Noida, July 13 (IANS) For Bollywood’s original ‘dreamgirl’ Hema Malini, beauty queen-turned-actress Aishwarya Rai is the only one who deserves the ‘dreamgirl’ tag among all the new age actresses.
“Whoever is on top is the dreamgirl. I feel it is Aishwarya Rai,” Hema told reporters on being asked who, according to her, deserves to be called the ‘dreamgirl’ nowadays.

Taking about the hardships an actress has to face, she said: “An actress’ life is the same – nothing has changed. It is what it was even 20 years back. They have to work very hard, make themselves look beautiful and need a lot of dedication to remain at the top,” said Hema, who was in this suburb of the national capital Monday to felicitate winners of supermarket Big Bazaar’s ‘Meet The Dreamgirl’ contest.

Snubbing the whole idea of having a size zero figure, Hema said: “There’s no need (for a size zero figure). I was not a size zero. You must have a flat stomach – not a pot belly – and a nice and beautiful face – at least a tolerable face – and you can be an actress.”

Dressed in a pale yellow, elegant sari, the 60-year-old actress was at her forthright best when asked about her future projects.

“I’ve signed one or two (films) which are held up because of the financial problems in the whole world. Otherwise I would have finished those two and they would have released by now.”

“One is with Nana Patekar which Deepa Sahi is directing, and the other is with another producer. It is not right to expose everything about a film,” she said.

Another film that Hema is working on is “Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi” – in which she will play a role based on the life of prominent political figure Vijayaraje Scindia.

Hema, who has delivered hits like “Seeta Aur Geeta”, “Satte Pe Satta”, and “Sholay” in the past, is also toying with the idea of getting into production and returning to direction after almost 17 years.

“I’m planning to start production. I don’t want to say much about it because every time I talk about these things, they never happen. It’s my desire to make lovely films because I am an artist and a very creative person,” she said.

“But filmmaking is not a joke…so many things are involved,” she added.

The actress, who had her first stint with direction in 1992 with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Dil Aashna Hai”, says she would want to be a liberal producer and not want to impose her ideas on the youth.

London, July 10 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan Friday became Dr. Shah Rukh Khan. He was presented an honorary doctorate in arts and culture by Bedfordshire University at a ceremony here for his contribution to culture.
Les Ebdon, vice chancellor of the university, presented the honorary doctorate to Shah Rukh.

Dressed in the traditional scholar’s robe, the Indian superstar looked slightly bemused as he walked into the hall in a procession of scholars led by Ebdon.

Shah Rukh was nominated by Routes to Roots, an NGO that works across the SAARC region to bring South Asian people together, for the doctorate “in recognition of his exceptional achievement as a film actor and producer”.

Indian High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Mukherjee and Rakesh Gupta of Routes 2 Roots were also present.

Bedfordshire University, whose 29,000 students include 1,300 from India, was ranked second in Britain for dance, sixth for journalism and 11th for marketing accounts in a 2008 national survey.

Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) After making candy floss romances, Karan Johar is dealing with serious issues in his “My Name Is Khan”, which brings Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol together on screen after a long time. Though he is excited about presenting a different side of Shah Rukh, making the film did turn unpleasant when actor Aamir Bashir was denied a visa to the US.

Karan’s latest directorial venture is “diametrically opposite” to his earlier films.

“You know, on the very first day of shooting my cameraman Ravi Chandran looked at me and said, ‘I don’t think you’ve ever shot something like this’. Shah Rukh plays a completely different human being … I’ve never directed that person before,” Karan Johar told IANS in an interview.

But he had his share of problems too.

“Yes, there were problems. We had certain legal issues. We had to make some changes to accommodate the developments. They were sorted out. I believe in completely going by the law of every land. That’s what we did in LA (Los Angeles) when troubles arose,” said Karan, who replaced Aamir with Jimmy Sheirgil in the movie.

Were you upset with Aamir for going to the press about the visa problem?

“I don’t see why the issue had to be reported so prominently in the Indian media. It complicated things for me. If creating hurdles for a filmmaker on a difficult foreign location makes news, so be it. It constantly kept creating stress for me,” he added.

Written by Shibani Bathija, “My Name Is Khan” is about a Muslim (Shah Rukh) who suffers from the Asperger syndrome, a form of autism that impacts social interaction abilities, and he is arrested as a suspected terrorist in post-9/11 Los Angeles after authorities mistake his disability for suspicious behaviour.

Dune Kossatz | Dune Kossatz named Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa

Model and actress Dune Kossatz, 35, of East London was named Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa at a glittering event at the Montecasino entertainment complex in Johannesburg early on Sunday morning.

Kossatz, who had garnered the most Internet votes of 48 finalists selected from each of the IPL games held at various South African venues, was ecstatic at the opportunity to do screen tests for a movie with Shah Rukh Khan as part of her prize package.

This on-off component of the prize was finally revealed at the event after it was announced at the start of the series, and then changed midway through the contest to “a guided tour through Bollywood”, because organisers said guaranteeing a role with Shah Rukh Khan would be difficult.

Johannesburg Business Marketing graduate Genna Cloud, 24, who got the second greatest number of votes, was also named First Princess by the panel of judges and Dunay Nortje was crowned Second Princess.

Confessing that she had not seen any Bollywood movies yet, Kossatz said she was going to start doing so immediately. She also promised to start learning Hindi.

Commenting on the fact that all three winners were white South Africans who beat several Indian contestants, Kossatz said it showed the true nature of the rainbow nation that the country was: “I think it’s great! I think we should all stick together and love another and be respectful and tolerant of each other and their cultures.”

Kossatz received a specially made crown from Gitanjali Jewellers containing gold, silver, diamonds and other precious stones from former Miss Universe Michelle McLean of South Africa.

Earlier, Mclean got out of her seat in the small overhead booth to dance to the music of Caribbean music legend Eddy Grant. She even got IPL supremo Lalit Modi to join in. They were two of the judges on the one side of the theatre, while opposite them; Shilpa Shetty joined a more staid group.

For Modi, there was extra cause for celebration to add to the huge success of the IPL that culminates with the final later on Sunday at the Wanderers here. The compere announced that Modi had just become a grandfather for the first time just an hour before the show started late on Saturday night.

The scene outside Montecasino as leading lights from the sports, business and arts field from India and South Africa walked the red carpet was reminiscent of when a horde of stars descended on the venue a few years ago for the IIFA Awards there. But the excited crowd was left disappointed as the only star they got a glimpse of was Shilpa Shetty, who passed them fleetingly without even stopping for photographs scheduled by organisers for the media at a spot along the route.

- Hindustan Times

New Delhi, May 18 (IANS) Gaurav Kapur, who is hosting after-match shows of the Indian Premier League (IPL), said that he was glad to see the Twenty20 matches being played to packed stadiums in South Africa.
“It was great to see that on a lot of occasions the tickets were sold out and the audience was not just Indians but scores of locals,” Gaurav said.

“Definitely the numbers there are less because a normal ground in South Africa can accommodate 14,000-20,000 people, while in India it is four times more. But the popularity is the same,” said Gaurav, who is a self-confessed cricket fan.

Gaurav said that even though the glamour quotient at this year’s tournament was less since the venue was changed, still Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Shilpa Shetty added spice to the show.

“Bollywood presence at the IPL this year is definitely low as compared to last year. But I think the only reason is the change of venue. However, the audience in South Africa were not disappointed and were extremely excited to see Shah Rukh and Shilpa,” Gaurav, who is back from South Africa, told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

“Whenever there used to be a Kolkata Knight Riders’ match or a Rajasthan Royals’ match, people used to go mad with excitement.”

Shah Rukh is the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, while Shilpa is the co-owner of last season’s winner Rajasthan Royals. The inaugural edition of the IPL was held in India but the second version was shifted to South Africa as the dates clashed with the general elections in the country.

Gaurav will host the rest of the tournament from studios in Mumbai. The finals of the eight-team tournament will be played May 24.

Talking about his on-field experience, the former MTV VJ said: “My experience at the IPL was mixed. The games days were brilliant but the off days were boring since all I wanted was watch cricket all the time. No shopping, no sight seeing for me.”

Among the teams, Gaurav picks Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings as his favourites.

“I like the Chennai Super Kings. I got a chance to hang around with them a little. They are really nice as people and as players. I even like the way Deccan Chargers have done a complete turn around this year. In fact, it will be great to see Chennai and Deccan playing the final.”

The actor, whose last venture “Bad Luck Govind” failed at the box-office, is also focusing on a Pritish Nandi Communication film comedy called “Salunn”.