Bollywood Updates

- Few are aware that 'Mangal Pandey -The Rising' was re-edited by Aditya Chopra jointly with Aamir Khan. That is one of the main reasons for the delayed release of the movie which was to have come in June.



-The Bombay High Court earlier this month dismissed the petition of Bank of India for evicting actress Yukta Mookhey from her apartment at Lokhandwala Complex at Andheri in Bombay . Yukta will now get to stay in the flat for four more weeks which is the time given by the Debt Recovery Tribunal in its order of last month . Yukta's landlord who is occupying the flat on a leave-and-license basis , was a guarantor for a loan given by Bank of India to a private limited company which had defaulted in its payment . The bank therefore sought to take possession of the flat occupied by the actress and belonging to the guarantor.



-Yash Chopra will be shifting to his new office-cum-studio complex on Link Road this month . The studio has already started functioning and the first film to be shot there is Yashraj's own 'Neil And Niki' . Rather than let some other producer bear the brunt of the teething problems of the studio , Yash Chopra thought that it is it better to let his own unit smoothen out the rough edges . Those who have seen the studio, claim it is undoubtedly the best in India .



-The title of Selu Creations' 'Ek Dhun Banaras Ki' has been changed to 'Banaras-A Mystic Love Story'. The film's post production work is in progress and is all scheduled for release in September . 'Banaras-A Mystic Love Story' has been directed by Pankaj Parasher and stars Urmila Matondkar , Ashmit Patel , Naseeruddin Shah , Raj Babbar , Dimple Kapadia and Akash Khurana.



- According to Anurag Kashyap, scriptwriter of "Shool" and "Satya", writers are paid less than Rs. 100,000 for what is called "developing a story". After it is approved, the writer gets the go ahead. Bollywood insiders speak about scriptwriters who "specialize" in plagiarism - in fact they are ready with their version of a Hollywood movie the day it is released. In search of material, while some visit film festivals all over the world, others watch old movies on television.
So many movie producers are INSPIRED by (read copy !!) Hollywood films.For example: Vikram Bhatt, who made his reputation with remakes like "Fareb" ("Unlawful Entry"), "Ghulam" ("On The Waterfront"), "Kasoor" ("Jagged Edge"), "Raaz" ("What Lies Beneath") and "Awaara Pagal Deewana" ("The Whole Nine Yards") to name just one.



-The Delhi High Court held a brief in-camera hearing to decide the earlier adjourned case of Karisma - Sanjay Kapur about the legality of their daughter's passport obtained by Karisma Kapoor in Mumbai. The court has fixed the next hearing for September 15 and told both the parties to reach a settlement either for a divorce or for a mutual settlement.




- After watching 'Dil Chahta Hai', Kareena Kapoor had been dreaming of acting in Farhan Akhtar's movie. She is very excited that Akhtar has signed her , in his long-awaited remake of 'Don'. Akhtar also believes that only Kareena can do justice to the coveted role in his 'Don'. Kareena will play Helen's role in the film. She did take some time ,after her return from her overseas shooting to say 'yes' to Farhan's offer.




- While shooting for her Hollywood film The Last Legion has already begun, Aishwarya Rai might just bag another international assignment. The buzz is that designer Roberto Cavalli might get Ash to walk the ramp for him.