AJAY DEVGN, KAJOL THROW HUGE PARTY TO CELEBRATE SUCCESS OF ALL THE BEST

Abhishek Bachchan walked in with Amar Singh, as a substitute of his Paa or his wife, at Ajay Devgn's first-ever bash for his friends in the industry on Thursday evening. Bashful and mocking about glam-gatherings, Ajay Devgn has always shunned attendance parties and has never before thrown one.

But the new power-packed Devgn newly thrilled by the success of All The Best has resolved to let the world know he's ready to conquer showbiz.

Devgn's buddies Sanjay Dutt and Maanyata were the first to arrive and also among the first to leave, since Sanjay had an early-morning flight to catch to South Africa. And then there was Fardeen and his wife Natasha. After his successful back surgery in New York, Fardeen Khan was back in Mumbai for his first public appearance to celebrate his first successful film in ages at Ajay Devgn's first-ever party for his colleagues held at the Sahara Star hotel on Thursday night, a day after Devgn wrapped up Prakash Jha's Rajneeti in Bhopal.

All the preparations were taken care of by Ajay Devgn and his wife Kajol who were very outstandingly a part of the celebrations. The party went on till late. John Abraham and Bipasha showed up much later.

But as one of the guests later said, "This party was a show of strength for Ajay Devgn. For too long he has smirked and silently watched the Khans rule as the glamourous elements in Bollywood. With wife Kajol at his side, Ajay wants to build Brand Devgn in a par with Saif-Kareena and Abhishek-Aishwarya. The party on Thursday night was the first step in that direction."

KAREENA'S TREAT FOR HER FANS

2009 is a treat for Kareena Kapoor fans. After Kambakkht Ishq in July, the stunning leading lady has three releases back to back in the space of three months.

Compared to the bright Jab We Met and Kambakkht Ishq, all her roles are subdued, in the sense she does not talk a lot and yet conveys sufficient through her eyes and expressions. She is the only actress this year to have worked with all the prominent Khans of the industry (she had an item song with SRK in Billu).

Kareena looked really hot as a supermodel in Kambakkht Ishq. In Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna, which is out on October 16, the stunning star plays an urban wife to Salman Khan who has an affair with Sohail Khan. The actress adopted a voluptuous look in the film as she plays a Punjabi wife. The film has been shot in Australia and has been ready since a year. Director Prem Soni said, “Kareena is a very professional actress. Her chemistry with Salman was natural. She just moulds herself into the character. I had to work extra hard on my directorial skills to keep up with them so that I could explain the scenes to them properly.”

In Kurbaan, Kareena plays a simple Muslim girl from Delhi who marries Saif and moves to the US. There she discovers that he is a terrorist. Bebo has barely worn any make up in the film and looks absolutely magnificent. She didn’t practice Yoga or a strict diet to gain weight for the role of a plump Muslim girl. She and Saif have a few steamy scenes and the poster of the film is really bold for an A-grade Hindi film as it features a bare-backed Kareena with a topless Saif. The film will be out on November 27. Director Rensil D’silva said, ‘I couldn’t have asked for a better actress than Kareena. Her chemistry with Saif is sizzling.’

In 3 Idiots, Kareena finally shares screen space with Aamir Khan. The sizzling duo also has a lip-lock in the film that has been shot in Mumbai and Ladakh primarily. “Kareena plays Boman Irani’s daughter in the film. She is a medical student in love with Aamir. Though Aamir is the star of the film, Kareena has held her own. She is bubbly and demure at the same time. She has worn no make-up in the film and yet she looks completely stunning,” says a StarBoxOffice source on the sets of the film. Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots is Aamir’s Christmas present to Bollywood and his fans.

KAREENA PREPARING HARD FOR FILM WITH KAJOL

She is discovering how hard it is to play a normal girl.

Kareena Kapoor is leaving nothing to chance this time. Determined to match step with the terrifying scene-stealer Kajol in the Hindi version of "Stepmom", the actress has been quietly attending acting workshops with the film's director Siddharth Malhotra.

"The last time I rehearsed for a part was for Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Omkara'. But that was a more eccentric film and role where I had to get into a location and character I knew nothing about. But 'Stepmom' is urban and very modern. I play a very normal metro-centric working girl," Kareena told IANS.

Malhotra's film is inspired by director Chris Columbus 1998 hit drama "Stepmom", a heartwarming tale of two women - divorced Susan Sarandon and the new woman (Julia Roberts) in her ex-husband's life - and the problems they face to find a common ground of understanding.

And to attend the workshops, Kareena has been stealing time out of the rehearsals for a song she began shooting with Aamir Khan in "3 Idiots". Through the workshops Kareena is discovering how difficult it is to play a normal girl. "I walk, talk, dress like an common working girl. I'll be using no makeup."

Bollywood's ace designer Manish Malhotra too is having a hard time trying to bring down Kareena's glamour quotient in "Stepmom" to look like an ordinary working woman. "I couldn't cut my hair as planned because of continuity clashes. And I didn't want to cut my long hair. But I'm going for a new hairstyle," said Kareena.

The two actresses start shooting together from the end of this month.

Talking abour Kajol, Kareena said: "She's always been one of my favourite actresses. We worked together in 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'. But this is something else."

There will be a lot of dramatic scenes between the two women in the movie.

"The desi version of 'Stepmom' is very different from the original. My role is also a big exodus from what Julia Roberts played in 'Stepmom'," Kareena said.