Vidya understood the beauty of the character perfectly. Director Milan Luthria

The year 2010 ended on a good note for director Milan Luthria whose Once Upon A Time In Mumbai hit the high notes at the box-office. This year, he’s hoping to top that with his film

The Dirty Picture that is based on late sex siren Silk Smitha’s life. And Milan, who’s known to have a knack for exploring the darker side of life, has no qualms in admitting that this one’s full of sexual content. “The film is high on sex, but if you’re looking for sleaze, you’ll be disappointed,” he says, adding that it’s also where the real challenge lay for him as a director.

“Sex sells, but that’s not what I am selling in this film. My film is a story about this bold woman who meets with a tragic end. It’s difficult to maintain a balance in showing sex and titillation without diluting the depth of the story, which is not sexual but an emotional one,” explains Luthria.

“I’m putting my reputation as a director at stake with this film and I have no intentions of letting the balance tilt in favour of cheap entertainment,” he adds.

Talking about his choice of actress Vidya Balan to play the lead role, Milan says that she understood the beauty of the character perfectly.

“Sexuality need not come from lewd actions, it can be conveyed through one’s eyes and expressions alone and Vidya’s eyes do all the talking. She’s also very comfortable and unapologetic about being sexy. But at no pint can she ever be vulgar. Vidya will shock everyone in this film,” says the director.

The inspiration for this film, reveals Luhtria, came from some works he had read about the South star. “It was explosive material,” he shares. But he points out that they have been used as sketchy references and that the film does take cinematic liberties.

Milan also adds that he plans he plans to turn producer soon. He says, “I begin my second phase this year, where I hope to make more films. Turning producer is also on the cards.”

Mallika Sherawat to play in DHAMAAL 2

Mallika Sherawat is looking eastwards. It’s time for her to focus on some home based projects before she plot her next westward film outing. According to sources, after doing a few Hollywood projects in the past, Mallika has now shifted her focus on bollywood. Her film DHAMAAL 2 is one of big projects this calendar. The film assumes significance since Mallika will be seen in her sharp wit avtaar in the film.

Mallika’s film is courting spotlight for another reason too. Much has been written about Kangna and Mallika’s on-set chemistry. But, according to eye witnesses, the things between the two are not as bad as often reported.

For the moment Hollywood seems to have taken a back seat in Mallika’s career. After finishing with DHAMAAL 2 shoot, there are reports that the actress will sign some more Hindi films before giving Hollywood some more attention. For the moment east seems to hold a lot of promise for Mallika and her film career.

Shweta Tiwari won the prize of Big Boss Season 4.

Alll the fights, accusations, bitching, melodrama and controversies are over finally as the Big Boss Season 4 comes to an end after getting its first female winner in the form of Shweta Tiwari who made her way to the victory beating Ashmit Patel, Dolly Bindra, and The Great Khali.

Out of four finalists, the first one to be called out of the house was Dolly Bindra. Next one to be called out of the house was Ashmit Patel who was supposed to be a very strong contender for the title. Well, then the expectations zeroed in to The Great Khali because of his international fan following.

However, calm, soft spoken and beautiful Shweta Tiwari emerged as a winner making it a history in Big Boss by being the first ever women contestant to win the show. She received an amount of Rs 1,000,000.00 and a beautiful trophy. She can only expect better

It looks like a party is surely on the cards and all the contestants who participated in this season’s Bigg Boss will be invited.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Shweta, unable to speak much.

Kangana say no to Krrish Sequel.

The buzz is that Kangana was the first choice for second lead opposite Hrithik, who will again don the superhero garb for the sequel to the hit Krrish.

The Roshans apparently asked Kangana for a role that is on the lines of catwoman. Yes, a super-heroine! Though the offer looked lucrative, Kangs has vowed not to play the second fiddle anymore. Krrish has Priyanka Chopra as the main actress.

Reports also have it that the Roshans tried to woo the actress by telling her that the role requires a lot of action and that it’s written keeping her in mind, but Kangs remained unperturbed.

She has played second lead in some of her recent flicks and hasn’t benefited at all. Kangana was even kept out of the promotions for Kites while the whole attention was on Barbara Mori.

Rani Mukherjee teams up with Aamir Khan again

After 2005, Rani Mukherjee and Aamir Khan will unite once again in Reema Katgi’s upcoming suspense drama.

“I am doing a film with Aamir. Over the years our chemistry will only get better, so it’ll be better in this film,” Rani told reporters.
“For me its wonderful to work with Aamir and specially after so long because the last film I did with him was Mangal RaniPandey: The Rising and over there also it was not a film based on us. But this one is more about us,” she added.

The 32-year-old also revealed her favorite actors.
“Shah Rukh and Aamir have always been my favorites and I have learnt a lot from them in my professional pursuits and in my life. It is my great honor that I worked with them in such wonderful films. I can do anything for them,” she said.

The actress also want’s to re unite with SRK.
“I’m going to meet Shah Rukh and tell him that he better start a film with me soon because I’m missing working with him,” she said.

Bipasha Basu celebrates her birthday today.

January sees a lot of birthdays of Bollywood stars. Bipasha Basu, who’s presently in the news for her hot pic on the cover of Maxim magazine, turns a year older today. So how does she plan to celebrate the day?

We hear that Bipasha would be with her family and close friends in Mumbai. There won’t be any big party but just a quiet get-together. Boyfriend John Abraham is expected to be with her.

It’s been ten years since Bipasha stepped into Bollywood with Abbas-Mustan’s thriller Ajnabee for which she won the Filmfare Best Female Debut award, her only notable award till date. During the decade, she was twice voted as ‘Sexiest Woman in Asia’ by the London weekly Eastern Eye.

2010 was rather forgettable for Bipasha with all three films starring her - Pankh, Lamhaa and Aakrosh - falling flat at box office. But 2011 looks promising. Apart from Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maro Dum, she’s doing her first international film Singularity with Josh Harnett. She’s also in Abbas-Mustan’s thriller Players.

PC and Kat behaved like strangers at 17th Annual Star Screen Awards.

Priyanka and Katrina Kaif walked pass each other without even saying a ‘Hi’. The incident happened at the 17th Annual Star Screen Awards in Bandra-Kurla Complex. Says an eyewitness, “Priyanka and Katrina were next to each other for quite some time backstage.

Their eyes met, but they did not give each other even a faint smile. They behaved like total strangers. There was ample opportunity for both the ladies to at least acknowledge each other’s presence but even that did not happen. Everyone around them noted this.”

Just for those who do not know the history of their rivalery, Priyanka was upset when Katrina stepped into her shoes for Tarun Mansukhani’s Dostana 2. And then Katrina walked out of Anurag Basu’s Barfi (earlier titled Silence) when Priyanka signed up for the second lead’s role.

But what’s more surprising is that, just a few days ago, the two girls hugged and kissed at Salman Khan’s Being Human function. All those exchange of hugs and kisses between Priyanka and Katrina were fake. They still hate each other.