Govinda the late
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Slow: Govinda. Click for bigger pic!
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Govinda keeps saying he intends turning over a new leaf, but all the turning he's been doing is in his cosy bed.
His tardiness at work reached the giddy limits when he wandered into a 9 am shift at 7.30 pm; thereafter, he took a brisk stroll to find the 7 pm shift of another film still waiting for him at 2 am. That unit thankfully packed up at 3 am, whereupon the hero assumed the horizontal for his solid eight hours plus, slumbering till late afternoon. He then repeated the procedure of the day before.
Lucky man. The audiences like him even if all his producers don't.
Rumour has it that his sleeplessness comes from threats of extortion. He was even reported to be shifting out of Bombay, to settle down in Ooty or Bangalore. But the Virar chokra himself bravely pooh-poohs the suggestion, claiming he spends time in Bangalore and Shimla only to set up hotels there.
And till these are complete, his producers can continue to work double shifts. If, indeed, it is work that is keeping him away.
Of love and labour
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Quitting Bombay: Kishen Kumar
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Kishen Kumar may be moving to Delhi for reasons both sentimental and prudent. But he's leaving behind one pretty face with swollen eyes that goes by the name of Preeti Zinta, the current Liril girl and heroine of Shekhar Kapur's Ta Ra Rum Pum Pum.
Kishen had even given her a flat in Bombay. But now, after his brother Gulshan Kumar was killed, he has decided to retire to the capital.
Last heard, his sweetheart was drowning her sorrow in work. And the effort is apparently showing in her upcoming Soldier opposite Bobby Deol.
Kiss and fell
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Playing the vamp: Aishwariya Rai Click for bigger pic!
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Aishwarya Rai, for all her claims at having a steady head on her shoulders, has finally succumbed to temptation. She's believed to have fallen for Sameer Arya, the cinematographer of Rishi Kapoor's film Aa Ab Laut Chalein during the 40-day long America leg of the film. Others had it that she wasn't really ignoring co-star Akshaye Khanna either.
Khanna is a free bird, but Sameer has pledged his troth to Shrishti Behl, daughter of the late Ramesh Behl. Yeah, the same belle who was in Aisi Bhi Kya Jaldi Hai and who is now producing Angaarey, directed by Mahesh Bhatt.
The wedding date was fixed for December. If Sameer doesn't watch his wandering step, it may be postponed to about the time the sea boils over.
Other goodbyes
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Parting: Poonam Dhillon with Ashok Thakeria
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Ho-hum. Another day, another divorce. The latest to crib before the legal authorities seeking a sundering of all matrimonial links are Poonam Dhillion and producer husband Ashok Thakeria.
Poonam is..., well, you know who she is. Anyway, she's trying to resurrect her career with a television
serial.
Ashok is the man behind the successful Dil, Beta and Raja, all directed by Indra Kumar.
Soon after Indra Kumar began directing films for other producers, Ashok has had trouble balancing his personal and professional lives. Ergo the rift in the lute, we hear.
Horror films
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Musical chairs: Sunny Deol, with Manisha Koirala in Champion. Click for bigger pic!
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Parting star couples are the stuff of nightmares that have producers coming to at night, gibbering in terror.
Currently it's all the producers of Akshay Kumar-Raveena starrers who are getting the treatment. They all fear the duo will now avoid each other. And any producer will tell you how hard it is to make a love story when the heroine tosses her head is disgust every time the hero wanders into the same time zone.
We hear producers in Pakistan have this problem since censors there demand such a healthy distance be maintained. In some cases, we hear, film-makers there get the lovebirds to gaze fondly into each other eyes through telescopes. Or maybe someone nasty was just making that one up.
There's a similar problem in Champion, starring Sunny Deol. It was to co-star Urmila Matondkar. But Raveena, post-Akshay, cuddled up to Deol and Urmi got shoved off. Then some spanner in the works saw Raveena bouncing out and Mahima stepping in. Something else happened and now -- the last we've heard -- Manisha Koirala's the heroine.
Strangely, the producer and crew are happy. Darned coincidentally, the producer is Sunny Deol. And the crew sitting around don't mind all those musical chairs, as long as their own are not hoicked away.
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