Bollywood: Imran Khan's film is betting on luck

In the second of a two-part series, Bollywood columnist DEVANSH PATEL meets the rarest of breeds in Bollywood, a man who doesn't believe in luck. But Imran Khan's next film is all about good fortune

THE last time I was in a room with Imran Khan, he was sitting on the carpet stretching his legs, sitting cross-legged and changing his sitting positions. We could have understood the reason because the film in question was Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, a romantic film about friendship.

One year on, his latest film, Luck, will see him play a tough guy with a lean physique.

The actor looks chiselled when I meet him but is still sitting with his legs stretched and sometimes cross-legged on his sofa.

He hates changes, but yet it seems there are two contradicting Imran's: entrusting and circumspect Imran, and gregarious, up-for-anything Imran.

He has been careful to display both, so I'll never pin him down as one or the other.

He has answered everything. He's played a perfect game. He keeps you smiling and he's laughing, even.

He doesn't let you get too close, but he doesn't let you notice the distance.

'Man can be destroyed but not defeated', is what it says on his T-shirt when I meet him for the second part of this special interview on

Luck. For starters, the actor does not believe in it, yet he is considered the

Indian film industry's luckiest new breed of entrants.

Luck:

It's a tricky thing because I don't really believe in luck. I am a very pragmatic and practical person. My head tells me that there is no such thing. At the same time, I also feel that if there is something called luck, then

I'm a very lucky person. Good things happen to me and bad things don't happen. In a bad traffic jam, somehow I will be able to make it to the theatre to watch the film before it starts. But whatever it is, I've been blessed with good things all my life.

Inspiration from 13 Tzameti and The Condemned:

This The Condemned rumour is going to kill us all I guess. Yes, I agree that the gun sequence in Luck is inspired by 13 Tzameti and Soham my director has admitted that. The talk that Luck is inspired by The

Condemned is crap. Soham had written the script long before The Condemned was ever made. He wanted to make Luck in 2006. At a very simple level, if I wanted to rip off a Hollywood film, I'll rip off a successful one and not The Condemned. Visually, many films can look the same but they are not.

Lucky bet:

The film is based on real betting but at the very core level, it is about luck. Betting is about luck, agreed. But it also depends on the people who are playing; the contestants. The games we are playing in the film has nothing to do with the skill. It also depends on the contestant's luck, which to me was a very cool concept. You see, good things can happen to bad people and bad things can happen to good people. That is the fact of life and luck.

Luck overseas:

Bollywood films have got a big territory in the UK, US and UAE and Australia. I think Luck has a good chance in the UK. The UK audience tends to like these kind of pot-boilers. They like the classic Bollywood films. I know they've liked Dhoom and Dhoom 2 and so I can say that they'll like Luck.

Action:

Action films take a lot out of you physically because you are not doing a lot of character work. A three-minute sequence will take two weeks to shoot. You spend the entire day running, jumping, falling, getting beaten up, fighting someone, having explosions go off, you dive and roll for cover. You do that all day, then go home and wake up the next day and repeat the same strenuous stuff until it's over. At the end of it, everything hurts.

Lucky friends:

When you are in the film industry, you tend to hang out with the industry people and you

become a part of that film world. The rest of the world does not exist for you and you forget what real life is. So when I hang out with my friends, I talk about them. One of my friends is doing a T-shirt business. One of them is launching a company called Pani Puri. It's a cool concept. One of my friend is a commodity trader, one of the most boring jobs in the world. He talks about his pepper trade business. All this reminds you that there is much more than just films.

Danny Denzongpa:

He is a cool dude, he's 65 and can still kick butt. If two of us attack him from the back, he would still bring both of us down. He has rippling muscles. I had a scene with him where I am suppose to grab his collar, slap him and slam him against the wall. Now while doing this, his chest muscles were so hard that I hurt my knuckles. You will always see him walking tall, perfectly dressed with his pushed back hair, he doesn't slouch and gives a firm hand shake. He is like a cliff.

Mithun Chakraborty:

If Danny is full of attitude, Mithun is more relaxed, chilled out and has a good couple of drinks. He turns on when the camera is on. I've seen him exhausted and seasick and falling during the filming of the shark sequence. He is not as fit as Danny. Even if Mithun is bleeding, he'll do the scene. Moment you say 'cut' and he will fall down.

Shruti Hassan:

There is still an inherent fear and lack of confidence when you are a first timer in Bollywood. I know I had it during Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. But I should say this, Shruti proved me wrong. She has surprised me in the film. I had faith in her, but she proved better than what I thought of her. Her language has come out quite clean after the dubbing.

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Mallika Sherawat Twitter’s Bollywood Ambassador

SAN FRANCISCO — Mallika Sherawat pulled up to the headquarters of Twitter in a long, black limo, poked her head out of the sunroof and exclaimed, “I’m finally at the Twitter office! How exciting!”

The Bollywood star — whose relentless media exposure seemingly rivals that of Twitter — met fans and chatted with Twitter employees July 14. Twirling a bright blue Chinese parasol in her manicured fingers, Sherawat became the latest celebrity to drop by the Internet phenomenon’s South of Market district office. She is also the first Asian celebrity to get the honor, she said.

Twitter, a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices such as cell phones and desktop computers, allows users to send “tweets,” or messages, of up to 140 characters in length. Boasting millions of users around the world (though the company does not divulge exact numbers), Twitter has become a vital tool for social networking because its uses are so varied — protesters in Iran are using it to mobilize after Iran’s recent contentious election; Mumbai residents used it to check on loved ones after the November 2008 terror attacks; teenagers use it to update their friends on their daily activities, and many celebrities use it to keep in touch with their fans.

“I first got introduced to Twitter during the Mumbai terror attacks last year,” Sherawat told India-West, seated with this reporter inside her limo for a quick one-on-one interview. “When I came to Los Angeles for the post-production of my film ‘Hisss,’ I was missing my fans and that was the hardest part of being in the U.S. I was now able to get in touch with my fans, and that is how I got hooked on Twitter.

“The other thing that I find interesting is with that lots of actors and actresses, our personal life is on the radar. But with Twitter, there’s no fear of being misquoted because it’s all there on record.”

Sherawat has over 6,800 followers tracking her posts as @MallikaLA — twice the number that Aamir Khan has, though not as many as Shah Rukh Khan. “I follow a lot of tweets,” she said, “like MTV and Aamir Khan.”

“I’m really blessed because they’re crediting me for bringing Twitter to India,” said Sherawat.

“India is number five on my list of followers. India is pretty new as far as Twitter is concerned, though the fan base is increasing rapidly as more and more people become aware of it.” News reports state that the site is in the Top 15 Web sites in India, where many users tweet about cricket and movies.

“Hisss” is a modern take on the nagin (snake) legend. Directed by Jennifer Lynch and produced by Govind Menon, the horror-drama will screen for distributors at the American Film Market in Los Angeles in November and will have its premiere at the 2010 Sundance film festival, said Menon.

“From the kissing queen of Bollywood to the Tweeting queen of Hollywood,” quipped Sherawat.

Sherawat is also at work on a new American film in which she will play a character based on Kamala Devi Harris, San Francisco’s Attorney General. Harris’s mother is from India and her father is African American.

“My character, Aretha Gupta, is inspired in part by Kamala Harris,” Sherawat told India-West.” I’m going to be shadowing her and following her, and spending a lot of time with her. Beyond that I am not supposed to say anything more.”

The petite actress, who wore a tight, gray knit dress from Anita Dongre, sheer black stockings, and heels to the Twitter office, says she keeps her looks in top shape by being adamant about clean living.

“I’m totally a vegan and a lot into raw foods. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, and I do a lot of yoga,” Sherawat told India-West. “I trained with Baba Ramdev and other masters. There’s not one thing I stick to — sometimes I do hatha yoga, sometimes Iyengar, sometimes what Baba Ramdev taught me, sometimes [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s] Kriya yoga. A lot of pranayam, and sticking to a vegetarian diet, and leading a very disciplined life is the secret — I go to bed by 9:30 and I wake up by 5:30.”

“Hisss” producer Govind Menon was also on hand at the event to crack a coconut at the office entrance. “This is for the success of Twitter, for the success of ‘Hisss,’ and for the success of all of you here,” said Sherawat.

Sherawat signed autographs for a couple of dozen fans who had congregated outside Twitter’s office on Bryant Street.

“We really like her,” said Ekta Lodhia, 14, and Jashwi Lodhia, 15, of Sacramento. The girls’ favorite Sherawat film is “Welcome.”

Husain Sumra, 22, of Belmont, Calif., said he appreciates the way Sherawat communicates with her fans. “I’ve met Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai at a show, but meeting her here seems more personal.”

“I’m a fan, but I also work here in the building,” said Honal Shah, who cited “Murder” as his favorite Sherawat film. “I just hope she’s not going to tweet that she’s getting married.”

Follow India-West on Twitter at http://twitter.com/IndiaWest, or Lisa Tsering at http://twitter.com/LisaTsering.

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Diana Hayden and Shriya saran atgreepeace event

Akshay treats me like baby says Katrina

Bollywood News : After doing half-a-dozen films with her including super hits like Namastey London, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng, Akshay Kumar knows everything there is to know about Katrina Kaif.

Especially that she has delicate health and if kept under water for a few hours, she is bound to fall ill.
The duo are currently singing in the rain at a Mumbai studio for Priyadarshan’s De Dana Dan. Akshay, dressed in a thin kurta, and Katrina wrapped in a sexy chiffon sari with a strappy blouse.

But the body heat generated from their steamy togetherness was not enough to keep the actress warm. And Katrina sat in a chair after the first shot, shivering, her teeth chattering, the drenched sari doing nothing to help.

Retakes in the rain followed, one too many, and that’s when Akshay Kumar sprang into action. He first ran around the set making sure the air-conditioners were switched off. And then requested Priyan and choreographer Pony Varma to “please look out for Katrina’’ because from past experience, he knew if she stayed wet for too long, she would be down with a fever the next day.
The chivalrous actor then ordered two huge Turkish bath towels, wrapped his heroine in one, himself in the other. “God, he treats me like a baby,’’ muttered Katrina. Something she knew before, but now we know too.