Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, who turned 24 recently, says she always wanted to be a star and not just another actor. “For me, stardom is a new and novel experience… It’s lovely. That’s why I became a film actor… I wanted that… I wanted to act and be something. If I only wanted to be an actor, I would have done theatre. But I actually wanted to be a star and I make no bones about that,” Sonam told IANS in an interview here.

Sonam, who made her Bollywood debut in 2007 with “Saawariya” and later featured in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s “Delhi 6″, says stardom definitely brings more pressure but she knows how to manage it. “There is added pressure but I have been brought up in a way that I am extremely confident of who I am,” she said.

The actress is also aware of the three-decade-old body of work her father Anil Kapoor carries behind him and says besides looking up to him for advice, she also takes due advantage of being his daughter. “My dad says he survived in the industry for 30 years because he didn’t concentrate on what people wanted him to do, but what he was convinced about. I am not part of the rat race. I just want to do films. Having someone like him in my family is an advantage and I make complete use of the fact,” she added.

Sonam is at the ongoing International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards for her first stage performance and says she is extremely nervous. “I am nervous. I have butterflies in my stomach that are going all the way up to my head. The dress that I am wearing is very elaborate. It’s by Anamika Khanna and is pink, red and black in colour and has a lot of glitter and sequins like most show outfits. I hope the outfit stays. But I am excited as well,” she said. As of now, Sonam is looking forward to her home production “Ayesha” as well as Mehra’s “Sahibaan”.

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Deepika Padukone

During her visit, Deepika stayed at the presidential suite at the Miraflores Park Hotel, Lima, the suite’s previous occupants include Bill Clinton, Duran Duran and Tommy Hilfiger.

Deepika said, “The presidential palace that I visited is to date one of the most stunning pieces of architecture I have come across, its beauty is indescribable. The warmth that the people of Peru gave me is something that I will always hold close to my heart. If you get this much respect as a stranger, I can imagine the care you get when you are their loved one. Be it the Minister of Tourism whom I met at the Peru fashion show or a shopkeeper in the local market, everyone greeted me with so much of affectation that it fills me with gratitude even now”.

Deepika previously walked the ramp with international model Naomi Campbell at the Lakme Fashion week 2009 in Mumbai, India and also attended the Fashion Week Peruvian Moda as the guest of honour at the invitation of Ms Mercedes Araos, Peruvian Minister for Tourism and Commerce during her visit to Peru.

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For the first time ever, Sonia Gandhi’s life has been converted into a feature film that is expected to open this June. Film-maker TD Kumar, an ex senior commissioner at India’s Income Tax department who uses his pen name Kumar Kiran, says that his film Sonia - A Love Story will unravel the sensitive side to the character of this hardened politician. Kumar is also dedicating his film to her.

“The film is about the life and times of Sonia Gandhi (from 1964 onwards), but will mainly focus on her romance with Rajiv Gandhi, how their relationship evolves into marriage and how she settles down in India and becomes a mother. Then the film will take a sharp turn by showing the death of Rajiv and how she goes into a shell only to come out bolder and braver, and become one of the most prominent faces of Indian politics.”

Kumar adds that his film has only used authentic factual records about Sonia’s life. “I’m doing a film dedicated to the life of Sonia and I cannot make up stories. It’s not a fictional feature film.”
But has Kumar got permission from Sonia to make the film? Jagmohan Mundhra’s effort to make a film on Sonia’s life was dashed as he did not get the permission.

“I have sent the script of my film many times, but I have not received any reply from her,” Kumar says. “I made the film and the censor board suggested that I take written permission but my point that I have the freedom to exercise my right of making a film which is factually correct and that I’m not defaming or misrepresenting facts was upheld by the court of law.”

Did you know?

The film will narrate the story of a girl Sonia who is roped in by a US-returned cinematographer to make a film on Sonia Gandhi. During their rehearsals, to coach the girl how to essay Sonia, the references to the politician are made.

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Where exactly has Mallika Sherawat disappeared to? The sex siren is hardly seen these days and rarely reacts to anything around her. So, whats with this new-found unsocial streak?

Speaking exclusively, the bootylicious actor informs that all this while she has been in Hollywood working on the post-production of Hisss (directed by Hollywood director Jennifer Lynch and co-starring Irrfan Khan). And what else was she doing? Well, Mallika was networking.

The star reveals that her stay in Hollywood has actually got her hooked onto Twitter, the favourite social networking tool among Hollywood stars. In fact, she can’t go through the day without logging on to her profile on the social networking site numerous times over. “The username called @MallikaLA on Twitter is me. I have gotten addicted to it. It can be fun, and can connect people. And when people are connected, amazing things can happen,” Mallika says.

Mallika says that she got hooked onto social networking sites as there were times when she used to feel lonely in the US. She even joined a class to learn how to use different social networking sites before she got hooked onto Twitter. “One of the hard things about spending time in the US was being so far away from everybody. Tweeting helped,” she remarks, hastening to inform, “Do you know that Ashton Kutcher has one million followers there? Even Britney is a rage on the site. I found out that Shah Rukh is hooked on to it too.”

Mallika is also kicked about that the fact that she became the first Bollywood star to be honoured with her own milkshake at Hollywood hotspot Millions of Milkshakes in West Hollywood, following in the footsteps of Hollywood celebs like Miley Cyrus, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian, Perez Hilton and Tim Allen.

While the Mallika Shake comes with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries with chocolate sauce and a dash of whipped cream on top, says the star, “Its wonderful that Hollywood has welcomed me with open arms, whether its lunch with the Mayor or a milkshake being named after me. Its cool to have a Mallika Shake next to a Leonardo DiCaprio Shake!” she purrs, licking her lips.

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Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan might be a big fan of Indian Premier Legue but the actor says that he does not have enough money to buy a team.

“I dont have as much money as Shahrukh. He has money and so he owns a team,” the actor said in an interview to Zee news.

Like the millions of Indians, the mega star too loves cricket as he never misses IPL matches.

“I watch almost all the matches of IPL,” Bachchan said.

When asked whether the actor was disappointed that Dhoni did not reply to his SMS congratulating him for the Padma Shri award, the actor said, “He must have been busy, there is no need to make an issue out of this.”

Bachchan had earlier mentioned in his blog how he had got Dhonis number from John Abraham to send his wishes.

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Starring: Kunal Khemu, Cyrus Broacha, Boman Irani, Soha Ali Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar and Vinod Khanna.

Directors: Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK

The film carries the tag line - Part Fact, Part Fiction, Pure Fun. Rarely Bollywood film tag lines live up to the expectations raised but 99 is bang on. The makers have intricately woven situations (betting scandal, mobile phone nuisance) that actually took place in 1999-2000 with a fictional story and made it extremely entertaining. This film might just end the drought multiplex audiences were subjected to. What lifts the film to a great extent are the dialogues. The one-liners are terrific and all the actors are bang on with their comic timing. Director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK have done a fantastic job over all but just that they could have kept the pacing even. All the scenes between Boman and his wife played by Simone Singh tend to drag and bring the pace down. But thats just a minor flaw. The film’s treatment is fresh and it keeps you hooked throughout.

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“I was like in the bed, I was dehydrated, exhausted, and then all these things happened, somebody told me these people are using it. I hate politics. I just want people to serve the people. I want governments, whichever government comes in, to be unbiased and say there should be justice in the country and that’s my purpose in life,” Rahman said in an interview on CNN’s Talk Asia.

The interview will be aired on CNN May 20 and there will repeat telecasts May 21 and May 23.

The Congress had bought exclusive rights to the song “Jai Ho” for its poll campaign but the jingle was later dropped as the party’s theme song.

In the interview, the shy composer also explains how his accolades for “Slumdog Millionaire” are also a recognition for India.

“I got very emotional when saying this is for India, when you guys truly deserve it because there are so many different film industries in India, so many different markets, Hindi film industry, Tamil film industry, Malayalam, then Bengali, so in a way I think it culminates all their aspirations and so it’s here,” he said.

Before he shot to stardom with the film “Roja”, Rahman used to create radio jingles. He has since collaborated with international music superstars like Michael Jackson and Kylie Minogue.

When asked about his next project post-Oscars, he said: “I have a couple of offers from Hollywood. Pure American movies which I thought for the heck of it let’s do it and a couple of other surprises that you’ll know very soon if it works out. Big surprises I think.”

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Additional sessions judge AM Tamboli on Monday sentenced Yatendra Chauhan, a private security guard who was working at actor Shah Rukh Khan’s Bandra bungalow, to life imprisonment for killing his colleague in August 2006.

Thirty-two-year-old Chandrapratap Singh had died after Chauhan shot him in his chest. Khan was inside his house when the incident occurred around 12.20 am on August 14, 2006.

The guards were employed with a security agency called Tops Group. Chauhan was the only armed guard and had an all-India licence issued from Uttar Pradesh.

Singh and another guard called Lakhan were patrolling the area behind the bungalow when Chauhan, 28, dozed off for a while. Singh allegedly chided Chauhan for sleeping on the job and also poked fun at his gun, wondering whether the “rusted gun “actually worked.”

In a fit of rage, Chauhan put his gun on Singh’s chest, saying “this is how my gun works” and pumped a bullet into his chest. Singh was rushed to Bhabha Hospital where he was declared dead.

In court, Chauhan’s lawyer argued that he should be held guilty of only culpable homicide since he had killed Singh in a fit of anger.

Public prosecutors Sunil Gonsalves and PS Tavade examined 10 witnesses in the case. Judge Tamboli considered the evidence at hand and convicted Singh for murder.

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Satish Kaushik’s ‘Tansen‘ is all set to star the husband and wife duo, Abhishek and Aishwariya Bachchan. However, along with the duo, the movie will star Anil Kapoor and Aish’s ex-boyfriend, Vivek Oberoi!

It is said that the movie will be known as one of the costliest movies made in Bollywood! In addition, ‘Tansen’ will be shot in multiple countries like Bangkok, Australia, and New Zealand to name a few. The venture is based on a real story of a Mughal court singer.

The cast and crew has been finalized. The shooting of ‘Tansen’ is set to commence next month sometime!

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