Do Unto Others

Excuse Me?!

IF there8217;s anyone who cares, beefcake actor Saahil Khan of Style fame insists that he8217;s finally left his richie-rich dad8217;s multi-million dollar business in London so he can pursue his real passion 8212; acting gosh, why do they nurture these impossible dreams? He8217;s more or less finished work on N Chandra8217;s Excuse Me, a sequel to the Tezaab filmmaker8217;s last hit, Style, and is getting set to begin shooting for Chandra8217;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 8216;8216;mutton shop8217;8217;, Saahil isn8217;t exactly one of Bollywood8217;s hottest newcomers. And Chandra isn8217;t exactly one of Bollywood8217;s hottest directors. So why don8217;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 yesterday8217;s news 8212; what with little sis Kareena and Rival No 1 Aishwarya Rai hogging media attention these days 8212; the elder Kapoor lass is becoming more and more media savvy, and is finally shedding her boring image. She revealed recently 8212; quite unlike her to offer such information 8212; 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 Karisma8217;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 Ghai8217;s next, comes the news that it8217;s Amisha Patel that the showman has zeroed in on. There8217;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. There8217;s also some talk of Saif Ali Khan8230; Going by the box-office performance of Ghai8217;s last film Yaadein, though, can8217;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 that8217;s what seems to be happening in Bollywood these days. Jeetendra8217;s nephew Abhishek Kapoor or Gattu, Twinkle Khanna8217;s former boyfriend, as some might remember him tried acting first, but failed miserably as you would have guessed if you8217;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 there8217;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.