A few days back, there had been news circulating in the media that former beauty queen turned actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is gearing up for a comeback, but shall only take up projects if she is paired opposite hubby Abhishek Bachchan.

However, a spokesperson representing the light-eyed beauty rubbished such rumours and claimed, "A certain section of the media has been wrongly reporting that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan would do films only with her husband in the future. This bit of news has in the past also been circulated during the time Aishwarya was getting married and at other times as well. We would like to state for the record and put an end to any such speculation that this information is incorrect and is a figment of someone's imagination. Its disheartening to see such tactics being employed by people threatened by her position. Aishwarya has been a complete professional and will at no point let personal equations affect the films she acts in."

Aishwarya gave birth to a daughter in November last year and Beti B, as she was named by the media, was later named Aaradhya by the Bachchan family.

Actress Sridevi, who makes her comeback to acting with Gauri Shinde's directorial debut English Vinglish, will be seen playing the role of a woman, who cannot speak English fluently and has self esteem issues because of it in the film.

Recently, a source revealed that the actress agreed to the role as she could identify with the character in the movie. Sridevi fans might remember that the 49 year old, who was born in Tamil Nadu and made her debut as an actress in the South film industry, did not have a good hold on Hindi and as such, had to struggle a lot during her initial few years in Bollywood.

It is being said that when Gauri narrated the story to Sridevi, she got nostalgic about her own days of struggling with an unknown language and was moved by it, which made her agree to act in the film.

Produced by R. Balki, English Vinglish will hit theatres on October 5 this year.

A conman has brought a few creases to Anurag Kashyap's forehead. Apparently, a man named Varun Gupta, is auditioning girls in small towns, claiming that he is casting for Kashyap's upcoming film Bombay Velvet.

When Anurag got to know about this, he immediately posted a warning on his Twitter account and also revealed that he has filed an FIR against the conman. "Avoid a man called Varun Gupta who is auditioning girls apparently for BombayVelvet in smaller towns. he is a con. An FIR has been lodged," tweeted the filmmaker on the micro-blogging site. He also posted the Facebook ID of the fraudster and asked his followers to beware of him.

Anurag, who received rave reviews for his Gangs Of Wasseypur series, is now gearing up for his directorial next 'Bombay Velvet', which will feature Ranbir Kapoor as the male lead.

Sasha Aagha, the daughter of Pakistanti singer-actress Salma Agha, who was gearing up for her Bollywood debut, has reportedly bagged a role in upcoming YRF flick Aurangzeb, which stars Arjun Kapoor.

Sources claim that Sasha will be playing a glamorous role in a striking new look in her debut film opposite Arjun Kapoor, who will be seen in a double role in the film. The film is supposed to be a modern take on 70s blockbuster Trishul and Kapoor will be seen playing the roles, which had been played by Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in the original flick.

Arjun Kapoor, who made his Bollywood debut with Ishaqzaade, will also be seen teaming up with Ranveer Singh for another YRF project Gunday, which will be set in 1970s era Kolkatta.

Kareena Kapoor is mighty excited about her upcoming film Heroine and says that the movie is her most 'special film', up till now. The actress revealed that she's worn over 150 costumes, in the film, which is a record in itself.

Talking to the media at a recently held event, the actress said, "Heroine is my most special film and Madhur Bhandarkar's most ambitious film. We have used over 150 costumes in the film, which I think has never been done before in any Hindi movie."

Team Heroine will auction all 150 costumes, post the release of the movie. When quizzed about the same Kapoor said, "Obviously it's a pleasure to auction all the costumes after the film."

Kapoor will essay the role of a film actress, Mahi Arora, in the movie, which also features Randeep Hooda and Arjun Rampal in the lead roles. Directed by Bhandarkar, Heroine, is expected to release on September 21, 2012.

After playing a director in the Vidya Balan starrer The Dirty Picture, Emraan Hashmi will be seen as a filmmaker again in Raaz 3. However, the actor maintains that this time he is playing a character who is behind the profit and not the art.

At a press interaction, he said, "In The Dirty Picture, I played an artistic director and here I play a 2012 director. My character in Raaz 3 is more contemporary and relatable. He only wants box office success and in The Dirty Picture he had complete contempt for commercial cinema, he used to think that commercial movies are not good. So, both are very different!"

Produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, Raaz 3 is directed by Vikram Bhatt and stars Emraan Hashmi, Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta.

Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh recently finished shooting a schedule of his upcoming film David in record time. The actor, who is currently filming for Bejoy Nambiar's next film after Shaitan, has completed the first schedule in just 16 days.

A source was quoted saying that Neil has just finished shooting probably for the fastest film of his career. The shooting of the film was in Ooty and to everyone's surprise; the schedule was packed up in just a few days' time. The source added that the production house had planned for at least a month's schedule but they finished it in just 16 days.

Neil will soon be leaving for Canada for the last schedule. Apparently, the actor's character is believed to be inspired by the legendary Hollywood actor James Dean's character from the film Rebel Without A Cause. The film also stars Tabu, Monica Dogra and Vikram among others.

In the past, actors like Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi have essayed roles based on dreaded gangster Dawood Ibrahim in films like Company and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and now, it seems that actor Arshad Warsi, known for his comic roles, might soon join the list of such actors too.

Sources claim that Warsi might be seen playing the role of Dawood Ibrahim in Nikhil Advani's film D-Day, which revolves around the adventures of a team of RAW agents, who go on a mission to bring back Dawood from Pakistan to India.

Though Arshad has been approached for the role, it seems that he has not given his nod yet but has asked for time to consider the offer as he is somewhat reluctant about playing such a dark role after becoming famous as 'Circuit' in the 'Munnabhai' series. Incidentally, actor Akshay Kumar will also be seen playing a role based on Dawood in the sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai.

A few days back, poor Ranveer Singh had turned red with embarrassment when a Twitter impostor claimed that Salman Khan's latest flick Ek Tha Tiger was a bore!

May be in an attempt at some damage control, the YRF lad recently claimed that he is a big fan of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Not only this, Singh also revealed that he went with his friends to watch the first day first show of Ek Tha Tiger at a single screen theatre in suburban Juhu. The actor, who made his Bollywood debut with YRF flick Band Baaja Baaraat also expressed his displeasure at the media for reporting about the fake tweets without verifying if the Twitter account was genuine.

Singh, who made quite an impression with his debut flick, will be next seen in Vikramaditya Motwane's Lootera and also in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram Leela.

Prithviraj Kapoor's house in Peshawar, Pakistan will be converted into a museum. Sheikh Amjad Rashid, a film distributor in Pakistan, is seeking permission from the Khyber Pakhtunwala government to renovate the haveli in old Peshawar.

He was recently quoted saying that they are planning to renovate the five-storey home at Dakhi Nalbandi and turn it into a museum. He added that it's a source of pride for their country and they want to preserve it as the haveli is of historical significance. They also plan to invite the Kapoor clan, particularly Ranbir Kapoor, to inaugurate the museum.

Prithviraj Kapoor, the great-grandfather of Ranbir Kapoor, and has starred in films such as Alam Ara, Mughal-E-Azam and Kal Aaj Aur Kal.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor refused to confirm reports that he will be seen opposite Kareena Kapoor in Zoya Akhtar's next film. At a promotional event for his upcoming film Barfi!, he said "Nothing has been confirmed as of now. We are very close friends so we keep talking, but nothing is confirmed."

The actor also added that he would love to direct and produce a film under the RK Films banner, but that he doesn't have the time at the moment. He said, "I have been saying that I want to direct and produce a film. But I am very busy and this is my fault only that I don't have time. I am conscious about it and I really hope that I can make movies soon."

As of now, Ranbir is very excited for his father, Rishi Kapoor's birthday and there are plans to celebrate it in Dubai.

He said, "The full family is going to Dubai for his birthday. We will be leaving on September 3. It's an important event for us in our lives and in my family. We are very excited and we love celebrating his birthday. So we will have a good time."

The actor, turning 30 this September, himself had no big plans for the day.


He will next be seen in Anurag Basu's Barfi!, which also stars Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz.

Even if he has a lot of projects on hand, actor-producer Akshay Kumar makes sure that he takes a break for his family once in a while.

After a month-long holiday with son Aarav during his vacations, the actor is now planning to take another fortnight-long break soon.

Even though his latest film OMG Oh My God! is set to release later this month, Akshay has decided not to step outside Mumbai for promotions between September 10 and September 20.

Considering wife Twinkle Khanna is due with their second child, Akshay wants to be around his wife during the delivery instead of being outside the city.

The actor is currently shooting in Muscat for the sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and is set to return to Mumbai after a week.

After much speculations about which actor would play the role of Sher Khan in Zanjeer Remake, it seems that Sonu Sood, who was initially approached to play the role essayed by Pran in the original flick, is back again in the game!

After Sood, the role was supposed to go to Sanjay Dutt and then Arjun Rampal. However, when Rampal bowed out of the project as his dates were clashing with that of another film by Nikhil Advani, it was reportedly decided that Sood, who was the original choice for the role, should be signed up for the role.

Directed by Apoorva Lakhia, Zanjeer Remake will star Ram Charan Teja as Inspector Vijay Khanna whereas Prakash Raj will be seen playing the role of antagonist Teja. The film also stars Priyanka Chopra and Mahie Gill.

The son of veteran character actor Suresh Oberoi, Vivek Oberoi made his Bollywood debut as the gritty gangster Chandu Nagre in Ram Gopal Varma's Company, where he was pitted against Ajay Devgn.

Vivek's performance got noticed and won him many accolades and he also won the Filmfare Award that year for Best Debut and Best Supporting Actor. Following this, Vivek appeared in many movies like Road, Saathiya and Dum. Oberoi also played the role of Kesu Firangi in Vishal bhardwaj's Omkara, which was a desi adaptation of Othello.

Vivek's another big break came when he played the role of gangster Maya Dolas in Shootout At Lokhandwala, a multi-starrer film starring actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Amrita Singh, to name a few.

Apart from acting, Vivek is quite active when it comes to social causes and has also lent his support to anti-smoking and anti-gutkha campaigns. Oberoi serves as the World Health Organization's anti-tobacco spokesperson and is also involved with several charities in Chennai and Mumbai. His philanthropic activities also include Project Devi, Cancer Patients Aid Association and Banyan, which works towards rehabilitating mentally challenged homeless women.

On 29 October 2010, Oberoi married Priyanka Alva, the daughter of Karnataka minister Jeevaraj Alva in Bangalore and the actor is expected to be a father soon. On the professional side, Oberoi will be seen in films like Kismet Love Paisa Dilli, Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story and Krrish 3, where he will be seen playing the role of an antagonist named Kaal.

On the occasion of his birthday, we at Movie Talkies wish this talented actor a long and prosperous life.

Abhinav Kashyap, who had been gearing up for his second film after Dabangg, is surely gnashing his teeth in frustration, we bet!

Buzz has it that Ranbir Kapoor, who was supposed to be the male lead in Kashyap's film Besharam, has walked out of the project after Viacom 18 decided to not produce it at the last hour. It is also being said that the two had a difference of opinion about Ranbir's fees. Now, it seems that Kashyap might even shelve the project as he is finding it difficult to find producers.

Ranbir Kapoor will be next seen playing the role of a deaf-mute young man named Murphy in Anurag Basu's Barfi!, which also stars Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz.

Before all you readers out there start speculating that Bollywood brat Salman Khan has got in trouble with the law, let us assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. What we are talking about here is the actor's denial to have a biography written about him.

Sources claim that a few days back, when Salman was in a meeting with some writers, they suggested that a book should be written on Salman's life. However, our 'Tiger' immediately shot down the idea as sources close to him claim that the actor doesn't want the details of his life to be open to all.

Salman, who was last seen playing the role of a RAW agent in Kabir Khan's Ek Tha Tiger, will be next seen reprising his role as Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg 2.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor has been a fan of the legendary Charlie Chaplin ever since he was a young boy. Who knew that one day he would be doing a film where he too would be required to communicate in a manner similar to Chaplin during the era of silent films?

Ranbir's grandfather Raj Kapoor's 1951 film Awaara had the legendary actor playing a tramp which took references from Chaplin.

Buzz is that when Anurag Basu offered Ranbir the role of Murphy in Barfi!, Kapoor decided to take a trip to New York to watch a Broadway show titled Chaplin - The Musical to prepare for the role.

Even as a child, Ranbir had seen the show a number of times. Apparently, Ranbir was so keen to learn the mannerisms in detail that he remained in New York for a week, to be able to catch the same show seven days in a row.

Ranbir was quoted saying that although the play was an inspiration, they did not copy or try to replicate anything from the show in the film.

Barfi!, directed by Anurag Basu and starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz, is set to release on September 14.

After several allegations that his forthcoming film Son Of Sardaar hurts religious sentiments, actor-producer Ajay Devgn is set to meet members of the Sikh community and have a screening of the film for them.

The 43-year-old actor would be visiting Amritsar with friend and co-star Sanjay Dutt to meet SPGC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) officials, Sikh lawyers and members of All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF).

The film will be screened during the meeting in Amritsar. On August 27, Karnail Singh, President of All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF), in a letter to Jathedar Akhal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh had requested stern action against Ajay for blasphemous remarks against the community as shown in the official trailer of the film.

It was alleged that the official trailer, released on YouTube, shows the character of a Sikh in bad light and comprises of demeaning dialogues such as "If Sikhs were not there then who would have invented abuses..." and "Without Sardaars, on whom would have jokes been made".

Moreover, Ajay is shown as a turban-wearing Sardar with the tattoo of Hindi God Shiva on his chest, which has also been termed as Anti-Sikh.

Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocate Navkiran Singh had issued a legal notice to the makers of the film on August 16 asking them to delete the objectionable parts within 7 days of receipt of the legal notice. However, actor-producer Ajay Devgn is yet to respond to the notice.

A few days ago, Ajay had issued a statement which said, "At no point anybody will find any element of disrespect. The protagonist of the film is a Sardaar, so the film will showcase a very positive projection of the community. One could just wait for the release and then come up with their comments and opinion."

Let's hope that once SPGC officials watch the film, there will not be any objections. Son Of Sardaar, directed by Ashwni Dhir and starring Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha and Juhi Chawla, is set to release on November 13.

Anurag Basu's Barfi!, featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Ileana D'cruz and Priyanka Chopra, has passed the censor scanner with flying colours. Barfi! Has received a U-Certificate and interestingly it is the filmmaker's first movie, which has not received an A or U/A certificate.

An elated Basu took to Twitter to express his delight, writing, "Just got the censor certificate, 'Burfii' is my first U certificate film.:)."

Barfi! revolves around Ranbir's character Murphy, who is deaf and mute, and his bitter-sweet relationship with two girls Shruti and Jhilmil, played by Ileana and Priyanka, respectively. The entire team is currently on a promotional spree and the film is expected to hit the theaters on September 14, 2012.

How the predictions failed for Joker. It was expected that despite all the murmurs and speculations around the film, its director and the cast, audience won't be impacted to a very huge degree and give at least a fair start to Joker. At the bare minimum, at least a 50% opening was expected. Guess that was expecting a lot since the audience seemed to have made up their mind not to even step into theatres. Leave aside the word of mouthing spreading out - whether negative or positive - there were hardly any footfalls that resulted in the film being labelled as a box office failure by the time Friday came to close.

With an opening of merely 20% (which didn't really show much improvement over the weekend either), Joker continued to be poor all through. After the weekend collections in the range of 15-16 crores, the film doesn't carry many hopes in the rest of the week either. Despite the fact that it managed a solo release for itself and Ek Tha Tiger wasn't a huge competition any more, Joker has proved to be a downer at the box office. Though it is obvious that the film would suffer losses, the only silver lining is that the losses won't be of disastrous proportions since the film hasn't been sold at a very fancy price.

Meanwhile Akshay Kumar has moved on and is already eyeing OMG Oh My God! as his next money-spinner. Sonakshi Sinha has seen a break in her century run but has Son of Sardaar and Dabangg 2 lined up to bring her back in the reckoning rather soon. On the other hand Shirish Kunder could well be taking a short break before announcing his next.

Other releases of the week, I M 24, From Sydney With Love and Jalpari, didn't find any favour whatsoever from the audience. Poor release, negligible show count, abrupt arrival and hardly any mention from those within and outside the industry further proved to be a death knell for these small budget affairs. Each of these is a major commercial failure.