My wife has stripped me bare: Om Puri

Veteran Hindi and international film actor Om Puri has stoutly defended wife Nandita Puri s book on his life and times, asserting that the controversy over it wasn t a stage-managed publicity stunt.At a function organised to release his biography, An Unlikely Hero: Om Puri, at the 40th International Film Festival of India on Wednesday, the globally known thespian said: It isn t easy for a woman to write a book on her husband. But Nandita has done a fantastic job, with detachment, objectivity and honesty. She has sized me up perfectly, both personally and professionally. Puri continued: Not only has she highlighted my early life and growth as a man, she has also thrown light on my personal life, affairs and weaknesses with the professionalism of a seasoned journalist who has two decades of experience.

The biography, published by Roli Books, has been in the news for allegedly causing a rift between husband and wife.Puri, who is the current chairman of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), had been quoted by certain sections of the press as saying that he wouldn t let his wife get away with it . Speaking here, the actor pilloried the media, both print and electronic, for blowing the controversy over the book out of proportion. They gave the impression that this biography is a scurrilous, sensational piece of writing. Believe me, it is anything but that. The focus on my personal life is only a small part of the book, he said.With this book, my wife has stripped me bare and I enjoyed being stripped by her, Puri said, his tongue firmly in cheek. The controversy was a result of a misunderstanding. I assure you that it wasn t a publicity stunt that my wife and I decided to orchestrate in order to sell the book.

Nandita Puri, on her part, asserted that she approached the task of writing her husband s biography with as much detachment and empathy as she could muster. Striking a balance was important. That is the only way I could have done justice to the book, which covers every aspect of the 60 years of his life, she said, speaking at the book release function.Om Puri pointed out that Nandita was no greenhorn as a writer and knew exactly what she was doing. She has written two screenplays as well as an anthology of short stories. She is now working on a big historical novel, he said.The actor said that the story of his life was worth narrating. At the age of seven, I was a rag-picker. I would collect coal that steam engines would leave behind at the railway station. I would wait until the coal cooled down and then take it home to be used as fuel, he recalled.From there on, he added, he went on to school, college, drama school and the film institute, evolving as a human being all the way.

Nandita has captured all that with great skill and lucidity, he said. Puri paid a special tribute to his teachers and mentors who helped him become what he is today. If men like Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal hadn t made the films that they did, I wouldn t have been the actor I am, he said. (Saibal Chatterjee is a National Award-winning film critic who has covered film festivals around the world, including the ones in Cannes and Toronto. He will be writing exclusively for NDTVMovies.com from IFFI 2009)

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Akshay sends Katrina get well soon wishes

Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif is down with jaundice and missing from the promotions for her latest outing De Dana Dan. And her co-star Akshay Kumar was prompt in wishing her speedy recovery.Rumours were rife that the actress was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai Monday night, where she was diagnosed with jaundice and has been advised complete bed rest for a while.Asked if it were true, Akshay said: “Katrina is down with jaundice… We are missing her and hope she gets well soon.”

Apparently De Dana Dan is Akshay and Katrina’s sixth outing together after movies like Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye and back to back hits like Namastey London, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng.They also starred recently in underwater thriller Blue.Akshay, who has had a string of flops this year with Chandni Chowk To China, 8×10 Tasveer, Kambakkht Ishq and Blue, is now keeping his fingers crossed for De Dana Dan.”Our chemistry does work and we’ve seen the results in Singh Is Kinng and other films and we expect the same from this film too.

This movie should do very well and I expect great returns for my producers. I have great expectations from this one,” he said. Akshay was here at the DT Cinema multiplex in Vasant Kunj to promote the movie with his co-stars Suniel Shetty, Neha Dhupia, Sameera Reddy and producer Sunil. A. Lulla.Directed by Priyadarshan, De Dana Dan has also been produced by Ganesh and Girish Jain. It also stars Paresh Rawal in an important role.

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Bollywood divided on capturing 26/11 on reels

A year after the country’s entertainment capital witnessed one of the worst-ever terror attacks, Bollywood is still divided on whether it is the right time to bring alive the 26/11 carnage on the silver screen.Though around 10 film titles revolving around the tragedy have been registered and a couple of low-budget movies are ready for release, mainstream filmmakers have chosen to stay away from the issue after noted director Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘terror tourism’ episode, which got him much flak and cost the then Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh his chair. Filmmaker Rensil D’silva, whose debut movie Kurbaan recently hit the screens, feels it is too early to explore the subject as the audience is not ready for it.”Not anytime soon. The wounds are yet to heal. We should wait for at least 3-4 years before embarking on a film on the subject.

Hollywood made films on the 9/11 terror attacks but these films were made just four years ago, a few years after the tragedy,” said D’silva, who directed the Saif Ali Khan- Kareena Kapoor starrer with terror in the backdrop.”Besides whatever details we have is just about 40 per cent of the facts of the attacks, barely enough to portray a tragedy of such magnitude as 26/11,” he said.However, industry’s bad man Gulshan Grover does not subscribe to D’silva’s views and says “there is nothing like a proper time to tell a story. There are many people around the world who are curious to know what happened on 26/11.”"As long as the story is authentic and sincere and the film fraternity is not looking to just commercially exploit the subject, I see no problem why a movie (on the subject) should not be made,” he asserts.

Actor-filmmaker Anant Mahadevan, who is ready with his next release Red alert, with a naxal setting, reasons that the Indian film industry does not have enough means to deal with the subject, which is why it is not willing to take risk.”It is not possible to recreate the Taj Hotel..where would you create the inferno? Where is the budget? Besides, what we have is only a superficial idea of what happened and no one has tried to go down deep into the issue. Inadequacy of research and budget have restrained the industry,” he said.”What we can do is to take one particular human angle.. for instance the case of the fisherwoman (Anita Uddaiya), who claimed to have seen the terrorists landing on the sea shore and was allegedly whisked off by the FBI, and other stories of human courage and give them an investigative touch,” he said.”Did she know too much? Is she hiding something?

Does FBI know something which it is hiding from us? that may be a story I would like to explore,” the director of Dil Vil Pyar Vyar and Dil Mange More said.

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Shilpa increases gold prices in India!

There is a joke going on around at the Dalal Street, that gold prices are soaring because of Shilpa Shetty. The Bollywood actress seems to have purchased half the gold in India for her marriage. Jokes apart, Shilpa seemed to have bought a lot of the precious yellow metal and got designer Tarun Tahiliani to fashion a dress out of it.

If her wedding dress had make the world take a note of it, Shilpa was in no mood to take it easy during the wedding reception.Shilpa set ablaze the banquet hall when she arrived hand in hand with hubby Raj Kundra. The sizzling Shilpa donned a contemporary styled ghagra choli sexily draped around her awesome figure.

Tahiliani made sure that Shilpa’s outfit shone and onlookers had to hide their eyes behind shades! If the gold in her outfit wasn’t enough matching jewellery from Anmol jewels captivated the guests. After all, Shilpa had to sparkle among the who’s who of the tinsel town

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Deepika Padukone cutting off ties with Ranbir?

Once bitten, twice shy. It seems actress Deepika Padukone is determined to keep a distance from her ex beau Ranbir Kapoor since they broke up recently. And now, she is cutting off all ties with him including professional life.The grapevine is abuzz with the news that a popular filmmaker approached Deepika to act in his film.

However, she turned down the offer simply because he was planning to cast her ex beau Ranbir in the lead role.It is said that Deepika has turned a workaholic after parting ways with Ranbir. She used to divide time between her acting career and her boyfriend when she was seeing him but now, the story has changed. She is now giving her everything to films.

It looks like Bachna Ae Haseeno will be their first and last film together!

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Farhan Akhtar mobbed in Kanpur

Farhan Akhtar was mobbed at an awards function in Kanpur recently. As a result, the Rock On!! star had to be locked inside a room for over an hour till the crowds dispersed. The director-actor was attending the Madhavrao Scindia Awards ceremony where he was honoured for outstanding performance in cinema.

Says a source close to Farhan, “At the event there were intellectuals, industrialists and politicians. But the situation turned chaotic as there were many young people in the audience. They became quite excited after seeing Farhan and charged on to the stage.” Says Farhan, “There was a crowd but one manages to get over such things.

It was a novel situation, I haven’t been locked inside a room before!He points out, “It becomes more awkward at such events when I am asked to sing impromptu. After Rock On!! wherever I go, people expect me to break out in song and it’s hard to do that. ‘Kuch ek-do line gaa lijiye’ they say but I feel awkward to sing randomly like that. Fortunately, they didn’t ask me to sing in Kanpur.”

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Raj insisted on not inviting Akshay

Akshay Kumar and Twinkle were not part of the 30-odd B-Town folk invited to the Shilpa Shetty-Raj Kundra wedding reception last night. Says a source, “The newly-weds didn’t want to be in an embarrassing situation and thought it best not to invite Akki and Tina. Akshay and Shilpa were romantically involved over a decade ago and while they were dating, there was talk of marriage.

However, Akki married Tina and a heartbroken Shilpa had to move on. In fact, Raj was firm about Akshay not being invited for the reception.”The source adds that though Shilpa and Akshay met and sorted out their differences a few years ago things again turned awkward after a British tabloid report. “Akshay was livid over a ‘funny’ story which had come out in The News of the World in 2007 after Shilpa had won the UK celebrity show Big Brother.

A furious Akshay had even threatened to sue the tabloid. Last year, the actor had even showed up for the finale of Bigg Boss 2, which Shilpa had anchored. They appeared at ease with each together.”

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Why has Salman’s yankee accent disappeared?

Salman Khan remains Salman Khan when it comes to his acting in most of his films is what his critics keep complaining about… be it his yankee accent or erratic attitude. These comments have definitely lessened post the success of ‘Wanted’. However Sallu seems to have taken this accusation way too seriously as he will not only be sporting a different look but also flaunt an all new attitude in his forthcoming film Dabang.Dabang is Salman’s brother Arbaaz’s first production which stars Sonakshi Sinha (Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter), Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan in the lead roles. The film is being directed by debutant director Abhinav Sinha and will see Salman Khan in a completely new light.Dabang itself means a fearless cop so no prizes there to guess what role will Salman play in this film.

Brother Sohail has revealed that the film will see Salman in a very loud character. “He plays a corrupt police officer based in the north who loves to mouth loud dialogues in northern accent. For the first time he will play a negative role. He has never played such a role before” said Sohail.Renowned fashion designer Ashley Rebello who has designed outfits for Salman in this film revealed, “Salman will sport an altogether different look in Dabang. He plays a cop but is dressed in civilian clothing most of the time. Salman is clad in simple clothes throughout the film. Trousers, shirts and no much of body or bicep show from the superstar. He won’t look fashionable as he always does. It’s no where close to Wanted or even Garv.

Arbaaz on the contrary will sport Indian kurtas while Sonakshi Sinha will wear Indian saris, ghagra cholis and lot of Indian outfits.”It would definitely be a welcome change to Salman’s fans for getting to see Sallu like never before.Question: Do you think Salman Khan looks and acts the same in all his movies? Leave your comment…

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I am the biggest idiot: Aamir Khan

It seems like the ‘pucca idiot’ effect. Actor Aamir Khan appears to be in no mood to stir up the Khan war again, especially with Shah Rukh Khan, as his next movie 3 Idiots gears up to open this Christmas Day.”I am not the emperor. Instead, I am a joker, I am the biggest idiot,” he said when asked for a reaction on being called ‘the emperor of Bollywood’ – that clearly puts him above the ‘King’ Khan SRK – by his 3 Idiots’ co-star Kareena Kapoor.Last year, besides taking a jibe at Shah Rukh’s No. 1 status in Bollywood, he had also termed Salman and SRK as the industry’s idiots along with himself.But now, he clearly doesn’t want a clash or war of words.

“Did I really call them idiots? I don’t remember,” he said while jokingly checking with other journalists if he had really said it. “I feel a person’s opinion keeps changing with times. At different points, distinct people appear idiots to you,” he said.Aamir’s latest reaction is in sharp contrast to his last year’s diatribe. Maybe, all of that had to with the fact that his last year’s hit – Ghajini – released in the same month as SRK’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. But this time round, he has no competition. Coming to Salman, Aamir firmly clarified that his blog shouldn’t be viewed as a publicity vehicle for his films. “My blog is not meant to promote films,” he stated when asked about Sallu’s newly- launched blog for his new film, Veer.

However, Aamir was all praise for Kareena.The actor, in fact, found her “too pretty” to be called the fourth idiot. “Kareena has worked hard in this film. As a creative girl, she has come across as very clear and evolved,” he added.Aamir was in town on Wednesday to release a new song of 3 Idiots. Though the event was initially slated to kick off at Sri Ram College of Commerce, it was shifted at the last minute to a five-star hotel due to security concerns.”I worked very hard for my physique in 3 Idiots after bulking up for Ghajini. I lost all the weight in six- seven months to look like a college boy,” said Aamir, who was accompanied by ” the other two idiots – R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi.” It’s not surprising that Aamir took the centrestage even as Madhavan and Sharman looked on.

Unlike Aamir, the two actors could “easily identify with” their roles.Aamir conversely felt he “never experienced college in real life.” “I started working right after my school days as an assistant director in films. So, I could never really experience the thrill of college life. But my school life was fun since I was into sports and would always get less marks,” he stated.Low marks notwithstanding, he has a personal take on the education system. “It should help build complete personalities instead of just focusing on results. I think the current HRD minister is taking the right steps,” he said.

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Shahid Kapoor brings Big B nostalgia back

Shahid Kapoor does in ‘Chance Pe Dance’ what Amitabh Bachchan did in ‘Yaarana,’ on his way to becoming a renowned singer in the film, and with much of the same dexterity!At the start of the recently released theatrical trailer of Chance Pe Dance, Kapoor is heard mouthing the tongue twister “Kaccha Papad Pakka Papad” like a pro.In the film, Kapoor plays a struggling actor determined to make it big in Bollywood. So along with his daily physical exercise regimen he is also seen doing elocution and pronunciation exercises.

Actors mouth tongue twisters to get their pronunciation right. Shahid uses the technique religiously every morning before arriving on set, says a source from the Chance Pe Dance unit.Considering the toungue twisters that Shahid had to mouth in Kaminey because of his character’s lisp, you would imagine Shahid didn’t need any more practice. If you can say “Favere favere iff manhoof ka chehera dekho to raat tak mayyat pakki famjho” then you have been there, done that. Not so for the perfectionist ‘Fahid!’

Shahid is currently in Bangkok filming for Yashraj Films’ production, Friends N Co. (Working title), directed by Prameet Sethi and featuring Anushka Sharma as co-star. He says he will be back to Mumbai in mid December to promote Chance Pe Dance from end December. The film is due in theaters on January 15.

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