Kangana intends to have a ball on the sets of her first comedy No Problem.

“So far I’ve never had fun on the sets. All the character I’ve played have been introverted and troubled. So I’ve been in my shell. During Fashion Madhur Bhandarkar used to scold me for being in a shell all the time.

But if I play insecure paranoid characters I can’t be laughing and playing around. But it was the nature of the characters.

For Anees Bazmi’s film I’m changing completely. I’m going to organize parties on the sets, constantly crack Santa-Banta jokes and most important of all, I will bond with Sushmita. Hopefully our bonding will last beyond one film.”

After signing a film together, Sushmita Sen has taken the lovely Kangana Ranaut under her wings. Always known to be warm towards her co-stars Sushmita has taken a special fancy to Kangana because of her facial resemblance to Sushmita’s daughter Renee.

Says Kangana, “On the first day that we met we struck a special chord in each other’s hearts. I was standing at a premiere and she came up to me. She held my face in her hands and said I’ve hair exactly like her daughter.

And that whenever she saw me she was reminded of her daughter. From that moment onwards we bonded. Luckily I play Sushmita’s sister in the film that we’re doing together. I love calling her Didi.”

Kangana is pleased as hell to be finally doing comedy. “I was really hurt when people said I was destined only to play tragic roles. I wanted to do comedy for the longest time. And that I’ve Sushmita playing my sister in the film is an added bonus. We’ll have a ball playing sisters.”

The film is Anees Bazmi’s comedy No Problem produced by Anil Kapoor.

Says Kangana, “I had decided whenever I do my first comedy it would have to be either with Anees Bazmi or David Dhawan. Everyone thought I was wrong for the part in No Problem. No one was convinced I could do comedy, not after playing all those traumatized roles. But Anilji convinced everyone that I could do.”

By Joginder Tuteja

It was one casting coup waiting to happen but that hasn’t been the case to be. For the ‘Vote Aapke Haath Mein Hai’ campaign produced by Karan Johar for Dharma Productions, John Abraham, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif were the chosen ones (amongst a dozen odd other youth icons) to participate in a specially created video.

However, at the last moment, the trio couldn’t be a part of the video for different reasons and director Tarun Mansukhani had to contend with other actors.

“That’s true. Earlier on John Abraham and Bipasha Basu were all set to be a part of this video that has been created to spread awareness around voting for our Government this election season.

Even Katrina Kaif was finalised but in the final scheme of things, we had to shoot the video without the three of them. Such a pity”, exclaims Tarun Mansukhani who has made a drastic shift from a colourful ‘Dostana’ to his recent campaign that has been shot in all Black & White.

The video now stars Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Imran Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Asin, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor and Karan Johar himself.

So what really went wrong? What was the real reason behind John, Bipasha and Katrina opting out of ‘Vote Aapke Haath Mein Hai’ which is written by Niranjan Iyengar, the man who has written dialogues Karan Johar films like ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ and ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’?

“If you are searching for any controversies then there aren’t any. In fact it wasn’t even the matter of anyone opting out”, Tarun is quick to react, “All three were quite sweet and were game to shoot for the video. But then on the day of the shoot, John and Katrina were not in the town due to which we had to go ahead without them.”

How about Bipasha?

“Well, her ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’ was being released on the same day when we had to shoot for the video. Other than that, she was also a little hassled due to the multiplex issue.

‘Aa Dekhen Zara’ was engulfed in this situation where no one was sure if it would eventually see an all India multiplex release or not. It was all right if Bipasha couldn’t shoot for the video in such a scenario.”

Though there have been accusations that his video, which carries the punch line of ‘Kuch Nahi Ho Sakta’, is an out- and-out copy of Hollywood’s ‘Don’t Vote’ commercial featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Forest Whitaker, Dustin Hoffman, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Aniston, Ashton Kutcher and will.i.am amongst others, Tarun is completely unperturbed.

“I haven’t even seen the ‘Don’t Vote’ campaign and I don’t want to worry about that. The point at the end of the day is that the video has been liked and more than that the message is being rightly passed on to the youth.

All celebrities coming together for this cause has helped create a great awareness around our right to vote and that’s what that matters at the end of the day”, declares Tarun.

Two months back, Neetu Chandra was at pains to explain to all and sundry that her 13B wasn’t a horror film but instead a supernatural thriller. Now she is forced to take the same route of denial even as the shoot of her latest film Apartment is making brisk progress.

“I don’t know why some out there are hell bent on placing me in a horror film. I have nothing against the horror genre and who knows, I may work in one as well in near future.

But just like 13B wasn’t a horror film, as everyone saw it for themselves, even Apartment doesn’t have any inclusion of horror element. Guess people have started associating horror with every film that is set within the confines of four walls in a skyscraper apartment.”

She insists that while 13B still had supernatural element attached to it, if not the horror, Apartment is a plain and simple dramatic thriller.

“Jag sir (as Jagmohan Mundhra, the film’s director, is popularly called) is really shaping up Apartment quite beautifully. It is an edge of the seat thriller and I am enjoying every day of the shooting.

This is one of those films where I feel like coming in every day the moment I wake up. In fact I get depressed when there is an off day since I am myself so inclined to see which scene is going to be shot next.”

Interestingly, Apartment is the same film which was earlier titled Roommates and was supposed to star Gul Panag and Raima Sen along with Pakistani actor Mikaal Zulfiqar of Mundhra’s own Shoot On Sight fame.

However, the cast as well as the film’s title went through a complete change and Apartment stars Rohit Roy and Anupam Kher along with Neetu Chandra and Tanushree Dutta.

Though Neetu is not willing to talk much about her character in the film, she hints on being prodded further, “Apartment tells the story of this girl (played by me) who comes from a small town to this big city. She sees quite a lot of changes around her which start reflecting in her personality.

Soon, she becomes quite possessive about things and obsession takes over. Now what is she so obsessed about is something for which you would have to wait. It is too early to talk about it.”

In the film, Neetu’s character is shown to be sharing an apartment with Tanushree Dutta. Now whom does she get obsessed with? Is it the apartment, Tanushree, someone else or herself? Well, time should tell!

Before Sanjay Nirupam was fielded as the Congress I candidate to fight BJP’s veteran Ram Nayak for this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was very keen to put up the much-in-the-news Priyanka Chopra in place of Govinda.

According to very reliable sources the discussions had gone very much ahead. “The Congress wanted a glamorous and younger Bollywood candidate after Govinda for the prestigious Mumbai North constituency.

Someone who would connect with the young urban youth of the nation. Initially Priyanka didn’t say no. But then her bulk of film-related work got the better of her.

Shooting day and night and then putting in months of gruelling election campaigning and devoting quality and quantity time to her constituency seemed a bit much for Priyanka. She finally had to say no, although Soniaji was very keen.”

The Congress I could’ve acquired itself another pretty and articulate Priyanka. Sadly it didn’t happen.

For now Priyanka Gandhi would have to be content being the prettiest and most glamorous member of the Congress party.

While the actress, finally on a much-needed sabbatical after the exhausting schedule of What’s Your Raashee remains tightlipped about her congress with politics, a close friend says, “Priyanka doesn’t rule out politics in the future.

But this time she is neither contesting nor campaigning for any candidate. Besides her schedules taking over Govinda’s constituency seemed a rather daunting task to Priyanka.”

Asin’s devoted dad refuses to get surgery done in spite of the acute pain. Joseph Thottumkal currently in hospital has been attending to all of his daughter’s business calls from the bed.

“He is on drip. No food allowed. Na ghar ka na hospital ka…and still he’s constantly on the phone discussing and confirming my prior engagements. He’s very clear on one thing.

Under no circumstance am I supposed to let any of my commitments suffer because of his hospitalization, ” says the proud devoted emotional and slightly bereft but strong daughter unwilling to show her emotions.

As her father prepares to go under the knife for an appendectomy, for the first time in her life Asin has to manage her life and career without her father.

To compound her distress Asin’s mother who’s a doctor is also spending as much time with Josaph Thottumkal as possible, leaving Asin with no choice but to fend for herself in the house.

“My father was in pain for sometime. He tried to play it down, took painkillers. But then it got worse. And we were unable to go to my native place in Kerala to cast my vote for the Lok Sabha elections.

For the first time in my professional career I found myself traveling alone to Bangalore for a commitment. It felt…. different. But one has to manage. I’d like to believe I’m quite a capable girl.”

Asin returned from Bangalore on Sunday and rushed straight to the Kokilabhen Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital where her father had been admitted. “It’s quite near to where we live, yet seems so far away….”

Though she puts up a brave front it isn’t easy. “That’s why he has been avoiding getting into the hospital. He felt if he was off his feet my work would suffer. But this time I’m determined to prove him wrong.

I’ll continue my work in his absence. In fact I’m going to be shooting for an ad today, Tuesday. Will I miss my dad? He has taught me to be a strong girl.”

Anjana Sukhani says she is game for bikinis if her role really demands it. Though she has adopted a glamorous persona in films like “Golmaal Returns” and “Salaam-E-Ishq”, the actress is yet to join the bikini brigade.

“It’s not in my wish list either. However, there comes a point in your career where you get a film that requires you to shed your inhibitions. Of course, the role that I play has to be of utmost importance – if it is justified for the character to wear a bikini, then I won’t fret about it, ” Anjana told.

Skin show has taken a different dimension in the last few months with actresses like Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Minissha Lamba and Amisha Patel getting into the swim wear for their roles. Also with dozens of film and fashion magazines hitting the stands, actresses are making a bee line to be seen on the cover.

“I’m very sure about the fact that posing seductively for the camera doesn’t really pay. It can’t help you grab work. What eventually matters is how talented you are and whether you can deliver goods on the screen, ” said the actress who had grabbed attention in the Cadbury ad with superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

But being in the glamour world where beauty sells, isn’t that a dicey statement to make?

“Of course, looking pretty is a valuable thing, but then talent matters as well”, said Anjana. “At the end of the day, it is about coming up with a balancing act. Being ‘just pretty’ or ‘just talented’ doesn’t help because one of them working just in isolation can’t take you anywhere. You have to have a good mix of both.”

“My dad has always said that you should do things that reflect the goal that you want to ultimately meet. If a small step taken by me helps me get closer to that goal, I won’t mind doing that as long as I don’t cross any limits, ” she added.

In that case, how does she look back at her first few steps when she had just started her career with films like “Humdum” (2005) and “Sun Zarra” (2006)?

“I continue to be emotionally attached to these films because those earlier steps reaffirmed that I existed and paved the way for me to appear in bigger and better films.

I didn’t come from a filmy family; nor did I have any supermodel experience that could help me get work. Those were testing times and everything that I decided to do, I had to do it on my own without any godfather supporting me.”

With “Jashn”, “Tum Milo toh Sahi” and “Allah Ke Banday” in the pipeline, life is certainly looking up for Anjana.

“Certainly. I am glad that these are turning out to be good times. I stand by all my decisions in the past and, regardless of whether they have succeeded or failed, I have no regrets, ” she said.

A close pal of the couple reveals, “Last week Deepika was to join Ranbir for going to Dostana director Tarun Mansukhani’s birthday party at late night.

Since she got stuck due to her work commitments (shooting of Excel Entertainment’s Kartik Calling Kartik), Ranbir told her he would go alone to the party. But despite telling her so, he didn’t go their.

Instead he chose to attend another party that had his debut film Saawariya heroine Sonam Kapoor and her good friend Kunal Kapoor. He didn’t tell this to Deepika who was well under the impression for days that he was at Tarun’s party.

The birthday party saw new love birds Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra making and entry and exit together publicly for the first time. John Abraham and Bipasha Basu too came in for the bash.

When Deepika came to know about Ranbir’s lie, it is learnt that she lambasted him over the phone while he kept giving her excuses such as how it was all a last minute change in his plan etc.”

Now when we encountered Deepika at the latest Filmfare magazine issue launch and asked her about any strains in relationship happening between her and Ranbir, she questioned us back with a smile, “Do I appear hassled to you?”

Well certainly not Deepika but it is also true that you are a very fine actress.

Just days back, Ranbir’s sister Riddhima told to a news channel journo on TV that she doesn’t think Deepika is Ranbir’s girlfriend and that she knows Deepika only as one of his good friends.

With news of Ranbir striking great rapport on and off the sets with his Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani co-star Katrina Kaif, we wont be left wondering when Deepika also starts losing sleep just like Salman Khan is over his partner.