Revealed: Cell Phone Phobias of the Bollywood Hotties

Gone are the days when the yesteryear stars, including those who held sway till the 90's, were blessed with only a landline, which was always manned personally by them, when at home. So much so that even their secretaries or houseboys hardly dared to meddle with their telephonic chores unless their Sahabs or Madams were busy shooting outdoors. And those days the outdoor locales extended only as far as Kashmir, Shimla or Darjeeling. Thanks to the technological revolution today, stars can now be tracked down even if they are shooting in a remote corner of the world. Yet, they never felt as insecure as they do now. This has made the task of the film scribes much more difficult. The first thing they have to do to break the communication barrier is to get the latest cell numbers of the stars, which keeps on changing.. Time to unravel their cellular secrets. Let's begin with Jackie Shroff aka Jaggu Dada. He is the only star who has not changed his number after going mobile. Also, he makes it a point to answer all his calls with the same standard opening line, 'Haan bol biddu, kaise yaad kiya?' He could be at the other end of the globe, yet he patiently answers all his callers and assures that he would do the needful only on returning back home. One actress with an unusual phone phobia is Bipasha Basu {Bips!}. When yours truly, after several attempts, finally managed to track her on phone, she avoided prolonging the conversation saying: “You have caught me on a wrong day as I have been hospitalized for a serious ailment. I generally don't take calls, but if it's necessary just send me a SMS. I will definitely get back to you.” Definitely, Ms Bips! The story repeats for her hunky beefcake beau John Abraham. Every time I managed to get him on the mobile, he would give a similar excuse no matter what the time or the date. “You have caught me on a wrong day as I am in a hospital attending to a friend who has been hospitalized for a serious ailment. Besides I have made a conscious decision of not giving any interviews till my next release comes up.” Now, now guys you can put two and two together and draw your own conclusions. Okay! Then there are two other stars, who never take their calls directly Sunjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty unless they know a scribe on a one to one level. But for first timers and strangers, they see to it that the caller's message is not only delivered to them, but action is promptly taken. Sunjay Dutt's Man Friday not only receives the call, but also fixes up a proper appointment for you and rests only when he plonks you right in front of the Deadly Dutt. And the same holds true in case of Anna alias Suniel Shetty. Of course with his own Man Friday gracefully coordinating the whole affair. While former Miss. Universe Sushmita Sen's houseboy really gets on your nerves as he always cradles the cell phone and delivers a clichéd round the clock reply. “Memsaab so rahi hain ji.” Queen Bee Rani Mukherjee and the ravishing Raveena Tandon too never answer their calls directly. The former makes her mother and the latter makes her secretary to do the needful. On the other hand the gorgeous Bollywoodian diva Rekha's Man oops Woman Friday Farzana does gets back to you only when you send her, first a detailed SMS and then your detailed requirements or rather the core of your story and that too funnily enough both on her pager! Mademoiselle Rekha and Farzana still seem to be living in Stone Age! Next, when I had tried to contact Faffy dear oops Aftab Shivdasani, he was holidaying alone, or so he wanted me or every caller to believe, in South Africa. So naturally his mobile had a recorded message. “Call my mom on…..” I did and then thankfully his mother Joyce Shivdasani not only attended my call, but also delivered my message on the South African hotel number of the 'Mast' and 'Masti' bhara actor. Who promptly called me back from his overseas sojourn and instantly fixed up the interview session for the day he would land up on the home terrain. So once he reached Mumbai he called me up on my cell and asked me too meet him up at the airport. The interview was done in his car on his way back home. But then trust Akki aka Akshay Kumar for his constant cellular pranks. The moment I dialed his number 'His Masters Voice' boomed in my ears, “ Hi! I'm Akshay Kumar and you know what to do?' Yes. I knew. I left a message for him in his voice mailbox and forgot about it. The next thing I knew was that his Woman Friday Ms Pooja started hounding me on my cell phone that too at unearthly hours for 'fixing' up an interview almost akin to a match-fixing syndrome. But alas! The interview never happened until I was on the verge of tearing my hairs apart. As in the meanwhile the action hero had safely left for one of his foreign shoots. And finally before I could heave a sigh of relief, Akki Baba gave me a midnight jolt by making an overseas apologetic call with the option, “Can we do a telephonic interview now?” Since I was already bugged by his pranks, I politely declined his generous 'overseas' offer then. The reward: An excellent vibing with him since then with no more mobile pranks repetition. Last but not the least is the father and son duo of Suresh and Vivek Oberoi in tandem with their joint Woman Friday. So just as an absentee student lands up in school with a medical certificate first she and then Papa Oberoi always return my calls with an excusable cellular medical report on behalf of their always-recuperating Jr. Oberoi's sickly state of affairs. Until I had finally caught up with the healthy looking Vivek at a Mumbai premiere. Oberoi Baba clarified, “Don't you trust them? You see I have now been nicknamed a china doll, by one and all, as I keep having this great humpty dumpty fall.” Needless to say I was dumbfounded. So the ultimate analysis of the Bollywoodian stars Cell phone phobia is that after all these and more 'accidental' and typically funny, filmy cellular encounters I think that I have turned over a new leaf, from a veteran freelancing scribe to an amateur freelancing cellular jockey. Period!

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Bipasha is in the most amazing shape right now: John Abraham

The hunk is back in action. John Abraham breezed in to launch the first season of Kolkata Fashion & Lifestyle Week. India Blooms correspondent Sreya Basu caught up with the actor on fashion, fitness, Bipasha…Bipasha…and more Bipasha. Now that you launched the first season of Kolkata Fashion & Lifestyle Week (KFLW), are we going to see you rock the ramp as well? I am not going to walk the ramp. I have come to Kolkata to present the show on behalf of Purple People (organizers). And the intention is to make sure that it provides a platform to the young designers of the city with the help of established names. Do you have a favourite designer from Kolkata? Well, I came here the last time, but to be honest with you, I work primarily with only two designers…both of them are Mumbai designers –Narendra Kumar Ahmad and Rocky S. This year I will look forward to someone from Kolkata; but at the moment there aren't any favourite designers from the city. However, I find Sabyasachi is mercurial and brilliant. If you don't like Kolkata designers, why are you promoting them? See, I didn't say that with any negative intention. I am here to help them get a platform to showcase to showcase their talent. The intention is to give them an opportunity, like I was given when I came to the industry. If I can give them an opportunity, or work as a medium to provide them an opportunity, I will come to Kolkata again and again. Do you remember any incident from your modeling days, where you got a hatke opportunity to showcase your talent? It was 2000, I had just became a model. At that time, I wore Monaji (designer Mona Lamba of Monapali) lehenga for a dot-com. It was obviously for women. But I walked very flamboyantly, bare-bodied…wearing the lahenga. I could see the reaction of the audience …some of them loved it; others were a little stunned. But till date, I thank Monaji for her support. I was a new model then and I needed that support. I can't forget that. What will you tell the young designers who will be participating at the KFLW? Young designers have to keep one thing clear in their head…it's not about actors walking the ramp for you…but your collection being showcased…that's very important. You joined films with a modeling background. Now when you walk the ramp, do you notice any difference in the spectator mindset? May be, the 'star' factor? Yeah…you are right. Now when I walk the ramp, my sole identity is that of 'John Abraham'; people say 'John Abhraham is wearing these clothes' or 'John Abraham is wearing that'. Unlike in films, where we change characters; we assume a new life every three or six months. So, what character you are playing at the moment? I am not working for the past six months. So at the moment, I am John Abraham only (smiles). What's fashion to you? Fashion to me is just being comfortable in what you are wearing. I think that's the primary aim of fashion. For me, fashion is being comfortable in your own skin, own clothes. Create an impression for your self rather than for people. Bipasha Basu has recently released her fitness DVD. Do you have any plans like that? Well, right now there are no plans. Bipasha has got a great fitness DVD. I personally have tried out the workouts in the DVD. And as much as Bipasha said it's for women; I would say, the workouts are equally good for men. She is also coming out with a second DVD in due course of time for both men and women; but I just think I should follow her routines right now. So, now Bipasha is helping you out to maintain your six-packs? (Laughs) Yes, times have changed. Now she (Bipasha) walks into the gym and says 'Hey, it's not the right posture'. Who is the fitness freak between you two? Bipasha is the tough one. She is in the most amazing shape right now. The first time I saw her post her fitness sessions (though earlier saw her photos while shooting outdoors), my jaws dropped. I told her 'This cannot be for real… this is so good!' She is just absolutely wonderful and is in the prime shape of her life. But how much do you think the workouts will help a layman? The DVDs are very very functional ones. It's not an actor coming out with a DVD to increase equity. She wants to give back to people what she believes will be the most effective and help them to get a nice toned body. That mean, you don't want to come up with a DVD so that Bipasha doesn't have a competitor? I will come out with a DVD may be 15-20 years later, when I am fitter. At the moment, Bipasha is fitter than me. When you sign a new film, what are the priorities? Well, the first priority is the entire set up-the director, the producer; and then the hero of the film, ie, the script. I remember watching Bipasha's Bengali film Shob Charitro Kalponik and I was stunned it was such a beautiful film. I sat through every moment and I realized that sometimes there are certain cinemas that miss out on certain aspects of making. And I think Bengali films are so beautifully layered that I love watching them. Similarly, in Tamil films, they show romance so beautifully. So I think, the most important thing is script. That something I primarily look out for. For quite sometime, there has been no new release from your kitty. How long your fans will have to wait for that? I did Dostana in 2008, New York in 2009. There's an Abbas Tyrewala film, produced by Sanjeev Goenka, that's coming out in 2010. And then, there's Dostana 2 in 2011. The idea is to think like a mathematician and just try to improve your success ratio. So, do lesser work and try to do films that are qualitatively entertaining to the audience. Earlier I was learning as an actor and I picked up scripts that were not so good; some were really good. So I am learning through the entire process and trying to be a little more selective. Now I wan

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Bipasha's Hollywood dream fizzles out!!!

Just few days back there were tabloid reports about Bipasha Basu’s first Hollywood project starring Titanic villain Billy Zane, going on floors. But now news has trickled in that the project is being scrapped. It was to begin shooting tomorrow on Saturday July 25th. It is learnt that Smita Thackeray who was to produce this film has now backed out with reasons being cited as personal and professional. This yet untitled film was to be directed by David Silverman and was to feature Bipasha in Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft avatar. This romantic thriller was going to be shot in Kodaikanal and had actor Rajvirr of Kaise Kahen (2007) fame playing Bipasha’s second love interest. The film was to have Bipasha doing some intense love making scenes with both Billy and Rajvirr. Rumor mills suggest- the Rajvirr’s choice as the male lead wasn’t being appreciated and Smita Thackeray was adamant about him playing the role. However now that Smita has backed out from the film, it only means that for now Bipasha’s dream of going international has come to a standstill, at least for now. Though for a long time now both Bipasha and her boyfriend John Abraham have been trying to go international but the plans are simply not working out.

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Bipasha will direct a film... soon!

By Subhash K Jha Bipasha Basu will soon direct a film. After nine years of acting Bipasha is beginning to understand the technical aspects of cinema. And she won’t let all just…well go to ‘waist’, playing the floor-burning sizzler. And she admits she’s aiming to direct a film in the not too distant future. “I’ve learnt on the job. I now understand script, character, choreography, camera angles. So I guess I do see myself directing a film. Because I know I’ll be fantastic with things to do with things from behind the camera.” It all started with her interest in the way she looks. Styling has now become crucial for Bipasha. “Nowadays I take a lot of interest in the way I look. I’ve become conscious of what suits me. I wont do anything that I don’t follow or don’t feel comfortable in. Fortunately we’ve such capable choreographers. They know I’m not a professional dancer. So they give me movements that are fun, more me. I’ve extra-long limbs. So I need steps that don’t dwarf the other dancers. I understand all that now. For one of the songs in Aa Dekha Zara I went for very Afro-American look. It was the look that I thought suited the situation. My other song was very funky and flamboyant.I want to create variety and excitement for myself. It’s the only way I can keep audiences interested.” Bipasha loves performing live on stage. “I’m now getting a hang of it. Even John has gotten over his inhibitions about dancing. The idea is to just let go and have fun. First you’ve to get to that stage of relaxation on screen. The stage follows.” Bipasha’s home is now renovated and she’s ready move back in at May-end. She’s planning a big house-warming party. “It’s now reached the final stage of completion, the lights are being installed, the surfaces are being polished. It’s a very exciting process.”

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Bipasha's cool act despite wardrobe malfunction

The Beedi Jalaile girl Bipasha Basu is amongst the top favorites nowadays for any awards functions for performing to her hit dance numbers. So it was no surprise when the dusky beauty was taken on to perform for a tribute to the music of 70's at a Music awards function. The Aa Dekhen Zara actress was all set to enthrall the audience with her performance when she realized there was malfunction with her skirt and the prop that she was planning to use in the performance. Our source present at the venue revealed, “This malfunction happened not once but thrice. The actress did not know what to do at the last moment but despite all these problems Bipasha being a professional that she did not let it hamper her performance. The actress had to change her costumes in between the dance performances but she took it all in her stride. She carried the entire show with grace and managed to enthrall the audiences without giving a hint that she was upset with the costumes. Our source further revealed, “Had it been some one else they would have panicked and thrown tantrums. It would have affected the entire show. Bipasha carried the entire activity with lot of confidence and grace and did not let any one know that there is something wrong with the prop or her skirt One can watch this performance on Star Plus very soon.”

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John will make it a memorable wedding

It's felt by most members of Nagesh Kukunoor's Aashayein that this film would be John's turning point as an actor.

No stone is being left unturned to make sure John appears in the best light possible in this make-or-break film.

In this context it has now been decided to move the prestigious Aashayein forward by a couple of weeks, possibly to July 4 which is the date for Harman Baweja and Imran Khan's debut films.

Says a source, "Aashayein is crucial for both John and his director Nagesh Kukunoor. Both were banking heavily on their last projects. John on No Smoking which turned out to be a no-show and Nagesh on Bombay To Bangkok which was a fiasco. Both the actor and director feel Aashayein would be a new beginning for them."

But for John family always comes first. And now that his brother's wedding is days away he finds a lot of the attention that he would have ideally given to Aashayein is now being taken up by the wedding in the family.

Says a source, "Since Allan's wife is Romanian the wedding is in Romania. The arrangements therefore become doubly difficult. John's parents are too old and frail to manage the nitty-gritty.

Even Bipasha is shooting in Bangkok. That leaves John to supervise all the wedding plans. And Allan is his only brother. John wants to make it a memorable wedding."

It was therefore felt in the best interests of the film that the original release date June 20, be postponed by at least a couple of weeks.

Nagesh Kukunoor's associate and co-producer Elahi Hiptoola confirms these developments. "Yes, we did feel that we needed a couple of weeks extra, what with John's brother's marriage.

So yes we're moving to July, probably the first week. Aashayein is a film that needs careful nurturing. We don't mind waiting a bit. But we don't want the release to go wrong."

Interestingly John has no love interest in Aashayein. There's a new girl Sonal Saigal to begin with. But the female lead is played by Anaitha Nair one of the Chak De India girls. John and she share an unusual equation, quite like Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Sarkar Raj.

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John as angel in a Pak song!

After portraying many romantic roles on silver screen, Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham is now all set to mesmerise audience with his role as an angel in a Pakistani music album.

The music album 'Koi Aanay Wala Hai' by famous Pakistani rock band 'Strings' will feature the actor as an angel who falls in love with a beautiful girl after seeing her in trouble on earth and decides to become human to be with her forever.

"When Bilal came to me with the concept of an angel, we decided only John could do justice with the role because he possesses the similar kind of personality we required for this character," said band member Faisal Kapadia.

Shot in the beautiful locations of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia, John will be seen doing some extraordinary flying stunts in the getup of an angel with wings.

"John became a very dear friend when we were working for 'Zinda'. We decided to team up with John for 'Koi Aanay Wala Hai' and he is perfect for the role," Faisal says.

When asked about the concept of Album, Faisal said, "When we gave the tittle 'Koi Aanay Wala Hai', both of us wanted to make the video reflecting the concept.

All the songs in the album revolve around the story of an angel" It has been a long break of four years for 'Strings' to come up with this album but the duo are confident for the success of the album and promise that their latest album will become a chartbuster too.

"We toured a lot during this time to perform in concerts. These four years have been very great for us. Now, we are back with lot of energy," Faisal explains about their disappearance from the music scene.

"It is our best work so far and we have worked very hard for one and half years on it. The effort has been very satisfying and we are confident that 'Strings' fans will love 'Koi Aanay Wala Hai'." says Faisal.

'Inspired by the contemporary British rock and music of 60s and 70s, this indipop video Album has eight energetic tracks composed by Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood.

Koi Aanay Wala Hai' is being released in India by Sony BMG on May 12th, which is hoping the album to create a sensation in India.

"The music and the video are exceptional. We are sure of a great response to this album," says Shridhar Subramaniam, Managing Director of Soni BMG.

'Strings' is one of the few Pakistani bands to achieve international fame besides 'Junoon' and 'Vital Sings'. Band members Faisal and Bilal are well known names in India for the hits like 'Dhaani' and 'Najanay Kyu'. The duo have also worked in films like 'Zinda' and 'Shootout At Lokhandwala'.

'Strings' has seen many ups and downs in its long journey. The band had started with four college students Bilal, Faisal, Rafiq, Kareem in 1990. But the band broke up after their second album, "Strings 2" in 1992.

Years later, Bilal and Faisal came back together to reorganise the band to achieve international success for hit albums like 'Duur' and 'Dhaani'.

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"I can't ever sleep alone at night"- Bips in FHM

If you were to say "Mirror Mirror on the wall, tell me who is the huskiest of them all." And there is no second thought as to what the answer will be not me, not you but the Queen amongst the blessed few: Bipasha Basu, undoubtedly! And it is this huskiest gal who is peeping out of the cover in the latest edition of the men's magazine 'FHM'. She has spoken some of the most insightful words that everyone wanted to ask but did not know 'through' whom to ask!

Well, Bips (as we fondly call her) makes a very innocent statement claiming (read 'confessing') that "I can't ever sleep alone at night", which only meant that she is so scared of sleeping alone that she will not even mind sleeping with her enemy! PS: HEY ALL YOU 'HE' readers OUT THERE! Please stop thinking and fantasizing about you being her enemy!

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Bipasha Basu Biography

Bipasha Basu (born January 7, 1979) is a Bollywood actress and supermodel. She was the winner of the Ford's Supermodel of the World Contest for 1996 and is currently one of the mainstream Bollywood actresses.

Early life
Basu is the second of three daughters in her family. Her siblings are her elder sister Bidisha, and younger sister Bijoyeta . She was born in New Delhi, but her family later moved to Kolkata, where she won a regional beauty contest at a very young age. She has said that she had come into modelling and acting "quite by accident," because initially Bipasha had planned to either study chartered accountancy or medicine. However, she said that she dropped the idea of doing medical studies because she fainted when attempting to dissect rats.

Career
Basu, a Calcutta based commerce graduate model won the Ford's Supermodel of the World Contest and was named Tulips Ms Super Vivacious in the same event at the remarkably young age of 17. Basu was then flown to New York by the Ford Company. She commented in an interview, "I was spotted by the world famous photographer, Steven Meisel, and featured in Vogue magazine. I was thrilled and soon had plenty of projects coming my way." Bipasha gave it all up and came back to India. She said, "Yeah, I did a lot of ads, but my heart was not in it. I started missing my family because it was the first time I was away from them. So I happily gave it all up and came down to India".

Basu made her debut film in Abbas Mustan's Ajnabee, with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor. She played a married woman who goes all out to woo her husband’s married friend, and eventually won the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award for her performance.

Besides acting, Bips, as her friends call her, did the famous video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat and made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video Stolen.[1] In 2006, she won popular acclaim for her Item number Beedi in the song Omkara.

Personal life
Basu is currently dating actor John Abraham, They have been dating since late 2002. She previously dated fellow Bollywood actors Milind Soman and Dino Morea.

Even though Basu is a practicing Hindu and Abraham is a Christian, both families have accepted the couple. Basu has stated in an interview that though she was raised a Hindu, she believes that all religious groups deserve respect.

Basu claims that she was harassed by organizers of the controversial 2006 India Day Parade in Edison, New Jersey. [2] Organizers are now saying that they will sue Bipasha for breach of contract for not participating in the event and alleging harassment.

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