Katrina Kiaf's presence makes my movies blockbuster: Akshay Kumar

Mumbai: It's been a long time since the beautiful Katrina Kaif has been a lucky charm for sturdy actor Akshay Kumar.

In a recent interview with a leading daily Akki revealed that Katrina has been really lucky for him.

Akshay Kumar said, "Katrina and I have together given a number of hits and she has really been a boon to my Bollywood career. She is really talented and of course I have enjoyed every bit of working with her."

It's quite obvious that Katrina has been a boon for everyone she has worked with, may be it's because of the lady's love for her fans or her fans' love for her.

Here's what to expect from Khatron Ke Khiladi tonight

Kathron Ke Khiladi Level 2 kicks off today. And the action returns to Cape Town, South Africa once again.

The 13 female celebrities include a mix of leggy models, sexy singers, a tough wrestler, beautiful anchors and hot television actors. Each celebrity has a commoner as her partner, unlike last year where they were paired with army officers.

Kathron Ke Khiladi had a sneak preview last weekend, and we tell you what to expect from today's show.

The first stunt sees the women being blind-folded and brought to Hout Bay harbour. They have to walk on a long reclined platform and unhook small flags, even as a strong wind (as much as 100 miles per hour) tries to blow them over and they get sprayed with water.

The stunt is not easy as it sounds, and most contestants managed to unhook only four to six flags. Only two contestants -- Jesse Randhwa and Shveta Salve [ Images ] -- managed to unhook eight flags. Sonika Kaliraman cut her chin and required stitches in her attempt to do the stunt.

The second task required the girls to sit in an enclosed glass box. Their partners had to pick up earthworms from a bowl with their mouths and spit them out in a box. The pair who took the longest time to transfer the worms was evicted.

As host Akshay Kumar [ Images ] reminded the contestants -- 'jo dar gaya woh ghar gaya' -- they had to try their best. But Shonali Nagrani and her partner were evicted from the show.

Shveta Salve was exempt from performing the second task, as she received a safety band for doing so well in the previous task.

The new season promises to have twice the excitement with scarier and more dangerous stunts than the first. The girls will be seen battling real crocodiles and snakes and jumping off planes. This season will also see Akshay performing stunts, like swimming with sharks and more.

Akshay takes good care of Deepika!

He not only made sure Deepika was looked after, but also persuaded her to stay away from shooting.

While Deepika was resting, alternative scenes that didn't require her were shot.

"I'm recovering. I was bedridden for three days. And yes, I did return to the set on Saturday. I had to shoot. But I'm not sure whether it was the wisest of decisions, considering it was malaria," Deepika told IANS from London.

Akshay and Deepika earlier teamed up for "Chandni Chowk To China", which turned out to be a box office dud. But the film's failure hasn't affected their friendship.

"I'm lucky to be surrounded by gallant men. Whether it's my dad, Ranbir (Kapoor), Akshay, Shah Rukh Khan or any of my co-stars, I haven't so far encountered any ill-behaved men," said Deepika whose next release is "Love Aaj Kal".

Directed by Imtiaz Ali, "Love Aaj Kal" hits the screens Friday. And Saif Ali Khan, who plays Deepika's cynical love interest in the romantic saga, also gets high marks from Deepika, though she admits they aren't close friends.

In the movie, Saif plays a guy who doesn't believe in romantic love whereas Deepika is a die-hard romantic both in the film and in real life.

"He (Saif) also believes in love and realises it when he can't do without the girl. So I guess there's a romantic in all of us. It just needs to be tapped. But you need to experience that journey

from disbelief to love, like I have in real life.

"So many times I advice people on their love life. I can always tell the difference between those who understand and don't understand the value of true love," she said.

Kambakkht Ishq Not only is it one of the most offensive, gender-insensitive flicks of late but is also utterly blase and blatant about it

Recently, at a Kambakkht Ishq press conference, Kareena Kapoor staged a walkout when a journo asked her if she would go nude for a film. Her contention was that she "commands respect" and doesn’t need to respond to such distasteful queries. Fair enough. But if she feels so strongly for women’s dignity, what made her accept a sexist film like KI? Not only is it one of the most offensive, gender-insensitive flicks of late but is also utterly blase and blatant about it.

The template is the age-old Taming of the Shrew and Shammi Kapoor variety ’60s romcoms like Junglee to which the Akshay Kumar brand of high stunts and low comedy have been added liberally. In the end, it doesn’t come together well. The war of the sexes, between a Hollywood stuntsman (Akshay) and a model-surgeon (Kareena), is all about calling each other "dog" and "bitch" and shutting each other up with some vigorous kissing.

KI’s target audience is the chauvinist male. So women here are showpieces for their gaze. Some, like Kareena (who models for a living and is a surgeon for some undefined higher cause) and Amrita (Arora) are mere clotheshorses, who display more skin than clothes. They put their best leg forward to give the has-been Bond girl Denise Richards a run for her bikini. Women are insulted throughout, yet the one who ill-treats them (Akshay) corners the sympathy.

Mad comedies are fine. But if sense of humour means slapstick routines of the cake-throwing and farting kind, I’d rather remain forever grim. The only comic scene that clicked was the Hollywood fraternity mistaking "Om mangalam mangalam" chant for India’s national anthem. Obviously, the film has been made for Akshay alone and he valiantly tries to enliven it. Like the sequence where he mumbles on the operating table, calling the nurse "mother" instead of "sister". The much-hyped Hollywood stars, like Stallone, are past their prime or inconsequential (i.e. Routh). Other actors, like Boman Irani and Javed Jaffrey, are mere props.

Katrina foolishly falls into Akshay's arms

Katrina Kaif

is perhaps the most-demanded actress in Bollywood today. She looks pretty on screen with an infectious smile but she is not a beauty with brains if we are to go by her words. She admitted that she made a mistake by foolishly falling into the arms of Akshay Kumar, who was known for his affairs with fellow co-stars at one point of time.

With strings of hits together, Katrina seemed to have developed trust on action king Akshay but she never knew that she would hurt herself in the process. She said that she foolishly bent her back on Akshay's arm while shooting for a song sequence in De Dana Dan and injured her back. He added that she should have warmed up before falling into Akshay's arms.

Katrina has injured her back and reeling in pain but she is not in the mood to disturb the schedule of the film. She is eager to join her family in London after wrapping up De Dana Dan and then go to Italy for a holiday. In spite of the pain, she is taking comfort in Akshay's words that the film would be a hit, as they have given their blood for it.

Well, Katrina still seems to have trust in Akshay