ALTHOUGH she says she wants to balance her offbeat film assignments with mainstream masala fare, Tabu doesn’t seem to practice that. First she walked out of Om Jai Jagadish, then she said no to aunt Honey Irani’s directorial debut which Gracy Singh has now stepped into. To say that she makes often weird choices, is an understatement. She’ll go ahead and star with a battery of has-beens including Govinda, Juhi Chawla and Chandrachur Singh in Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyya, and then she’ll adjust all her dates so she can accommodate M F Husain for Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities. And now, of all things in the world, she’s getting excited about her next film Zindagi Khoobsurat Hai in which she stars with Gurdas Mann. Good lord, whatever goes on in that girl’s head? A Ghost from Papa’s Past AFTER all the rave reviews and the encouraging box-office response to his first film Dil Chahta Hai, filmmaker Farhan Akhtar has announced his next, Lakshya, a war film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta. If the grapevine is to be believed, the young director was keen to make another film, with Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan in lead roles. However, Shah Rukh turned down the offer and Farhan abandoned that project and decided to direct Lakshya instead. Now it has been learnt that Shah Rukh has been turning down all offers to star with Hrithik Roshan. Although Farah Khan says Hrithik had no dates to give her for her directorial debut which co-stars Shah Rukh, insiders say producer-star Shah Rukh himself discouraged Farah from casting Hrithik. Could it be insecurity on Shah Rukh’s part? Nagging DoubtTusshar Kapoor: ‘‘Our industry is full of copycats. I’m sure there will be many more all-hero films if Kaante does well. But there can never be such a time when there will be no heroine in films. There are audiences for men and women.’’Nikki Aneja: ‘‘No way, there can never be a time when films will have no heroines. It’s impossible. And being an actress, I pray that it doesn’t happen.’’
