Aishwarya at Oprah again!

Bollywood's first bahu and the international icon Aishwarya Rai not only rules Indian hearts but also hearts abroad. Her next move proves it. She has appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show yet again. This is one of the most prestigious talk shows in the world.

The stunning actress had already appeared on the show in a sizzling sari before her marriage in February 2007. And now the Bollywood hottie is making a second appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, with hubby Abhishek Bachchan.

Reportedly, they had flown to the United States last week to shoot for an episode on Oprah.

So Ash, is it an image building exercise?

Bollywood newcomers prefer good scripts over big banners

Teenage pregnancy, terrorism, an out-and-out actioner or a spooky jungle thriller-Bollywood newcomers like Shruthi Haasan, Ruslaan Mumtaaz and Arunoday Singh are opting for different themes and strong scripts rather than being lured by big banners and typical potboilers.

Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruthi chose an unconventional debut in Luck, a hardcore action film.

"I've never understood what is or is not commercial. I chose Luck because I loved the concept. I'm glad I was a part of it. I chose a script that excited me and I will continue to do so-whatever the genre may be," 23-year-old Shruthi told IANS.

Similar is the case with Arunoday Singh, grandson of Congress veteran Arjun Singh. Arunoday is making his entry into Bollywood with Piyush Jha's Sikandar and he plays a militant. Set in Kashmir, the film is slated to hit screens Aug 21.

The budding actor says he can't fathom the need for a marked difference between commercial and non-commercial cinema in Bollywood.

"I don't know why there is an understanding here that films with a serious subject are inherently better than typical masala films. It's not like that.

If the story and the script of a film are interesting-that's all that matters," said Arunoday, who had been living abroad for nine years.

He says doing a film like Sikandar, which has terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir as its backdrop, was not at all a deliberate effort to do something out of the box.

"I've just arrived in Bollywood. It's not like I had to choose a certain role. I was keen to just work and didn't think it was practical to wait for someone to launch me. I had economic reasons to get work as well.

"But when I heard what Piyush (Jha) wrote for 'Sikandar', I really liked it.

It is a very strong script and that's why I'm proud and grateful to have been cast in the film. The film is not preachy-it doesn't give a biased view on terrorism," said Arunoday.

While Shruthi and Arunoday made a conscious choice of doing 'script-based' roles, Ruslaan just happened to be roped in for Teree Sang, Satish Kaushik's take on teenage pregnancy.

"My first movie Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar was not a commercial one and I wanted my second project to be a commercial one. When I was approached by Satish Kaushik for Teree Sang, I gave my nod, thinking his films are always commercial in theme and presentation. But after reading the script, I realised it was not. But I'm glad I did it," Ruslaan said.

"The film just has a non-commercial theme, teenage pregnancy, interspersed with a love story. It has turned out to be a great learning experience for me and I've grown a lot with this role. Ultimately, it's the character that makes you a hero-not always your acting," he said.

Another newcomer to make an unconventional entry is Gautam Rode. He plays a superstar in Ram Gopal Varma's adventure thriller Agyaat, which again is not a regular Hindi potboiler.

For Gautam, his choice of Agyaat was a mix of three things-a "gripping story", "different character" and the "way Ram Gopal Varma narrated it".

"I took up Agyaat after the way I was approached for it. Ramu approached me for the film in November. He met me for an hour and the way he narrated my character and told me about the film, I was assured it wasn't going to be a regular role," Gautam said.

Having said that, the 31-year-old actor says he felt it was a risk doing such an offbeat film-but was confident about going ahead with it.

"I was open to taking risks. I knew it was not going to be a conventional story with 8 to 10 songs in it. All I saw was that it was a combination of a good script, a good banner and a fabulous director," he added.

Where's Aditya, asks Katz

While it is hinted that one of the them is Dibakar Banerjee’s, the formalities for another film are being worked out. But the actress refuses to speak about her movies. She wants the filmmakers concerned to make the proper announcements. “You guys will know in due course,” says Katz.

Reacting to rumours that she is doing an Aditya Chopra film with Shah Rukh Khan, the Princess of Bollywood says, “Hey, where is Aditya Chopra? I keep reading about these rumoured films with him? I may be in a production of his banner, but I have no clue about Aditya directing any film with me as of now.”

Pretty Katz wants the rumourmongers to rest for a bit. Shoo, Aditya Chopra, too, is wishing them away.

Bebo gives it up for Aamir!

The actress who turns 29 on September 21, is going to be busy on her film 3 Idiots with Aamir Khan, so bechara Saif Ali Khan will have to rework whatever surprise he had in mind for his Bebo.

Originally, she had wanted to spend time with Saif, mother Babita, sister Karisma and niece Samaira around her birthday... but tragedy struck Aamir’s close and happy little khandaan, and Kareena stepped to the rescue.

You know that Aamir’s wife Kiran Rao suffered a miscarriage earlier this month, and that Aamir promised Kiran he would take time off from 3 Idiots to help her recuperate from the trauma.

What Aamir didn’t realise when he made that emotional commitment was that he had given dates with Kareena to shoot a song in Mumbai during the very same period. Hesitantly, he called up his co-star and asked if she would reorganise her own diary to accommodate him at another time. And Kareena agreed, at the cost of her own birthday plans, because she realised how big Kiran’s trauma was.

Now Kareena and Aamir will shoot the song from September 25 to October 2 in Mumbai. She was in Switzerland all the while and is expected back in Mumbai today. While Aamir is in Europe. The actor has left behind his two cell phones and prefers to be incommunicado for the period that he spends with Kiran. He wants nothing to come in the way of her recuperation.

Vidya Balan's vanishing act in Cambridge!

Much to the amusement of cast and crew of Paa, Vidya Balan got disappeared after shooting for Paa in Cambridge. But what made the actress vanish is the question everybody had on their lips?

“It’s nothing so dramatic. Yes, I did stay back in Cambridge. I simply had to. I had no choice.”

Recounting the experience Vidya says, “I just couldn’t help it. Just being in Cambridge shooting was not enough. I felt a deep connect with the campus and the environment. I just wanted to walk around the campus with books in hand so I’d look like a student.”

Once the shooting was over, Vidya decided to stay over. “Luckily I’ve a friend in Cambridge. I stayed with her, and her husband. It was the most enriching experience of my life. Just the air and the feel of the place are so special.”

Vidya not wants to create her own Cambridge ambience in Mumbai. "I can’t afford a place in Cambridge. But I know of a place near Mumbai that offers the same climate and topography. But I am not revealing it.”

Not a problem Vidya!

'Rani is a foodie but she never went on a diet’

Rani Mukherji’s toned body in the forthcoming film Dil Bole Hadippa is the talk of tinsel town. The actress, informs her yoga instructor Payal Gidwani, had not worked out for a considerable stretch before beginning work on Dil Bole. “I was skeptical about what I was getting myself into when I first saw Rani but she told me to relax and said that we would easily achieve our target. It was her discipline that got us through,” says Gidwani.

The petite actress weighed 56 kilos in April last year. “Her ideal body weight is around 48 kilos, so she had to discard eight kilos.” The primary focus was to help Rani get her body back in shape and shed a few kilos in the process. The key, for anybody to lose weight, says Gidwani, is a disciplined lifestyle. A healthy diet plays a very important role. Add to that a diligent exercise regime and you have the recipe for a fab body. Gidwani, however, admits that this mantra is easier preached than practise.

Rani, she says, was a teacher’s delight. In fact, on several occasions Rani would get over enthusiastic with her workouts and Gidwani had to tell her to take it easy, and not burn herself out. “She has a record of not missing out on a single class, to date. Earlier she would work out for five days a week, two hours each day. Now we meet up thrice a week.” Bebo (Kareena Kapoor), is another student who is completely dedicated to her workout sessions.

Owing to her hereditary problem, her body tends to pile on the kilos easily, informs Gidwani. “Rani is a foodie but she never went on a diet and resorted to nutritious food instead. The trick is to eat all foods in small portions and then burn it out,” she adds.

It took Rani 10 months to lose eight kilos as the focus was more on inch loss than weight loss. A lot of toning and cardio was required for which Gidwani made the actress walk up and down the stairs of her bungalow, a number of times throughout the day, as part of her workout regime.

Rani’s weak points, says Gidwani, are her tendencies to pile on the kilos on the lower part of her body and her weak nerves. Her strengths, however, are a flexible body and immense endurance which helped with the yoga asanas.

Pushing limits
Rani could earlier manage only five to 10 Suryanamaskars. Any stretching exercise would lead to cramps because of her weak nerves. Today, Rani can easily do 100 Suryanamaskars and an approximate 2500 kapalbhatis at a go.

She can hold on to asanas for a minute and her breathing technique had improved too.

Gidwani’s tips
One could combine yoga and gym exercises. “I advise people to do three days of yoga and hit the gym for three days. And while in the gym, it’s preferable to do free hand exercises than pumping iron,” she says. Taking up a sport or dancing (as they increase the heart beat rate) also helps in the long run.

I would love to do more Bengali films: Bips

She is known for her bold image in Bollywood, but dusky beauty Bipasha Basu will now be seen in a slew of non-commercial films like the Bengali Shob Charitro Kalponik, Pankh and Lamhaa. She insists she is not making any special attempts to change her image and would love to do more Bengali films if they are interesting.

"I like to do films that are entertainers, glamorous, fun, action and definitely realistic. There is no effort that I am putting towards an image change with non-commercial films. I just feel that in the Hindi film industry, where you look in a particular manner, people consider your USP as something and you get a little typecast," Bipasha told IANS in a telephone interview from Mumbai.

"But I'm not trying to break any typecast. It's just that within the given limitations, I'm trying to push and taste everything a little bit," she added.

Bipasha plays a Kashmiri girl in director Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa, has a supporting role in arthouse film Pankh' and in her just released Bengali film debut she plays a typical sari-wearing Bengali woman.

Asked if Shob Charitro... marks her entry into regional cinema, she said: "I don't like to do films where I don't understand the language; so I don't know about other regional films. I tried doing a Telugu film (2002) and a guest appearance in a Tamil movie (2005), but it was the toughest thing I've ever done.

"But Bengali films...for sure because I know the language... I'd love it if there are some interesting films or a filmmaker who would love to make one...they are more than welcome to approach me and I'd love to do it," she added.

Produced by Big Pictures, Shob Charitro... has been written and directed by Rituparno Ghosh and also stars Prasenjit, Jisshu Sengupta, Pauli Dam and Sohag Sen.

The film shows the journey of Bipasha's character into the life of her late poet husband through his poetry.

Shob Charitro... was also screened in the Panorama Section of the 2009 Durban Film Festival and marketed at the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival.

Though it was her first Bengali venture, the 30-year-old didn't find any difficulties essaying the role.

"Ritu-da asked me to get into the typical Bengali woman mode for the character with the sari-and-blouse and body language, etc... it was not at all difficult for me as I have grown up watching my mother like that.

"For the language, it was very easy because it's definitely the Bengali I speak at home and understand. Apart from that there is also a lot of English in the film as my character speaks both," added Bipasha, who became an overnight sensation in Bollywood with the 2003 hit Jism.

Bipasha was all praise for the director.

"Ritu-da's films work on various levels and not just one level. When he narrated the script to me, I was really curious as to how he plans to do it because it sounded really tough. But when we shot the film and I actually performed, it was really effortless.

"He guides you well and the whole film flows and tells you a beautiful story of romance, realism, marriage and all kinds of emotions like problems with your partner and when you fall in love... and he uses poetry as a very strong tool in it," she explained.

Shob Charitro..., Bipasha says, isn't a commercial entertainer.

"It is very deep and very beautiful. It was very different for me too but I truly liked it and enjoyed the process of making this film," said the actress.