5 QUESTIONS
BILLBOARD
BOX OFFICE
MAKING WAVES
MEMORIES
MOVIES CHAT
QUOTE MARTIAL
REVIEWS
ROUGH CUTS
SHORT TAKES
SOUTHERN SPICE
THE LIST
WISH THE STARS
ARCHIVES

Hema nixes Kamal's plans

Everybody felt then that Hema Malini was making a grave mistake. The lady, however, held on to her stand and did not make any comment. Now, that the film is nearing release, she has been vindicated in the eyes of her friends and well-wishers who have understood the reason behind the mother's staunch stance.

The promos for Hey! Ram show intimate bedroom sequences between Kamal and Vasundhara Das, who is now essaying the role, including heavy duty kissing scenes. Surely Hema knew what Esha was getting into and therefore stayed away with dignity.

Karan-Aditya salvage PBDHH

The cat is out of the bag. Though director Aziz Mirza is not going to like it, the fact remains that the most-appreciated item in his directorial venture, the title track of Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, is the joint contribution of Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar.

The duo were called in by Shah Rukh Khan as the shooting was coming to a close because both he and Juhi Chawla felt there was something missing in the film. So, besides a few editing changes, Karan and Aditya are said to have had music sittings with Jatin-Lalit. The result is all too visible. Even the way the song was shot is said to be the brainchild of the successful whizkids.

Remote control costs Urmila Indra Kumar's film

When director Indra Kumar decided to step in to help his brother-in-law, producer Anil Sharma, and replace the original director, he added a condition: that the original heroine too be replaced. And that is how Karisma Kapoor has now replaced Urmila Matondkar in Sharma's film, which also stars Bobby Deol.

The reason is obvious: After the disaster of Mann, Indra Kumar wants to make his next film his way, without any interference. With Urmila around, everyone knows where the remote control lies. It's not just her outfits or the way she looks, even her dates and schedules are said to be controlled by Ram Gopal Varma. And, despite the harm this relationship is causing her career, Urmila refuses to see reason and repair the damage being done.

Ramu makes Fardeen strip

Incidentally, when Urmila says she has a different role in Varma's Jungle, believe her says a unit member with a chuckle. For this time, Ramu is all poised to strip. Not his favourite heroine, though. Instead, Fardeen Khan is going to do the honours.

According to the unit member, a recent schedule had Fardeen wearing nothing but a loincloth all through the shooting days. So, instead of flesh and oomph, it is beefcake that the audiences are going to be treated to.

Govinda punctual on Jackie's sets

Producers of Govinda's films will soon be rushing to Jackie Shroff. Not that he has bound Govinda to any contract or something like that. All of them, we are sure, would like to know how Jackie managed to get Govinda to be punctual.

Believe it or not, Govinda participated in a 25 day shooting schedule for Jackie Shroff's Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehti Hai without bunking a single day of shooting or even reporting late. This is record of sorts as far as Govinda is concerned and Jackie rightly should be given credit for making it happen.

The highlight of Pukar

All though her career, Madhuri Dixit had the reputation of being most professional. But, after becoming Mrs Nene, the tide seems to have turned. A recent press meet for Pukar, which began with a screening of the film's songs, had a prominent absentee in Madhuri, who is the heroine of the film.

The excuse given? Madhuri was not informed about the press meet; in short, she was not given proper intimation.

But the lady sure changed her mind in a hurry when she realised she had turned out to be one of the highlights of the film. Not wanting to miss out on the media blitz, Madhuri now religiously attends every press meet. And hogs the limelight as well.

Juhi backs off from Bajpai starrer

The non-success of Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani had made Juhi insecure once again. A few weeks ago, she had mustered up courage to do something different and get out of the giggly roles that she is so comfortable in. So she had gone ahead and accepted a slightly negative role in a non-commercial set up, opposite Manoj Bajpai.

But once the fate of her maiden home production was declared Juhi ditched film-maker Hansal Mehta, who was left with no option but go back to his original choice, Tabu. Luckily, with Manoj in the set up it didn't take much convincing to get Tabu to sign on the dotted line.

Is Akshaye Khanna taking sanyas?

Not really, though he seems to be getting detached from filmdom and stardom. In fact, he's refusing even the trickle of offers under the pretext of "Nothing interesting is coming my way, so why should I accept anything simply for the sake of keeping myself busy and also to keep myself in the news?"

The reason behind his strange behaviour, says a close pal, is that he is contemplating a hair-weaving job. Take our advice, Akshaye, and spruce up your act before even the trickle stops and film-makers find you uninteresting.

-- The Insider