Veena Malik defends herself from criticism by mullahs

Pakistani actress Veena Malik set the temperatures in the drawing room high with her skimpy dresses and oh-so-hot intimacy with Ashmit Patel in the latest season of ‘Big Boss’. Since returning from India, Malik has been constantly under fire for allegedly misrepresenting Pakistani women, Islam and Pakistani culture on the show.
She has been vehemently criticized by the orthodox community for vulgarity on the show and Mufti Abdul Kawi went on to snub her as “baigharat” (immoral) on a talk show on television. “You tell me is you conscience clear that you didn”t bring a bad name to Pakistan and Islam and that you behaved inappropriate to our religious and cultural values,” Maulana Qavi asked her on the show.
However, not the one to take down criticisms so easily, Veena Malik took the mullahs to task and even said that if she were in the wrong, so was Abdul Kawi because Islam doesn’t permit a man to cast a second look at a woman who isn’t his relative.
“One can be punished for looking at a woman a second time, you should be punished,” Malik told the Mufti on Express News’ Frontline show.
Malik defines her experience in the show as a “beautiful, terrible, exciting, emotional, sad” journey and said, “I belong to the entertainment industry and I went with my agenda. I wanted to show the world that there are other types of Pakistanis too, not just those who are in the news for terror acts.”
She defended her behavior and clothes saying, “It isn’t a religious show either. The format of the show is to get people from various walks of life under one roof… I was contacted for my bravery. I wasn’t even representing office-going women of Pakistan. I was a Pakistani from the entertainment industry. I wore only clothes that I have worn in Pakistan before. I was representing myself… and I am like this only.”
Malik said the Pakistani media had been unfair to her by not highlighting the positives such as when she was complimented by Salman Khan and not coming to her rescue when she was abused on Bigg Boss. However, Veena received widespread support from Pakistani liberals and civil society activists on social networking websites like Twitter and others.

Bollywood stars at the Triumph Show 2011

This is for the third time that Farah Khan is directing the Triumph lingerie show.  Her fashion show in Mumbai on Friday evening saw the presence of many famous Bollywood personalities. The fashion show organized by Triumph was to present the autumn winter lingerie collections in India.
“I used to choreograph fashion shows some 18-20 years ago but that was at college level. So I thought it would be a nice change. This show is really pulling out stocks, I think it could probably be the costliest show ever held in India,” says Farah.
Her friends and colleagues from the film fraternity had turned out in full support.
“I think Farah Khan is the biggest attraction of tonight,” said director Karan Johar.
Check out Bollywood stars at the Triumph Show 2011……….

Hrithik Roshan waxed at Tassauds in his signature ‘Dhoom’ style

After a series of Bollywood celebrities, now we have actor Hrithik Roshan’s wax statue at Madamme Tassauds, London in his “Dhoom” style with a short sleeved shirt left wide open to reveal his toned and taut body to full effect.
His wife, Sussanne, gave the waxen Hrithik Roshan a kiss and said, “Now I have two of you.”
On meeting his double for the first time Hrithik Roshan commented: “I can’t believe I’m here in Madame Tussauds unveiling a wax figure of myself. It’s incredible just how detailed the figure is - they’ve really captured my look. I’m truly honoured to be included and hope my fans will like seeing the figure.”
The media has been giving him a constant workout since the unveiling of the statue. “I’ve been talking for nine hours,” he admitted from London. “I’m astounded by the interest in Indian cinema globally. It warms my heart,” he asserts.
Shah Rukh Khan has his wax figure at two Madame Tussauds museums. Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s statue was unveiled in September 2004 at the London museum. Post-marriage, another statue of the actor was unveiled at the Times Square museum in New York in 2007. Actor Salman Khan got waxed by Tussauds in 2008. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was the first Bollywood celebrity to get waxed at Madame Tussauds.
Roshan was completely involved in the creation of the figure - attending two sittings in Mumbai and London where sculptors captured a catalogue of reference photographs and hundreds of precise measurements. Hrithik also donated the red shirt and dark blue jeans his figure is wearing.

Meet Kirti Malhotra: The Yasmin of ‘Dhobi Ghat’

She has done costume designing for ‘Sarkar Raaj’, the dream song in ‘Delhi 6′, ‘Action Replayy’ and recently ‘No Problem’, but this was her first brush with facing the camera as she debuted with Kiran Rao’s ‘Dhobi Ghat’. Meet Kirti Malhotra, the Yasmin of ‘Dhobi Ghat’ who wants to wait for the reaction of the audience before she thinks about moving further ahead in her acting career.
‘I never thought of acting. When the question came whether I want to do this film or not, it was clear to me it’s the kind of film I would always go and watch. I think I was really, really lucky in this case. There are newcomers every day in the masala films and you rather be in a film that stands out than be lost in the crowd with all these films,’ Kirti told IANS in an interview.
‘Since I have been given this opportunity on a golden platter, I want to see how it goes with the reaction of the film, my performance and everything and then I can pursue this. Acting career can go anyway. The kind of film this is it could go to crossover films. I am not too sure about the typical masala film, may be one I have to do in my life,’ said Kirti.
And what could be a better debut opportunity for a new comer than to share screen space with Aamir perfectionist Khan himself.
Kirti says, ‘When Aamir came into the film my reaction was ‘Oh my God, now everyone is going to watch the film’ because immediately your audience space becomes that huge. Nothing can prepare you best when you are acting in front of Aamir Khan. He is literally an artiste within acting. When we were doing the reading, he acted out his first scene in three different ways, just to give options to Kiran how differently the scene could be done. I felt that my voice even wouldn’t come out while shooting the film.’
‘He is super intelligent, very sharp, very perceptive; so I think once you get over the fact that superstar Aamir Khan is in front of you and be normal, he is very normal,’ she adds.

Mallika Sherawat: After Munni and Sheila, here comes Razia!!

The rage among Bollywood babes to sizzle in raunchy item numbers continues. After the flattering success of Malaika Arora Khan’s ‘Munni Badnaam Hui’ and Katrina Kaif’s ‘Sheila Ki Jawaani’ it is now time for sex kitten Mallika Sherawat to shake her legs on an item number.
Mallika has already shown her oomph factor in ‘Maiya Maiya’ and will now be seen in a raunchy item song in director Anees Bazmee’s next film Thank You. Like ‘Munni Badnaam Hui’, this song too has a desi folk appeal to it and it titled ‘Razia Gundo Mein Phas Gayi’ (Razia stuck with the goons).
Composed by Pritam, the song will feature Mallika with all the male actors of the film- Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Sunil Shetty. Well, more so, Mallika is doing the number for free as she shares a good rapport with Bazmee which developed when she worked with Bazmee in ‘Welcome’.
Bazmi, who is currently busy shooting the song, confirmed the news saying, “Mallika is a very dear friend and suits perfectly for this song. She is shooting with us for five days, as the song will be shot with all the actors in the film.”

A sneak peak into ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’

Priyanka Chopra had gathered ample critical acclaim for her negative role in ‘Aitraaz’. She comes up in greyer shades once again in ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’, a black comedy directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, based on the Ruskin Bond’s short story, Susanna’s Seven Husbands. Set for release on 18 February 2011, the movie has Priyanka play the role of Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes, who over the course of thirty-five odd years, gets married seven times due to the untimely and mysterious deaths of her husbands. The movie unveils the mystery of these deaths and as Priyanka’s character ages from 20-65, it took a lot of effort on everyone’s part to give Priyanka the look suiting her age. Vishal Bhardwaj hired renowned Academy Award winning, Hollywood special make-up effects artist, Greg Cannom of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), to create those seven different looks for Priyanka’s role in the film.
Besides Priyanka, the movie also stars Neil Nitin Mukesh as Edwin Rodriques, John Abraham as Jimmy Stetson, Irrfan Khan as Wasiullah Khan a.k.a. Musafir, Aleksandr Dyachenko as Nicolai Vronsky, Annu Kapoor as Keemat Lal, Naseeruddin Shah as Modhusudhon Tarafdar, Vivaan Shah and Usha Uthup as a Maid.

Kangana Ranaut still nursing her grudges against Roshans

Well, it seems Kangana Ranaut has not gotten over the betrayal played by the Roshans in their mega project ‘Kites’. We all know how Kangana’s role was chopped off to mere bits.
So, it did not come as a surprise when the actress firmly refused to be a part of ‘Krrish 2’ where she was asked to play the second lead after Priyanka Chopra. Though, both Rakesh and Hrithik tried to convince her that the role carried enough weight and had been written with Kangana in mind, Ranaut simply refuses to trust them.
With a national award to be proud of and with many promising projects in her kitty like Tanu Weds Manu, Rascals, Game and Dhamaal 2, Kangana definitely does not need to risk her career with Roshans.
On the other side of the coin, Rakesh Roshan denies having spoken to Kangana about Krrish 2. “Kangna wasn’t offered a role. Only Priyanka [Chopra] is final,” he stated.

Finally Aamir to play baddie in Dhoom 3 !!!

Aamir Khan has shed his artist avatar in Dhobi Ghat for that of the dark daredevil in Dhoom 3, ending speculation about who will clinch the coveted role in the blockbuster series from Yash and Aditya Chopra’s Yashraj films (YRF). The actor confirms the news of havingfilm, to be directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, fondly known as Victor, who has written the first two Dhoom films and directed Tashan. “Dhoom is an entertaining franchise. Every time I hear the theme track, it brings a swing to my step. I had never thought I would fit into it, but I loved Victor’s script and look forward to being one up on Jai and Ali (the characters played by Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra in the series). And of course, working with Yashji and Adi once again,” says Khan. Yash Chopra is equally excited at the thought of the star power and histrionics that Aamir will bring to Dhoom 3.
“With Hrithik in Dhoom 2 (2006) we raised the bar set by John Abraham in Dhoom (2004) and now we have Aamir,” he says.
Adi and Victor have worked for over a year on what is possibly one of the best scripts to have come out of YRF. The audience can look forward to one of the most exciting films they have ever seen.” 

The first Dhoom, in which John Abraham played the anti-hero had some thrilling motorcycle chases.
In Dhoom 2 Hrithik Roshan paraglided on to a train chugging throu-gh the deserts of Namibia and after that it was a thrill-a-minute.
Dhoom 3 is likely to up adrenalin levels with an action-filled title track, filmed on Aamir. Talks are on with a top heroine to co-star with him in the film, the shoot for which begins later this year.