I blushed like a schoolgirl: Sonam Kapoor

MUMBAI: Sonam Kapoor reminisces about meeting with first crush Tom Cruise at premiere of Mission Impossible 4, raves about how Beautiful he is at 50-plus.

Sonam Kapoor’s first crush was Tom Cruise. The actor admits that she had a poster of him and the late Jude Phoenix on her bedroom wall.

“Of course, after Titanic (1996) my heart belonged to Leo (Leonardo DiCaprio) but I remeamber Tom and Brad Pitt in Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994).

Two hot hunky vampires, long before Robert Pattinson and Twilight came on the scene… It was the stuff of teenage wet dreams,” she sighs.

She met her idol at the Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol premiere last Sunday. In a slinky dress, Jimmy Choo sandals, emerald and ruby danglers and a python print clutch, Sonam sizzled on the red carpet, flanked by Tom and dad Anil Kapoor.


Modest, the 26-year-old style icon admits a lot of effort goes into making her look stunning.

“But Tom is naturally beautiful even at 50-something. The Goras (foreigners) are equally impressed with dad (Anil Kapoor) but being his daughter I can’t say that,” she laughs, revealing that she behaved like a Complete Idiot in front of the Hollywood star.

“He praised me a lot to dad. I blushed and giggled like a schoolgirl. I’ve never been good at handling compliments.”

An action-adventure junkie, she was clued in to the Mission Iimpossible series long before Anil was signed up. She confesses that she’d never imagined seeing him in a big-ticket Hollywood franchise.

“Sure, Tom is playing the lead while dad only has a cameo but an important one like Judi Dench’s in Shakespeare In Love (1998) that won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor,” she points out.

“With dad, nothing surprises me. He’s more energetic than me and has always been an over-achiever. After Slumdog Millionaire (2008), the west has taken to him in a big way and now he’s bought the remake rights to the TV series 24 to remake it in Hindi.”


Sonam’s own film, Players, is an official remake of The Italian Job (2003) and today, in an era of plagiarism, she’s glad Viacom 18 officially bought the rights to one of my favourite flicks starring every girl’s dream, Mark Wahlberg.

She says, “It’s about ethics and directors, Abbas-Mustan have taken the basic premise and Indianised it. Every twist has a new twist.”

When will we see Sonam in a Hollywood film, may be one starring Tom?

She admits that like every other Bollywood actor she’s getting offers too and doesn’t mind auditioning for roles. “I do it even here,” she reasons. “But while in India, it would take me a couple of hours to dash off to one, out there it would mean a four-six month break. I hope I can do that some day but not right away. Besides, luck and destiny have a big hand in shaping such turnarounds. I call it the kismet (fate) connection.”

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Vidya-Emraan set to team up again

MUMBAI: They have been appreciated as Silk and Abraham in the recent release, The Dirty Picture (TDP). And now, Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi are set to share screen space again in yet another Ekta Kapoor production.

“Ekta is very happy with the response that the film and Emraan and Vidya have received as an on-screen couple. So, she is toying with the idea of repeating them in one of her upcoming films,” says an insider from the producer’s team.

However, no details have been fixed yet. When contacted, Tanuj Garg, CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures confirms, “Yes, it’s an idea we are playing around with. Emraan and Vidya’s pairing has been widely appreciated in TDP. And since, it’s an interesting combination, why not? Right now, we aren’t sure of the director or script, but it is definitely on the cards.”

According to Tanuj, it was TDP that brought the actors’ chemistry as a couple to the fore.

“So, we are thinking of casting them again. They look very fresh together. We are currently toying with a few story ideas,” he says.

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There’s an audience for adult content today: Tusshar Kapoor

MUMBAI: The first Announcement promo of the Kya Kool Hain Hum (2005) sequel released last Friday along with The Dirty Picture barely a fortnight since the film went on the floors. The five-second teaser includes clippings of reviews of the previous film, running it down with the promise that Kya Super Kool Hain Hum would be as Shameless as ever.

Tusshar Kapoor who returns with Riteish Deshmukh to take the Kool brand further, insists that despite the change in director (Sachin Yardi takes over from Sangeeth Sivan) and cast (Bipasha Basu, Neha Sharma and Sarah Jane Dias are his female co-stars this time), it felt like they were continuing with the same shoot.

“The six years just fell away and it was like a blast from the past,” smiles the actor who recently picturised a song on the beach through the night.


Part 1 had got the thumbs down from the critics for its below-the-belt humour but the team is not shying away from a repeat.

“The film is a sex comedy and these jokes are its Unique Selling Preposition,” reasons Tusshar.

“Earlier this year Delhi Belly proved that there’s an audience for Adult content, and now The Dirty Picture has people returning home moved by Silk’s story rather than mad at a sleaze fest.”

Insisting that the scenario has changed significantly since 2005, Tusshar points out that today the conversation of nice, sweet college kids is peppered with such wisecracks and no eyebrows are raised.

He says, “When we narrated the script to a few couples, they said, ‘Aur masala dalo (Add more masala). However, since the intention this time is to pull in women and family audiences and not target only the frontbenchers, we will ensure that we stay within certified limits.”

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'After Agent Vinod, we'll fix wedding date'

MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor has been making news about her impending marriage with boyfriend-actor Saif Ali Khan for a while now.

But of late, she has been insisting on not talking about it. Says Kareena, “Of course, marriage will happen. But we are waiting for Agent Vinod to release first. Once it does, we will be able to lock a date.”

For some time now, reports have been rife about their wedding being planned in March next year in Pataudi. A few days ago, even Saif mentioned that marriage was on the cards in the first half of 2012.

But Kareena deflects, as she feels that marriage talk might affect the film’s prospects. “Saif has invested a lot of time and effort into making this film, and talking about the marriage takes away from it. Then suddenly, no one will talk about Agent Vinod. Everyone will be like, ‘when are they getting married?’ And both of us don’t want that to happen,” says the actor.

At the same time, Kareena also wonders why their wedding is a big deal in the first place. “At the end of the day, marriage is about commitment, and both Saif and I are completely committed to one other. Marriage is for the registers. In an office, it’s just a piece of paper. If you are in love, you will be ready for marriage eventually,” she says, before adding, “I want people to watch the film for Saif and me as actors, not as an off-screen couple. That’s the only reason I don’t want to talk about my marriage yet.”

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Imran Khan is an item ‘bum’ for Kareena Kapoor

MUMBAI: In a sequence in the theatrical promo of the Imran Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Kareena unabashedly gives Imran’s bum a rating of 8/10, and also comments on how she finds his derrière ‘cute’.

Interestingly, the inspiration for this scene came from a real life incident. Apparently, during the film’s shooting, a joke was doing the rounds about a random remark made by Kareena, where she casually implied that she really likes Imran’s posterior.

So everyone on the sets advised Shakun Batra (director) to include the joke in the film. “Her (Kareena) character is known to flirt, and Imran essays the role of one of her close friends, who she flirts with,” says a unit member.

When contacted, Shakun laughs: “It ‘s a funny scene where Imran keeps getting shocked at the bold statements she’s making. Otherwise too, Kareena is extremely fond of the young Khan.”

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Dev Anand's funeral probably over weekend

MUMBAI: Dev Anand's wife and daughter will be leaving for London on Tuesday night but the funeral will take place only December 9 or 10, his close associate said.

"Dev saab died on Dec 3 and his body was taken to a morgue. There is a rule according to which the body is released after seven days.

So most probably his funeral will take place on Dec 9 or Dec 10," Mohan Churiwala, who had been with the legendary actor for two decades, told IANS.

Dev Anand died of cardiac arrest Dec 3 in London. He was 88. His son Suniel Anand was with him.

Dev Anand's wife Mona Anand (screen name Kalpana Kartik) and daughter Devina are flying to London from Mumbai for the last rites. Devina's daughter Gina is staying back in Mumbai.

"After the funeral, there will be a condolence meet here in Mumbai. It will be organised at the Mehboob Studio. It is being organised there because of the sentimental reasons. The studio has his personal make room and which has been kept just like that. It still has his costumes, his make up kit, etc," said Churiwala.

The family would be placing a notice in the papers about the details of the condolence meeting once the date is finalised, he said.

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RGV picks Rakta Charitra actor as lead for Department

MUMBAI: Director Ram Gopal Varma offers role in his next to Abhimanyu Singh, whose character, Bukka Reddy was widely acclaimed despite the film’s box office dud. Ram Gopal Varma, who has a reputation for hiring actors who’ve worked with him previously, has done it yet again. This time it’s Abhimanyu Singh, who had played the role of Bukka Reddy in his box office disaster, Rakta Charitra.

Says Abhimanyu, “After completing Rakta Charitra, I spoke to Ramu and he brought up the topic of Department.

He said, ‘I am casting you and you don’t have to do much because your real life is much like the character in the film.’.

He adds, “But when we started shooting, he took my character’s role much further and to a different level altogether.

Although I’m playing one of the leads, my character has got a lot of layers. I can’t say whether it’s just negative, or positive too. You have to watch the film to decide.”

Though the exact details of Department’s story are not yet revealed, the movie is supposedly based on the Mumbai police’s functioning when encounters were widely used to wipe out crime in the city.

The actor says, “I can’t say much about the film. It’s for Ramu to talk about the plot.” The film is currently being shot at places like Madh Island, Borivli National Park and Mahalaxmi.

His role in Rakta Charitra had received praise from local and national media alike, but the film bombed at the box office. Another of his films, I Am, did as badly.

But Abhimanyu claims, “I have stopped expecting from films. What I expect never happens. It’s better to be focused and continue working. Luckily, Rakta Charitra did well in the South and I started getting a lot offers from the Tamil and Telegu film industry.”

The actor had also recently starred in the Tamil film, Velayudham (warrior), which featured Bollywood actors Genelia D’Souza and Hansika Motwani.

“I was pleasantly surprised that south directors started creating roles for me after watching Rakta Charitra. I know Sanskrit, which has similarities with Tamil, so it helps me understand the language” he added.

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