Want to see Saif’s photo, who danced his way in Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 to get imprinted in Australia’s postage stamps, released on March 27.

The 50-cent stamp shows him on stage in a green kurti with other dancers. These “instant stamps” were available on sale in Australia within two days of the event happening.

The Chhote Nawab who was dancing with Rani Mukherjee and Aishwarya Rai became the first Indian to feature on a postage stamp published in Australia by virtue of his performance in the concluding ceremony at Melbourne.

Now Saif jokes, “This shows that I am sexier than them. But (getting serious) it doesn’t mean I have overshadowed Ash and Rani. I am featured amongst several dancers.” (more…)

Now that Karan Johar has almost completed work on his forthcoming movie, he finally speaks about Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna and its big star cast.

There is a lot of curiosity and excitement about your new film?

What for? I’m just an ordinary director making an ordinary film. I guess the curiosity comes from my making my first film since 2001 after Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna too has a huge cast. So there will be a certain expectation. Films involving me and Shah Rukh are talked about. They’ve been very successful in the past. People’s expectations are scaring me. I’m not getting much sleep. But yes. I’ve tackled marriage, an institution I’m not familiar with. Now that I’m 33 and graying, I’ve stopped seeking the support of hair-dye. I was more than ready to take on a mature theme. I was quite tired of being counted among the new generation of filmmakers. I’m not young anymore. I’m ten years into the industry, and quite qualified to tackle a mature subject. (more…)

Rani Mukherjee and Saif Ali Khan that made youthful romantic comedy ‘Hum Tum’ a huge hit have been signed by Yash Raj films for a romantic film to be directed by Siddharth Raj Anand (Salaam Namaste).

Interestingly, Anand had written the screenplay of ‘Hum Tum’ along with Kunal Kohli, and had secretly hoped to direct Rani and Saif some day. Talking about the plot, Anand says he has moved ahead from the youthful, breezy, boy-meets-girl romantic comedy which was reflected in Salaam Namaste.

“I’m not moving away from the genre of romance, but this film will handle intense and mature emotions. I may sound serious, but the film will have all the essential ingredients for a typical Bollywood masala film,” Anand said. (more…)

Rani Mukherjee talks about why she is without work at the moment, her differences with Preity and how she looking forward to being an aunt.

Rani is unexpectedly without work for at least the next couple of months.

I’ve only two films on hand - Karan Johar’s ‘Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna’ and Ravi Chopra’s ‘Babul’. And both have Amit uncle with me in the lead. So until he gets completely well, I’ve no choice but to take it easy.

I now have the chance to do all things that I’ve been putting off for so long. I normally don’t get Sundays off. But now I’ve some Sundays ahead to catch up on sleep and take care of several pending obligations. Until Amit Uncle is ready to shoot. I had earlier planned to take April, May off. Now I guess this is my holiday. I’ll take the time to do up my house, meeting people, rehearsing for my shows, listening to scripts. In fact my plans of a holiday have gone for a toss. I’m more over-worked than ever before. So even when I’m not working, I’m working. I’m trying to finish all the pending work as soon as possible. (more…)

Recently Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan said that song-and-dance numbers are unique to Indian cinema and should not be dropped to appeal to international audiences.

Shah Rukh whose movie ‘Paheli’ also starring super actress starring Rani Mukherjee was thrown out of the Oscar race said that we (Bollywood) should not listen to Critics who often complain that songs (which pop up as dream sequences in most Indian movies) need to be curtailed since audiences overseas find them irrelevant to the plot.

However, Khan said that while movies should be shorter than the average three-hour length, the song-dance routines must stay. Khan said, “Films are an important aspect of entertainment in India and we should retain the songs and dances - that’s our USP (unique selling point).” (more…)

Bollywood superstar Rani Mukherjee launched Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and lyricist Javed Akhtar’s new album ‘Eight Stages of Love’ in Mumbai recently.

Pandit Shivkumar Shankar and Javed Akhtar teamed up after 25 years to compose the album which, as the name suggests, has eight songs that describe the stages of love through ever lasting melodies. The commentary between the tracks has been narrated by Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah.

Talking about the album, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma said: “There are different emotions in the album, but they are all based on love and romance. There is also a commentary that takes you from one track to another which is written by Javed and very effectively narrated by Naseeruddin Shah”. (more…)

March 4, LIC-Zee Cine Awards 2006 function is being held in Mauritius, telecast live on Zee TV from 7pm and who is who of Bollywood is attending it. Are u Game?

Star Anchors:
The oomph girl Mallika Sherawat and the known director Karan Johar are hosting the Awards. Mallika is known for her peppy tongue and this time she will be unstoppable. Another interesting thing to look forward is her dressing which always creates shock. Karan who has hosted such events two times before will be a delight to look at. Those who have seen Karan’s hit TV talk show ‘Koffee with Karan’ know how naughty he is and if one remembers Mallika was the hot topic of discussion in more than one episode. It will be so much fun to watch them together. Arjun Rampal, Konkona SenSharma and Gulshan Grover are the other celebrity to hosts for the show. (more…)