Prakash Jha is touted to direct the remake of Tamil film Ko, and wants younger star Ranbir Kapoor over Akshay Kumar

It was earlier rumoured that hit Tamil Film Ko starring Jeeva is being remade in Bollywood. A li'l birdie informs us that Prakash Jha has been roped in to direct the remake. Akshay Kumar was initially interested to play Jeeva's character in the remake but Jha seems keener to cast Ranbir Kapoor. Well, guess that's Akshay's bad luck. Ko, based on Russell Crowe's State of Play and received huge acclaim in the south and Jha intends to cash in on the adulation it got. The original director of Ko, KV Anand was also of the opinion that Ranbir or Shahid Kapoor would be a better choice for Jeeva's role of a photojournalist in the remake. Ajmal who donned the character of the scheming Vasanthan Perumal in the Tamil version hopes to reprise his role in Hindi as well. And Karthika Nair who played the female lead will be maintained in the Aarakshan director's version. While it's not confirmed who will finally take on the lead role but with Jha helming the project we can expect a few controversies and objections making the headlines soon. In all this we wonder what Akshay's reaction to the whole thing is. Any comments, Akki?

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Sikander Kher. (Express Photo) Sikandar Kher, son of veteran actors Anupam and Kirron Kher, who is three-films-old, says he is struggling to make a name for himself in the industry.

So far, Sikandar's ride in B-town has not been smooth. All his films-- 'Summer 2007', 'Woodstock Villa' and 'Khele Hum Jee Jaan Sey' failed to garner attention at the box-office. Despite back-to-back failures, Sikander dreams to be a successful actor in the tinsel town.

"Not many people know me today, because the films that I did...did not do well. May be, when I deliver a hit film they will know me. First, let the audience know me, let me get recognised, let them know what work I am doing or will be doing. It will happen slowly and gradually. As of now, there is no market for Sikander Kher," said Sikander.

"But it is feasible and I am here to give my best. The important thing is you want the audience to love you...so you are always in search of a good character...good film," he said.

Sikandar began his acting career in 2008 with Sanjay Gupta and Ekta Kapoor's 'Woodstock Villa', a musical-thriller, featuring newcomers Sikandar, Neha Oberoi and Arbaaz Khan. The sank without a trace at the box office.

Another release in the same year was 'Summer 2007', directed by the debutant Suhail Tatari. The film revolved around five medical students, who experience a rude awakening after visiting a Maharashtrian village and witnessing the misfortune of villagers.

The film which starred Sikandar, Gul Panag, Yuvika Chaudhary, Arjan Bajwa, also failed at the box office.

Even Ashutosh Gowariker's patriotic bio-pic 'Khele Hum Jee Jaan Sey' (2010), based on the Chittagong uprising of 1930 did not give any boost to Sikandar's acting career.

But the actor does not ponder over his failures and seems charged up for his forthcoming films. He is all looking forward to his soon-to-be released film 'Players', an official remake of 2003 Hollywood crime film, 'The Italian Job'.

In Abbas-Mustan's action thriller, Sikander plays one of the pivotal roles alongside Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Bobby Deol, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Omi Vaidya.

Ask Sikandar if he is conscious of the banner before signing up the film, and he says, "I take up any role on the basis of script, character and who is producing it. A banner does count as it does make a difference. Also, I go with my gut feeling."

However, in case of 'Players' it was not just the banner per se, but it was his desire to work with Abbas-Mustan.

"I have grown up watching their (Abbas-Mustan) films. It was great working with them. For action-thrillers, the kind of gripping that one requires...they are superb in that area. Every film of theirs is interesting to watch, as they keep you engrossed. The kind of movies they make are different from what we see in Bollywood," Sikander said.

"'Players' is true to the duo's style of cinema. Besides, I also liked the character that I play in the film. I play a Muslim Pakistani, named Bilal. It is an interesting intense role. I think, it is one of my best performances till date," he said.

The film releases this Friday.

The stars of 'Housefull 2'. (Bollywood Hungama) B-town filmmakers will be taking their hit franchises to the big screen as Bollywood prepares to release more than a dozen sequels this year.

The month of April is likely to see sequels like -- Sajid Khan's 'Housefull 2', Ekta Kapoor's 'Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum' and Mahesh Bhatt's 'Jannat 2'.

'Housefull 2' a comedy film directed by Sajid Khan, is the sequel to the 2010 movie of the same name. The film will star Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Boman Irani and Chunkey Pandey from the original and new additions are Asin Thottumkal, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez and others.

'Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum', an adult-comedy, is a sequel to the 2005 hit. Tusshar Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh will reprise their roles from the previous film, while Neha Sharma and Sara Jane Dias will join them.

Crime thriller 'Bloody Money' is a sequel to the 2008 hit film 'Jannat'. The first part traced the journey of Emraan Hashmi from playing small-time card games to becoming a bookie. The second installment featuring Kunal Khemu and Amrita Puri of 'Aisha' fame, will reportedly, be based on the issue of illegal arms.

Mahesh Bhatt is planning another sequel film for the year. 'Raaz 3' a 3D horror, directed by Vikram Bhatt is scheduled to release in August 2012. The film is a sequel to 'Raaz -- The Mystery Continues' and it features Emraan Hashmi reprising his role from the original, and with new additions to the cast including Bipasha Basu and Jacqueline Fernandez.

Next on the menu would be Abbas-Mustan's action thriller 'Race 2', featuring John

Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor. The film is planned for release in November.

Milan Luthria-Ekta Kapoor combo will also be back with a sequel to their crime-thriller film, 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai'. Reportedly, the film will focus on the rivalry between underworld crime heads Chota Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim. The team has roped in Akshay Kumar for the project.

Salman Khan-Sonakshi Sinha will reprise their roles from the 2010 super-duper hit film 'Dabangg' in the sequel. The film is expected to release around Christmas.

Another sequel lined up is Hrithik Roshan-Priyanka Chopra starrer 'Krrish'. The film will continue the story of Rohit Mehra and his superhero son Krrish. Besides Hrithik and Priyanka, Kangana Ranuat and Vivek Oberoi will be seen in the film.

Abhishek Bachchan-John Abraham will also entertain the audience with their sizzling chemistry in 'Dostana 2'.

Sunny Deol will be back to the action genre with 'Ghayal Returns', a sequel to his 1990 blockbuster film 'Ghayal'.

Sanjay Khanduri's 'Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local' will see a spin-off too. The new film, 'Gyarah Chalis Ki Last Metro', will be the fresh cast.

Sanjay Gupta will also be back with another real-life shoot out incident -- 'Shootout at Wadala', a sequel to 'Shootout at Lokhandwala'

Finally, director Aanand Rai will do a follow-up to his 2011 flick 'Tanu Weds Manu while Abhishek Chaubey is returning with 'Dedh Ishqiya', a sequel 2010 hit film 'Ishqiya'.

Vivek Oberoi still took his fee home despite his much-hyped performance at a New Year's Eve bash getting canned at the last minute

Without even having to groove to a single beat of the music, Vivek Oberoi walked away with a cool Rs 80 lakh cheque from the organisers of a New Year's Eve bash that the actor was supposed to perform at.

Over 2, 000 people had gathered at the Country Club in Andheri to see Vivek in action. But with cops stalling the party, the audience returned home disappointed.

Says an eyewitness, "Vivek had rehearsed for his show all day on December 30 and he was at the venue with his dance troupe by 3.30 pm on the 31st.

The show was supposed to start around 9 pm, but the cops barged in claiming that the club hadn't acquired necessary permissions." The actor, however, got his fee that was promised to him, anyway.

The crowds were irked when they realised that the actor wouldn't be performing and their New Year plans and the cost of the tickets had gone for a toss.

The South actor was seen recently cosying up to longtime sweetheart Trisha

Back home in Mumbai, Rana Daggubati and Bipasha Basu may have been tagged as a couple, with both of them party hopping together and the South star even offering a shoulder to Bips to cry on, after her split with John Abraham.

But in Goa, Rana painted a very different picture, as he was spotted cosying up to long-time girlfriend and South actress Trisha, as they both attended the Sunburn music festival.

Says an eyewitness, "Rana and Trisha were hanging out at the family lounge at the venue and looked like they were having the time of their lives."

However, he made sure none of the photographers got a chance to take snaps of them together. Adds the eyewitness, "They both were pretty high."

In an earlier interview to Mid Day, Bipasha had said, "Rana is a very sweet guy. But I won't say I am dating anyone right now. I'm just getting to know them." She who was supposed to attend the music festival, backed out at the last minute and we can only wonder why.

Courtesy: Mid-Day.com

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Actress Pooja Bedi says she has been asked to refrain from attending the grand finale of Colors' reality show "Bigg Boss 5", in which she was a participant.

"Have been informed by channel that I'm not to attend finale, despite it being mandatory in my contract! Wonder why! Any guesses?" Pooja posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

"Have asked channel to state reason I cannot be there at finale to cheer my friends on! Also, till yesterday I was to do a medley! What changed?" she added.

The actress, daughter of veteran actor Kabir Bedi and Odissi exponent Protima Gauri Bedi, caught limelight for endorsing Kama Sutra in the 1990s, and she went on to be popular for her Marilyn Monroe skirt act in "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander".

Pooja entered the "Bigg Boss 5" house Oct 2, 2011, and she was evicted towards the end of November.

Recently, the 41-year-old was in spotlight for her comments against "Bigg Boss 5" host Salman Khan, as she felt he hurt her fellow inmate and friend, Akashdeep Saigal aka Sky.

It is believed that perhaps her comments didn't go down too well with Salman.

However, in a host of replies to tweets from her fans, Pooja posted: "Never said anything derogatory about channel or production house! And its my perogative to react to contestants or host of my show. If anchors can be unfair or awful to contestants, contestants have a right to speak up in their or their friends defence!"

Bipasha Basu refused to let herself out of a storeroom at an event unless she was provided with a bigger security cover

An otherwise hassle-free actress, Bipasha Basu recently threw a tantrum at an event in Bangalore where she refused to come out of a storeroom after spotting a huge crowd of fans waiting outside.

Bips is generally quite a sport when it comes to interacting with people and meeting commitments during public events.

But this time, at the launch of a jewellery store, the actress got paranoid when she spotted a sea of people who had thronged the venue.

The actress then locked herself up in a storeroom and refused to step out unless she was provided with 20 extra bouncers.

Says an eye-witness, "Bipasha was visiting one of her favourite jewellery stores, so initially she was quite excited about the whole event. But when she saw the kind of crowd that had arrived to get a glimpse of her, she got a little paranoid."

Adds the source, "There were 25 bouncers at the venue already and the event was running late. But the actress absolutely refused to step out unless they arranged for more security, which obviously put the organisers in bit of a jam."

The event was not just delayed but even cut short. The organisers apparently were quite helpless and could do little but provide her with what she wanted.

"The event venue wasn't that big and nobody really anticipated such crowds. Thankfully, by the end of it, all things were sorted, " concludes our source.

Courtesy: Mid-Day.com

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By: Bollywood Mantra Staff on 03rd January 2012
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With the beginning of New Year, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has unveiled the poster of 'Rowdy Rathore'. The poster is of different style, it is a hand painting portrait of Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha.

There is an interesting story behind the poster which was revealed by a unit member, "Four painters were hired for the job and they all worked simultaneously and presented four versions, all of which will be unveiled in due course of time", informs a unit member.

The poster has a look of 80's. Akshay Kumar who is returning to action after series of comedies is happy with the outcome of the painting. "The looks being unveiled are keeping the action theme and the attitude of Rowdy Rathore in mind," says Kumar.

Directed by Prabhu Deva, the film is slated for June 15, 2012 release.

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Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan's daughter who is christened 'Beti B' will soon have a name. The official announcement of the name will be made after Makar Sankranti, post the Kharwas period.

It is believed that the name will start with alphabets 'AA'. After a lot of search, three names were finally decided by close family members and close friends of the Bachchan family and the final word out of those three names will be of the mom, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

It is believed that there will be a grand naming celebration on January 15, Makar Sankranti. Fans highly waited for 'Beti B''s picture on New Year but the Bachchans disappointed them and now they are waiting for January 15 when the Bachchan will make an official announcement of the name.

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Salman Khan has developed a liking for Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone. He was so impressed with Sunny's instinct in 'Bigg Boss' that he expressed his desire to cast Sunny in his next film, 'Sher Khan'. He wants to replace Angela Johnson with Sunny Leone.

It is not only Salman who has expressed his liking for Sunny. Even Sunny expressed her desire to date the 'Dabangg' star. She said, "I would love to date Salman Khan."

When asked if she would like to date anyone from the house, she says, "I don

If we remember earlier Jacqueline Fernandez had reservations locking lips with Hrithik Roshan in 'Krrish 3' but now it seems Jacqueline had a change of mind. She is ready to smooch and get cozy with John in Abbas-Mustan 'Race 2'.

A source close to the film informed, "Jacqueline will be playing John Abraham's love interest in Abbas-Mustan's Race 2. She is going to shoot for an intimate lip-lock scene with John soon."

When filmmaker Rakesh Roshan went to Jacqueline and offer her 'Krrish 3' and informed her that the film demands her to smooch Hrithik, Jacqueline after consulting with her boyfriend Sajid Khan refused. Sources claim that Sajid who is a good friend of John has given his permission to get cozy with John.

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