PicShik Blog

Debutant actor Harman Baweja, who is foraying into the film world with the much talked about futuristic film “Love Story 2050″, says he has sorted out his problems with Kareena Kapoor created by fabricated remarks.

The actor says he was shocked and embarrassed after reading reports about him making uncharitable remarks about Kareena. The remarks attributed to him about Kareena being ‘robotic’ in her performances had upset Harman.

“I’d never speak like that about anyone, least of all someone who is a senior (colleague) and was gracious enough to work with me when I was just starting out. That she finally opted out of ‘Love Story 2050′ doesn’t take away from the fact that we got along really well,” Harman, who has teamed up with Priyanka Chopra in the film,
ent earlier this week. On an impulse he sent an SMS to Kareena, telling her how awful the words attributed to him about her made him feel.

Kareena, who is in the US shooting for Sajid Nadiadwala’s “Kambhakt Ishq”, apparently replied back in a long heartfelt message, saying she has been a part of the film industry long enough to know how such things work.

She is also said to have ended her message by assuring Harman she had no ill feelings towards him and was looking forward to seeing his film that releases Friday.

Harman is relieved and overjoyed that the matter has been sorted out.

“All I’ll say is I’d never talk like that about anyone. Kareena is someone I truly admire. And if people want to spoil my relations with her, let them try. It won’t work.”

It would be a great combination to see father and son dancing on the same track and on the same set. Yes, we are talking about hot Ranbir Kapoor and legendry actor Rishi Kapoor.  Director Siddharth Anand is planning to shoot a special number with son and father but at the same time he is feeling scared to approach Rishiji.

Siddharth said, “We have used the track from ‘Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin’ by Kishore Kumar at the beginning of the song. Then we got Kishore and Leena Chandavarkarji’s son Sumeet to sing the rest of the song as an original composition. So it would be quite an emotional and nostalgic trip. Kishoreda’s son sings for Chintujii’s son”.

Bachna Ae Haseena is one of the most highly anticipated films of the era as it has love couple Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone along with Bipasha Basu in the lead roles. Siddharth who is optimistic about the success of his film has roped in music director duo Vishal-Shekhar to frame the music. At first Siddharth zeroed upon Ranbir to sing the song but later he dropped the idea as his voice will not go along with the song.

“Ekta has been so sweet. I’ve watched her grow up in front of me. I’m happy that my first foray into television is for her, though I must admit I don’t watch much TV,” Zeenat admits.

“But every time I’d run into Ekta’s mom, she’d tell me to please let them know when I’m ready for television.”

The former beauty queen, who has starred in many memorable Bollywood hits, has been offered a number of soaps in the past, which she declined to do.

“TV does take a lot of time. Very honestly, I wasn’t willing to invest the amount of time it required. And my priority has always been my family. But this time I was approached with such enthusiasm, I just couldn’t say no.”

She admits Kaun Jeetega Bollywood Ka Ticket requires a more pronounced level of commitment than the average reality show. “This is a reality show about discovering new talent and needs to be treated with special care. I’m willing to go that extra mile for it. To be able to find fresh talent for our industry is wonderful.

“And Ekta has gone into it with such passion - just like in everything she does. I’m so delighted to be on board with her,” said the actress. There was no plan, thought or conscious strategy to do or to be anything. I just did what I wanted to,” adds the actress

At the moment both of Zeenat’s sons, who were studying away from home, are back with her.

“And to me, having my children around is the most important thing in life. I lead a very contented and private life. I’ve my sons, dog and lots of greenery surrounding me. What more could I ask for?

“Honestly, I’m treating this project as a one-off thing. I’m not looking ahead at what I’d be doing or not doing. At the moment I’m just happy to be focusing on Kaun Jeetega Bollywood Ka Ticket. As for soaps, maybe yes. I’ve never said no to anything.”

Zeenat starts shooting for the reality show on July 1.

“Basically it’d take up no more than a week. I hope to enjoy it. It provides a platform for young people. The winners will be given a chance to work in a film produced by Ekta.

“Today there are such platforms for hopefuls. When I had entered, the opportunities for newcomers were so limited,” said the actress who was seen in such memorable hits like Yaadon Ki Baraat, Don, Qurbani and Satyam Shivam Sundaram.

Zeenat is looking forward to meeting up with her old colleague Shabana Azmi on the show. “She’s a colleague and we did a film together: Ashanti - Shabana, Parveen Babi and I - it was loads of fun.”

On veteran actor Dev Anand’s autobiography, which has pointed references to his friendship with her, Zeenat answers with consummate clarity.

“Dev saab is a senior person, and someone I respect very much. Due to him I had my first success Hare Rama Hare Krishna. And subsequently I shared a long and fruitful association with his banner Navketan.

“However, two different individuals have differing perspectives of the same situation. I leave it at that.”

Indian Idol winner Abhijeet Sawant says he is set to change his ‘romantic’ image with his acting debut in “Lottery”.

“The movie is not at all a romantic flick. It is in total contradiction with what audiences must be expecting from me. It is basically a thriller,” Abhijeet told

In the film, Sawant plays an accountant working in a fashion magazine, who gets trapped in a murder case.

The singer-turned-actor, whose voice was widely appreciated in the film “Aashiq Banaya Aapne” and the album “Junoon”, has been cast opposite television actor Rucha Gujarati and newcomer Manisha Kelkar in the film.

However, “Lottery” was not his first film offer. Abhijeet said he was flooded with movie offers immediately after he won the first season of talent hunt show “Indian Idol”, but he turned them down.

“I thought I lacked the confidence to act at that time,” he said.

So what made him sign “Lottery”?

“I met director Hemant Prabhu a year ago and he told me about the role. I was convinced since I felt the role was very close to my real self and it suited my nature.

“Initially, I thought it would be difficult to act, but gradually I grew as an actor and the outcome was surprising for all,” he said.

Apart from “Lottery”, he has a couple of other acting offers, but he hasn’t finalised anything as yet.

Though he has taken his first steps into Bollywood, singing remains a passion for him.

He is currently a participant on STAR Plus’ reality music show “Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar”, where the winners and runners-up of previously held talent hunts across channels compete with one another.

But what made him want to compete with his colleagues again?

“I came to ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar’ because it appeared as a challenge to me to compete with all of them once again … And I also thought it would be a treat for the viewers,” he quipped.

Abhijeet’s upcoming projects as a singer include “Care of Footpath” and “Mumbai.com”.

She was always excited about her stunts. She had to do a lot of things like cycling across rainbows, roller coastering in water etc. At times even I was scared when she had to cycle at 60 feet but she was always excited,” Kunal says. Kunal who reckons TPTM as his most difficult film says it is a blend of fantasy and reality.

“We all have pain and sorrow in our life. So somewhere we all need these magic. So this film tries to address this issues in a very simple way. Its about emotions and basic goodness of life,” he says.

In all my films I have tried to capture as how different people react to different emotionally volatile situations and this film also deals with a different emotional situation,” he adds. A self-confessed film buff, Kunal says he is obsessed about Indian films.

“I have always been obsessed about Indian films, I watch a movie every night before going to sleep. I don’t know about world cinema and neither am I interested in them, he says.

Journalist-turned-director Kunal shrugged off all controversies regarding another film of the same title releasing on the same date, saying he has spoken to the director and there is no such controversy.

Off late, a certain section of the media in New Delhi has been buzzing with wild rumours that Anant Narayan is all set to make his silver screen debut with Aditya Chopra’s much-talked about directorial next Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi that is slated for a Dec 12th release later this year. It is also being speculated that the illustrious filmmaker will launch two newcomers in his Shahrukh Khan magnum opus.

While Aditya Chopra has officially announced that 19-year old model from Bangalore Anushka Sharma will star opposite superstar Shahrukh Khan in this interesting love saga, the rumours doing the rounds suggested otherwise. The grapevine suggests that Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is actually not a pure and simple love story but a love triangle in which Anant essays the part of the third lead and Anushka’s love interest in the film.

Inundated with calls and messages since the last few days, Anant has been battling some rather inane queries from random people.

“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing for the past few days. I’ve been receiving calls from all kinds of people congratulating me on my big break with the Yash Raj banner. My inbox has been flooded with some messages congratulating me on my ‘dream role’ in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, while some requesting me to send my pictures across. One even demanded my autograph! It has all been pretty bizarre!” says the 21-year old celebrity journalist.

And that’s not all.

“There are all kinds of other rumours doing the rounds too. I allegedly met up with Mr. Aditya Chopra and pleaded him to give me a break in his film. He then took my screen test following which I was finalized for his film. I find it all extremely amusing because the truth is that I’m not starring in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. I haven’t even met or spoken to Aditya Chopra; forget about approaching him to give me a break. There is no doubt that I have received some interesting film offers, but I haven’t said yes to any as yet. And even if I have, I’m not allowed to talk about them at this point”, Anant sets the record straight.

That Ranbir Kapoor gets to romance three lovely ladies in director Siddhartha Anand’s ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ is a stale one now. The latest addition is that the deadly trio together with Ranbir has shot a promotional number for the movie.

Choreographed by Ahmed Khan, the number has Ranbir jiving with the three ladies of the film – Deepika Padukone, Minissha Lamba and Bipasha Basu. To be known here that the three ladies are not sharing the share screen space in the film but are appearing together only in this promotional track.

The song has been composed by Vishal-Shekhar and has interesting facts related to it. The song uses the original opening lines of the famous song “Bachna Ae Haseeno” from Rishi Kapoor’s film ‘Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin’. Where Kishore Kumar had sung the original one for Rishi Kapoor in 1977, Kishoreda’s son Sumeet has sung the song with similar title for Rishi Kapoor’s son Ranbir Kapoor in this movie.

At first, Ranbir was supposed to sing this song but the idea was dropped later. Hope the father’s song does wonders for son’s film.

The competition between Aamir’s nephew Imran and Harry Baweja’s son Harman is hotting up. Perhaps even getting dirty. Imran and Aamir Khan are all set to make an appearance on Salman Khan hosted Dus Ka Dum on July 4, the day when Imran’s film Jaane Tu Ta Jaane Na and ’s Love Story 2050 releases. However, earlier, it was Harman who was supposed to be appearing on the show and not Aamir and Imran. Obviously, Harman has been ousted and Imran has stepped in. Our source says, “Harman was pretty excited about appearing on Dus Ka Dum, especially since he is very close to Salman.However, when Aamir learnt about Harman appearing on Dus Ka Dum, he decided to do something about it. So, he suggested to the channel that he would appear on the show himself with Imran. The channel, Sony Entertainment Television, was more than happy with the idea as two superstars - Aamir and Salman would be seen together on the show. So they accepted Aamir’s idea.”

But that meant Harman couldn’t come on the show too. So Harman was dropped. He was informed about the change in plans much later. We contacted Albert Almeida, business head of Sony Entertainment TV, to check out the story. He said, “We had many requests for appearances on Salman’s show, but obviously couldn’t accommodate all.We had planned only for two ‘celebrity special’ shows. Among these, we chose to do an episode with Aamir and Imran.”When contacted, Harman said, “I was very excited about being a part of the show with Salman. However, at the last minute I was informed by Adlabs that it did not work out.”• I was very excited about being a part of the show with Salman. However, at the last minute I was informed by Adlabs that it did not work out – Harman

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan denies media reports that his son Abhishek lost his temper and slapped a spot boy on the sets of his film “Drona”.

“This is a laughable matter. Abhishek does not have the ability to strike a fly. He does have the ability though to attract incongruous and totally incorrect press. There has been absolutely no such incident on set. It is a fabrication of the highest order,” he wrote on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com.

Amitabh also rubbished the earlier incident when Abhishek had beaten up a photo journalist.

“The earlier incident with a press photographer was another complete fabrication,” Amitabh stated.

The Big B has been posting a lot of complaints against the media on his blog lately.

His recent addition reads: “We are aware that certain media and journalists have painstakingly taken it upon themselves to build animosity towards us and follow religiously an unprofessional bias that will never change.”

It looks like the slump in the music industry is over as music directors and other technicians have hiked their prices. Composer Pritam Chakraborty blames actor Akshay Kumar for this sudden hike.

“It’s all because of Akshay Kumar,” says Pritam Chakraborty with a straight face. “When he started charging unheard-of prices (apparently in the vicinity of Rs.300 million) the entire economics of an average film project altered drastically.

“Today my musicians, arrangers and programmers are asking for a steep hike in their remuneration. I’ve no choice but to hike my fee accordingly.”

Though Pritam doesn’t mention a specific amount, his fee has apparently gone up from approximately Rs.700,000-800,000 per score to around Rs.1.2-1.5 million, industry sources said.

All other composers, including the successful Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Vishal-Shekhar, apparently charge similar amounts.

But after the release of the soundtrack of “Singh Is Kinng”, which has been sold at a staggering price of Rs.135 million, composer Pritam is likely to hike his fees again.

“The film redefines the parameters of film music sales. This kind of price for a movie soundtrack was unheard of after people stopped buying music off the shelf as much as they used to, thanks to computer and television outlets,” said Pritam.

However, he hasn’t benefited much from the profits raked in by “Singh Is Kinng”.

“We musicians remain underpaid specially when the music industry undergoes a slump. For me, the turning point was the soundtrack of ‘Jab We Met’, which gave me a chance to be unusually creative and then ‘Race’ that had peppy item songs,” he said.

Music maestro A.R. Rahman is a price apart. Apparently, his fee per score used to be around Rs.15 million that, considering the all-round escalation in movie budgets, has gone up to Rs.25 million.

Last year’s flamboyant flavour Himesh Reshammiya has stopped doing music for films that do not feature him in the cast. So he cannot be counted among the musicians in the race.

However, composer Aadesh Shrivastava, who composed chartbusters like “Say shava shava” in “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham” and “Merii makhanaa” in “Baghban”, feels the bubble is an illusion.

“And it’s bound to burst. Who are these people who are suddenly paying in multi-millions for music rights when everyone knows music doesn’t sell these days. Very frankly, I look at the Rs.135 million claim for the ‘Singh Is Kinng’ soundtrack with great scepticism,” said Shrivastava.

“Whom are they giving that kind of money to? The film’s leading man Akshay or the music composer Pritam? Have they given Pritam even a fraction of the money they’ve got for the music rights?” he asked.

Shrivastava feels film music is going through an era of unhealthy competition.

“I remember when Laxmikant-Pyarelal had composed the qawwalli ‘Parda hai parda’ for ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, R.D. Burman was so thrilled that he immediately congratulated the duo and was inspired to compose a qawwalli ‘Hai agar dushman’ in ‘Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin’.

“Today the competition is so unhealthy. If two plagiarised songs click in a movie, another music director will offer to rip off four songs for the same producer and make them chartbusters. Today, when a listener hears a song, his first reaction is, ‘Where is it stolen from?’

“Very honestly I see no future in Hindi film music,” he remarked.