India calling

Speak of financial messes and Jackie Shroff’s name comes tomind. His Raju, Raja, Ram is taking a while to get off the ground. Salman had been signed for the film but now the hero has been forced to opt out. Not his fault really, because Khan has given most of his dates to Sooraj Barjatya for Hum Saath Saath Hain. It must be mentioned that Salman had warned his producers and had asked them to complete their films before April. But lack of funds kept Jackie from starting Raju… Now, Jaggu dada will have to start all over again. With Salman no longer in the film, it’s obvious that Jackie is hunting for a new hero. But it is not smooth sailing with the heroine as well. Just in case you had forgotten, this is the same film where Madhuri Dixit had said she had been approached and signed. Jackie denies ever doing something like that. Anyway, until the film is started, the more it gets written about the better it is for the film.

Past glory

When you are on top, everyone wants to work with you. That list includes even your sworn enemies and ex-lovers. Now, takethe case of Karisma Kapoor and Ajay Devgan. Since he is going through a bit of a bad spell, perhaps the best thing for him to do is patch up. Now, you do remember the whys and wherefores of their differences, don’t you? Lolo and Ajay just stopped communicating and working together and they stayed that way for a long time.

But now the two have decided to act together. We don’t know if these one-time lovers have reached the stage of being friends yet but they are certainly ready to be cast opposite each other. Maybe in time they can become friends again. Or then again, maybe, Kajol will make sure that the vibes remain as cold as possible.

Insider trading

The industry loves to hate the press. They are firmly convinced that the fourth estate is responsible for all the gossip that comes out about them. But believe me, the biggest bitches and the best one-liners come from within the industry, itself. Take the comment this industrywallah made about the Big B. Now that Saat Rang Ke Sapne has obviouslybombed and there is no hope of anyone seeing it, this insider hit upon a novel idea. According to him, Bachchan should invite people over to see Saat… on Holi day at his bungalow. See, seven colours and all that, at least a few more people would be able to see the not-so-colourful debacle. On second thoughts, is it such a good idea from Bachchan’s point of view?

Left over

Sohail Khan, Salman’s brother yes, yes, the same one who is a director is probably nursing a broken heart. No, we aren’t talking about his directorial mishaps or all those stupid allegations that Anjala Zaveri made about him we don’t even know if they had a scene. This is about his girlfriend from South Mumbai. We had spotted them together pretty often and Sohail was clearly smitten with her. Now, apparently, her ex-boyfriend (a pretty loaded dude) decided to take her back, and she didn’t think twice. Apparently, she walked out on Sohail without a second glance and promptly got engaged to her rich guy.

Rightchoice

Everyone has been asking this question, and no one has the answer: How could Subhash Ghai not take Mahima Choudhari for Taal? No one can answer this better than the showman himself. I just had to ask him, `why’? "You know I needed a taller girl. Also the role required her to be a good dancer. Mahima is good but I just didn’t think she was meant for this role, that’s why I took Aishwarya Rai instead," explains Ghai, rather patiently. But surely Mahima cannot be thrilled about his decision. "Yes. They feel bad in the beginning but if I miscast a heroine, the film may not do well. If the film sinks so will Mahima. She is very much part of Mukta Arts and may be there will be a film for her in the future. It might take her some time but later she will surely understand why I did what I did," the showman added. We aren’t so sure if Mahima agrees with his line of logic.Singing star GUESS who is giving Kumar Sanu and Abhijeet a run for their money? None other than `Mr Perfectionist’, Aamir Khan. He hasmade his singing debut with the song, `Aati kya Khandala'(!) in Mukesh Bhatt’s Ghulam. And those who have heard Aamir insist that he has a hit on his hands.