Bolly Tamasha

It looks like Bipasha Basu will be teaming up with Aishwarya Rai in Ben Kingsley’s upcoming film about the erection of the Taj Mahal. Aishwarya will be playing the role of Mumtaz Mahal and Bipasha as Jahan Ara Begum. Bipasha first had unofficial talks of doing the movie with Kingsley when  they came together to host the new Seven Wonders event held in Lisbon and celebrated in July this  past summer. This is great news for both these lovely actresses and Indian actors in general. We can’t wait to see the on-screen magic.

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai were in Toronto promoting their ‘Unforgettable Tour’, which was announced at the IIFA awards a few months ago.

The tour will kick start in Toronto in the Summer of 2008 and will feature a wide array of Bollywood big shots such as Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta, and Ritesh Deshmukh. There will also be concerts in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, London, Cairo, Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Well, this is news to me but Aishwarya Rai has been paired opposite Steve Martin in the sequel to ‘The Pink Panther’, which will be releasing in 2009. Aishwarya Rai was spotted taken a stroll with her hubby, Abhishek Bachchan, while on a break from shooting in Paris.

Ram Gopal Varma can really pull of amazing feats. After having the Bachchan crew once in his film, he will do it again. Before even completing the sequel to his film Sarkar, he is in the works of creating a new movie with the Bachchan camp. A source close to the director tipped us off:

Ramu has planned to rope in Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya for Time Machine. The director took the decision of reviving the film during the outdoor shoot of his film Sarkar Raj which is currently in progress in Hyderabad.

Ram must be a pleasure working with, usually Amitabh likes to switch things up, but he has stayed loyal to Ram and the pair are helping each other create amazing blockbusters. We can’t wait to hear more news on the film.

Kareena Kapoor signed a Rs 6 crore deal with Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision for three movies that will be released before 2009. This amount puts her in the running for the highest pay in Bollywood. Here’s what an industry insider had to comment about the money Kareena is raking in:

I do not know what the exact amount is, but if its true then she is getting as much as Aishwarya Rai (Rs 2 crore per film). Ash is the highest paid actress in the industry and is rumoured to have been paid Rs 2 crore for Jodha- Akbar. If Kareena has been signed for that amount, she will be one of the most expensive actresses in the industry.

Kareena is currently shooting for Imtiaz Ali’s untitled film with Shahid Kapoor and will not have to worry about getting roles or trying to get many until 2009. She definitely just got a big break.

Abhishek Bachchan has agreed to work with Vivek Oberoi, the former lover of Aishwarya Rai, in Apoorva Lakhia’s upcoming project Mission Istanbul. Vivek Oberoi wasn’t invited to the Abhi-Ash wedding. It is also been said that Abhishek and Vivek are not on very good terms and avoid any interactions. The producer of the movie, Suniel Shetty, is not too concerned and had this to say:

Why should they have a problem? Abhishek is a thorough professional. He has no problem with anybody. Yes, they do have scenes together in Mission Istanbul. And I am sure they’ll do them splendidly. It’s very unfair to bring in personal matters to question their professionalism. The script is still being worked out. Neither Abhishek nor Vivek have expressed any misgivings about working together. There is unnecessary speculation.

It’ll be interesting to see how things work out and if any names mysteriously drop out of the bill. We’ll just have to wait and see.

At a special viewing of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Abhishek and Aishwarya were seen making a commotion and throwing coins at the movie screen each time Abhishek’s face was shown. What they did not realize was that their throws were short and were hitting the heads of everyone in the front row. Their cheering and horseplay was not appreciated even by the director Shaad Ali. He tried to calm them down to no avail. He had this to say about the situation:

After some time I felt like collecting those coins and throwing them back at Abhishek. He was too thrilled and did not realize that the coins were landing on our heads. They needed good aiming skills for the coins to land at the screen.

They sound very childish and other cast members like: Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta stayed indifferent and kept quiet while Preity Zinta joined in on the disturbance. Maybe the couple is still drunk off their marriage and taking it out on everyone else.

The Unforgettable Tour was announced today by Wiz Craft International Entertainment, the organizers of IIFA Weekend. Today they released word of the huge world tour featuring: Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya, Abhishek Bachchan, Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu and Ritesh Deshmukh. Also on hand were: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Govinda, Sohail Khan and David Dhawan promoting their soon to be released film Partner. This tour will surely be a huge success with all the big names on the bill — we can’t wait and see what happens.

Aishwarya Rai attended the French Open Tennis quarter final match between Swiss player Roger Federer and Spanish Tommy Robredo at Roland Garros, on June 5th  in Paris. She looks stunning, even though in the main pic posted above, she has a small resemblance to Madonna, all she needs in the gap in between her teeth.

The newly wed couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai were seen publically together at the 60th Cannes Film Festival hosted on the French Riviera. Here are some more pictures of the couple and one of Liz Hurley, present without the company of her husband: