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January 14, 1998
BILLBOARD
QUOTE MARTIAL
MAKING WAVES
ROUGH CUTS
MEMORIES
ARCHIVES
MOVIES CHAT
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Coup!
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Dilip Kumar. Click for bigger pic!
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K C Bokadia has done some hot casting. Would you believe, Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Arvind Swamy and Madhuri Dixit all in one film?
Yup, that's what's happened. And Bokadia is staking a lot on Bachchan, having signed him up sometime earlier in Lal Badshah for a cool Rs 45 million. And for his three other films on the floor, he has casts that include among the best in the industry, including Dharmendra, Manisha Koirala and Shilpa Shetty.
Bokadia sure looks like he's aiming to become Mr Big of Bollywood, wot?
Aamir's amours
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Aamir Khan. Click for bigger pic!
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Aamir Khan's dalliances with heroines like Pooja Bhatt and Mamta Kulkarni has given him an unpleasant reputation, to put it mildly. But what is causing some surprise is his long-standing association with Navneet Nishan, who starred in the television serial Tara and who played Karisma Kapoor's sidekick in Raja Hindustani.
That was the film that apparently got them together. Note, at that time the Khan had even a kid on the floors and Nishan was on the verge of getting married to old boyfriend Mark, who, incidentally, was very upset when the liaison was reported in a magazine.
But the duo began coming together for shoots even on days one or the other had no work. According to insiders, Khan gave Nishan advice on the comic role that she was playing, lessons the lady found difficult to grasp. They were having such a nice time together that once Khan apparently refused to come out and meet his wife Reena, who stormed off in a huff.
And if anybody suggests that's all water under the bridge, do ask them what the duo were doing together at Lonavla.
Rathnam's Priyadarshini
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Mani Rathnam. Click for bigger pic!
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The queue of starlings outside Mani Rathnam's bungalow has lengthened ever since he announced he was on the lookout for an actress to star in his new film.
But the role's not for someone who can dance and lip-sync some mushy numbers. For the film's on Indira Gandhi and slated for telecast on Channel Four, the British television channel. Oddly, sometime earlier, his wife Suhasini too had made a film called Priyadarshini, tangentially based on the female Gandhi.
The actress Rathnam wants has to be comfortable both in Hindi and English. Making it more likely that someone from up north will get the role.
Auditions are on with a vengeance at Aalayam in Madras. If you're somewhere in the vicinity and happen to belong to the stipulated gender, feel free to queue up yourself.
The stars look down
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Juhi Chawla. Click for bigger pic!
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Juhi Chawla's may not hold the position she did sometime ago, but soon after the success of Deewana Mastana and Ishq, she has found her starry airs again.
So when shooting for a promo with Arvind Swamy recently, Chawla came in long after the scheduled time. Swamy, who'd come in long before time despite a burning fever, was aghast but, typically, said nothing.
Instead, he packed away a few tablets and went off to sleep till the lady deigned to walk in.
Swamy tires of success
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Arvind Swamy. Click for bigger pic!
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Speaking of Arvind Swamy, he's showing signs of the itch. And despite the great expectations for Saat Rang Ke Sapne, starring him opposite Juhi Chawla and the quaintly-named Mink Singh, he says he's tired of doing so many films.
He has this sci-fi film opposite Madhuri Dixit in Tamil and the one we mentioned somewhere above. But Swamy thinks he can earn more from his business than through the Rs 10 million he earns off each film.
Time Swamy learnt to shut up or he'll have the I-T department on his heels. And if that happens, unlike in his movies, he can't rely on a director getting him out of a hole.
Momma's wish...
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Karisma Kapoor. Click for bigger pic!
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Karisma Kapoor would do nothing to upset her mother. Even if it is Babita herself who chooses to be upset, Karisma will try to modify the world to meet momma's standards.
Happened recently at a Karisma shoot where her mother was hanging around. Up strolled a woman whom Babita didn't like. The Kapoor matron expressed her displeasure strongly, so much so that shooting was disrupted. Something had to be done -- and fast.
So Karisma -- reasonableness personified -- stepped forward and told the producer that his shoot could take a hike if the woman continued to blot the landscape. The man threw up his hands and set about chivvying the offending element off the set.
Karisma smiled serenely at her mother and peaceably got down to work again.
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