>I really dont know when I will get married: Mona Singh

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She is one of the most sought after anchors at award functions now, but actress Mona Singh admits nothing can surpass the success of her debut show “Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin” – which is why she consciously stays away from fiction content on television.

“It has been a conscious decision to avoid taking up a daily soap. I think nothing can be bigger and better than my role in ‘Jassi…’ in terms of fiction content. Besides, people will still relate to me as Jassi, which will not be in the interest of any new character that I play in a TV show,” said Mona who will turn 31 this year.

The actress, who became a household name in India after playing the desi “Ugly Betty” on the idiot box during 2003-2006, also has other reasons to avoid fiction shows.

“Actors who are a part of daily soaps have no personal life or time to do anything. I don’t want to be in such a situation…so I am happy with whatever I am doing. Also, these days all the shows are about the rural set- up…I really don’t think I look like a ‘gareeb farmer ki beti (poor farmer’s daughter)’ and so there’s not much that I can really think of doing,” she added.

However, she enjoys every bit of anchoring and hosting reality shows on the tube.

“Anchoring is not something I always knew…but what I enjoy most about it is that I get to be me. I love cracking jokes, I love chitchatting and pulling people’s leg…and all that I get to do when I am hosting a show. So, yes, I love it because I love being myself,” said Mona, whose real identity was kept under wraps for quite some time during the run of “Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin”.

While she is already hosting Sony TV’s “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4”, Mona has become a co-host of Imagine TV’s latest reality show “Shaadi 3 Crore Ki”, which started Monday.

The show is unique as it gives a middle class family a whopping Rs.30 million to celebrate a wedding much beyond their wildest imagination. Mona, who will be anchoring it along with actor Ali Asgar, is quite excited about being part of the show and revelling in the run-up to the big, fat, traditional Punjabi wedding!

“This is exciting because we are going to be shooting out of the studios and here in Delhi. What’s more exciting is that it’s not really going to be like hosting a show literally. I am going to represent the girl’s side, I am going to be like a family member involved in all the preparations…so there are no scripted lines…it’s all natural,” said Mona, who was here for the launch of the show.

Even if she is getting a different high by thinking about the lavish ways in which Rs.30 million can be spent on a middle class family wedding, marriage is still a far-fetched thought for Mona.

“I really don’t know when I will get married…It will happen some time though, I hope!” she said, bursting into her typical laughter.

So what would Mona do if she were given Rs.30 million to splurge on her wedding? “I would not think normal!” she exclaimed instantly.

“I would get a limited-edition designer lehenga, my anklet would not be silver or gold…it will be of diamonds! Then I would probably hire a cruise to get married in style in the middle of the sea, and would want my husband to come in a chopper – I would basically go completely out-of-the-box for my wedding!” she added.

Mona, who once dated her ‘Jassi…’ co-star Karan Oberoi, said: “Of course, I want to get married, but I don’t know when.”

Never mind if, in a red and white sari with traditional earrings, Mona looked like the perfect prospective bride, waiting for Mr. Right!

>Rani Mukerji pledged her support for a cause

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Rani Mukerji pledged her support and contribution towards awareness and treatment of strokes at an event hosted by the Indian Stroke Association (ISA).

The star has set up the Rani Mukerji Stroke Treatment Fund in collaboration with ISA which will be used for treatment of 25 stroke patients who cannot afford the treatment.

>LiLo will have no shortage of job offers post rehab stint

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Washington, Nov 28 (ANI): Lindsay Lohan, who is currently undergoing a rehab stint, has been inundated with scripts in recent months.

The Mean Girls star is currently serving out a three-month court-ordered stay at California’s Betty Ford Clinic and she will continue to receive treatment at the facility until January next year.

Though she might have a lot of offers in future, the recent trip to rehab has cost her a role in ‘Inferno’, an upcoming biopic of porn star Linda Lovelace, with director Matthew Wilder insisting that Lohan’s personal problems made it ‘impossible’ to secure insurance.

Her producer pal, Ethan Terra – who co-owns a production company with Lohan’s mother Dina – has stated the star will not have any troubles getting back to work once she is released.

“It’s not fair in any way, shape, or form for those reports to be out there. Lindsay is 100 per cent insurable, all she had to do was put up a fee as a bond then she would have been paid upon completion. I could insure her today. She was definitely not fired,” Contactmusic quoted him as telling Fox News.

“Lindsay has absolutely no qualms about getting work. She literally has a mountain pile of scripts to choose from. When she is ready, we’d like to see her take on a positive role; she is doing so amazingly well with her recovery,” he added. (ANI)

>Bollywood gets Xmassy – This is how hotties will celebrate the big day!

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‘Tis the season to be jolly. Christmas spells Santa’s gifts, mistletoe kisses and togetherness. And B-Town folks, like every year, ring in the yuletide in their own way. Here’s a look at what the stars are doing for X’Mas…

Kareena Kapoor
The star will celebrate it in style by having roast turkey and Yorkshire pudding for lunch on Christmas Day with beau Saif Ali Khan, mother Babita, sister Karisma, niece Samaira and nephew Kiaan.

Says Bebo, “Christmas is always a very special occasion for me. I take the day off and spend it with my family. We attend midnight mass at St Andrew’s Church in Bandra.”

The actress is using the same Christmas tree that she had shipped from Harrod’s in London last year. Saif will be putting up all the Christmas decorations.

They don’t throw away their Christmas fir trees but preserve them for three years.

This year, Samaira has put in a special request under her Christmas tree. She wants Kareena to give her a doctor’s set and the aunt has already got it for her!

Katrina Kaif
She normally travels to London to be with her sisters and mother for the festivities. But this year, it will be a working Christmas. Apart from shooting for an ad, Kat will also be busy with the promotional work of Tees Maar Khan as well as the shoot of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.

The Dutts
The couple will celebrate Christmas with Sanju’s sister Priya Dutt and her husband Owen Roncon at their Bandra home. Joining them in the festivities will be sister Namrata and hubby Kumar Gaurav. Incidentally, the Dutts celebrate all festivals.

Malaika Arora Khan
Malaika and her sister Amrita Arora Ladhak celebrate Christmas with their mother Joyce. Munni has taken four days off from her Jhalak Dikkla Jaa commitments. They begin with a Christmas dinner followed by midnight mass at St Andrew’s church in Bandra. On X’Mas Day, a sumptuous lunch is lined up at their mother’s home.

Lara Dutta
The actress is completing all her work and will spend Christmas with her family in Bangalore.

Anil/Sonam Kapoor
Anil and Sonam (she’s got a day off from Pankaj Kapur’s Mausam) will celebrate his birthday along with Christmas at their Juhu bungalow with the entire Kapoor khandaan which includes Boney and Sridevi, Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor and their children.

Kangna Ranaut
It’s a white Christmas for her as she is in New York shooting for Happy New Year.

Shilpa Shetty
The actress is in London with her family and husband Raj Kundra celebrating Christmas at Raj’s Yorkshire manor.

Bunty Walia
The producer loves to soak in the festivities and has erected a huge Christmas tree at his home.

Eesha Koppikhar
Last Christmas, Eesha and hubby Timmy Narang were travelling but this time, she is celebrating Christmas at her in-laws’ place. The actress personally decorated the tree and her mother-in-law loved it.

>Revealed: A Twitter picture that got Bipasha in trouble

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Bipasha Basu posts pic of little girls tying her shoelaces on Twitter. The pic has met with overwhelming outrage.

PS: Basu says of the girls in question, one’s a sister, the other a friend. But who’s buying it?

There is outrage over a snapshot Bipasha Basu posted on her micro-blogging site on Monday.

The actress displayed a picture of her feet with two young girls bending over to tie her shoelaces.

She wrote, “I need to learn to tie shoe laces ASAP! Embarassed that I can’t! No patience.. grrrrr! Promise I am not spoilt! Will learn soon, ” and tagged it with the picture.

This was followed by a barrage of comments about child labour.

Under fire, Bips hastily deleted the tweet but forgot to erase the picture as well. It was only later that the photo went missing from her micro-blogging site.

The picture posted on Twitter that got Bipasha in trouble

‘Sorry y’all!’

She later tweeted, “Well the people helping me in the pix are my friend and sister, who I help often with the same! So am sorry if it hurt anyone’s sentiments!”

But since when did Bips have such a small girl as her sister. She has two sisters who are grown-up ” Bijoyeeta is married with a kid while the other Bidisha is studying abroad.

Bipasha with sisters Bijoyeeta and Bidisha

What the Child Labour act says

Bipasha Basu could face serious charges. The Indian Child Labour act says law breakers could face one month to 12 months in jail. According to Article 24 of the Indian constitution, “No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work.”

Law breakers punishment (Section-14)
(1) Rs. 10, 000/- to Rs. 20, 000/- fine and
(2) One month to 12 month jail.

The responses that Bipasha’s snap evoked…
“No child labour.”
“Are they two kids ? I think it’s child labour??”
“Awww..didn’t expect this from you people follow you for ur good work”
“Oh God, people should just chill out. Like you guys wouldn’t do her laces! I god damn would! Lol.”
“Look at those children. You should be shameful for supporting her”
“What are you trying to tell us from this. I never thought you were such a….I admired you I should slap myself”
“What the f**k is this….having money is not the thing you… you should hav common sense.”
“OMG !!!!!!”
“Bipasha should be arrested for this act. Only then these film studios will not do any child labour”
“Disgraceful Bips…. cannot believe you are dumb enough to add this photo on Twitter!”
“Miss Basu it looks like child labour even though I suppose not..”
“Inform the child labour protection act?… LOL, I guess Bips went to school on slippers”
“This is how we treat fellow Indians. Shame on you Bipasha. Unfollowed you shameless!”

What Big B said…
When someone tweeted the Bipasha Basu pic to Amitabh Bachchan. This is what the Big B had to say: @Bharat_Hyd and why would you assume that these are a film stars feet..!!

Paris, too
A while back Paris Hilton was also involved in a similar situation when she had put up a tweet pic of a young girl massaging her legs. After an uproar, she had apologised.

The Other Side

What Bipasha says…
“The picture was taken at my home. The pair of boots are a difficult pair so my sister and my friend were helping me and I thought it looked damn funny and took the picture as a joke!

Don’t we girls help each other while getting ready with dress, make up, hair shoes etc? Is it something new or unheard of? A picture put for fun and humour got picked up by people as ‘child labour’ is absolutely unbelievable.

Just so that all get it right: neither of the two are children. Also ‘child labour’ is a serious issue that can’t be used in such a light connotation. I wish that the ones who created such a furore and reacted immediately, actually do something worthy against child labour.”

>Playboy covergirl Candice makes Bollywood debut

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Playboy covergirl Candice Boucher will make her Bollywood debut as a sand artist in director Prashant Chadha’s “Aazaan”.

Acclaimed sand artist Alexandra Konofalskaya was flown down from Belarus to train Candice for her role.

“I never imagined myself in a Bollywood film but now I’m looking forward to its premiere. I love your country and I want to see a lot of India, ” she said in a press statement.

“Aazaan” is an international espionage film about an informant who has to go undercover beyond enemy lines to save the nation from destruction by biological warfare.

“While scripting the film, I felt that Candice would make the perfect mystery miss. Given that she’s a Playboy covergirl, the instant connect is, ‘She must be hot.’ She is but there’s also a certain vulnerability that makes her more appealing, ” said Chadha, who made his directorial debut with Himesh Reshammiyaa starrer “Aap Ka Surroor”.

>Bollywood is having fun at Rahat Ali Khans expense

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Pakistani musician and friend of beleaguered Sufi singer speaks out in his support

IT has not been an easy time for Ustad Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Barely out of detention after being caught with unaccounted money at the Delhi airport, his future in India remains uncertain.

While the Paki-bashers in Bollywood such as singer Abhijit Bhattacharya are having a field day, a small but strong and stout solidarity for the beleaguered Sufi singer has come up.

One of Rahat’s supporters, a Pakistani singer, who frequently records songs in Mumbai, spoke in defence of Rahat on condition of anonymity.

“We can see how much fun some of the out-of-work frustrated musicians in Bollywood are having at poor Rahat’s expense.

No one is showing support. He has broken a foreign-exchange rule, but to insinuate that he is a spy or involved in a hawala scam is just spiteful and mean.

Has anyone bothered to find out why Rahat’s financial transaction in India is done in cash? The truth is that we Pakistani artistes are not allowed to open any bank account on Indian soil.

That’s right! People of any nationality are allowed to have a bank account in India but us, Pakistanis.

“It took Adnan Sami several years to establish bank services for his money in India. And after a decade in India he still can’t own property!

Why must we pay the price of the political hostility between the two countries? We don’t hate Indians and they don’t hate us. Barring an Abhijit or an Aadesh Shrivastava we aren’t hated in the music industry either, ” he observed.

The musician known for his dulcet ditties that make the girls swoon said: “Whether it is Adnan or Rahat or Ali Zafar, we go to India to record because we are wanted there.

No filmmaker in Mumbai invites us to sing because they feel sorry for our lack of opportunities here, or because they want to improve Indo-Pak relations. We are called to sing in India because our voices are liked. No one is doing us a favour.”

“Why isn’t Abhijit Bhattacharya getting any work? Does he blame Pakistani singers for taking away his work? I guess he needs a scapegoat.

And please ask him if he hates the presence of Pakistanis in the industry, then what was he doing performing at a wedding in Karachi some time ago?” he added.

This singer from across the border feels Indian laws that isolate and earmark Pakistanis should be revised. “At the moment there are two categories of foreigners in India.

The Pakistanis and the rest. That has to change. We are not in India to spy. We are in India to sing.”

>What Will ‘Wife Bina Life’ Make The Husbands Do On Television?

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The Indian version of the Canadian television hit The woman went WeekThe is all set to make his debut on the small screen.TitledWife Bina Life, the show will explore the house leadership qualities of a man whose wife has some time off from her daily household chores. The show will be shot in Pune and will span more than 16 episodes. It will be hosted by Cyrus Sahukar and Mini Mathur, the anchors we have loved to love. 10 real life couples will participate in the show. Bina Women’s Life will also pep celebrity couples as guests of the show and pull its TRP. The show will confirm the truth that men do not know their home as their wives do. What the men do on thekitchen and how they manage their children while their wives suddenly goes missing for viewers to see. The spouses of the family, without a helping hand. The Canadian show has two successful seasons in 2008 and 2009. Bina Women’s Life Will be jointly produced by Star Plus and BBC Worldwide Entertainment. The Senior Creative Director of Star Plus, Monica Shergill said it was a “bit of life show” and it will be against the “gender stereotypes”. The purpose of the show is the bond between husband and wife to strengthen by making the former aware of the responsibilities and the importance of the later. We thank Star Plus to take the mammoth task of making the spouses realize the true meaning of the word wife.

>Yet another lip lock from Hrithik Roshan

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Who can ever forget the sensuous lip lock between Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan in ‘Dhoom 2’? Now, the history is going to repeat itself with much more passion it seems.

Much is being said about Hrithik’s chemistry with hot actress Barbara Mori amidst the shooting of ‘Kites’. Now the bonding is getting better each day for this The Mexican bombshell has gotten so comfortable working with Hrithik, director Anurag Basu and producer Rakesh Roshan , that she has been giving suggestions to make certain scenes look better. As a result what was initially planned as just a peck on the cheek was modified into a full-blown smooch after actress Barbara Mori insisted.

The scene we are talking about has Hrithik and Barbara jumping from a great height. Before the deadly jump, Hrithik was supposed to kiss Barbara on her cheek. It was a crucial kiss, but Barbara felt a smooch would look better, considering the chemistry between the lead characters in the film.

After some deliberation, Barbara’s suggestion has been incorporated into the scene. And instead of a kiss, Hrithik smooched her before the two did the stunt. What say Papa Roshan?

>Bipasha Basu as a Maratha warrior in Hollywood flick ‘Singularity’

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Bipasha Basu is known for her toned body and appeal but the lass is out there to prove her acting skills with her first international film ‘Singularity’ with Hollywood hunk Josh Harnett . Bips plays a Maratha warrior in the film named Tulaja and will be seen in a de-glam look with simple jewellery. Directed by Roland Joffe, the movie is an action film and also has Abhay Deol in a pivotal role.

Bipasha reveals the storyline of the film saying, “I play a Maratha warrior as the film is set in the backdrop of the Anglo-Maratha war. It’s about the romance between Tulaja and James Stewart, which is played by Josh Hartnett, who plays a British soldier. There are two time zones that are present in the film. Also, there is a little bit of metaphysics involved. Overall, it’s a very dynamic and an interesting love story.”

The 33 million dollar flick will also have scenes from India and also stars Olga Kurylenko, Star Trek star Chris Pine, Christopher Egan, Shane Briant, Abhay Deol and Claire van der Boom.

Check out the stills from the movie………..