DOSTA-NA: AISHWARYA RAI AND NEETA LULLA

Aishwarya Rai and Neeta Lulla have been friends for a long time. The ace designer has benefited from her association with the star. However, their purani dosti and professional relationship has gone sour.

Ash and Neeta have been friends for 11 years. Neeta has designed Ash’s gorgeous clothes in Devdas, Umrao Jaan, Taal and Jodhaa Akbar while her designs for Ash’s Cannes appearances were not so successful and Ash was panned for her bad fashion sense.

A source tells us that problems between Ash and Neeta started duringJodhaa Akbar when the actress and the designer didn’t agree on the designs. The costumes were an important and integral part of the film and won the designer many honors. Professional Ash, who looked every inch the Rajput princes in those overstated outfits, didn’t voice her opinion while promoting the film.

“The final straw came when Neeta chose Sushmita Sen as her showstopper at a fashion week last year. This didn’t go down well with Ash at all because Sushmita is her rival. Ash saw it as an act of disloyalty and was miffed with Neeta. She has not walked for the designer at any of her shows lately. Even at her most recent show which opened the ongoing fashion week, Sameera Reddy was the showstopper. Ash is in Goa shooting for Guzaarish but she could have easily taken a day off for Neeta’s show. It has been a while since Ash graced the ramp, her last ramp appearance being a Longines event almost a year ago. Ash also didn’t attend Neeta’s daughter Nishka’s store launch a few weeks ago. They have hardly been seen together since Jodhaa Akbar’s promotions last year. Ash has chosen the creation of other designers like Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi and Gauri-Nainika to wear to events, award functions and premieres. Neeta isn’t even designing for films like Action Replayy, Guzaarish, Raavana and Endhiran.”

Now Neeta is trying to get back into Ash’s good books by messaging and calling her to express regret but Ash is only cordial with her. The warmth is missing. When contacted, Neeta denied any rifts in their relationship.

MADHURI SCORES OVER AISHWARYA

Madhuri Dixit was chosen over a high-priced Aishwarya Rai to judge a dance reality show....

It was a battle between two very trendy actresses, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in which the former has emerged a winner. Madhuri has joined numerous Bollywood stars to judge the reality show, Dance Premier League. Our source associated with the show said, “Madhuri and Aishwarya were both being considered to be the judge for one of the teams. Aishwarya lost out to Madhuri as she quoted a very high amount of money. The makers of the show couldn’t afford her and the scales tipped in Madhuri’s favour as she had demanded a reasonable price.”

Madhuri’s manager Riku Rakesh Nath said he could not reveal any details at this stage and said, “The argument is still on.”

However, Danish Khan, VP Marketing of the channel admitted, “Yes, Madhuri has been chosen to represent one of the teams.” He refused to comment on the reason why Aishwarya lost out to Madhuri and said, “I don’t want to talk abut the money involved but Madhuri is definitely on board for Dance Premier League.”

Our source said, “Madhuri was far more reasonable is the reason why Aishwarya lost out on the show.”

I WAS INADEQUATE FOR POLITICS, SAYS AMITABH BACHCHAN

It’s a job he’ll never recommend to anyone. Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, who was a Lok Sabha MP in 1984-87, says he quit politics because he felt he was "inadequate for the job".

"Many ask me why I joined politics and why I left it. I joined it because I was asked to and left because I was inadequate for the job," Bachchan posted on his blog.

The veteran actor came into politics at the behest of friend and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. He contested the Lok Sabha election from his hometown Allahabad in 1984. He won by a huge majority.

He says it is a tough job to be a politician and admires those who have managed to stay put in it.

"Politics is a complicated world - a world where if you are unable to play the game, you would remain a novice and a stranger eternally. I admire those who have remained in it for long years. (I) admire the guile with which they steer their boats every day, every minute. The ease with which they make associations and break them, reject foes and months later embrace them as dearest friends. It is a tough job.

"A job that I would never be able to do. I would never recommend it to anyone. But I do know that those who pursue this line do so with utmost dedication and passion. Their dedication and passion is admirable," he said.

Bachchan is currently in Singapore with his politician friend Amar Singh. The Samajwadi Party leader underwent a kidney transplant there.

BIG B VOICE-OVER FOR 26/11 ALBUM

Amitabh Bachchan to do voice-over for album paying homage to 26/11 terror attack victims.

Even as we see a compliment to the legendary Michael Jackson by the cream of Bollywood union in a recent video, composer Aadesh Shrivastav is busy putting together a video as his tribute to the victims of the terrible disaster that brought Mumbai to an idle on November 26. Aadesh is creating an album of peace to pay homage to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks. And he has roped in Amitabh Bachchan to do the narration for it.

Aadesh believes that Big B’s voice will do the best justice to the album which will have tracks sung by various classical and pop artistes not just from India, but abroad too. He wants to make the powerful voice a binding factor. Aadesh says, “No one else can do justice to this album. Only Amitji can serve as the perfect common thread to all the national and international artistes who are coming together for my album.”

To speed up things and make sure that he can release the album in November, the first anniversary of the blasts, Aadesh is flying down to Singapore where Amitabh is enjoying a holiday.

Aadesh’s album will also bring together Amitabh and Javed Akhtar on the same project after a gap of nearly two decades.

AMERICA DOESN’T KNOW ASH AND ABHI

Stars are worshipped like demi-gods in India and people would do anything to get only a glimpse of their favourite stars. Thus stars cannot live normal lives in India but that is not the case when they go to foreign shores where few people know them.

Earlier this week, Ash and Abhi were spotted grocery shopping by a source in Chicago, USA. She told us, “Abhishek and Aishwarya were in the sweets lane at the Walgreens store located near Water Towers in Chicago. Walgreens is a supermarket chain like Walmart. In India, its equivalent would be Food Bazaar, Big Bazaar and Le Marche. They were there buying cookies and cereals. It was raining and Ash was wearing jeans and a black hoodie while Abhishek was wearing a dark jacket with jeans.”

She adds, “Abhishek looked pretty ordinary and pretty Ash, with her fair skin and blue eyes, blended in with the locals. No one made a fuss over them. There were no starry airs. They were shopping like any other couple. There was only one Indian in the store. Abhishek was checking from the side of his eye if that person recognized him and would approach them for autographs but nothing like that happened. After buying what they wanted, they walked out into the street hand-in-hand without any security. There was no car waiting for them.”

Though Aishwarya is an internationally known face and the Bachchan parivaar was photographed at the US premiere of Pink Panther 2, the couple wasn’t hounded by the paparazzi. The only Indian celebrities that get paparazzi attention in the States are Frieda Pinto and Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame.

So the formula to live a normal life where strangers and fans don’t go ga-ga over you is crazy. Don’t wear make-up, maintain a low profile and do your grocery shopping in a foreign country.

ABHI-ASH CELEBRATE 40 YRS OF PA IN CINEMA

November 7, assures to be a big day for Amitabh Bachchan. For all of Bollywood has promised to join Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya in paying homage to the Big B who completes 40 years in Hindi cinema.

And, the compliment is going to be in the form of a concert in Mumbai, bigger than anything Bollywood has ever done before.

Events organiser Bunty Walia, who is putting it in concert, says it is too early to disclose details of the concert, but the concert is likely to be preceded by a Bachchan film festival organised by the superstar’s buddy Anil Ambani.

Almost all of Bollywood will join the Bachchan family on stage in performing songs from Big B’s films in this fine-looking tribute to the veteran actor.

Bachchan himself will only come on stage at the end, but he is not predictable to dance, instead he will probably recite poetry made famous by his late father Harivanshrai Bachchan. The concert is not intended as a surprise to the actor who turns 67 on October 11, knowing his attention to detail; he’s been taken into confidence about every decision regarding the preparations.

AISHWARYA HAPPY WITH TWO MEGA SOUTHERN PROJECTS

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai is thrilled over bagging the main leads in two mega south Indian projects - Mani Ratnam's "Ravan" and Shankar's "Endhiran".

"Shankar had advanced me earlier to work with him, but it never materialised. Finally, all landed in place and here we are working together after 10 years," said Aishwarya on the sets of "Ravan".

Tamil superstar Rajinikant, who is playing the male lead in "Endhiran", was also very keen to work with Aishwarya and had tried to sign her for his earlier ventures - "Padaiyappa" and "Chandramukhi", but the actress could not spare the dates.

Speaking about Ratnam's "Ravan", in which she once again teams up with her husband Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya said: "I don't want to disclose much about it. Working with Mani is always a delight. He is a man of rightness. I am lucky to act in his movies again and again."

Aishwarya was earlier seen in Ratnam's "Iruvar" and "Guru", in which Abhishek was in the main lead.

While shooting for "Ravan" in the jungles of Kerala, the entire cast and crew had a scary incident when an elephant ran amok and killed 51-year-old mahout Andavan.

The actors including Abhishek, Aishwarya, Vikram, Prabhu and Munna had to take shelter in a guest house.

According to sources, the film personalities spent the night in the forest guest house and survived on bread and eggs. After 12 hours of tension and waiting, the crew returned to their hotel.

Now the cast and crew of "Ravan" have moved to Ooty where the remaining portions of the film will be shot.

ALL’S FINE BY GOD’S GRACE: AISHWARYA

It’s general facts that Bollywood’s most romantic couple, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai, pine to spend worth time together.

But the way they were cut off together on Wednesday in the jungles of Athirapilly in Kerala was anything but romantic.

The day started usually and ended up as one of the most disastrous in the couple’s life. Says a source, “Abhi and Ash left with Mani Ratnam in the morning to check out an elephant which was believed to participate in the shooting. Little did they know what was in store.” During the monsoon season, elephants are given a month off by their owners to relax and go for an Ayurveda healing, but for the greedy owners, film shooting means Rs 5,000 per animal.

The elephant went out of control, killing the mahout. It went amok, forcing Abhishek, his wife and the director to hide until people who could rescue the trio could reach. Says the source, “For ten hours, Abhishek, Aishwarya and Mani went without food or water. They just hide from the elephant. Finally, they were rescued late at night. But until then, there was no news of their safety. Abhishek and Aishwarya’s parents were hectic with worry.”

When contacted, a stunned Aishwarya Rai simply said, “All is well, by God’s grace.”

AMITABH BACHCHAN ON CNN’S ‘TALK ASIA’

Talks about varying force of Bollywood. The Western world is now showing interest in Hindi films all since of its dance and music pleased, something that they ridiculed a few years ago, says megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

"We were ridiculed, and the West was very distrustful about the way we made our films and the content the songs and the dance, and the music was incredible that was kind of looked down upon many years ago.

"But that very aspect has now become its USP, and people love to see that. I would wait for that this is how and what our cinema is all about," Amitabh said on CNN's show "Talk Asia".

Speaking about Hollywood-Bollywood alliance, Amitabh said: "I think this has got to do a lot more with economics rather than sharing inventiveness... Hollywood is very healthy in their finance, they are using their money to invest in productions that are coming out of India. And in that respect, yes, holding hands with Hollywood companies or any other company is now becoming a routine."

Many Hindi films lately have seen international collaborations, including "Singh Is Kingg", which was produced by Warner Brothers, and animated film "Roadside Romeo" that was financed by Disney. "Kambakkht Ishq" featured Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards.

Amitabh himself will be sharing screen space with British actor Ben Kingsley in his approaching film "Teen Patti".

ASH LEARNS NEW DANCING STEPS

Astad Deboo, that modern and current Indian classical dancer, has been lured into the deep jungles of Athirappilly, Kerala, by filmmaker Mani Ratnam to teach the lovely Aishwarya Rai Bachchan some new steps.

Ash, who is shooting for Mani’s Raavan with hubby Abhishek Bachchan, is requisite to do a climactic life and death dance series for which the Padma Shri synthesis dance choreographer was particularly called in.

The actress, of course, is as graceful as can be when it comes to dancing on screen (remember Nimbuda from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Kahin Aag Lage from Taal), and choreographers from Saroj Khan to Shiamak Davar have raved about her professionalism when it comes to taking instruction. Now it’s Astad’s turn. This is his first experiment with Bollywood, though he did agree to lend his supple ingenuity to M F Husain’s Meenaxi before.

According to a source, Astad’s chosen a tandav of passion, revenge and salvation for Ash, because Mani wanted a fusion of kathak, ballet and modern dance. The steps are complex and new and Ash has to dance barefeet on slippery and unsafe ground. Besides, she has to do the steps twice over and in quick run, first with Abhishek for the Hindi version and then with Vikram for the Tamil version. Unsurprisingly, all this isn’t easy for the actress at all. She hasn’t been complaining, however.

Probably because she’s getting her fun watching Abhishek, who is infamously one of the worse dancers in Bollywood, struggling to work on his steps.

Who is hindering Raavan?

Everyone knows of Mani Ratnam’s liking for re-shooting his movies. So why Raavan be supposed to be any less re-worked? Some portions are being re-shot as the motion picture maker is not happy with the rushes.

A source confirms, “Mani Sir is not happy with Abhishek Bachchan’s presentation in the movie, compared to Southern megastar Vikram, who seems to be stealing Jr Bachchan’s boom with his fine performance. Since he is not the central character, Mani Sir thinks he will over-shadow Abhishek, who is the hero of the motion picture in addition to so he needs to re-shoot some scenes at once to make sure Abhishek is not over looked.”

As for Aishwarya, she will have a dance choreographed by internationally well-known dancer Astad Deboo, as well as she is detective novel with the outlook of working with him. Aishwarya is also an old tender when it comes to her organization with Mani Ratnam, with whom she did her first silver screen Iruvar.

Raavan also stars Govinda, and the film is being made at the same time in Tamil as Ashokavanam with a dissimilar cast.

The story of Raavan is a closely protected secret. However, what is recognized is that in the motion picture the sister of Abhishek Bachchan is embarrassed publicly by the temperament played by South star Vikram. Afterward, Abhshek kidnaps Aishwarya Rai, the wife of Vikram as revenge. Both of them take shelter in the jungle chased by the police. Thereby, both of them fall in love.

Abhi-Ash planning for a baby

A lot of populace in the industry has been wondering why Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been operational so hard recently even as she balances her time between her two sets of parents at Jalsa (the Bachchans) and La Me (the Rais).

Fact is with the intention of Aishwarya is in a hasten to draw to a close up all her in anticipation of coursework so that she can remain a ingredient of the year 2010 free for relations affairs, and that includes parenthood.

A basis close to the couple said, “The two of them are fed up of relatives, strangers and relative strangers asking them when the stork is visiting. Secretly, they feel pressurized. It’s as if their parenthood is a public issue. Even when they are at airports in the making to board flights, over-exuberant ladies rush to them with an inquisitive look on their eager faces. Even before these fans open their mouth, Abhishek knows correctly what the question is, and he gets visibly exasperated. Aishwarya handles such over-inquisitive consideration far more politely.”