SoggyCornflakes - Bollywood

Rakhi Sawant is without a doubt one of the most talented and fresh faces in Bollywood today. She's cute, she's sexy, she's got a great fashion sense and she's smart. I just don't get why people consider her a C-grade actress...when she's clearly a D-list one. Yeah, I know I'm not being very nice...but I'm not paid to be a nice person. Actually, I'm not really paid at all, sadly. Back to Rakhi, the actress/dancer (snigger) recently spent Diwali with boyfriend Abhishek and his parents. While that seems like a crucial step up the aisle, or around the sacred fire, Rakhi says she's not looking to get married just yet because she and Abhishek want to build up their careers (giggle).

"They had come to visit. Yes, our parents do want us to get married. But we don't want to marry yet. Right now we want to concentrate on our careers. Shaadi kar ke kya karlenge? Everyone gets married. Big deal! And after marriage, love tends to die, especially in showbiz," "With both of us working, there's the danger that I and Abhi will get less work after marriage. We don't have a good fortune like Ajay Devgan and Kajol or Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri. Let us both make something out of our lives. Then we'll shout out our marriage plans from the rooftops. Abhi to main khadi bhi nahin hui hoon theek se,"

I'm not sure what khadi means, so can't translate that final bit for you. But Rakhi shouldn't really worry about her career being dented by marriage...she's been in the industry 8 years and been flooded with success of course, so with her and Abhishek combined, they can be the the super-couple that everyone looks up to. I was surprised with her honesty though and have to give her full credit for her confession.

"At the moment we don't have time to do anything except 'Nach Baliye'. I did do an item song in Rakesh Roshan's Krazzy 4. But I won't lie to you. I'm not flooded with offers,"

You don't say...

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her family failed to make it to the premiere of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's broken masterpiece Saawariya due to the failing health of the Bachchan grandmother. Now, if you were an average person (i.e A person that does not think the sun shines out of your tushy) than if you want to watch the movie, you could just saunter of to the cinema. Or if you're as rich as the Bachchans you could just buy yourself a cinema. Or pay a visit to your local (fake) DVD shop (Don't tell me the Bachchans don't buy fake DVD's. I hear Eros pays them in fake DVD's for all their anti piracy ads. And by fake DVD's I mean money... Which they use to buy fake DVD's). However if you're Aishwarya Rai, you need to phone the director that gave you your first hit, so that he can arrange a special screening for you and your family. Sanjay Bhansali says,

“The Bachchans couldn’t attend the premiere because of Amitji’s mother’s condition. When Aishwarya called saying the family wanted to see the film I was more than happy to comply. To me the opinion of people who matter to me is very important.”

Wow. I guess Saawariya must be doing badly at the box office, since the only way Ash and Abhi can see it is at a private screening with the director. I don't get why they'd want to see it anyway. It sucked to high heaven. I'll be honest and say that I've never been a big fan of artsy movies... But even I can say that Saawariya is less artsy and more crazy.

Well, not yet, but Bebo is getting there. It looks like Saif Ali Khan and his new girlfriend are quite serious about each other as Kareena Kapoor has taken some time out of her schedule to get to know his kids from his previous marriage to Amrita Singh. Sara and Ibrahim, who live with their mother, recently spent some time with their dad and potential step-mum, going on an outing, which involved Saif and Bebo hanging out in their van while the kids went of by themselves to play hide and seek or make ritual sacrifices, whatever it is that children do. What? It's been a long time since I was a kid...like 6 years or 6 months or something. A source says,

"Kareena is very sweet to them and is making sincere efforts to know them well. She hopes that they will bond well,"

Before the kids start taking advantage of her, reminding her that she owes them a Playstation 3, a Wii and a Xbox 360 or they might have to tell daddy that she hit them...even if she didn't, whatever, kids are evil.

As shown by my not-that-funny or realistic distortion above. As Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal gets premiered, tongues are wagging and tabloid trash is going insane wondering why Arshad Warsi isn't along to promote the film with John Abraham and Bipasha Basu. The poor dear though, he's not boycotting the film because his role wasn't big enough, he's not there because he's suffering from some serious allergies.

"I was in bed for two weeks. I had terrible allergy attack. My face was completely swollen. It started with a viral fever. But after two days I started getting itchy and swollen. I had kept time aside for the 'Goal' promo. Thank god I wasn't the only actor in the project. That would've been disastrous,"

Arshad may be getting a bit tired of doing the loyal sidekick roles however, such as Munnabhai MBBS, it's sequel and Salaam Namaste. While he waits for exclusively Arshad-is-the-hero roles, he's still having fun on sets, despite what the media has to say.

"But I can't complain. I got into 'Goal' with my eyes closed. And I'm very honestly saying the problems with John and Bipasha (Basu) were highly exaggerated by the media. Bipasha is a very honest girl. I had no problems with either her or John."

That's nice to hear and he also warns us that Goal isn't another Chak De India. Yes, it's centered around sports, but it's more for entertainment rather than giving us morals such as 'Never give up' and 'If you're ugly and try and seduce the coach, he won't put you in unless he absolutely has to'. Important lessons those are too.

Or would it just be more appropriate to say that Salman Khan is not exactly fond of Priyanka Chopra? Even though guys through history have had to put up with the enormous amounts of time that girls take to get ready, Salman wouldn't have any of that on the set of their movie God Tussi Great Ho (God, You are great) and was quite cold to Priyanka when she finally emerged from her make-up van. Priyanka isn't your wilting flower either and the friction eventually led to a bust-up on set, resulting in the director packing up for the day, with encouragement from Salman Khan. Even though the two make a very cute couple (Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Salaam-e-Ishq) on screen, it's reported that Salman and Priyanka don't have the most smoothest of histories, with both actors having refused to work with each other on certain occasions, increasing tensions every time they actually do end up working together. Hopefully the love of God will bring these two together on sets again, with things becoming so bad that Salman had refused to touch her in some romantic song (how can you even shoot a romantic song without touching?). Next thing you know, Salman will be whispering on set that Priyanka has cooties. Mature guys.

While that’s a useful knowledge, it’s very sad that you have to learn it because someone close to you is infected, as is the case with actress Sushmita Sen. She’s caring for the family of one of her former staffers, who’s passed away because of the disease, leaving an infected wife and fortunately uninfected children.

“The one good thing that came out of this whole experience was my rapport with my former staffer Ashutosh (name changed) and his wife Namrata (name changed) and their two sons. I'm full of such admiration for this woman of 29. She's younger and far less urbane than me. But her wisdom and her acumen in the face of such imminent tragedy just makes feel so small."

Sushmita’s conscious has been weighing her down since she knew nothing about her worker’s illness and she feels slightly better now that she’s getting treatment for his wife and helping his family. Sushmita did get to speak with Ashutosh before he died and was disturbed that she had to inform his wife about her status at his funeral.

"He got out of his coma long enough to speak to me once on the cell-phone. He heard me, and he cried. 24 Hours afterwards he died. The next day I flew in from Goa to do his last rites." "I not only had to deal with the death of a staffer I loved immensely, I also had to break the news of his wife's illness to her at the cremation itself. This entire harrowing incident was so unexpected."

I can’t be flip about this, so I’ll just say this. Sushmita Sen is good, not that I’m one to judge, but I have a new-found respect for her.

You'll next see Priyanka Chopra in Love Story 2050 with Harman Baweja, then Drona with Abhishek Bachchan. Then don't expect to see her for a while because she'll be too busy improving herself as an actress rather than actually acting. Priyanka is very happy with her acting life after Krrish and Don, so she gets to pick and choose her movies more, but as yet she hasn't found one that really makes her want to do it. She wants roles that help her improve as an actress and since she isn't getting any, she'll just improve herself by taking dance and self-defense classes.

"Once I finish Harry Baweja's Love Story 2050 and Drona, I have nothing on the plate. I'd much rather work on myself. I want to do Latin contemporary—salsa, jazz, whatever. That excites me. Any new skill would be an asset for me as an actress."

After impressing with her martial art skills in Don, Drona will see her doing a whole new kind of fighting.

"This is a totally Indian skill for Drona. It's a very Indian form of fighting. That's all I can tell you on record. I've a professional trainer who has come down from a certain part of the country."

Indian fighting? You mean we'll get to see Priyanka punching away at some dude, she'll hit him with an enormous "Wham!" and he'll fly 50 metres away even though her hand didn't make any contact? I love those scenes! Can't wait!

Ever since Lage Raho Munnabhai, interest in Mahatma Ghandi and Ghandigiri (I hope I got that word right) has increased and Sanjay Dutt will be honoured for his contribution to the cause. At his Pune jail cell, Sanjay will be credited by three officials from the Ghandi Vichar Andolan organisation, which states the even though Sanjay is in jail, it's for a different matter and his contribution to the cause is much more important.

"We have taken note of the fact that what the entire nation could not do in independent India has been achieved by Sanjay Dutt through his role as Munna Bhai. "The extent to which the message of Mahatma Gandhi could be spread through the film was incredible. I am really impressed by the overwhelming impact the film made on the minds of common people." As far as we are concerned, we see enough reason to felicitate the man who deserves praise for effectively spreading the message of the father of the nation." "Sanjay has done something that books, visuals, and other laudable efforts could not achieve over the decades."

Well, even though Sanjay was the 'star' that made people pay attention, shouldn't the writers of the movie get some credit too? After all, they came up with the ideas.

Yay! Then at least we won't have to see his mug on screen again. But Shah Rukh Khan insists that he goes to cricket matches because he supports the Indian cricket team rather than attending for any kind of self-promotion, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) claim. An official, speaking about Shah Rukh's presence at recent cricket matches, says,

"This is a much bigger platform than being on a private television station. A match is watched by the entire country, there is no better way to create recall value. We have to be understand that,"

It's a bit hard for him to claim only cricketing love however, as I distinctly remember him wearing an Om Shanti Om shirt when he came to watch the Twenty20 final in Johannesburg. Though Shah Rukh doesn't need the publicity, it isn't his fault that the camera keeps panning onto him. He wasn't jumping on his seat and screaming "Ignore the cricket! I'm Shah Rukh! Look at me!" Shah Rukh answers the allegations,

"Honestly I am a little disappointed. I don't need any other platform to promote my film except the ones that are provided to cinema. "I may not go to watch the match again,"

"I take my children to watch the match and if someone asks me a question about my film, I will obviously answer them,"

And that explains why he spoke about OSO after a cricket match, I guess. Next time ix-nay the promotional shirts and go to a match, Shah Rukh, no one will question you.

Deepika Padukone either has a taste for cricketers or they have a taste for Deepika...either way, after weeks of being linked with Indian ODI captain Mahender Singh Dhoni, Deepika has hooked up with Mr Six 6's Yuvraj Singh. They were seen together after India's final ODI against Pakistan in Jaipur, after Deepika reportedly flew in on Gautam Singhania's private jet to watch the match (which India lost, though nothing humiliating since they had won the series already) and after the match, she and Yuvraj went of to be alone on a drive and dinner. Other reports state that Yuvraj and Deepika were also out the night before the final ODI, leaving the Grand Hyatt Hotel way after midnight. Until recently, Yuvraj had been dating actress Kim Sharma for a while, though they broke up when reports of tension between her and his mother arose. Maybe Deepika will have better luck. After all, did you see how well Yuvraj dances? Total babe material. The picture being from the Shah Rukh Khan concert-thingy attended by the Pakistan and Indian cricket teams.