Johnny Depp is black with Amber Heard

Johnny Depp is dating Amber Heard again - after wooing her back with handwritten poems and flowers. The 49-year-old actor who confirmed his split from Vanessa Paradis after 14 years together in June - enjoyed a brief romance with 26-year-old actress in the summer after meeting her on the set of their film The Rum Diary.

    However, Amber ended their dating arrangement after deciding she wanted to be single. But Johnny decided not to give up on the blonde beauty and sent her a personally penned poem and a bouquet of roses everyday throughout September to convince her to give him another chance, and his plan eventually worked and she flew out to his private island, Little Hall's Pond Cay in the Bahamas, for a mini vacation.
     A source told a leading newspaper, "Although Amber and Johnny have electric chemistry, she felt that as they are both out of long-term relationships, they needed to be single for a while. Johnny didn't give up though - he missed her so much over the summer. "Since returning from their romantic getaway, Johnny and Amber have been virtually inseparable and she has stayed at his Los Angeles mansion almost every night, although she plans on not getting serious too quickly.

A year later, Demi yet to divorce Ashton

According to a leading website, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore have taken no steps to end their marriage Sources connected with the couple tell us....neither Ashton nor Demi have given their lawyers any indication they want to file for divorce.

    We're also told - contrary to several reports - Demi and Ashton are not haggling over money and who gets what. There have been no discussions about dividing assets. It's unclear why neither of them has gotten off the dime to end their marriage - but they haven't.
    Ashton and Demi separated in November, 2011. They were together as a married couple for six years.

New twist in Ajay - SRK war

The war between Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan has just escalated. Responding to a news that Ajay's lawyer have lodged a complaint with the Competition Commission about the unfair means adopted by the production house to promote Jab Tak..., a YRF spokesperson said: "We would like to clarify at the outset that we still haven't received any notice from the Commission and will suitably represent our stance if when called upon to do so."

    The bone of contention here is the share of screens for Son of Sardar and Jab Tak ..., both Diwali releases.
    According to Devgn, YRF had come to an understanding with theatre owners that Ek Tha Tiger and Jab Tak... would be made available to them as a package.
    YRF rubbished these claims, saying, saying exhibitors "were happy to play out Yashji's movie considering their long standing and emotional relationship with the banner and that a Yash Chopra/ Shah Rukh Khan movie, coming after a gap of eight long years, did not need any coercion for contractual screening."
    Refuting Devgn's claims that YRF has taken up the lion's share of screens, the spokesperson said, "Of the 10,500 plus single screens available on an all-India basis, we have booked less than 1,500 single screens, an industry norm for an A-lister movie. If this was an issue, why wasn't it raised earlier?"
    However, on Thursday, Ajay along with members from Eros International and Viacom called a meeting with theatre owners at Eros' office asking them to give fair chance to his film.

     A source said, "About seven to eight members from progamming team of various multiplexes attended the meeting in which they were told by the actor and the distributor that they have made a good product and fair chance should be given to their film SOS in terms of showcasing of the film." Multiplexes were indirectly told not to give into pressure of the other banner and were promised that they would be provided proper marketing and publicity support if needed."
     A friend of Devgn said that having invested Rs 80 crore in the film and with no other dates available, he has no choice but to escalate his war. Despite repeated attempts Ajay remained unavailable for comment.

Cops, Qasab and that silver sedan

Mirror caught a glimpse of Ram Gopal Varma's ambitious film on 26/11 being shot on Girgaum Chowpatty in the wee hours of Thursday morning

He had been denied permission to shoot his film on 26/11 inside the Taj hotel, forcing Ram Gopal Varma to recreate the iconic hotel elsewhere at a considerable cost. And since then he has been shooting at various locations in the city. Mirror stumbled upon the crew during the Girgaum Chowpatty leg of the shoot on Wednesday night.
     The sequence being shot was a crucial one. On that fateful night Ajmal Qasab and Abu Dera Ismail Khan, after the massacre at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and killing several senior cops, had proceeded first toward Metro Cinema and then Vidhan Bhavan in a white Toyota Qualis. However, the Qualis developed a puncture and they hijacked a silver Skoda Laura instead and drove toward Girgaum Chowpatty. A team of policemen had set up a double barricade on Marine Drive when the sedan came to a halt 40 to 50 feet away. Even as the car had tried to make an u-turn, a gun battle ensued, injuring Qasab and killing Ismail Khan.

     RGV had been shooting on Chowpatty on Oct 30 and 31 between midnight and 3am and on this day the crucial shootout was enacted for the cameras, complete with barricades and the silver sedan. The sequence captured the events down to the smallest detail - in fact the actors even enacted the part when the cops ask Qasab to step out of the car and he switches on the wipers by mistake.
     The life-like scene understandably brought the early morning traffic to a halt and a crowd gathered, part curious, part apprehensive. It took a couple of real-life cops to disperse the crowd.
     Incidentally, RGV had tried to get cops play themselves in the film, but to no avail. The terrorists as well as the braveheart policemen in his film are all as real as the blood splattered on their clothes.

Lata teams up with Shankar

Shankar Mahadevan is on cloud nine. His life-long desire to work with his idol, Lata Mangeshkar, is about to be fulfilled. Mahadevan (45) will soon record his first song with the legendary songstress.

    Talking about his dream project, Mahadevan said, 'It is my greatest dream in life to work with Lata Didi. To me, she is Mata Saraswati. I was touched by the beautiful things she said about me. I felt my musical journey has been worth the hard work. My first recording with her was when I played the Veena for bhajan in album Ram Shyam Gun Gaan she recorded with Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. I was 11 years old at the time. Exactly my younger son, Shivam's age. My journey started with her blessings. And now I want Shivam too to embark on his musical journey with her blessings."

     Mahadevan said he goes by his favourite book The Secret (by Rhonda Byrne). "If you wish for something sincerely from the bottom of your heart, it will happen. I prayed almost my entire life for a chance to sing with Lata Didi at least once. And my wish has come true. I am blessed. My Pranam to the Saraswati of Indian music," said the prolific singer-composer.

Rajinikanth's next postponed yet again

Initially, the film was to release during Diwali. Next, we heard it would hit theatres on Rajinikanth's 62nd birthday on December 12 this year. However now, there is news Kochadaiyaan, the film, has been pushed even further. Directed by Rajini's daughter Soundarya R Ashwin, Kochadaiyaan is his first film after a long bout of ill health.

    An insider revealed, "The film will release around end of January or early February next year." Kochadaiyaan will open an international scale in languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telgu, Japanese and English.

ACP Pradyuman to hang up his boots

One of Indian TV's longest running shows, CID, may be poised for a dramatic change. Shivaji Satam, who plays ACP Pradyuman in the detective series, and who has been the face of the show for 15 years, wants to bow out. The show, which is not known for its production values however enjoys immense popularity among viewers in both India and Pakistan and has several world records to its credit. It is also known for dialogues such as: 'kuch toh gadbad hai,' and 'Darwaza tod do Gaya!' that enjoy cult following.

    A source revealed, "Shivaji has already communicated to the producers that he wants to move on.This has created panic in the production house and the channel. They are trying to make him change his mind. But it seems unlikely that he will stay on."
    The CID team was in Kolkata yesterday to promote its Bengali version where news of Shivaji's decision first trickled in. When contacted, producer B P Singh confirmed the news and added on an emotional note, "He is my friend and I can't imagine the show without him."

    Asked why the show's popular face wishes to quit, he said:"May be because we shoot day and night for 30 days and he is concerned about his health. Efforts are on to hold him back as we can't imagine anybody else doing stepping into his shoes. We are friends; we have also grown old together on this show. I am sure he will not be happy leaving the show either"
    When we got in touch with Shivaji, he is extremely reluctant to speak. But once he did, the veteran actor was only full of praises for Singh. "He is one of my best friends and I have spent my best days with him."
    Quizzed if he is bored with the show, he said:"How can it be? That show has been a part of my life. But even if I leave, what's the big deal? We all move on, we will move on." incidentally, Shivaji's contract with the production house expires this December.
    According to sources, the show's writers have already started working on a Plan B. CID loyalists could except an episode where ACP Pradyuman resigns from his post to make way for young blood. 

PeeCee gets her claws out for Bebo

The actress is livid with the organisers of an awards show who showed 'preferential treatment' towards her rival

The world knows that Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor have not exactly been the best of friends. The simmering rivalry between the two gorgeous ladies has often erupted in public, leading to some headline-worthy moments-remember Pee Cee's retort to Bebo's quip about her accent? "I got it the same place where her boyfriend got it from," she had said on KJo's show. Or the more recent serve and volley over National Awards when PeeCee responded to Bebo's comment on not caring about the awards by saying, "Only those who don't have one pretend not to care."

    And much as they try to convince their fans that they have buried the hatchet, fact is, the two stars are back to doing what they do best - let the claws out with a snarl and a growl.
    At a recent awards function, where PeeCee was slated to perform, the actress, who has been enjoying a bit of hard-won sucess, made it amply clear that she was not willing to play second fiddle to Kareena. Especially at a time when she has had a string of very successful films to her credit, whereas Kareena's magnus opus has been an unmitigated disaster.
    An eye witness told Mirror, "Priyanka, who was supposed to dance to Yash Chopra's songs had been practising hard since the afternoon. She had been sweating it out on the floor when, closer to the show time she noticed Kareena sailing in. This was her first public appearance post wedding, and Bebo simply breezed in and out without putting in even as much as a fraction of the effort or time that Priyanka had for the show. This irked PeeCee to no end."

   Sources close to the actor revealed, she threw a fit behind  closed doors, upset with the organisers with their "preferential treatment." "And though she was professional enough to go through the rest of the evening, she was visibly agitated," said the source, adding, "Her argument was, why would a star of her stature be expected to go through the grind of rehearsals when her contemporary is allowed to breeze in and out?" Why indeed.
   Interestingly, in spite of all the coordinated photo ops to establish their camaraderie, PeeCee wasn't invited for any of Saif-Kareena's wedding functions.

Shaukeen's remake in a legal wrangle

Actor-director Rohit Roy and producer Aditya Bhatia both claim they have the rights to Basu Chatterjee's 1982 sex comedy

 It was a year ago that he announced Basu Chatterjee's 1982 sex comedy Shaukeen. Actor-director Ronit Roy was to cast Rishi Kapoor, Boman Irani and Naseeruddin Shah as the lecherous old men lusting after a girl young enough to be their daughter. However, now that Ronit is all set to go on floors, the project has hit an unexcepted roadblock. Producer Aditya Bhatia of Eagle Video claims he has the remake rights of the film. So much so both Ronit and Aditya are now locked in a messy legal battle that would possibly make the peace-loving Chatterjee squirm.

     When contacted, Aditya said, "We hold the remake rights of Shaukeen. We'll make a formal announcement by the end of November. However, a source close to Aditya's remake revealed, "Rohit Roy's Shaukeen is in legal trouble. Eagle Video has the remake rights. Rumi Jaffery is writing and directing their remake. Paresh Rawal, Anu Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor will play the three mates originally played by Ashok Kumar, A K Hangal and Utpal Dutt." And Huma Quereshi of Gangs of Wasseypur fame is expected to step into Rati Agnihotri's role.Ronit said he has signed remake deal with Chatterjee. "We have the remake rights to Shaukeen. We have signed contract with Dada (Chatterjee). I've no idea what these guys are talking about," he said adding, "Our legal team is working to safe-guard our contract." Aditya too said, "My legal team is dealing with them (Rohit Roy)." Meanwhile, Rumi confirmed he is working on Eagle Video's Shaukeen remake. Interestingly, Rumi is very pally with Rishi Kapoor and has apparently weaned the actor away from Ronit Roy's project into his own.
   

SHABANA AZMI--FAKIRA (1976)

It was a hit inspite of me

Producer NN Sippy's Fakira is so much in the distant past that I remember very little of it. However, I do believe it was a hit inspite of me and not because of me! It gave me a lot of leverage. I signed many films in its wake.

    I got to work with Shashi Kapoor, whom I had idolised right from my school days. I would save all my poket money to buy his photographs and then get them autographed by him every Sunday when he came visiting his father Prithviraj Kapoor, who was our neighbour. And I was cast opposite him. It was unbelievable!

    While shooting, I found it impossible to open my eyes in the reflector's glare. Shyam Benegal's Cameraman Govind Nihalani largely depended on natural light while mainstrem cinema's Jal Mistry flooded the field with reflectors. Hence, my expression would be the same, whether I had to look angry or romantic or sing a song. Shashi-ji would make me stare into the reflector till tears rolled down my eyes. He was my teacher and well-wisher like Shyam Benegal but diametrically opposite in his behaviour. I was able to glean his affection behind the gruff exterior and so, Shashi Kapoor will always hold a special position in my heart.

    I remember watching the choregrapher Satyanarayan-ji do some very intimate moves with his assistant. I was supposed to follow suit in the song Dil mein tujhe bitha ke sung by Lata Mangeshkar. I ran back to my dressing room and burst into tears saying I couldn't possibly do those moves. Shashi-ji followed me and scolded me: "When you went running to your mother saying you wanted to be actress, you didn't think you'd have to do all this?" I had no choice but to wipe my tears and go back on the set. That's when I discovered Shashi-ji had gotten all the moves changed. Typically him!

    We shot all the songs in Kashmir and stayed at the Oberoi Grand, a far cry from the Dwarka Hotel at Lakdi Ka Pul Hyderabad where we were put up during the shoot of Shyam Benegal's Ankur only a year ago. Shashi-ji would host lavish parties for the entire crew.

    Fakira gave me a strong foothold in mainstream cinema and for that, it will hold a special position in my heart. But still wonder why I didn't concentrate on learning those typical dance moves! Today, when I watch newcomers perform so effortlessly, I am very impressed. The problem was in my head. I thought of myself as Kaifi Azmi's daughter from an intellectual background and from the sophisticated St Xavier's College, and how ridiculous I would look in such situations. That was wrong. Hindi mainstream cinema has an alternative reality and an actor needs to suspend her level of disbelief to give what it takes to look at ease. With time, I learned that lesson.

Asha's tragedy stalls her acting debut

It's not even a month since the terrible tragedy in the Mangeshkar family. Asha Bhosle's 56-year-old daughter Varsha Bhosle took her own life at the Peddar Road residence. Predictably so, the singer has turned into a recluse ever since. Bearing the burnt of Asha-ji's great loss is the team behind her much anticipated acting debut Mai. The Marathi language film about a memory-challenged mother, who is abandoned by her sons, was tio initially open on November 23. However, the release has now been postponed...indefinitely.

    When contacted, the director of Mai Mahesh Kodyal said, "My career as a director depends on Mai. It's my first film.Unfortunately, this terrible tragedy happened. Given the circumstances, we can't even dream of asking Asha-ji to promote the film. We'll just have to wait until she is feeling up to it. Sad.....But it can't be helped."
    A source close to the project said,"Asha-ji is just not in the frame of mind to promote the film. And she plays the title role. She is the face of Mai. Her debut as an actress at the age of 80 is our USP. Without her, the project has no relevance. So, we just have to wait for her to heal from the emotional setback that she has suffered."