VERY FILMY

Home sweet home
Ajay Devgan sure doesn’t believe in pointless commuting. The actor who is shooting for Vipul Shah’s London Dreams at the ND Studio in Karjat has decided it is better to temporarily settle in the vicinity of the studio,rather than commute for hours everyday. And where else will Ajay make his home but in his farmhouse which,luckily,is just 10 minutes away from the shooting location. We wonder if the other actor working on the London Dreams project,Salman Khan,will also consider moving closer to the studio — in his case,it will be his little abode in Panvel. In any case,Ajay has done a very smart thing,unlike Hrithik Roshan who had opted for the expensive,and very hectic,commutes by chopper while he was shooting for Jodhaa Akbar.

China calling
Sonu Sood’s much talked about solo project Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi might have tanked at the box office,but that hasn’t dampened the actor’s enthusiasm. Apparently,Sonu is gung ho these days about his training in Chinese sword fight for an upcoming movie. Of course,Sonu says it’s not ‘fight’ but ‘play’ and that the Chinese use the art for fighting as well as body sculpting. He adds,“Actually,I’m a trained sword fighter. While most of the actors had to learn the art of sword fighting during the shoot of Jodhaa Akbar,I didn’t. I had learnt it much before,and now I am learning Chinese swordplay thinking that someday Jackie Chan might cast me in his film.” We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Southern siren
We do feel bad for Gracy Singh. After having debuted with Aamir Khan and worked with Bollywood biggies like Sanjay Dutt,Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor,the actor had to be content with duds like Deshdrohi. But it seems like her stars are turning once again,albeit in the southern film industry. Never mind,at least Gracy gets to star opposite southern superstar Mammooty in National Award-winning director Jayaraj’s Loud Speaker. We just hope Gracy uses this opportunity well and resurrects her fortunes,a la other failed Bollywood actresses like Jyothika and Nagma who went on to become household names in the South.

The hidden artist
It seems that 1920 actor Rajniesh Duggall is a closet painter. He finds painting miniature elephants,cars and clocks very calming. He can’t remember when he discovered this love. “It just started with my fascination for colours. I pick up souvenirs or interesting,small objects when I am travelling.” Once he brings them home,he adds them to his collection and in his leisure,he picks them up and starts painting them. He is comfortable with watercolours and loves to mix different shades to create new hues. He says,“Painting has taught me to be patient in life; it is a hobby that I have been following for a few years.” We hope painting keeps him satisfactorily occupied,because the last we heard,he really didn’t have many movie offers to rave about.