Short Takes

Amitabh Bachchan,who will be seen sharing screen with veteran actress Sridevi after almost 19 years in Gauri Shinde’s film English Vinglish,says that the actress is “still spontaneous and lovely”. “Sridevi still the same… spontaneous and lovely..!!” Bachchan said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The two were last paired in the 1992 hit Khuda Gawah. Earlier,they were seen together in films like Inquilaab and Aakhree Raasta. “Shooting today with the effervescent Sridevi after eternity almost… for R. Balki’s wife’s directed film English Vinglish,” Bachchan tweeted.

The film,which is touted as Sridevi’s comeback,will see her essay the role of a housewife,who enrolls for a spoken English course to impress her husband and family. Bachchan will be seen making a special appearance in the film.

At a time when a volley of actresses are sweating it out to get in shape,Zarine Khan feels that her body is not meant for a bikini and dismisses reports that she will be donning the two-piece in Houseful 2.

“There is no bikini scene in the film and moreover I haven’t got a body for it,” said Zarine adding,“I haven’t prepared anything for the role but have gone to the gym and worked hard since the role is ultra-glamorous and I want to be at par with the other heroines.”

The 23-year-old actress is all excited about working with Riteish Deshmukh and said that they have just finished shooting a schedule of the film in London and it was a lot of fun.

Last seen in the popular song Character dheela with Salman Khan in Ready,Zarine is open to item songs but does not want to do anything vulgar. “I have already refused a lot of item numbers that were offered to me since I found them vulgar,” she said.

It seems that the cast and crew of filmmaker Kunal Kohli’s upcoming film (titled Janam Janam Ka Saath Hai Hamara Tumhara and stars Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra) is taking work extremely seriously. The film has Priyanka playing the role of a heroine from the ‘70s and it was heard that the young actress met veteran Waheeda Rehman for some acting tips in order to portray the character right. Even fashion designer Manish Malhotra took some tips from Asha Parekh to know more about the dressing and fashion sense of that era. Confirmed Asha,“Manish had come to meet me some days ago. He wanted to know how we dressed then. So I told him about the fashion during the ‘70s and we discussed about it for a long time.”

During her recent trip to New Delhi,Zoa Morani,following the release of her debut film in Red Chillies Entertainment’s Always Kabhi Kabhi,decided to visit her favourite Paratha Galli. The young actress,who has lost oodles of weight and is working hard on maintaining her toned frame,gave up on her diet for a day so that she could gorge on some delicious parathas there. For Zoa,they are her favourite,her sin food that she just could not resist.

Freida Pinto has often been criticised for not starring in Indian movies,but the actress has defended herself by saying that she is not so famous in her native country.

The 26-year-old Mumbai-born rose to international fame in 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire and she has since appeared in a string of Hollywood projects such as Woody Allen’s You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and Immortals. But she continues to give Indian films a miss,saying that she hasn’t come across a good script as of yet. “I haven’t done a film in India because I haven’t found a script that’s completely got my attention and made me passionate. I keep saying I’m not at all famous in my own country,because people do not think I have done anything for India. I was upset initially. I guess everybody in India has tried really hard to do what they do and then move to the West… The reason why I’m doing these things outside my country,bit by bit,is to be able to come back to India equipped with the knowledge and understanding of how to hopefully produce my own films one fine day,” Pinto said.