Freida, Kalki, Anurag & Amit Trivedi part of Trishna

Hollywood director Michael Winterbottom's fascination with India continues. After shooting the Angelina Jolie starrer A Mighty Heart in and around Pune, Michael has now filmed his latest project Trishna at various locations of India.

Trishna stars Freida Pinto (in the title role) who plays a girl who wishes to rise in life despite her humble roots. The film is based on Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles and has Riz Ahmad as Freida's co-star.

What's interesting to note is the fact that the film has been co-produced by Anurag Kashyap and Sunil Bohra while the music has been composed by Amit Trivedi. Kashyap, Trivedi and actress Kalki Koechlin also feature in the movie playing themselves. The film has been shot in and around Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and even Mumbai.

While the film has been shown at various international film festivals, it's slated to officially release in March 2012.

Courtesy : Bollywood Hungama

Ajay's return from Son of Sardar to speed up Tezz

It's confirmed - Ajay Devgn won't be taking on Hrithik Roshan at the box office in January 2011. Though it was almost confirmed till a few days ago that his Tezz would be clashing with Agneepath on Republic Day, Ajay's current engagement with Son Of Sardar means that Hrithik would be now arriving solo.

"Tezz is almost complete with just a 10 day shoot left that also includes a song. It requires Ajay's dates and though the actor has no qualms of hopping over to Mumbai and wrapping it all up, there is a slight hitch. He has grown a beard for Son Of Sardar whereas in Tezz, he is required to be clean shaven. This makes it virtually impossible for director Priyadarshan to shoot with him. Now everyone is waiting for the current schedule of Son Of Sardar to wrap up so that Ajay can be back in town and get rid of his bearded look", says an insider.

This is indeed a blessing in disguise for the audience as well as industry in general since the clash of two biggies like Agneepath and Tezz would have been counter productive. There is big money riding (over Rs. 50 crore each) on both the films and while both Karan Johar and Ratan Jain (producers of the respective films) would have possibly suffered some level of monetary losses had the clash occured, even for the cine-goers it would have been a precarious situation to pick and choose.

On the other hand, though the makers of Tezz are disappointed that they won't be able to make it to the 26th January slot despite blocking the date first, there is no bad blood between them and Ajay.

"Everyone tried their best but such things happen in filmmaking. Ajay would be back soon and we would be shooting the balance portions of Tezz in January now", says Ratan Jain whose last film was the biggie multi starrer De Dana Dan, "The film will now release in the month of March for sure. That's confirmed."

Hope this time around, they indeed make it Tezz.

Courtesy : Bollywood Hungama

Prakash Jha defends cancellation of SRK's trip to Patna

Shahrukh Khan will be coming to Patna after all. He's now touching down in Bihar's capital on Thursday, December 22.

The embarrassing goof-up last week (December 13) when SRK's Patna trip had to be cancelled at the last minute has left the Patna administration fuming and red-faced. And thousands of his fans in Patna bitterly disappointed. The Patna District Manager Sanjay Kumar Singh says the information on SRK's Patna visit facing an alleged security threat came from Prakash Jha's multiplex theatre Cinepolis which is part of the Patna mall owned by him.

Efforts are now on to pinpoint the personnel at Cinepolis who misinformed Shah Rukh's entourage regarding the security bandobast.

Shahrukh Khan is none to amused by the embarrassing manner in which his purported visit to Patna was aborted last week. He is taking no risks this time. SRK's entourage has decided to boycott Prakash Jha's multiplex venue for the superstar's visit.

Says a source close to SRK's entourage, "This time we can't afford any glitches. We don't know why we were stopped from visiting Patna the last week. But Shah Rukh is very keen not to disappoint his Patna fans. He's accommodated Patna into his tight schedule and he'll be flying down from Lucknow to Patna on Thursday. This time we aren't taking any risks. Yes, Shahrukh won't be meeting his fans at Mr Prakash Jha's mall. The venue is being changed."

Prakash Jha in whose mall in Patna Shahrukh Khan could not touch down on Tuesday due to poor police bandobast, is very upset with the mega-star's aborted visit to Bihar's capital. Prakash says he's willing to take personal charge of Shah Rukh's security when he visits Patna this week.

"I feel outraged on a personal level and as a man from Bihar who has been trying to improve Bihar's image in Bollywood. So many stars from Mumbai including Bachchan Saab have been to Patna. I can't understand why the security arrangements couldn't be good enough," says Prakash angrily, adding that the official organizers of Shahrukh's visit should have given the Patna administration more time to prepare for Shahrukh's visit.

However, a member of Shahrukh's intended entourage to Patna has another story to tell. "On December 13, we got a call from somebody from Mr. Prakash Jha's mall's Cineplex (Cinepolis) telling us to cancel our Patna trip. Apparently, the security bandobast at the mall was not even 15 percent of what it was for Bachchan Saab."

Says Prakash, "The mall takes full responsibility for Shahrukh's security. I'd like him to know that during his visit to Patna, his safety is my responsibility."

Courtesy : Bollywood Hungama

Aishwarya Rai's cameo in Kochadaiyaan?

If the reports are to be believed, beauty queen Aishwarya Rai will play a cameo inSuper Star Rajinikanth's next film Kochadaiyaan under the direction of his younger daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth.

Notably, Aishwarya Rai was Rajni's heroine in the much acclaimed Enthiran. The Superstar is said to be greatly impressed by Aishwarya Rai’s performance in Enthiran and himself asked his daughter to rope in Aishwarya Rai to play a key role in Kochadaiyaan, it is heard.

On the other hand, Aishwarya Rai who recently gave birth to a baby girl, had decided not to act in films for a year, but sources said that on Rajanikanth's insistence, she agreed to do the cameo.

Meanwhile, the hunt for the heroine is on. It is rumoured that names like Anuskha Shetty, Asin and Vidya Balan are being considered. Kochadaiyaan will be made in 3D motion capture format in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.

Low key wedding for Riteish-Genelia

With the never-ending media glare on their wedding, actors Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia have apparently made a few alterations in their wedding plans! They have decided to make their wedding a very private affair, moving away from an opulent public marriage ceremony.

According to sources, the wedding will be a private affair and only people close to both the Desmukh and D’Souza families will be invited. There will be a reception bash, but efforts are being made to tone down the budget.

"Right now, both the families have agreed that they don’t want a very public wedding and that the guest list will be limited. The wedding, as the couple wants, would be limited to 1,000 people and not more than that. Considering the clout of the Deshmukh family, it is a very low figure. However, there will be separate invites sent out for separate functions,” a source said.

Dhanush wants to cast Hrithik Roshan?

We all know that National award winning actor Dhanush is all set to turn director soon. The actor is reportedly in Mumbai pitching story lines to some of the top Bollywood actors. Grapevine has it that the actor is all set to direct a Hindi film soon and want to cast Hrithik Roshan as the male lead.

According to sources, it was Dhanush’s long time plan to direct a film in Hindi and he was waiting for the right time to start the project. The film is a big budget fantasy flick and Dhanush is looking for someone larger-than-life who can carry off the film.

Click here for latest updates.

Censors deny Delhi Belly U/A certificate for TV premiere

Released earlier this year, the much talked about and a bit controversial film Delhi Belly starring Imran Khan rattled the box office collections. However, on a different note now the film has been denied a U/A certificate for its TV premiere.

It is learnt that though director Abhinay Deo attempted to re-edit the film to suit the censor guidelines, the board has remained adamant about their decision to stall the release.

The reason behind this stalling is that the board feels that the film is not appropriate for family viewing, despite making several cuts owing to the content of the film.

Courtesy : Bollywood Hungama

Dev Anand's ashes to be immersed in Godavari River

Legendary actor Dev Anand's ashes will be immersed in the holy Godavari River in Nashik today, by his son Suneil.

Bollywood's evergreen star passed away in London on December 3 following a cardiac arrest. His last rites were performed on Saturday at the Putney Vale Crematorium in London. A memorial service was also held at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London on the same day.

A condolence meeting will be held at Mumbai's Mehboob Studios in Bandra on December 15, between 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mehboob studio was chosen for his condolence meeting as Dev saab has shot many films over there and a make-up room of Dev saab is still at there at the studio.

Courtesy : Bollywood Hungama

Ranveer Singh to woo Sonakshi with Dev Anand's songs

Dev Anand lives again! In the soon-to-start-shooting 60-crore rupees action-adventure caper Lootera Ranveer Singh would be shown to woo Sonakshi Sinha with some of Dev Anand's choicest numbers including 'Khoya Khoya Chand' (Kala Bazar), 'Tere Mere Sapne' (Guide) and 'Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara' (Jewel Thief) .

And no cover versions, please.

Producer Madhu Mantena who was associated with HMV-Saregama will apply for the rights of the Dev Anand melodies. These, say a source, would not be applied to the film in any random fashion. The songs would be filmed keeping the mood and tempo and flavour of the original sequences, and no tampering the core of the compositions or their screen interpretations at all.

Apparently director Vikramaditya Motwane would shoot the songs in black-and-white. Ranveer a huge Dev Anand fan would apparently be shown as a Dev Anand fan in the film, sporting the same hairstyle, clothes, attitude and of course the songs.

When we asked producer Mantena about the Dev Anand influence on Lootera he said, "We're most certainly going all-out to get the mood right. Beyond that it would be premature to reveal our exact plans. Director Vikramaditya Motwane would be the best person to throw light on how Ranveer's character will be presented in Lootera."

While Motwane remained tight lipped Ranveer did mention, "Lootera is the only film that I've signed after Ladies vs Ricky Bahl. Of course there's a huge amount of preparation involved. Though the film is set in Kolkata I don't play a Bengali."

Ranveer Singh is done with Ricky Bahl. He is now all set to play a swashbuckling hero in the 1950s. And to get out of his Ricky role and step into the vintage mood Ranveer has reportedly asked the makers of Lootera to grant him time to understand the period, and that includes studying the cinema and songs of Dev Anand to be able to play his fan.

Recreating Bengal in the 1950s for Vikramaditya Motwane's Lootera is proving to be a far more expensive affair than the producers had bargained for.

Courtesy : Bollywood Hungama

Genelia’s wedding in February

The much-talked-about wedding of popular actor couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia will take place in February, 2012 in Mumbai. As per reports, the couple plans to have a four-day celebration starting from February 3.

Sources further said that February 3 will be mehendi, followed by Sangeet ceremony on February 4, wedding on February 5 and the reception on February 6. The Hotel Hyatt Regency in Mumbai will be the venue.

At present, the couple is busy finalizing the right wedding invitation cards for close friends and family. Riteish and Genelia are also rumoured to have taken a break for two months from their current projects for their wedding and honeymoon. The destination for the honeymoon is still being kept a secret.