Stop treating Pregnancy like an illness, says the 'very pregnant' Lara

By Subhash K Jha Lara Dutta is not planning to take a very long maternity leave. After her baby at the end of February she will start a film in May for her production company Bheegi Basanti which may or may not star her. Says the “very pregnant” Lara, “I am definitely producing another film in May 2012. Yes it will have me in the lead. And again, like Challo Dilli where my co-star was Vinay Pathak the pairing would be very unconventional. In case I can’t get before the camera I will produce another film without me in the cast in May and then do the film with me in the lead from August. ” Lara says this is a crucial time for the couple. “Mahesh has the Olympics. I’ve motherhood to look forward to. So we’ve other important commitments. But I most certainly plan to remain an actress and a producer. It’s something that I learnt from Shah Rukh Khan during Don 2. He told me he was happy to see the actresses turning producers and advised me to continue with my career. ” At the moment Lara is all charged up for motherhood, “It’s by far the most important role of my life. But there are other roles too. Those cannot be marginalized. I don’t do anything half-heartedly. I never became an actress to enhance my bank balance. The zeroes in my cheques never mattered. All the work that I’ve done so far as an actress is what I really believed in. ” Lara’s next release and the only one for a while until she returns after motherhood is Don 2. “It’s a small role. I did it because I wanted to work with Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani and with Shah Rukh Khan. ” Lara’s part is credited as a “special appearance” in Don 2. “It’s a very special film for me. Farhan and Ritesh had offered me two films. I couldn’t do the first one and I couldn’t resist being in the second one. Don is a huge franchise. It’s very exciting to be part of it. And I’m so happy people have appreciated my song in the gold dress. Here I am heavily pregnant while people out there are talking of as being this hot temptress in the number. I like the feeling, ” she laughs throatily. On a more serious note Lara is all set to produce a pre-natal yoga video. The actress feels there’s an urgent need in our country for women to come to terms with their pregnancy and how to conduct themselves before motherhood. Says Lara, “Pregnancy is treated almost like an illness in some sections of our society. I’ve been my normal self during pregnancy. I want other women who get nervous and anxious to experience the same comfort level as me and to not feel awkward about their weight or baby bump. Have I been conducting myself with dignity and grace? I don’t claim any exclusivity on the condition that I am in. I just feel motherhood should be a happy stress-free period for all women. ” Ask Lara about whether she wants a boy or a girl and she says. “Mahesh and I have no preferences. We’re just happy we’ll be parents. ”

Sonakshi tells you about the five things every girl should own

She knows her style and what suits her the best. And like any other girl, Sonakshi Sinha too loves to shop. So if you're doing a wardrobe overhaul this festive season, Sonakshi tells you about the five things she feels every girl should own: Little black dress: It's a must-have as it saves you in so many situations -- you can dress it up or down. To dress it up, just wear your favourite coloured heels and accent jewellery. To dress it down, throw on a denim jacket and black flats and your ready to go! The options to accessorise your LBD are endless. Perfect fitting jeans: Everyone should have a pair of jeans -- you know, the kind of jeans that make you feel comfortable. Buy a pair that's in style at present. Make sure that the cut flatters you and suits your body type. Collar necklace: These statement neckpieces are the perfect way to dress up a basic tee or to add some edge to your favorite LBD. Pumps: There shouldn't be a woman that doesn't own a pair of pumps. Pumps are extremely versatile and can be worn with almost everything. They are comfortable and look great when worn. A clutch: A clutch is perhaps one of the best inventions for a woman after a mirror. It is handy and functional and is an ideal purse to take when you are attending an evening do. Just put in your your make up essentials, some cash and your keys and you don't have to worry about lugging a big bag.

I want people to call and wish me on my birthday: Bipasha

She's a queen and loves to be treated like one. So, it's no wonder that Bipasha Basu has warned the team of her upcoming release to celebrate her birthday over 11 days on their promotional tour. The actor, who is presently in London partying with friends and gorging on yummy food, will land in Mumbai on her birthday morning -- Sunday, January 7. The Bong babe tells CS that she plans to gift herself a plush apartment with a swimming pool and an open kitchen this year. Here's more: Celebrating me  Birthdays are special to me. It's the day when I take some time out to introspect and count my blessings. Also, I love to celebrate without any inhibitions. In fact, my birthday celebrations go on till the end of January every year (laughs). So much so that most of my friends keep their X'mas trees and decorations on till January 7. I love such small gestures, and they mean a lot to me. I'm an attention seeker when it comes to my birthday. I want people to call and wish me; no one can afford to forget it. If they do, I get upset and sulk (laughs). And I'm an expert at putting them on a guilt trip! Surprise, surprise  I love to be surprised on my B'day and my friends indulge me. So every year, there's a surprise party that I'm already in the know of. I just love pretending as if I'm surprised. It's better than being upset about not getting one. This year too, I've bullied them to throw me a surprise bash on the morning of January 7 when I land in the city. My friends are just speechless by my audacity (giggles). But truth be told, I am just insecure. What if they forget that it's my special day? For Bips, with love  I love receiving gifts, preferably expensive ones. But I am not mean enough to refuse inexpensive gifts. I like to be pampered on my birthday. But who doesn't? Jokes apart, I like gifts, especially diamonds. However, even a card or a scented candle can make my day. I truly believe that the thought behind the gift is more important than the gift itself. On my birthday, my house is decked up with white and pink lilies, red balloons, scented candles and cards. People know that I love sponge cakes and hence gift them by the dozen. These things have almost become a tradition. After the formal cake cutting ceremony, it's a mad dance party with loud music. I party a lot, but only with family members and friends. That way, I can let loose without any worry.

Salman loves his 'Chikni Chameli'

Katrina Kaif is garnering a lot of praise for gyrating to item number "Chikni Chameli" in Karan Johar's forthcoming film "Agneepath", but the actress says the "lavni" style dancing was not a cakewalk for her. "The response to 'Chikni Chameli' has been fun so far. It was hard work. It was very fast and it was not a style I was used to, but I took it as a challenge... I think we all went for it as a team and did the best we could. I am happy people are liking it," the 27-year-old actress said here while launching new range of Panasonic airconditioners. Even actor Salman Khan is smitten by the song and Katrina is happy about this. "He has not told that to me but I think that's a great thing. He has a great taste in music and songs. So, if he likes it then it's great," said Katrina who featured in two more item numbers in "Shiela ki jawani" and "Bodyguard". New Year is round the corner and Katrina is pleased with the way 2011 shaped up for her. "2011 has been a really great year for me. All the goals I had in hand, I think everything turned out really well. I am very grateful for that...The best I could have wanted to come out of every project has come true this year," said Katrina who had two releases this year - "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" and "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan". Industry members are also smitten with the song. They feel it will definitely be a USP of Karan Johar's remake of his father's classic "Agneepath", and overshadow "Munni", "Sheila", "Shalu" and "Jalebi bai" item numbers. Composed by national award-winning duo Ajay-Atul, the spicy song, sung by Shreya Ghoshal, is the Hindi version of their own Marathi hit "Kombadi palali". The lyrics of the number, penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, are as cheesy as they could get, but the rhythm is extremely peppy and catchy. And Katrina's vigourous moves and sensual expressions, choreographed by Ganesh Acharya, go in total sync. The 26-year-old had set a benchmark with "Sheila ki jawaani" last year, but with this song, she has surpassed it with her killer desi look. "Agneepath" director Karan Malhotra is all smiles and believes Katrina has done full justice to the song. "I think the way the song was made, it was so wonderful, that only a topmost actress could have done justice to the song. And as far as Katrina is concerned, her USP is that she has never been seen in any film in that kind of zone that 'Chikni chameli' is in...which is why she also stands out in that atmosphere and that is why the song is catching a lot of eyeballs, " Malhotra said at the music premiere of "Agneepath". As much as he avoids talking in media about Katrina, even Salman Khan, her former beau, couldn't stop raving about the song. "I love the song! I saw it a few days back and I am completely smitten by it. A lot of hard work has gone behind it and it is visible on the screen. Hats off to Katrina. She has come a long way, " Salman said at a recent event in Mumbai. A 30-second promo of the song was first launched, followed by an over two minutes-long video on YouTube. The video has registered over 3 million hits so far, and producer Karan Johar is ecstatic. "The nation is singing and dancing to 'Chikni chameli', so I am really excited about it. It is already an established big hit song, " Johar said. According to Atul Gogavale, "Katrina spent eight days in rehearsal before starting to shoot the song. It took nine days to finish the shoot, and her energy levels never saw a dip." "This song has a very high tempo and requires speed in steps. Even if I or someone else wants to dance to it, you cannot match up to the tempo for more than two minutes. But Katrina just took it to another level. She has left us speechless, " he said. Celebrities from the film fraternity feel Katrina has raised the bar of item numbers with her energetic dance steps. Writer Milap Zaveri tweeted: "Katrina's dance steps in 'Chikni Chameli' are too brilliant and energetic! But there should be a disclaimer saying 'Don't try this at home!'" "'Chikni chameli' from 'Agneepath' is just outstanding. I have never seen an actress dance like Katrina does - she raises the bar to another level, " tweeted Ritesh Deshmukh, who recommended Ajay-Atul as composers for the film. Even choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant, who has choreographed item numbers like "Kajra re" says she is in awe of Katrina's effort. "Katrina is looking very good in 'Chikni Chameli' and I told Karan (Johar) about it. I really loved it and whenever Katrina comes and does a song like this, you know what the effect is, " she said. The action-drama slated for a Jan 26, 2012 release, features Hrithik Roshan as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, originally played by megastar Amitabh Bachchan in Chandan Barot's directorial venture of the same name. Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor will also be seen in key roles in the movie.

Rs 1,500 crore riding on these biggest Bollywood stars in 2012

Rs 1, 500 crore! That's the approximate amount being banked on the biggest Bollywood stars in the coming year 2012 too, like this year, has quite a few hundred crores riding on the top B-Town stars. Akshay Kumar has the most number of upcoming releases, while Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan are hoping to make the most of their lone films. Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra lead the list of actresses, with three films each. Rs 200 crore Katrina Kaif Films: Ek Tha Tiger, Yash Chopra's next Considering that her co-actors are Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, no wonder then that Karan Johar signed her on to be his Chikni Chameli in the remake of Agneepath. Rs 100 crore Hrithik Roshan Film: Agneepath Hrithik's fee won't be less than Rs 20 crore (he's believed to have made Rs 15 crore for Guzaarish). Rs 200 crore Priyanka Chopra Films: Agneepath, Barfi, Teri Meri Kahaani With trade pandits valuing Agneepath with Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt at Rs 100 crore, no doubt Barfi with Ranbir Kapoor and Teri Meri Kahaani with Shahid Kapoor will add to the crores. Rs 100 crore Shah Rukh Khan Film: Yash Chopra's next Apparently, SRK is charging Yash Chopra Rs 1 crore more than Aamir Khan's take-home for Dhoom 3 for this romantic saga Rs 200 crore Deepika Padukone Films: Cocktail, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Race 2 Deepika Padukone is the first choice for many filmmakers. Rs 100 crore Aamir Khan Film: Talaash Aamir, reportedly, charges more money than his contemporaries, Salman Khan and SRK. Director Reema Kagti had to shoot an underwater sequence in Mauritius just because the waters in India weren't clean enough. This thriller is definitely not made on a tight budget. Rs 200 crore Salman Khan Films: Ek Tha Tiger, Dabangg 2 He is said to charge not only an upfront amount, but also a share in the profits. One can imagine the budget for the Kabir Khan's spy-thriller that spans across Ireland, Egypt, Turkey and Cuba. And the Dabangg sequel won't come lesser than Rs 50 crore. Rs 250 crore Ajay Devgn Films: Tezz, Bol Bachchan, Son Of Sardar The rights of Son of Sardar were sold for over Rs 80 crore without a single shot and Bol Bachchan fetched a whopping Rs 95 crore deal. Consequently, these deals have made Tezz a hot bet at the ticket windows. Rs 250 crore Saif Ali Khan Films: Agent Vinod, Cocktail, Race 2 Agent Vinod still remains one of the most awaited films of next year. After the spy-thriller with girlfriend Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan's chemistry with Deepika Padukone has made Homi Adajania's Cocktail a hot box-office bet. Rs 200 crore Kareena Kapoor Films: Agent Vinod, Talaash, Heroine Aamir was keen to cast her in Talaash after the successful 3 Idiots and another production house even willing to pay her a share in the profits for Madhur Bhandarkar's Heroine. Rs 400 crore Akshay Kumar Films: Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore, Khiladi 786, Joker, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2 He remains Sajid Nadiadwala, Sajid Khan and Ekta Kapoor's favourite. As for Rowdy Rathore, Khiladi 786 and Joker, he's co- producing them with Bhansali, Himesh Reshammiya and Farah Khan respectively.

25 impossible things we hope do happen in Bollywood, If the world does end this year

Twenty-five things that seem impossible right now but we hope against hope we will be able to see before we perish in the supposed catastrophe at the end of this year... 1 Abhishek and Aishwarya deciding on their baby girl's name 2 Tom Cruise landing a two-minute blink-and-miss role in an Anil Kapoor starrer film and going to town talking about it. 3 Actresses admitting to being normal red-blooded women and not some plastic doll that is expected to never have a love life.... The only gutsy girl to do it was Deepika Padukone, who has also turned coy over time. 4 SRK not talking about his kids in an interview. 5 Sushmita Sen taking a breather between the men she loves. 6 Ram Gopal Varma's tweets making some sense. Any sense. 7 Shahid Kapur tweeting without a single grammatical error. 8 Vivek Oberoi not talking about being a good Samaritan 9 Prateik's PR machinery taking a month's holiday 10 Katrina Kaif not sporting that poker straight I-am-a-good-girl hairstyle and attitude. 11 Aamir Khan taking a spontaneous decision to watch an SRK film. 12 Jacqueline Fernandes' thighs, Nargis Fakri's lips and Imran Khan's eyebrows stop having a life of their own. 13 Vidya Balan in size-zero. 14 Sonam Kapoor without the 'I am so stylish' look. 15 Sanjay Dutt making his decisions without wife Maanyata's help. 16 Starlets stop thinking that not buying underwear will save money and get them instant publicity. 17 Malaika Arora Khan in clothes. 18 Madhuri Dixit without a truckload of make up on her pretty face. 19 Aditya Chopra and Kangana Ranaut's firang boyfriend being seen to assure us that they exist. 20 Anurag Kashyap letting his friends' films talk for themselves. 21 Minissha Lamba and the rest of her ilk declaring their newly acquired 'assets' at the customs. 22 Kangana Ranaut saying three English words straight and the audience actually getting it. 23 An open catfight between two actresses, instead of the diplomatic cold vibes and backbiting. Manisha Koirala and Mamta Kulkarni, we miss you and your bindass squabbles. 24 Rakhi Sawant observing a two-minute silence. 25 Hrithik Roshan without an injury. A few things that our readers wish to see... Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan reveal the real reason whey they had such a major fight at Katrina Kaif's birthday party, over three years ago. Kailash Dama, Businessman I'd want to see an actress go as ugly as Chalize Theron did in Monster. Karishma Pandya, PR executive It'll be interesting to see Katrina Kaif wear a burkha and Vidya Balan wear a bikini. Chirag Shah, student I want to see Aamir Khan's son decide precisely which colour of diapers he wants to wear. Priya Maiti, banker I want to see Ranbir and Kareena act in a film and see who does a better job. Vinit Sharma, PR executive I would like to see a documentary on the lives and times of Dev Anand and Shammi Kapoor with footage never seen before. Ravi Banerjee, writer Aamir, SRK and Salman play the three musketeers. Anusha Bose, TV producer Actors in their 20s playing their age and the ones pretending to be 20 playing nothing. Preeti Ramani, travel blogger I want to see someone write a script about SRK- the superstar and take it to Salman to play the role. Karan Seth, lawyer I would like Bollywood to be more script driven so that we get movies that are original, distinctive, world-class and apt to be talked about. Ranjib Mazumder, film enthusiast I want to see Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha act together. Jawahar Chhoda, Journalist. An A-league actor playing a gay character. Jigna Thakker, model Aishwarya Rai playing Demi Moore's role in Strip Tease. Manav Raina, IT professional I would love to see SRK doing a full monty. Manisha Singh, ad filmmaker

The Awesome Threesome

2012 seems to be the year of love triangles with many films exploring the facets of some rather 'crowded' relationships  Tales of three people involved in one story always means a mixture of guilt, sacrifice and a happy-sad ending, almost guaranteeing a teary eyed audience, and as a result, a super hit film. It is either two men in love with one woman or two women in love with one man. This tear-jerking formula of unrequited love has been very well used by the filmmakers of yore. Looks like the formula is finding it's way again into some of the forthcoming films this year. Three is company While the plots of some such films coming up this year are diverse, the filmmakers are depending greatly on love stories with three protagonists. Like Reema Kagti who brings back Aamir Khan as a daredevil cop in Talaash, with two lovely ladies in his life (Rani Mukerji and Kareena Kapoor.) Interestingly, Dhobi Ghat too saw Aamir involved in a love triangle. Trade analyst Amod Mehra points out, "In most love stories, the permutations can be generated only through a third element. By far the triangle has proven to be the most successful dramatic element." Student of The Year Probably why, director Milan Luthria chose a love story between three protagonists as the plot for Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai 2. Adds Milan, "We see two men who can achieve the world, struggling for the attention and affection of this one woman. It's interesting to see how money and power you possess does not really matter when you fall for someone. Here it is a matter of ego too, as both men are dons and they are used to getting what they want." Then and now While Yash Chopra gave us the intense Silsila, he also introduced us to the finer lines between dosti and pyaar in Dil To Pagal Hai. And now after a seven year sabbatical he returns with what promises to be the biggest love story of the year, with SRK cast opposite Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan in Silsila Following on the footsteps of Yash Chopra and his father Yash Johar is filmmaker Karan Johar who gave us hits like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho. Now he is all set to release his next, Student of The Year that portrays three young and vulnerable lovers. The offbeat lovers Interestingly, for films like Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai and Anurag Basu's Barfee that explore several other subjects as well, a love triangle is the constant feature. In the first movie, Emran Haashmi, Kalki and Abhay Deol find themselves in a political war zone, while in Basu's film Ranbir Kapoor plays a deaf and mute character, while PC plays an autistic person. Ileana D'Cruz plays the third character in the triangle.