Pair Pyar?

WHILE on Salman Khan, he8217;s been cast in Ravi Chopra8217;s ambitious Baghbaan, which already stars Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini alo...

WHILE on Salman Khan, he8217;s been cast in Ravi Chopra8217;s ambitious Baghbaan, which already stars Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini along with a bunch of second-rung actors, including Samir Soni, Sahil Chadha and others. In a significant starring role for which Chopra was hoping to cast Shah Rukh Khan, he8217;s managed to snag the Maine Pyaar Kiya Khan, who willingly stepped in. Opposite Salman will be Mahima Chaudhary, who, insiders say, has terrific chemistry with Mr Muscles. Mahima and Salman shot at Film City recently, and everyone on the set insisted they lit quite a spark on camera. Incidentally, this is the first time the two actors will appear on screen together. The closest they8217;d gotten to working together was on a series of stage shows some years ago, where Mahima and Salman shared the stage with Sanjay Dutt and Karisma Kapoor.

Turn of the Tyros

AT least a handful of first-time actors will have their fate decided this month at the movies. Close on the heels of Ritesh Deshmukh8217;s debut in Tujhe Meri Kasam comes Zayed Khan in Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, then John Abraham in Jism, London-based Jaz Pandhar in Indian Babu, veejay Purab Kohli in Bas Yun Hi, writer Bharat Bhalla8217;s son-with-the-bulging-biceps Attin Bhalla in Om, and probably even filmmaker Arjun Hingorani8217;s son Amit Hingorani in Kahoon Ke8230; Pyaar Hai. Considering everyone from Shah Rukh and Salman to Hrithik and Abhishek have failed us this last year, Bollywood is hoping they can look for relief in these relative nobodies!

Isha is It

WHO would you cast in the Sharon Stone role in a desi remake of that sizzling thriller, Basic Instinct? Well, director Punkej Parasher of Tumko Na Bhool Payenge shame originally wanted oomph girl Sushmita Sen, but the actress bailed at the eleventh hour. Parasher went to Diya Mirza next, but money issues resulted in her being shown the door. Eventually, the part8217;s landed in the lap of current 8216;it8217; girl Isha Koppikar, who8217;s burning up the charts with her Khallas number from Company and her Ishq Samundar dance from Kaante. Madame Koppikar will bare all opposite Manoj Bajpai in Parasher8217;s nail-biting adaptation, but something tells us that the famous legs-crossing scene from the original won8217;t be retained in the Bollywood version. Hmph8230;

Cheap Thrills

IF there was anything at all that raised your eyebrows in the embarrassingly incompetent Talaash, it was the steamy scene between Akshay Kumar and his one-time girlfriend Pooja Batra. Months ago when it was announced that Ms Batra had been cast in a supporting role in the film, Bollywoodwalas were surprised, considering Akshay and Pooja haven8217;t exactly been the best of friends since they split. But when front-benchers saw that scene in Talaash in which a swimsuit-clad Batra runs her hands all over a bare-torsoed, trunks-clad Akki, whistles and catcalls went up from the aisles. Didn8217;t make up for the shamefully illogical movie they were subjected to, but a good laugh anyway.

Salman does a Ghulam!

YOU decide what8217;s more objectionable 8212; that they8217;re remaking Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, or that they8217;ve cast Salman Khan in the role Guru Dutt played in the original! Pritish Nandy in his new avatar as film-producer 8212; after the abysmal failure of Sur and the pretty-good performance of Kaante 8212; is now taking on the classic. No director is attached to the Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam project because Nandy says he wants the script in place before they can tie up these details. Also in the pipeline, we hear, is a Notting Hill remake which Nandy hopes to cast Aishwarya Rai in.

Nagging Doubt

Devdas is being translated into English and French. Do you think there is a market for it?

Shekhar Suman: 8216;8216;I think there is definitely a market for Indian-ness, grandeur and opulence, but whether Devdas specifically will find a market, I cannot say. It is true though that after Moulin Rouge, more avenues are opening up on an international scale for period films, which is what Devdas is.8217;8217;

Mahesh Bhatt: 8216;8216;Dubbing a film in different languages is an economic decision, so it must have been made after exploring marketing avenues. After 9/11, the Western world seems to have woken up to the third world. Moreover, exotic India seems to be in fashion. And Devdas being a tale of everlasting love in the classical Hollywood idiom, seems to be picking up.8221;

Ashutosh Rana: 8216;8216;It can be a good decision, because if language is a barrier, changing it will take the film closer to more more people. A lot depends on how well Devdas adapts to it.8217;8217;

Shyam Shroff: 8216;8216;I think there would be a huge market for Devdas in different foreign languages. They should also explore the Spanish and Chinese languages.8221;