John, Abhishek shoot an additional song for Dostana

It's customary for two stars to be pitched against one another in real life whenever they are paired on screen. The last time we heard murmurs of discontent was when Bipasha and Deepika apparently couldn't stand one another while shooting Bachna Ae Haseeno.

But John and Abhishek get along like a house on fire. To their regret, they had to shoot a music video for Dostana separately.

Producer Karan Johar who just landed in Mumbai after two weeks of location hunting in Los Angeles says the song 'Maa Da Ladla' was shot during his absence. "I left it entirely to my director Tarun Mansukhani and to the choreographer Feroz (who's been Farah Khan's assistant for ten years). So you'll have to ask Tarun what happened."

Tarun Mansukhani has his own explanation for why Abhishek and John shot the song separately. "I deliberately didn't shoot the song with John and Abhishek together. I wanted at least this one song 'Maa Da Ladla' to look different from the rest of the film where they're constantly together, fooling around, chumming it up. They shot individually, so the masti of the rest of the movie was missing on the sets." Tarun trails off sadly, and then perks up. "The last shooting before this was for 'Desi Girl' where all of us were together. It was so much fun."

The 'Maa Da Ladla' song was shot on 15, 16 and 17 October at Filmistan studios and onlookers watched Abhishek and John arrive on separate days. "This is a music video which we'll use for promotion and probably for the end titles," explains Tarun.

Says Abhishek, "It was wonderful to shoot with John Abraham again after Dhoom. It was fun on the sets because we were all friends."

Adds John, "Abhishek is not co-star or colleague. He's a friend. I dote on him. I love him to death. We never compete. We complement each other in Dostana. We share a great chemistry. Abhishek and I are a couple in the film."For Gossips And Mirch Masala Log On To Bollywood Paradize

Golden Decade Honours to be given at IIFA 2009

In its tenth year, the IIFA Academy has decided to institute a special set of awards to commemorate the last decade of Indian Cinema. It has put together nominations in five major categories for The Videocon IIFA Golden Decade Honours, which will be announced at the IDEA IIFA Awards on June 13 in Macau. The five categories are: Star of the Decade – Male, Star of the Decade – Female, Movie of the Decade, Director of the Decade and Music of the Decade.

The nominations are as follows:

Star of the decade – Male: Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan.

Star of the decade – Female: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherji, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra.

Movie of the decade: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000), Kaho Na Pyaar Hai (2001), Lagaan (2002), Devdas (2003), Kal Ho Na Ho (2004), Veer Zaara (2005), Black (2006), Chak De India (2008) and Rang De Basanti (2007).

Music of the decade: Taal (2000) - AR Rahman; Kaho Na Pyaar Hai (2001) - Rajesh Roshan; Lagaan (2002) - AR Rahman; Saathiya (2003) - AR Rahman; Kal Ho Na Ho (2004) - Shankar Ehsaan Loy; Veer Zaara (2005) - Madan Mohan; Bunty Aur Babli (2006) - Shankar Ehsan Loy; Rang De Basanti (2007) - AR Rahman and Guru (2008) - AR Rahman.

Director of the decade: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000), Devdas (2003) and Black (2006); Rakesh Roshan for Kaho Na Pyaar Hai (2001) and Koi Mil Gaya (2004); Ashutosh Gowarikar for Lagaan (2002); Yash Chopra for Veer Zaara (2005); Raj Kumar Hirani for Lage Raho…. (2007) and Shimit Amin for Chak De India (2008).

For Gossips And Mirch Masala Log On To Bollywood Paradize

Abhishek-Aishwarya say No to LG's offer

For those who think our stars can do anything for big bucks, here's an eye-opener. Abhishek Bachchan said 'No' to LG's offer to be their brand ambassador for their entire range of products across-the-board for an eye-popping price.

Reason? He didn't want to be even remotely unfaithful to another cell-phone manufacturing company. A source close to the Bachchans says, "LG was very keen to have Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to endorse their entire range of products across-the-line. It was an extremely tempting and lucrative offer. But LG's range of products also included cell-phones. And Abhishek is already endorsing Motorola cellphones. So, he had to decline LG's offer. But he has received a letter from the company saying they would love to have him and his wife as their brand ambassadors any time they wish."

The Abhishek-Aishwarya pair won't be seen in any advertisement at the moment. Their next screen outing will be Mani Ratnam's film that goes on the floors as soon as Abhishek returns from Miami after filming Karan Johar-Tarun Mansukhani's Dostana with Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham.

At the moment he's working 20 hours a day to wrap up Rakeysh Mehra's Delhi 6, which completed a 2-month schedule in Jaipur and is now being shot in Mumbai.

For Gossips And Mirch Masala Log On To Bollywood Paradize

Abhishek Bachchan wins the Best Brand Ambassador of the Year award

Abhishek Bachchan was announced the winner of the 'Best Brand Ambassador of the Year' award at the NDTV Techlife Awards 2009 held yesterday. Nominations were called from all brands for various categories like Mobile phone of the year, Gadget Eye candy award for the best style and design and Best Celebrity Endorsement - Brand Ambassador of the year, among others. The awards acknowledge lifestyle products, gadgets and best technologies that have made a difference in India today and change the world.

On winning the award, Abhishek Bachchan commented, "It is a great honour to win the title of 'Best Brand Ambassador' for the IDEA & Motorola campaigns. The IDEA campaign carries a socially relevant message in today's commercial environment and the brilliant concept of encouraging two way communications between the government and people has connected with millions across India".

He further added, "I feel proud to be associated with the best brands in the gadgets and technology space".

For Gossips And Mirch Masala Log On To Bollywood Paradize

Farhan grills Abhishek

Abhishek Bachchan will be on the hot seat on Oye! It’s Friday! The chat with Farhan Akhtar will feature stories about growing up, the stars they know, their families and, of course, some sizzling gossip.

For Gossips And Mirch Masala Log On To Bollywood Paradize

Dostana - Movie Review

Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra, Kirron Kher, Boman Irani
Written & Directed by Tarun Mansukhani
Rating: ***

Get this straight. Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham are not gay. They are just happy pretending to be bed partners. In the endeavour they pull put all stops and get into the gay zone with a gusto that stumps all the moralists.

There are butt-and-bum jokes galore some even pointed at the leading lady. But hold that frown.

Auntyji, chill. It's all for fun. Wanna join in?

The theme of heterosexual characters pretending to be gay to get a precious abode in the bustle of the metropolis is pretty cool.

Bachchan and Abraham, both in full form, get into the gay groove without going over the top. They come out with flying colours through most of the material that's provided to them to sink their teeth into.

While John combines terrific body language with some great comic timing (he's come a long way from his thanda GaramMasala days) Abhishek's expressions are a scream in their pitch-perfection.

One of the most brilliantly-written sequences orchestrates all the characters of this gay-play in the same room.

There're the play-acting gay protagonists, a gay magazine editor (a flawlessly wimpy Boman Irani), a gay marriage-bureau official (who just decides to drop in for a quick –check) and of course Abhishek's homophobic mother (Kirron Kher) who screams and rants and then accepts her son's apparent sexual preference.

You could simply marvel at the two principal actors giving so much of heart and others parts to their parts.

After a point you're tempted to stop counting the number of times the word 'gay' gets in the way of the narrative. From 'Mera beta gay hai' (courtesy Abhishek's mom Kirron Kher) to a 'Han main gay hoon' …. Dostana wins the how-to-say-gay-in-every-which-way award of the year.

Sandwiched between the two brilliantly-poised heroes is Priyanka Chopra, glowing like a 1000-watt bulb in her immaculate wardrobe (and out of it…she too gets into beachwear, what did you think?).

So here's the bottom (oops!) line. Hindi cinema finally comes out of the closet. And going by how little John Abraham wears in most of the film. There's very little coming out of the closet.

But there you have it. Bollywood's first beach-bum-chum meri-dosti-mera-pyar dildo-dil-lo preparation done on that slow-burn state of leisurely cooking where the characters get an ample chance to extend the parameters of the conventional cinema without toppling into the abyss of overstatement.

First-time writer-director Tarun Mansukhani has the zing thing in his vision. Miami shot with fetching gusto by Aynanka Bose lifts the luscious locales to more than a touristic paradise. The desi characters seem to belong to this beachside paradise.

Well-toned bodies tanned to the extreme of selfglorification, sinewy movements on the beach and on the dancefloor, songs music and feverish fiesta of sexually- driven people who want it all.And fast. Dostana is the ultimate hedonists' dream.

The narrative pace slackens considerably in the second-half, what with the heroes expanding their homosexual hijinks into a triangle with Priyanka thrown in for good measure.

Then the triangle dilates into a quadrangle as Bobby Deol (looking dapper in his Armanis) makes a belated appearance as the boss who first intimidates and irritates the working girl into motion of anger and submission. And then sweeps her off her feet.

Is this to keep the heterosexuals happy ?

What keeps the narrative going is the sheer zest for life and the mood of wink-wink wackiness which Shilpa Shetty sets at the outset with her ooh-la-la item song.

The gags involve everyone from the caricatural and spinsterish landlady (Sushmita Mukherjee) to an incredibly clueless magazine editor (Bobby Deol) who agrees to behave like a moron on the our pseudo-gay heroes' say-so.

It's all in fun. Not to be taken seriously. Not even when Abhishek and John lip-lock in mock-ecstacy for a climatic farewell kiss that certainly leaves Priyanka breathless.

I'm still trying to figure out why Abhishek is inspired to act gay with John while holding a hotdog in his hand. Is there a hidden code there?

As for the audience, it's still counting the number of times the characters say 'gay'. Every which way.For Gossips And Mirch Masala Log On To Bollywood Paradize