When Aditya froze on the sets

 Revealed an eyewitness, "Aditya just stood where he was and looked stricken. Everybody on the set panicked as the shooting pain in his back didn't allow him to move. The shoot was stalled for several hours. However, he reassured everybody that he's fine." The next time Aditya Roy Kapur is doing an energetic dance number, he'd want to watch his back, literally.

Mirror has learnt that a few days ago, the Aashiqui 2 star was shooting for a high-voltage dance number at Bandra's Mehboob Studio with Parineeti Chopra, when his back gave up.

After several rehearsals, the cast finally hit the dance floor. However, few zealous minutes into the shoot, Aditya suddenly froze in pain.
Despite the actor's heroic reassurance, a doctor was immediately called to the set who prescribed painkillers and asked him to rest for a few hours.

After resting in his van, he finally found his feet but as per the choreographer's advice, both Parineeti and him, took it easy from there on.

When contacted, Aditya confirmed the news saying, "It was a severe muscle pull, but I'm glad that we managed to finish the day's shoot at least. I'm feeling much better now, thank you." 

Acid test for Theseus director

 Newborns stars the survivors, who will be talking about everything else, but their misfortune. "So you will see them dabble in poetry, dance, painting and experiment with several other art forms," Gandhi says, adding, "The film cannot be categorised as a docudrama as a lot of the stuff that you see has been written and acted out by the survivors themselves, including certain monologues." After receiving worldwide critical acclaim for his debut feature, Ship of Theseus, Anand Gandhi is producing an experimental documentary. The film is directed by one of the creative producers at Gandhi's Recyclewala Labs, Megha Ramaswamy.

Titled Newborns, it focuses on the lives of real-life acid attack survivors from across the country. When contacted, Gandhi confirmed the news, saying, "The film features people who have been victims of such heinous crimes. However, we do not intend to recreate the tragedy, but instead focus on the celebration of hope and life."
The shooting has already begun in Delhi and the film is expected to hit the theatres in the latter half of this year.

"What inspired this documentary was the lack of support from the general public. Many just stood and watched these atrocities, without protesting or doing anything to stop them. With this film, we hope to bring about an attitudinal shift and focus on looking ahead rather than behind."

To spread awareness about such crimes, Gandhi has also planned to launch a campaign. It will be titled Spot of Shame. 

Sonali or Tabu?

A source told Mirror, "The show is about a woman compelled to take up a job after her husband lands up in jail. There is a twist in the tale after she assumes office. Both Tabu and Sonali Bendre have expressed interest in doing the serial."

If Tabu takes it up, it would be her TV debut. Sonali has been a reality TV show regular for years but has never done a fiction TV show. The actress is in contention after she impressed Ekta in a cameo in Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbaai Dobaara.

"The modalities are fast being worked out. The show is expected to go on air in the next two-three months," added the source. Ekta Kapoor is planning a major casting coup for her next small screen magnum opus and as of now it is a toss-up between Tabu and Sonali Bendre.

Ekta has been working on the show for the past seven months and now that the script is ready, she is scouting for her lead protagonist and a director.

Pritam wants a vacation...

 But this time the self-confessed workaholic has decided not to sign any film till June-July and during this time he intends to take a few trips. "Through a social networking site I've found old friends and I want to meet them, particularly a classmate who lives in Pune and has been inviting me to visit him for ages. I also want to visit my hometown Kolkata, take my parents to an Ayurvedic health centre in Kerala and my kids to Disneyland," he chirps with the excitement of a child. 

It's been over two years since he's taken a break. Every time he planned one, a film stretched its deadline 
and another followed. Pritam confesses he is an abysmal failure in time management even after a management grad made him a quadrant. " I don't even have time to follow the quadrant," he sighs, pulling a face.
From 18 films a year he's come down to six and intends to cut down to two to three. Coming up are Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Holiday. There's also Phantom and Jagga Jasoos though the latter will probably arrive in 2015. "I've got a lot of offers post Dhoom 3 but I'm not signing anything till I've taken a break. Then maybe I'll take on a few musical romances, a genre I like best," he says.

Pritam admits that Phantom, a spy thriller, offers little scope for music but he was wowed by Kabir Khan's script. Ditto for Jagga Jasoos, a detective movie, but he's sure Anurag Basu will do something with the music and equally sure they'll be debating over the songs till the CD is out. He has a good feeling about Shaadi Ke Side Effects and wants to make music like Jab We Met, Life in a... Metro and Barfi! "Romantic songs come naturally to me but after a few item songs worked that's what directors want,"he says.
Top of the list is Dhoom machale. The phrase came from Aditya Chopra and the riff he'd sing on the sets became its signature theme. "Today you can't take the franchise forward without a Dhoom machale. I've re-worked the original twice and there are instant comparisons and disappointment. But if I don't, there will be more disappointment. It's a Catch 22 situation," he says, happy the franchise is getting bigger.

Any pressures from directors to toe a hit line? There are "but 70 per cent of the time I don't give in and even when I do it's never without a fight". Occasionally, there are directors like Ayan Mukherji who back him all the way even when he makes last minute changes. Was Badtameez Dil an attempt to esatablish Ranbir Kapoor as the modern-day Shammi Kapoor? "No, for me it was a tribute to Kishore Kumar. The gibberish lyrics reminiscent of his Eena meena dika. Had he been alive, he'd have sung it," Pritam asserts.  

 Muses and references have got charges of plagiarism levelled against him. He admits in the initial stages he made a few mistakes and the tag stuck. But now he's original. His erstwhile partner Jeet exploded on the scene with Aashiqui 2. Any chance of the two collaborating on a score? "Our parting was amicable but I don't see us getting back together." 

He impatiently brushes off a lock from his face and blurts out, "I will cut my hair so no one recognises me when I am travelling. I'd shave too but before that, I need to lose weight or my cheeks will pop out!" 

'Almost said no to sherlock'

Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed that he nearly turned down the iconic character of detective Sherlock Holmes in the hit TV series of the same name.
"My reservation was 'Well, this is a very iconic character, there will be a lot of attention on it. This was before I had any significant sucess," said the 37-year-old.
"And while I had done work, it wasn't stepping into the populist limelight like playing a character like Holmes. So I did have a pause" he added.

Avril Lavigne - Let Me Go ft. Chad Kroeger

When Amitabh kissed Jaya

We have one sweet PDA moment from a recent award. Amitabh kissing his wife Jaya.  One of the cameras that followed the star went on clicking and we just love this amazing moment.

After accepting his award, Amitabh went back to where Jaya and Abhishek were seated -  in the first row. The couple, who do not show affection in public broke the custom. 

It was at the same event that Amitabh Bachchan acknowledged Rekha.

When Salman taught Sunny to drape a saree

Salman Khan never fails to entertain us. Here, he teacher Sunny Leone how to drape a saree - over her shimmering gown!

It’s love (and war)

From awkward encounters with exes to cold shoulder from forever foes, a recent awards show had it all.

On Thursday evening, an array of filmi stars descended at a Worli sports club for an award ceremony. And as expected there was plenty of drama.

Mirror learnt that after what happened at a previous function - when Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha greeted each other with a namaskar while Jaya and she found plenty to talk about after years of cold war, and the pictures went viral, Big B avoided the red carpet. 
 Backstage was where all the action was. When Shahid Kapoor was feverishly rehearsing for his stage performance, ex-girlfriend Kareena Kapoor walked in.

While one may think the former lovers would make small talk, fact is that as soon as she spotted Shahid, Kareena did a quick U-turn. She waited till he had left before returning to practise her own act.

No points to her for originality though. Mirror has unearthed that Kareena ended up dancing to the same tunes in the same fashion as she had at a recent ceremony.

Although one may think Salman was in a genial mood, having given Shah Rukh Khan another jadoo ki jhappi on stage to which the latter had responded with a Jai Ho, he was in no mood to share free hugs with Vivek Oberoi who made several trips to the stage (required as well as voluntary).

Said an eye-witness, "It was evident that Vivek wanted to bury the hatchet, but despite being on stage together, Salman gave him the cold shoulder, more than once."

The actress who was responsible for Vivek's feud with Salman, sensibly decided to stay away from the ceremony and its host who once was her khaas dost.  Instead, Abhishek and he, chose to make a backdoor, or rather backstage, entry.

Ain’t afraid of Salman Khan

 Salman flew into a rage and ordered Mithoon out, saying, "Chal jaa. Nikal yahan se." Then Mithun fired the salvo: "Sir, main aap se nahin darta." At the same function there was a war of words between Salman Khan and singer-composer Mithoon Sharma; an altercation which was witnessed by hundreds, including Bollywood's A-list.

The actor, who was hosting the show, interrupted Mithoon's acceptance speech to point to a piece of paper stuck to his backside.

This did not go down well with Mithoon who was onstage to accept an award for the song Tum hi ho meri aashiqui from Aashiqui 2. He shot back saying that this was bound to happen thanks to the dull evening and Salman's long speeches.

An eyewitness said, "Salman's prank backfired totally. He looked very flustered. This was the last thing he expected. Nobody challenges Salman Khan like that in public. Seeing that the situation was snowballing into an ugly incident, Salman went up to Mithoon and hugged him lightly."

Despite the spat, Mithoon looked calm and Salman too continued hosting the show as if nothing had happened.

When contacted, Mithoon said, "I didn't tell Salman that he was boring us with his speeches. I cannot say that to any senior actor like Salman."

However, Mithoon did not deny that Salman did direct him to leave the stage or that he retorted by saying that he is not scared of the star.

He said, "My award was announced very late and everyone was very tired by then. That was in good humour. And I didn't feel offended."

Not without Abhishek and John

The Bollywood remake of the Tamil superhit Vettai, which was supposed to star Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham, has reportedly run into a roadblock. Buzz is that Abbas-Mustan who were supposed to direct the film, might not do it anymore.

The twist in the tale came after UTV, who bought the remake rights, recently joined hands with Dharma Productions. And according to the grapevine the producers are now looking to cast a new director.

Speculations are also rife that Abhishek and John might find themselves replaced too.

The two actors were in advance talks with the director duo and were to allot dates after the completion of Dostana 2 which is now shelved. They were shown the South original and told about the modifications that would be implemented to suit Bollywood sensibilities. 




 But seems Abbas-Mustan have not heard from UTV for almost a year and are clueless that Karan Johar has entered the picture. A friend of the men-in-white told Mirror, "If Abhishek and John are replaced, Abbas-Mustan would certainly not like to direct the film. Having worked with Abhishek in Players and John in Race 2, they would not want to upset the equation they share with the stars." 

When contacted, Abbas-Mustan were equally clear on the subject, "We are ready to remake Vettai in Hindi but only with Abhishek and John. We don't want to spoil relations with them."