Not looking for a career in Bollywood: Sara Khan

Television actor Sara Khan, who will be making her Bollywood debut in 'Total Siyappa', says she is not looking for a career in Bollywood.

"I don't want to be in the rat-race. I want to take things as they come. Also, I'm a psychologist and I am mostly busy with it. I do lot of work with NGOs and I am not looking for a Bollywood career," Sara told PTI.

Sara, who played the lead in TV serial 'Dhoondh Legi Manzil Humein', said she rejected the movie offer first time. "Initially, I was not very keen on this. I rejected the offer. But when I met E Niwas (the director) he narrated the entire story, then I found my character very interesting," she said. Talking about her role in the movie, Sara said, "The name of my character is Jiya.

She is a very very fun-loving girl, high on life, takes life as it comes and does not care about the norms." The movie stars Yami Gautum, singer-actor Ali Zafar, veteran actor Anupam Kher and his wife Kirron Kher who will be appearing together for the first time in a movie.



"Working with Kirron ji was amazing. So with Yami and Ali. They were brilliant. Me and Yami especially got along with each other very well," she said. 'Total Siyappa' is a rom-com directed by E Nivas and written by Neeraj Pandey of 'A Wednesday' and 'Special 26'. The movie is slated to release on Mar 7.

Oh Really! It`s raining stage shows for Sunny`s Baby Doll!

There's no business like show business and who better than the actors to know this, given the millions they earn from live performances.

After 'Laila' in 'Shootout At Wadala', 'Baby Doll' from 'Ragini MMS-2' is getting Sunny's live show market soaring to a new high.

With the track becoming a chartbuster and garnering over 4.5 million hits online, Leone's manager, Daniel Weber, has been inundated with offers for her to perform live to the song.

Says a source, `She has already received five stage show offers for different cities. She is quoting a hefty fee and the price is expected to go even higher with the release of Chaar Botal Vodka co-starring Yo Yo Honey Singh.`

When contacted, Leone, who is currently shooting in Malaysia, said, ` I knew Baby Doll would be a hit from the first time I heard it. After an amazing music launch and superb fan reaction, offers to perform Baby Doll worldwide have been pouring in. It is such a great feeling.`


The popularity of the track will see Sunny doing a live cage dance in every city in the promo tour of Ragini MMS-2.

Is Salman Khan Eyeing His Entry In IPL

Whoa! Salman a new IPL entrant?

Sources say that Salman Khan is curious about the tournament and may pick up a stake in an Indian Premier League team It seems that Salman is taking a keen interest in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Sources say that the actor recently discussed the IPL with industrialist Ness Wadia when he came down to flag off the Little Hearts Marathon in Mumbai.



"Salman was the chief guest at this marathon that was organised by BJ Wadia hospital for underprivileged children. Post the flag off, Salman was seen talking to Ness. The two were discussing the IPL in great detail," says a source.

It may be pointed out here that Salman is friends with Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia, who co-own the IPL team, Kings XI Punjab. The source adds that this is not the first time that Salman has evinced interest in IPL.

Says an onlooker, "There is no clear indication that he will pick up a stake in an IPL team his interest in it has only grown with time. He has been making enquiries with Ness. In fact, he has also been asking his other friends about the same. The actor is trying to work out how he can get a piece of the IPL pie as he loves cricket and has a lot of cricketer friends."

Other Bollywood stars owning IPL teams:

Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla

Shah Rukh Khan co-owns Kolkata Knight Riders along with Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla. The team won the tournament in the year 2012.
Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra

Shilpa Shetty and husband Raj Kundra co-own the team, Rajasthan Royals that won the trophy at the first edition of the IPL.

Highway Movie | Imtiaz Ali, Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt

Movie Review: `Highway` is mesmerizing, but not enthralling

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Rating: **1/2

There is an altogether different league of cine thinkers staying in tinsel town who over the years by their cine magnificence have fetched an exclusive repute for themselves. And certainly Imtiaz Ali is one of them, who over the years have not only kept fans fascination fixated to his style of movie making, but at the same time has always succeeded in matching the expectations of fans' too. Be it "Love Aaj Kal", "Jab We Met" or the just released "Highway" every time Imtiaz has come up with something innovative yet pleasing.

This Randeep Hooda Alia Bhatt starrer, romance on the road kind of love saga opened with an above average occupancy of 63 percent at the multiplexes.

As the story of "Highway" marks its onset, it showcases the kidnapping of Veera (Alia Bhaat), who is the daughter of an influential business pioneer, by a gruff, rustic criminal, Mahabir Bhaati (Randeep Hooda), during former's late night highway outing with her fiancee. With frames rolling ahead entire kidnapping gang headed by Mahabir ends up being in a state of panic due to the influential status of Veera's family, but it's Mahabir who remains unperturbed on his decision of demanding ransom in lieu of releasing Veera. And from there begins a pleasing road jaunt across some of the most aesthetic locales of north India. So what happens next does Veera gets released or not to know watch this mesmerizing love saga from the creativity lab of Imtiaz Ali.



Well as far as storyline of Highway is concerned then with "Highway" Imtiaz has once again exhibited his fascination for the love on journey kind of cine tales. Although "Highway" falls in the league of unconventional movies and that's because it's been long since any such premise has made its way to big screen.

But instead of making it a plain cine delight moving on and off the road Imtiaz has deployed a good amount of human factor, by embedding a few heart touching emotional condiments like childhood suppression etc.

As far as this Alia and Randeep starrer is concerned then contrary to his style of picking a unique story idea while trying his acting prowess, this time Imitiaz has opted for a somewhat OK premise, but with an unconventional pairing.

Some of the cineastes may feel that it is a novel premise, but if we try to turn the pages of Indian cine history then one ends up being in the era of eighties, when Subhash Ghai's "Hero" featuring Meenakshi Sheshadri and Jackie Shroff made it to theaters. Certainly both these cine-flicks subsequently have a rendezvous with different fates, but due to a high degree of resemblance in their plot, it's the "Highway" which ends being on the lower notch despite having a different premise in the contemporary age of Indian cinema. As far as scripting is concerned then sans any unwanted inflation "Highway" is appropriately placid on that front.

If we go by the screenplay of "Highway" then it is something which emerges as a stand out feature of the movie where everything knitted in it magnifies the overall appeal of the onscreen proceedings with a great magnificence. Soon after marking its onset premise of Highway starts enveloping you, especially till the moments it keeps itself away from the purview of romance, but as soon as the first hour ends the advent of emotional drama somewhere down the line diminishes the pace of the narration and adversely impacts the appeal of the movie.


But what further adds to the charm of "Highway" is its, DoP which captures the scenic beauty of Northern India with such a brilliance that you completely gets enveloped in what is being offered to you in the form of this on-road love saga.

Besides, it's the top notch cinematography of Anil Mehta and editing of Aarti Bajaj which somewhere down the line prevents Highway from sinking into the quagmire of boredom. Certainly at a few places Aarti seems to be losing the control over editing part which could have been more edgy, but for that it's the over stretched premise of the movie which deserves to be held responsible.

As far as, direction of Imtiaz is concerned then, undoubtedly he has done a commendable job on various fronts, but if we compare Highway to the previous works of this ace cine wizard then it lacks that charisma which Imtiaz's previous cine delights like "Jab We Met", "Love Aaj Kal" and "Rockstar" had in them.

Coming to the performances then, certainly Alia has looked far more improved then her urban dame avatar of "SOTY" but this stunning damsel needs to improve a lot if she really wants to carve a niche in Bollywood and have a fate different to her elder sis Pooja. As far as Randeep's performance is concerned then it is going to be like praising something which has already secured an apex position in the hearts of the masses. Supporting cast comprising of Durgesh Kumar (who played the character of Goru), Saharsh Kumar Shukla (Aadooo) despite having a very limited scope for performance manages to grab your attentions with latter emerging as a somewhat stand out performer.

With tracks like Pataka Guddi etc, music of AR Rahman is as usual top notch, and never alienates from the theme of the movie.

Although, it's Imtiaz's legacy which always succeeds in making his cine chronicles a talked about affair, but this time despite having so much intelligence and emotions deployed in "Highway" the movie may not succeed in emerging as a great BO success story.


To sum up despite having a mesmerizing romance, a magnificent execution, and some very aesthetic locales the movie may not succeed in making a dent on BO and may end up a run of the mill kind of the affair. But yeah at the same time it will conveniently succeed in satiating the emotional quench certain classes. So despite it's being a mesmerizing cine affair, but sans entertainment I am going ahead with 2.5 stars for "Highway".

Bollywood News # Madhuri Dixit sings for 'Gulaab Gang'

Madhuri voices support for women`s empowerment with poems

Madhuri Dixit, who has been busy promoting 'Gulaab Gang', a film with the powerful message of 'women empowerment', strongly feels about the cause. To reach out to her audience with this message, the actor participated today in a Live Video Chat, where she and director Soumik Sen spoke about the cause, with poems. The beautiful evening saw the powerful recitation of some of the most timeless poems by Madhuri Dixit. The director and the gorgeous actor also answered questions asked by the online viewers.


Director Soumik Sen revealed how the idea of getting Madhuri to recite these poems, excited him. `While shooting for the film, I had shortlisted 3 poems on women empowerment which I thought Madhuriwould like to read. When I handed over these poems to her, she started to read them and being the actor she is, her reading the lines looked like an expressive narration. That is when I thought of shooting the videos. The poems we chose are already a part of our history. With Madhuri's help we could reach out to more people and introduce them to these inspiring words of the legendary poets.`



The makers of the film have released three videos featuring Madhuri Dixit reciting poems written by renowned poets like the popular Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi, Dushyant Kumar the poet of modern Hindustani literature and the radical bihari poet, Gorakh Pandey.



Directed by Soumik Sen, the movie is based on women empowerment. Produced by Anubhav Sinha, 'Gulaab Gang' is presented by Sahara Movie Studios & Bharat Shah and is a Benaras Mediaworks production. The film is slated to release on the 7th of March.

Mandira Bedi In Hot Saree & Reveales Her Assets.

Flaunting Her Collection: Mandira changes 5 saris in 4 hours!

Mandira Bedi changed her sari five times in the four hours she was spotted at Mana Shetty's charity fundraiser exhibition. The actress-anchor felt this was the best way to showcase her signature sari collection. Mandy and her marketing funda. Only her famous noodle strap blouse remained the same.

Aaamir is not shying away from politics

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan today said he is not shying away from politics, but that he was not interested in it.

"I am not shying away from politics. I am not interested in politics. I am interested in touching people's heart," he said responding to a query in this regard. "People enter politics because they want to serve the country and serve the people. There are many other ways of doing it," he said.

"Actors have a huge role to play. We bring joy to people. we give joy, we bring laughter, colour in their life...," he said. Aamir said the responsibility of those in the entertainment industry is to bring grace to society and build its moral fibre.

That was the role of a creative person. "I feel very proud of what I am doing," he said at a press meet in connection with the TV show 'Satyamev Jayate', the second phase of which will be aired from March 2.

"In India we are constantly looking at a messiah. Our country will finally change when we believe each one of us is a messiah. That is the central thought of a democracy. "We have to look for stregnth from within us in a democracy. I do not believe in looking at anyone else," he said when asked who would be a better candidate for the PM's post Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi. "Society changes when society takes a turn," he said.

Season 2 of the show would be an "eye opener" in many ways, he said, adding "this journey has been exciting. I feel very enriched having met amazing people. I realise there is so much to learn from them... the kind of heroism I find in people who have no wealth, no political power.."



On the allegations against Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt levelled by a former devotee in a book, he said he was not aware of it. "When we select topics for our show, no matter what topic we take, people will oppose it. But any kind of pressure...we will not give in..," he said.

Malayalam actor Mohanlal, brand ambassador of the show in the South, said he had been keen to do a similar show years ago in Malayalam, but it did not take off due to some restrictions from the actors' association "This show has lot of positive energy.

It is a very sincere approach to the problems of the common man," he said. K Madhavan, Managing Director, Asianet Communications Ltd and Gayatri Yadav, Head Marketing and Communications, STAR India, also spoke.