ARE AKSHAY AND SONAM TEAMING UP?

Buzz is Akshay Kumar and Sonam Kapoor is teaming up for a film being directed by Kunal Kohli.

The film in question is a romantic caper based in Rome, Kunal had been working on the script for a while when he approached Akshay for the lead role. Akshay though found some loopholes in the script and told Kunal to rewrite on the script. However, he didn’t totally reject the offer and even mentioned Sonam’s name for the female lead. Kunal was over the roof and went around town daring of Akki being the star of his film.

A source close to the director explained, “After the dud that was Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, no one really was concerned in working with Kunal. Yash Raj too had washed their hands of him and he didn’t have any big banner too support him for his next. He had earlier approached Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan, Shahid Kapur and Saif Ali Khan but all of them refused the film. He had even contemplated on playing the main lead himself and that’s when Akshay showed some interest. But rather than keeping it hush hush he was screaming off the rooftops that he’d found the stars of his next film, that’s when Akshay backed out. But you never know these stars they never really can make up their minds, who knows maybe Akshay might give it another thought.”

After Blue's sinking fate, Akki might have a change of heart, pairing with Sonam, which does have a novelty. His pairing with Deepika did not work, maybe Sonam will be his lucky girl, although that idea is also too unlikely since Sonam's films have so far bombed, both with Ranbir and Abhishek- who are no longer doing any projects with her.

When StarBoxOffice contacted Kunal Kohli, he straight out denied the rumours, “It’s not true as it’s too soon to talk about my next film, there’s still a lot of work going into it.” We hope Kunal pulls his socks up soon for if Khiladi Kumar and the Masakalli girl were to be teamed up together, now that would be something indeed!

WHAT IS SANJAY DUTT DOING IN ALADIN?

Sanjay Dutt didn't require much believable or cajoling to come on board for Aladin.

The moment he heard the film's concept, genre and they way it was imagined to be brought on screen, he agreed to do the film pronto. He was annoyed about the film going on floors. His character is like that of evil magician Jafar in the Disney version of Aladin.

Says a source associated to the film, "Sanju baba actually became quite childlike when he was narrated the concept of Aladin. He hasn't worked in a film belonging to this genre before, the kind that involves fairytale elements embellished in a narrative that is set in today's times. The legend of Aladin and Genie is known global and Sanju baba didn't require much thinking to be a part of the project. As a fun loving villain, who was capable of showing the mean side of his at any given moment, the character was tailor-made for him and he connected to that instantly when the part was explained to him."

By the way, it was Amitabh Bachchan himself who first had a word with Sanjay Dutt about his role of Ringmaster in Aladin.

Confirms Sujoy Ghosh, "Yes, after I had an elaborate narration of Aladin with Mr. Bachchan, we were discussing who could play the role of Ringmaster. We agreed that it had to be Dutt saab and I was supposed to contact him the next day. Though, to my surprise, before I could speak to Dutt saab, Mr. Bachchan had already spoken to him. When I met him, he mockingly pulled me for not speaking to him directly. I explained that I had all the right intentions to do so but didn't have any clue that Mr. Bachchan would himself take the first step."

Kicked about the entire idea, "I still remember it was year 2006," Sujoy gets nostalgic here, "Dutt saab was so excited about donning the hat of Ringmaster. Pun anticipated."

Sanjay Dutt had a condition though before saying yes. "Yes, he didn't want anyone to fiddle around with his look," laughs Sujoy, "His only condition was that he wanted the moustache of Ringmaster to be kept intact. Of course, we had no reason not to agree."

Aladin releases on October 30.

IS ACID FACTORY A REMAKE?

Like most of his films that are lifted off foreign films, Sanjay Gupta’s Acid Factory (he has produced the film with Mumbai Mantra) is a remake of an American film.

The film in question is Simon Brand’s Unknown which released in 2006. The film stars Bridget Moynahan (of I, Robot and The Recruit fame) as the only female among six guys, which included Greg Kinnear (As Good as It Gets) and James Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ ). The story of the film is that five men wake up inured in a storehouse. They are tied to a chair and suffering from amnesia. They don’t know something about each other. The film is full of twists and turns that keep you gripped from start to finish. The film went overlooked.

Acid Factory also has a similar premise of five men who wake up in an acid factory. They don’t know each other and can’t remember anything. They somehow get out of the factory and start putting their lives together. Dia Mirza is the only girl among five guys.

When contacted, director Suparn Verma said, “I have heard that it is a remake of Ocean’s 11, Saw, Hostel and even Star Wars (!), so I have no idea. Dilip Garetkar, who wrote Phoonk came to me with the idea and I loved it. We evolved the screenplay and had fun writing it and shooting the film. I hope it’s a hit. I have a gut feeling that it will be. Like every other film’s cast and crew, we have worked really hard on our film.”

It is up to you to decide whether Acid Factory is a remake or not.

Here is a list of Sanjay Gupta films that have been remakes

Musafir: Oliver Stone’s U-Turn

Kaante: Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects,Michael Mann’s Heat and Ringo Lam’s City on Fire.

Zinda: Korean film called Old Boy

BLUE IS COMING TO THE UAE FIRST

Bollywood mega-starrer will have its world premiere at the third Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi

Expect the best of world cinema at the third Middle East International Film Festival to be held from October 8 to 17 in Abu Dhabi. And Bollywood will be represented by none other than Blue, the Akshay Kumar-Sanjay Dutt-Lara Dutta-Katrina Kaif movie that features Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue in a special song appearance. The promos of the movie are already burning up our TV screens, so we can’t wait to see the film.

All of MEIFF ‘s gala screenings will be held in the Auditorium of the Emirates Palace Hotel , with some of them receiving second screenings at Cinestar Cinemas at Marina Mall.

AKSHAY AND SANJAY KA DOSTANA

The dudes will be seen in Blue where they play pals but they weren’t on talking terms during the making of the film, thanks to their 15-year old antagonism. It’s not only actresses that fight, actors have ego issues too.

Their dushmani began when they were shooting for Raj Sippy’s Amaanat which released in 1994. According to legends, Raj Sippy wanted to shoot a song video with Akshay Kumar but Sanjay Dutt wanted to be part of the video and he persuaded Sippy to shoot the video only with him. Both Sanjay and Akshay were big stars at the time and Akshay was and is the better dancer among the two. He didn’t take very gently to his being bumped off the video and thus began a 15 year long cold war between him and Sanjay.

A source tells us, “During the making of Blue, both of them gave director Anthony D’souza a hard time because of their ego clashes. They wanted to know who's role was meatier. In fact, Sanjay even stopped shooting for Blue for a while. Only after a lot of praise and demanding from the production house and some special ads in his favour, did he return. This was around the time of Kidnap’s release. Things were cool for a while but then escalated when Kylie Minogue came to India. Akshay Kumar and wife Twinkle played her personal hosts. Sanjay Dutt also wanted to throw a party for her but his political schedule and the short duration of her visit didn’t allow that to happen. Poor Lara had to yo-yo between the two people as she is friends with both Kumar and Dutt.”

Finally peace prevailed on the last day of the shoot in Mumbai. Our source adds, “Akshay and Sanjay are both adults and they decided to get over what had happened 15 years ago. Both decided to be cordial and warm towards each other and this surprised everyone on set but they were only happy as everybody could finally relax and bond together. Blue is an important film for both of them (along with the rest of the cast) as neither Akshay nor Sanjay has had a hit this year. If it does well and people like their rapport, then they will team up for another project. Both stars have a huge fan base and any movie could cash in on it.”

Sanjay’s spokesperson denied that the duo had any problems in the first place and maintained that they have always been friends.