. Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, “The gracious Oprah Winfrey visits our home, to meet us and bless the baby..warm hearted, endearing .. drive her to party in her honor… And Oprah in sari .. looking lovely !!”

Shah Rukh Khan, Oprah Winfrey, Lara Dutta

The party was attended by many B-town stars. A pregnant Lara Dutta, who also attended the bash, tweeted her photo with Shah Rukh Khan and Oprah with, “@Oprah and @iamsrk, two people I absolutely adore! Thankyou for making my day! Now can go into labour happily! :-)”

Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, A.R.Rahman

Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan were among those who attended the party in dashing suits.

Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Sonam Kapoor

While Priyanka Chopra went for an Armaan gown and Preity Zinta went for a black one, Sonam Kapoor kept it desi in a Tarun Tahiliani sari embellished with Swarovski crystals.

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Salman Khan

Salman Khan

For delivering two blockbusters, Bodyguard and Ready. And for his medical problems.

Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan

For promoting Ra.One so extensively that people could, for a moment, forget their names but not Ra.One!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

For her pregnancy and then for delivering her first child.

Aamir Khan-Kiran Rao

Kiran Rao, Aamir Khan

For announcing that their son, born in December, came into this world through IVF surrogacy.

Deol Family

Sunny Deol, Dharmendra, Bobby Deol

For delivering one of the most unsuspecting hits of the year, Yamla Pagla Deewana.

Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan

For carrying a woman-oriented film like The Dirty Picture on her shoulders and taking it to the winning post.

Dhanush

Dhanush

For cutting across language barriers and making Kolaveri di, a song from the upcoming Tamil film, 3, an international anthem!

Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik Roshan

For being laid up in bed with a severe back problem.

Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif

For making the world forget Munni and Sheela and start chanting Chameli.

Ram Sampath

Ram Sampath

For churning out a naughty and bold super-hit like Bhaag D.K. Bose D.K. Bose and making it, probably, the most obscene national anthem for a while!

Anil Kapoor

Anil Kapoor

For being part of a big Hollywood film like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in a small role.

Prakash Jha

Prakash Jha

For fighting the ban on his Aarakshan by different state governments, and winning the case – only to lose the box-office race!

Ranbir Kapoor

Ranbir Kapoor

For surpassing himself as a rockstar in Rockstar.

Pankaj Kapur

Pankaj Kapur

For taking so-o-o-o-o long to make his first film, Mausam, which seemed so-o-o-o-o lengthy and which was out of the theatres so-o-o-o-o quickly.

Rajnikanth

Rajnikanth

For his health problem which had his fans on tenterhooks.

Ekta Kapoor

Ekta Kapoor

For her super-successful transition from the small screen to the big screen (The Dirty Picture, Ragini MMS).

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor

For being immortalised at Madame Tussauds in London with her wax statue, and here in Bollywood, for her association with all the Khans (Salman Khan – Bodyguard; Shah Rukh Khan – Ra.One; Aamir Khan – Dhoom:3 was announced; Saif Ali Khan – Agent Vinod in the making; Imran Khan – Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu in the making).

Hollywood in India

Akon, Tom Cruise

Akon came to India, he sang, he conquered. Tom Cruise came to India, he promoted, he conquered. Also, several Hollywood films took far more impressive starts in India than Bollywood films released with them.

Sreedevi, Karisma Kapoor & Madhuri Dixit

Sreedevi, Karisma Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit

Yesteryear leading ladies – Sreedevi and Karisma Kapoor for staging comebacks with English Vinglish and Dangerous Ishq respectively. And Madhuri Dixit, for coming back to India with family.

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan

For remaining in touch with his innumerable fans through Twitter, like no other big star did.

Veena Malik, Sunny Leone

Veena Malik, Sunny Leone

For holding the carrot for Bollywood filmmakers.

Madhur Bhandarkar

Madhur Bhandarkar

For the two heroines who came into his life but never became part of his films.

Aishwarya Rai shot for his Heroine and was dropped from the film when she got pregnant. Preeti Jain ever shot for any of his films although, she claims, he promised her the heroine’s role in his film.

Om Puri

Om Puri

For reaching Parliament! He first abused politicians and then apologised to members of the Lok Sabha.

Bappi Lahiri

Bappi Lahiri

For coming back on the music scene with a bang – with his rendition of Ooh la la in The Dirty Picture.

The audience

For creating new opening record (Bodyguard) and single-day record (Ra.One).

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Bollywood News

Ra.One, Delhi Belly, Salman Khan's bodybuilding pic

How Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One Will Recover Rs. 150 Crore

There’s every chance that Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One will recover its huge cost of Rs. 150 crore. Koimoi.com Editor Komal Nahta explains…

Bhaag DK Bose – The Secret Behind The Song

How did the lyrics of the song come about? And was Aamir Khan okay with the idea? Find out in this exclusive Koimoi.com story…

Salman Khan’s Bodybuilding Pictures!

Salman Khan posts some very special and muscular pictures of his in his Twitter.com page. He had also given bodybuilding tips to his fans in the past.

Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One Reports: Outstanding!

“The film will simply rock,” says our source. Shah Rukh Khan plays a south Indian while Kareena Kapoor, a Punjabi kudi in the film.

Salman, Shah Rukh, Katrina, Kareena: Who Had The Best Bollywood Poster In 2011?

Salman Khan’s stone-faced look in Bodyguard or the electrifying Shah Rukh Khan in Ra.One? The bindaas Katrina Kaif in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan or Kareena Kapoor? Vote for the Best Bollywood Poster of 2011 in this Koimoi.com poll!

Will Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2 Surpass Ra.One?

There is speculation in trade circles whether Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2 will take a better initial than his Ra.One did.

Will Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One Break Salman Khan’s Opening Record?

Koimoi.com thinks that it will be a close fight between the opening day figures Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One & the Salman Khan’s Bodyguard. Of course, numbers don’t fight.

Katrina Kaif – Hrithik, Aamir Khan – Kareena: Bollywood’s Hottest Kisses!

Katrina- Hrithik in ZNMD, Aamir-Kareena in 3 Idiots, Emraan-Jacqueline in Murder 2, Hrithik-Aishwarya in Dhoom 2… find out if your favourite Bollywood kiss makes to the list.

In Defense Of Shah Rukh Khan

In response to the post ‘From Loving Shah Rukh Khan To Liking Salman’, a reader talks about why he supports Shah Rukh Khan now more than ever.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Baby Shower

Karan Johar, Bipasha Basu & more: find out who attended Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s baby shower

Box-Office Reports

Ra.One, Bodyguard, Singham

Eros Clears Air Over Factually Incorrect Ra.One Box-Office Report

By Eros’ own admission, the first-day record is still held by Bodyguard.

Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One: Profit & Loss Account

Now that it is established that Ra.One cannot touch the business of Bodyguard in India and that it will fetch more revenues

Ra.One 3-Day Total More Than Box Office Hurricanes Bodyguard & Singham

A round up of the first three days’ collections (approx. all India-net) of the top grossers of 2011 (Bodyguard, Ready and Singham) and their comparison to the first three days’ collections of Ra.One.

Shah Rukh Khan Breaks Salman Khan’s Weekend Box-Office Record

With Rs. 91-92 crore, Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One has broken all records for the opening weekend, including Salman Khan’s Bodyguard.

Ra.One Vs Bodyguard: Resting The Debate

Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One or Salman Khan’s Bodyguard: which film fared better?

Salman Khan’s Bodyguard Breaks Opening Day Records At Box-Office

The Salman Khan and Eid combination has worked yet again, and how! Bodyguard has taken an extraordinary opening today (August 31).

Salman Khan Defeats Shah Rukh & Aamir In Fastest Rs. 100 Crore Race

Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan & Ajay Devgan’s movies have made Rs. 100 crore at the box-office! But who raked in the moolah the fastest? Read the report to find out…

Exclusive: Economics Of Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2

Koimoi.com Editor Komal Nahta explains the economics of Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2.

Katrina Kaif’s MBKD Does Well; Salman Khan’s Bodyguard Drops

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan has done well in the first week. Salman Khan’s Bodyguard faced a steep fall in its second week after a bumper nine-day first week.

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Karan Johar & Ekta Kapoor Collaborate On Movie Project

Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2 Makes Rs. 7 Crore On Day 5

Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2 Adds Rs. 5.5 Cr On Wed; 6-Day Total: Rs. 69 Cr

Bhairavi Goswami’s Jibes At The Bachchans

Bhairavi Goswami, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya rai Bachchan

In a desperate bid for attention, starlet Bhairvai Goswami tweeted, “Nauseating 2 read superstars givg interviews abt wanting a girl baby whn she has gone 2 Bangkok to an IVF clinic which specializes in boy babies. Height of hypocrisy. They knw damn well its a boy, aftr all she has to produce a male heir at any cost – Typical UP mentality, no wonder that state has such high female foeticide.”

Hinting at the Bachchans (Aishwarya Rai was pregnant then), Bhairavi soon became the talk of town for her “Breaking News” tweet. Now that Aishwarya and Abhishek are parents to a bonny baby girl, Bhairavi has her lips sealed.

Bipasha Basu Accused Of Child Labour

Bipasha Basu

In an effort to show how mortal she is, Bipasha Basu posted a picture of two girls tying her shoelaces and tweeted, “I need to learn to tie shoe laces ASAP! Embarassed that I can’t! No patience.. grrrrr! Promise I am not spoilt! Will learn soon.” One look at the picture and you’ll not be surprised to know that Bips was accused of child labour and the matter was blown out of proportion. The disgruntled heroine refused to apologize but removed the accusatory picture.

Too Much Cricket For Sonakshi Sinha

Sonakshi Sinha

Cricket fever caught up with Sonakshi Sinha during the Cricket World Cup earlier this year. A harmless pic tweeted by the heroine offended many of her Pakistani fans. But in true Dabangg style, Sona shrugged it off and asked fans to take it with a pinch of salt.

Get Well Soon Salman Khan

Salman Khan

For all his random, unconnected and weird tweets, Salman Khan does have an unquestioned fan following even on the social networking site. When it was rumoured that the actor was to undergo an angioplasty, the sorrow of his fans knew no bounds. But it was finally revealed that the hero was suffering a nerve disorder, trigeminal neuralgia. Before leaving for the US for his surgery, he tweeted, “Challo c u guys . On my was to fix the short circut in my nerve , take care n hope u like body guard.”

Shirish Kunder’s Jibe At Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One

Shirish Kunder, Shah Rukh Khan

The rumoured tense relations between Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan weren’t eased when Farah’s husband, Shirish Kunder tweeted, “I just heard a 150 Cr firework fizzle”. With mixed reports about Ra.One, this wasn’t exactly the smartest move.

Ram Gopal Varma’s Praise For Amitabh Bachchan

Ram Gopal Varma's, Amitabh Bachchan

Ram Gopal Varma is like a juggernaut on Twitter. So when he tweeted, “Just watched Bbuddah nd am. angry with bacchan that hes such a ch***iya not to do films like this nd am such a l**d not to realize this” on watching Amitabh Bachchan, few were surprised. After all, RGV is used to shooting from the hip.

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Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgan: Vote For Best Action Hero Of 2011

Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone Or Ajay Devgan: Best Tattoo Of 2011

Karan Johar & Ekta Kapoor Collaborate On Movie Project

Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2 Adds Rs. 5.5 Cr On Wed; 6-Day Total: Rs. 69 Cr

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

If the sari looked gorgeous on anyone, it has to be Aishwarya Rai. While sticking to light coloured saris, Ash usually experiments with the blouse, though not always with successful results (case in point: the velvet, full-sleeved one at Cannes). But when the doe-eyed actress goes traditional, she can give everyone else a run for their money!

Katrina Kaif

Halter-neck, full-sleeved, sleeveless: though Katrina Kaif rarely takes the trouble to drape, she looks incredibly sexy when she does. Even then, the Brit-Indian actress sticks to chiffon saris.

Kareena Kapoor

The svelte Kareena Kapoor never shies from draping a sari. The sexy actress loves to show off her curves (and how!) and usually goes for the sari (mostly by Manish Malhotra) for non-promotional events. And yes, her blouses are to die for!

Priyanka Chopra

We’re not sure whether it’s her choice of sari or the blouse that just don’t do the trick for Priyanka Chopra. Though it’s very rare for her to go for a sari, we think that she should try a bit harder…

Deepika Padukone

When you’re as elegant and sexy as Deepika Padukone, you don’t need an excuse to show off your figure. As hot as the leggy star looks in her bandage dresses, she’ll keep the temperature soaring in her saris as well.

Vidya Balan

How can this list be complete without the patron saint of saris in Bollywood today: Vidya Balan! With her exquisite Sabyasachi saris, Vidya gives all other actresses a run for their money by bringing this graceful raiment back.

Anushka Sharma

Besides giving a lot of heartburn with that delicious figure, Anushka Sharma looks best when she goes 100% traditional in the sari (just look at her in that red sari!). Our only grouse is that the perky actress doesn’t don the sari too often…

Sonam Kapoor

The fashionista that she is, Sonam Kapoor keeps experimenting with her saris. To say the least, Sonam does look cute in them. While this star beti keeps her saris for those rare events, she manages to pull them off with élan.

View This Poll

Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif – Most Dangerous Indian Celebrity

Fans of actress Katrina Kaif need to pump up their security now. It’s not because the actress has a tougher ‘Bodyguard’, it’s because cyber criminals are using Kat’s name as a favourite keyword that poses a threat to computers. According to a report by the internet security company McAfee, Katrina is the ‘most dangerous Indian celebrity’ with 10.26 % possibility of her name leading users to a risky website.

Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone – 2nd In The Bug Line

Deepika Padukone ranked second. Fans searching for ‘free downloads’, ‘hot pictures’, ‘screen savers’ and ‘videos’ about celebrities risk running into websites with malicious software and online threats.

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor – Chammak Challo Fever

Ranking in close at number three is the Chammak Challo, Kareena Kapoor, whose name searches too can lure people to websites with malicious software. McAfee researched popular culture’s most famous people to reveal the riskiest celebrity sportsmen, actors and politicians across the web to pick up the ‘most dangerous Indian celebrity’.

Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan

The list of the so-called ‘dangerous celebrities’ also includes actors Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. “In a celebrity crazy country like India, cyber criminals find it very lucrative to use the names of popular figures as keywords to lure people to websites with malicious software. This year’s study found movie stars top the most dangerous list, while sports stars and politicians are among the safest,” Venkatasubrahmanyam Krishnapur, Senior Director, McAfee India, said in a statement.

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Bollywood Goes Kolaveri Di, Uday Chopra’s Hollywood Chapter: Tweet Diary

The film, which was first announced with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead role, was stalled for some time after Aishwarya had to part ways due to her pregnancy. After a lot of controversy and media attention, it was announced that Kareena Kapoor would be taking up the challenging lead role of a Bollywood superstar in the film.

Madhur Bhandarkar, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal Have started shooting for Heroine.

Director Madhur Bhandarkar said, “Heroine is a dream project for me about an industry in which I have lived my dreams and it will be my biggest film to date.”

Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO of UTV Motion Pictures, said, “Heroine is one of the most anticipated movies of 2012 and for all of us associated with it, that means a lot of hard work over the next few months to meet the massive audience expectations. With an excellent script, a talented director at the top of his game and a superb cast and crew, we’re confident we’ll be up to the challenge!”

Heroine: The Dream Team?

Besides Kareena Kapoor, Heroine stars Arjun Rampal, Randeep Hooda and Shahana Goswami. Fashion designer Manish Malhotra has come onboard for Kareena’s costumes and styling. Music director duo Salim-Sulaiman will be composing the music for the film.

Heroine is slated for a 2012 release.

More About Heroine

Aishwarya Rai Is Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine

Aishwarya Rai In Heroine: First Look

Aishwarya Rai’s Heroine & Ram Gopal Varma’s Not A Love Story

Aishwarya Rai’s HEROINE: Shooting Stalled

Aishwarya Rai – Madhur Bhandarkar’s Bitter-Sweet Parting Over Heroine

Aishwarya Rai’s HEROINE: File Closed?

Priyanka Chopra Denies Similarity Between ‘Heroine’ & Kunal’s Film

Kareena Kapoor Is Not Our HEROINE: UTV

An excited Abhishek tweeted, “Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. Both Aishwarya and the baby are doing great and taking some much needed rest….And I’m trying my level best to get rid of this caffeine high and get some sleep too. Don’t think it’ll work. TOO EXCITED!!!!” Here are some of warm, and crazy, wishes to the new parents and baby:

Shah Rukh Khan

@juniorbachchan how beautiful is this feeling. Allah bless u and Aish. Dying to come & see the three of u…YAY!!!! Now u really r PA lov u

Ram Gopal Varma

I just hope that she has more Aishwarya than Abhishek

Punit Malhotra

@juniorbachchan CONGRATULATIONS to u and the family Abhishek!!! Can only imagine how excited u are (and its not the caffeine high:))

Javed Akhtar

@juniorbachchan congratulations Abhishek !! Now onwards looking at you every one will say… ” baap re baap”

Ranvir Shorey

@juniorbachchan Congratulations! And goodbye sleep!

Ritesh Deshmukh

@juniorbachchan yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh PUPPPPAAAAAAAA congratssssssss – extremely happy – bro—love n happinessss forever

Arjun Rampal

Congratulation daddy cool @juniorbachchan and the coolest DaDaji @SrBachchan and the most beautiful Mommy Ash and the lovely Dadi Jayaji.

Vishal Dadlani

@juniorbachchan Woohoooo!!!! Thrilled!!! Congratulations again, to you and the Memsaab! Love, blessings, best wishes, always!!!

Whose tweet is your favourite? Tell us in the comments section below:

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the proud mummy of a baby girl.

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan are proud parents of a baby girl! Early on Wednesday morning (November 16, 2011), Abhishek announced the new addition to their family on Twitter.com. While the proud pappa ecstatically tweeted, “IT’S A GIRL!!!!!! :-)))))”, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, “I AM DADA to the cutest baby girl !!” just a few minutes later.

Aishwarya was admitted to Mumbai’s Seven Hills Hospital earlier this week. The actress has kept a very low profile after Amitabh announced her pregnancy.

We wish the actress, her family and the baby all the very best!

More on Aishwarya:

Pregnant Aishwarya Gets Admitted To Hospital

Aishwarya Rai’s Media Block, Rockstar Support: Tweet Diary

Aishwarya, Abhishek At Abu-Sandeep’s 25 Years Bash

Aishwarya Rai, Kajol At Sanjay Dutt’s Mata Ki Chowki

Aishwarya–Madhur Bhandarkar’s Bitter-Sweet Parting Over Heroine

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Media Block

The hullabaloo around Aishwarya Rai Bachchan‘s delivery is yet to reach its zenith, but looks like the press and the Bachchan have been preparing for it. Reports were being circulated that the Bachchan family had asked the I&B Ministry to block media news of Aish’s delivery. Ridiculous as it may sound, Amitabh Bachchan still tried to dispel rumours about his alleged clout. The amused senior Bachchan took to Twitter.com to clear his stand, “Absolute rubbish ! Firstly I have no such intention ever, secondly do you really think I&B would listen to me !?? No way baby !… And the message from the journalist of electronic stated : ” .. to respect ur family’s privacy n women’s dignity all tv news networks decided not to follow aishwarya’s pregnancy or delivery. Not a single line news till official announcement. No camera’s and OBs will be stationed at your place or hospital. Regards ..” So who does one believe ? The self proclaimed etiquette and decency of the electronic, or the dictat of the I&B Ministry ???” While both sides may be waxing eloquently, we’ll still wait for D-Day (no pun intended) to see how things go.

But we genuinely wish Aishwarya and her family could enjoy a little privacy in this happy moment of theirs…

Rockstar Support

Talking of camaraderie, we saw Mahesh Bhatt genuinely reach out to his fellow director Imtiaz Ali on Twitter. “Going to watch Imtiaz Ali’s ROCKSTAR at Gaiety (Bandra). I hear that the film’s openining is outstanding. Congrats to the entire team! Have to call Imtiaz after the show. How vulnerable a film maker is on the first day of his release. It requires courage to be an entertainer.” Nice to see at least directors support each other.

Iruvar

After winning the Miss World pageant in 1994, the Manglore-born actress made her debut in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film, Iruvar.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Taal

In 1999, she starred in the musical Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam opposite Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan and won several accolades for her acting and her dance. In the same year, Ash once again proved her mettle with another musical, Taal, opposite Anil Kapoor and Akshay Khanna.

Devdas

As the playful and loving Paro in Devdas, Aishwarya managed to stand her own, even with heavyweight stars like Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan.

Bride & Prejudice

In 2004, she made her Hollywood debut with Gurinder Chada’s Pride & Prejudice.

Dhoom 2

In Dhoom 2, Aishwarya and Hrithik Roshan’s set the screen on fire with their sizzling chemistry.

Endhiran-Robot

Aishwarya got her chance to star opposite south superstar Rajnikanth in the 2010 hit, Endhiran – Robot.

Guzaarish

Aishwarya starred opposite Hrithik once again in Guzaarish last year. The actress has been on a break since.

Wishing the actress a very happy birthday!

Amitabh Bachchan

Who can make the Big B look small? Spot Amitabh Bachchan in this photo, taken at the launch of a Hanuman Chalisa album by Aadesh Shristava.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan’s pregnant daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who accompanied him to the event, was seen wearing a loose salwar-kameez in an attempt to hide the extra pounds she has gained.

Dia Mirza, Zayed Khan

So what if their film is being called a flop? Producers and actors Dia Mirza and Zayed Khan went ahead and celebrated the “success” of their Love Breakups Zindagi anyway. Of course, they kept the shutterbugs busy with their performance.

Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan is waltzing out of his vanity van at Film City, Mumbai. Another publicity event for Ra.One?

Manisha Koirala

Do you recognise this face? Take a moment and dwell over what happen when stars lose their ‘sheen’.

Bhushan Kumar

The music and film industries have been lining up to offer their condolences to the family of famed Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh. Seen here is T-Series honcho Bhushan Kumar making his way into the hospital.

Kareena Kapoor in a still from Bodyguard; Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Cannes, where Heroine was launched.

While Kareena Kapoor is heating things up with her new look in Bodyguard , news reports are suggesting that Kareena has decided to come on board Madhur Bhandarkar’s stalled dream project, Heroine, for a whooping sum of Rs. 8 crore.

UTV Motion Pictures, the producers of the film have issued a statement dismissing all talk of Kareena’s joining the project. “We would like to clarify that no casting has been finalised for Heroine at all. We further wish to state that no financial terms have been agreed upon and definitely not even remotely close to the figures quoted (in the news report),” the official release says.

Heroine, which was announced at Cannes with much fanfare and even went on the floors, got stuck in a limbo after news of Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan’s pregnancy took Bhandarkar and UTV by surprise.

Thankfully, the three serial bomb blasts in Bombay on 13th July did not have much of an impact on the box-office. Else, the releases of 15th – Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (English) and its dubbed Hindi version – would’ve borne the brunt of the fear factor following the explosions. And this, not just in Bombay but in other major cities of the country too, because they were all on high alert. Luckily for the producers and distributors of the two new releases, life had returned to near normalcy by 15th and, therefore, there wasn’t much of an adverse effect of the blasts on the box-office. Of course, there must’ve been families who kept away from the multiplexes and cinemas on the first day and who may fear going to the theatres for another couple of days because entertainment has suddenly dropped down dramatically on their priority list while security has climbed up, but such families are few.

Bollywood Events Cancelled

At least two film events on 13th July had to be cancelled in view of the bomb explosions in Bombay that day. Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt had decided to host a party that evening to celebrate the runaway success of their Murder 2 but the party was cancelled minutes before it was to start, when the terrible news of the bomb blasts shook Bombay and the entire country. On the same evening, Ritesh Sidhwani, Shah Rukh Khan and Farhan Akhtar had invited the media to unveil the first trailer of their ambitious film, Don 2, but again, the event was cancelled at the last minute due to security reasons. Seems, the serial blasts poured water on the producers’ plans to have a blast for their sequels. Incidentally, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was to receive the Knight of the Order of Arts & Letters from the French government on 13th July in Delhi. However, she told the organisers to cancel her felicitation function in view of the tragedy in Bombay. Ash and hubby Abhishek Bachchan made an appearance at the venue an hour late and requested that the ceremony be postponed.

The poster of HEROINE

The controversy surrounding Heroine refuses to die down. While most feel, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ought not to have hidden the fact of her pregnancy from the producers of Heroine, there are some who opine that she may have not revealed all as she may have wanted to finish her work before the pregnancy was visible. But then, even for completing her work faster, a heroine needs to take her producers and director into confidence because planning the shooting schedules is, in the final analysis, their call.

Having said that, one can’t also help but imagine that Madhur Bhandarkar and UTV would revive Heroine with some other leading lady in place of Aishwarya. And that may happen sooner than later. For, if Madhur has worked on the script and was charged enough to start the film, he won’t let his script go waste. Of course, both, UTV and Bhandarkar, won’t say a word about whether or not they’ll revive Heroine. But common sense prompts one to believe, they will!