Do Unto Others

IF there’s anyone who cares, beefcake actor Saahil Khan (of Style fame) insists that he’s finally left his richie-rich dad’s multi-million dollar business in London so he can pursue his real passion — acting (gosh, why do they nurture these impossible dreams?) He’s more or less finished work on N Chandra’s Excuse Me, a sequel to the Tezaab filmmaker’s last hit, Style, and is getting set to begin shooting for Chandra’s next, which will be a sequel to Excuse Me. With little or no acting talent to speak of, and nothing else apart from a physique that one critic described quite aptly as a ‘‘mutton shop’’, Saahil isn’t exactly one of Bollywood’s hottest newcomers. And Chandra isn’t exactly one of Bollywood’s hottest directors. So why don’t they just excuse us, and stay home, instead of subjecting us to their fancies?

No More Sister Act

THE usually diplomatic Karisma Kapoor is showing her fangs these days. Upset about being treated as yesterday’s news — what with little sis Kareena and Rival No 1 Aishwarya Rai hogging media attention these days — the elder Kapoor lass is becoming more and more media savvy, and is finally shedding her boring image. She revealed recently — quite unlike her to offer such information — that she turned down three recent big-budget films (Kranti, Hum Kissise Kum Nahin and Badhai Ho Badhai) because she had an idea they were sub-standard scripts. That all three (starring Amisha Patel, Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Shetty respectively) went on to become colossal box-office duds, is perhaps proof of Karisma’s accuracy at judging scripts. But hello, Lolo, how do you explain choosing Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya, in that case?

Amisha over Ash

EVEN though the official announcement will come only much later, in October, the gossip mills are rife with rumours that Subhash Ghai has finally cast his next film. Amidst much speculation over whether it will be Aishwarya Rai or Kareena Kapoor who will land the female lead in Ghai’s next, comes the news that it’s Amisha Patel that the showman has zeroed in on. There’s also been some buzz that Ghai and Shah Rukh Khan have put their differences aside and have decided to work together again. Come to think of that, it seems highly unlikely considering the gargantuan egos both the director and the star have. Other hopefuls include Hrithik Roshan and Vivek Oberoi. There’s also some talk of Saif Ali Khan… Going by the box-office performance of Ghai’s last film Yaadein, though, can’t see why any star will be tripping over himself to sign up with the formerly fantastic filmmaker.

The Last Resort

WHEN all else fails, become a film director. Sad, but that’s what seems to be happening in Bollywood these days. Jeetendra’s nephew Abhishek Kapoor (or Gattu, Twinkle Khanna’s former boyfriend, as some might remember him) tried acting first, but failed miserably as you would have guessed if you’d seen Uff Yeh Mohabbat. He moved to television software production (without much luck), then tried his hand at an entertainment portal on the Net (also unsuccessful), and has now set his sights to film direction. Gattu will make his directorial debut with a film about boxing called Aryan, and starring old friend Sohail Khan. Incidentally, the title Aryan had been registered with Khan for years, but the director-actor has graciously let Gattu have it now. Since there’s not much of a rush to sign up either Gattu or Sohail (as actors or directors), they seem to have decided to pull each other out of unemployment by working together.