Farah Khan goes from Salman to SRK

Bollywood choreographer-director Farah Khan says it was a conscious decision to start her new television chat show with actor Salman Khan and

Salman Khan

his mother Salma, who has never given an interview before.

And interestingly, the "Tere Mere Beach Mein" series ends with none other than Shah Rukh Khan.

"It was a joint decision taken by the channel and me. They felt that the episode turned out to be very candid and since Salman has never come on a chat show before, it could be a nice way to hook on the audience to the show. So we start with Salman and end it with Shah Rukh," Farah told IANS.

She said it wasn't difficult at all to convince Salman and his mother to be her first guests on the show that starts Sunday.

"Salman has never come on a chat show - neither 'Koffee With Karan' nor 'Oye! It's Friday' and not even 'Rendezvous with Simi Garewal'. It's for the first time he's come on a chat show. His mother has never in her life come on a TV show or even given a print interview. And I just had to tell them once. It was very easy to convince them to come," said Farah.

The filmmaker managed to get several celebrities on her debut chat show but couldn't get her dream guests - former railway minister Lalu Prasad and singer-actor Himesh Reshammiya.

"I really wanted to get Lalu-ji and Himesh together for my show. But he (Lalu) had a cataract operation and so things couldn't work out. But I really hope these two people come to my show, if I have a second season," said Farah.

To give her chat show a twist, Farah has a separate theme for each episode. She brought Salman to talk about being a 'Mamma's boy' and Shah Rukh Khan as a henpecked husband. She had Priyanka Chopra talk about her struggle as an actor.

Asked what the theme for the Lalu-Himesh episode would have been, she said: "I wanted to get them in a category of 'I don't care people'. And these two people are such that no matter how much people imitate them, ridicule them or mimic them, they just don't care. They only do their work."

Other guests on her show will include Hrithik Roshan, Asin Thottumkal, Deepika Padukone, Abhay Deol, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Kareena Kapoor and cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan.

What Kangna dreads the most...

Kangna Ranaut may be known for her bindaas ways, both on screen as well as off

Kangana Ranaut

screen.

And while nothing seems to faze this sassy actress, what with Kangna having pulled off some of the most daring scenes on camera with much ease, there is one thing that gives her nightmares — getting on stage.

Admitting to her stage fright, Kangna says that having to face the audience on stage is what she dreads the most. “Yes, nothing ever makes me nervous except speaking on the stage. I still get jitters when I have to do that, even if it’s just to say a thank you,” confesses the actress.

Take your brain along for Kaminey: Priyanka

Since moviegoers in India today are exposed to world cinema in a big way, Priyanka Chopra is surprised that quite a few Bollywood filmmakers

Priyanka Chopra

still follow the escapist route.

But she says her new film "Kaminey" doesn't fall in that category and audiences should come with their thinking caps on.

"Isn't it surprising that whenever there is a Hollywood film playing, we go all ga ga over it, especially when it follows an unconventional narrative? We ask each other when they can do it, why can't we? We are so much in awe of their cinema," Priyanka told IANS.

"However, when it comes to our own movies, we try to play safe stating that we are doing this for our audiences. Come on guys, it's the same audience we are catering to, so why not give them something really new and different to relish?

"Frankly speaking, I don't like it at all when we keep making such statements as so and so film doesn't require audiences to wear a thinking cap," she said.

The actress asks a series of questions regarding the intelligence of the audiences.

"My question is -- why should we underestimate the intelligence of Indian audiences? Why do we believe that they want everything on a platter? Why don't we make a cinema-going experience so exciting and engrossing for them that they actually go on to exclaim 'wow'?" the actress said.

Releasing Friday, "Kaminey" is a dark thriller that revolves around gangsters, rebel soldiers, rogue politicians and crooked cops. Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, it features Shahid Kapoor in a double role.

Priyanka observes that while good films are working, bad films, despite top star casts and huge budgets, are being rejected by the audience.

"It's as simple as that -- garbage in, garbage out," she said. "Thankfully India is changing for the better and there are some brilliant films being made today."

Ask her to give a few examples and she responds in a jiffy, "Movies like 'Dev D', 'Jodhaa Akbar', 'Rock On' and 'A Wednesday' have worked because they had an original script and were treated so differently and innovatively. These were all intelligent films and not made for kindergarten kids. No wonder audiences grabbed them all in a big way."

She doesn't forget to mention her own movies from 2008 that saw her marching back into the reckoning.

"Both 'Dostana' and 'Fashion' were made within commercial parameters but still had a very good story to tell. These were not frivolous at all. That's the reason they succeeded."

"In fact, the last film that really impressed me this year was 'New York'. Kudos to Yash Raj Films for backing such a subject and making such a good topical entertainer. It was a sensitive story to be told and Kabir Khan treated it with utmost maturity. Hats off.

"These are the kind of films that make you believe that Bollywood is indeed seeing a new direction for better", she said.

Do not disturb Big B, The Actor!

Amitabh Bachchan seems to be in no mood to return from his much-deserved vacation to shoot for Pritish Nandy’s Actor

An over-worked Amitabh Bachchan has been enjoying a well-deserved, but enforced sabbatical. His friend Amar Singh’s illness has prompted Mr Bachchan to take a long-overdue sabbatical from his work. And now he seems to be in no mood to return to work in a hurry.

For the first time in so many years, Mr Bachchan is really taking it easy, and that too at a time when he can ill afford to do so. But then Mr Bachchan is very clear about one thing. He has gone to Singapore to be by his friend’s side.

One of the producers awaiting Mr Bachchan’s return is Pritish Nandy. In Nandy’s film Actor he portrays just that, an actor. It is the first assignment that Mr Bachchan will take up after he returns from Singapore.

The film is set to go on the floors. Pritish Nandy, who recently visited Amar Singh and Mr Bachchan in Singapore, says he was pleasantly surprised by how relaxed Mr Bachchan seemed. Nandy tells us gladly, “Amar Singh has recuperated as much he could, considering the seriousness of his illness. But Mr Bachchan seems in no mood to leave his friend’s side right away. It’s almost like he has withdrawn into a cocoon for a while. And we at Pritish Nandy Communications have no problem waiting for Mr Bachchan. It’s wonderful to see him so relaxed and stress-free after years.”

It isn’t certain at the moment how long the sabbatical will last. According to those close to him, Mr Bachchan is completely enjoying his time off. And surely, he has earned himself this holiday from work.