Mexican girl Barbara Mori Interview: what about hot katrina and kareena?

Bollywood3000 News: Barbara Mori is getting to know B-Town, a few stars at a timeWearing a white dress and with no make-up, Barbara Mori greets me with a big "Hola". The Mexican girl is in the city to promote her upcoming release, Kites.

A natural beauty, she is warm and instantly likeable. Her eyes light up every time I mention her co-star Hrithik Roshan. I can't wait to get to know her and neither can you, I assume. Over to my tete-a-tete with Ms Mori.

What was your first impression of Bollywood?
I didn't know there was anything called Bollywood till I met Rakesh and Anurag in LA. All my life, I knew there was the Indian film industry, but the name Bollywood was foreign to me. I hadn't watched any Indian movie, but knew that the industry is very popular and makes the maximum number of movies.

How did you land Kites?
Rakesh had heard my name from someone and he started asking people about me and the work I'd done. He watched my last film and got in touch with my agent.

Why did you agree to do the film?
The credit goes to Anurag for a fantastic narration. The way he told me the story and narrated each and every small scene, I was simply mesmerised. I was absorbed in the story of this boy and girl who don't speak the same language. Even though the language was foreign to me, I could see the story unravel in my head. It was the most beautiful love story I had ever heard. That's when I decided  to be a part of the film.

When did you hear about Hrithik?
I didn't know who he was until Rakesh told me to come to LA and watch Jodhaa Akbar. When I saw the film I was simply stunned, but  I was like, 'this film is three hours long!!' I kept thinking who this guy was, walking around like a king, wearing an armour and looking so handsome. I simply loved that film, and then later, I saw his other films like Lakshya, Koi Mil Gaya, Kaho Naa Pyar Hai. Then  I went on YouTube and checked how hugely popular he was and how big his family is. I googled him and realised he has a huge fan following not just in India, but the world over.

Seen any Hindi film that doesn't star Hrithik?
No, but I know a little bit more about the industry now. I know that you guys have really long movies and love dancing and singing in them. I would love to watch more films, if only I understood the language.

Do people know Hrithik or Bollywood back home in Mexico?
No, they don't know Hrithik neither are they aware about Bollywood. But when I tell my fans I worked on an Indian movie, they get super-excited. They wouldn't get that excited if I was working for a Hollywood film. They are waiting to see Kites.

Do you know what Kites is called in Hindi?
No, I don't know! Can you please tell me. The only Hindi line I can speak is 'Main ullu ki patthi hoon'. And yes, I know that it doesn't mean 'I love you'.

Have you managed to pick up any Hindi words?
Not really, but Anurag has taught me some juicy abuses which I keep practicing! I think if I were to talk in Spanish it would be hard for you to understand. It's a very difficult language to learn. Similarly, I have got accustomed to Hindi now. But the real problem was English. I don't speak English, and the English spoken here is heavily accented, so getting to learn that was also tedious. There were times when Anurag would speak so fast that I thought he was talking in Hindi, but he was actually speaking in English. Hrithik would come and tell me, 'It's okay. You don't have to get nervous'. He would translate it for me and make me understand. He has really been of great help.

Did you get a chance to meet any B-Town actors?
Yes, I know that Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest star in the country. In fact, I got a chance to meet him and his wife Gauri when Hrithik and Sussanne took me to his house. Gauri was such a warm host and very sweet to me. Then, last year, for Hrithik's birthday, I met Priyanka Chopra, She seemed like a really nice girl. But otherwise, I don't know anyone else.

Have you heard of Katrina Kaif?
No, but I know Kareena. I bumped into her at the airport the other day. Who is Katrina?

Well, Katrina, just like you, isn't an Indian. She couldn't speak Hindi, but today is one of the most popular actresses..
Then I should definitely meet her. Maybe I will tell Hrithik to introduce me to her. I always thought Aishwarya was the most popular actress!

What do you do when you aren't working?
I love spending time with my son and friends. I try and spend as much time with my son as possible.

Any plans to bring your son to Mumbai?
He wanted to join me, but he's 12 and has exams so he couldn't join me. I only got to see Goa, but haven't had the time to see Mumbai yet. I was also planning to go to Taj in Agra but even that hasn't happened yet. I definitely want to see more of India. Also my son is a huge fan of Hrithik since he learnt how to dance from him. He keeps in touch with him. I think Hrithik's sons are adorable. I remember meeting Sussanne for the first time and she was pregnant. She's so beautiful and such a lovely person. Their entire family has made me feel at home.

What next after Kites?
Well, I go back to Mexico and do another film. Then I am producing and acting in a play. I have a production company and doing a play is very exciting. After that, I have been offered another Bollywood film, but I can't disclose anything since things haven't worked out yet.

Your brother Kintaro wants to be a singer, have you been supporting him?
Oh yes, he's very passionate about singing. The other day, I was with him in the recording studio. He's currently recording an album with songs in Hindi, English and Spanish. He's producing it as well. It should be coming out soon.

Angelina Jolie and Aishwarya Rai: Common Things and Non Common Things?

Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood planet’s sexy actress is often compared with the Indian beauty Aishwarya Rai. Let’s look at a few similarities and dissimilarities that the two have:

Common Things:

1. While Angelina has been voted as the sexiest and most beautiful woman on the planet; Aishwarya Rai stole the crown in 1994 Miss World. Besides, even Julia Roberts had said that Aishwarya is the most beautiful lady in the whole world.
2. Both have some facial similarities- like they have light coloured & sparkling eyes, are extremely fair and have fuller & inviting lips. Plus, they have a distinct forehead that radiates ethereal beauty.

Non Common Things:

1. While Angelina is one of the leading actresses of the west, Aishwarya’s CV boasts of movies from Bollywood. However, she has also done a few cross-border films. But, basically, their works are of two varying fields.
2. Ash is married to Abhishek Bachchan while Angelina is in a live-in relationship with Jennifer Aniston’s former husband Brad Pitt. But, even Ash has had her share of scandalous pasts with actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi. However, while Angie is candid and outspoken; Ash (true to her Indian ethics) doesn’t talk of her past relationships.
3. Aishwarya has donated her eyes after she won the Miss World pageant but, thereafter, has slowed down in philanthropic commitments. On the contrary, Angelina has adopted 3 kids from 3rd world countries.

Nevertheless, both can be called the epitomes of unearthly beauty-one from the western hemisphere and the other from the eastern side.

Angelina Jolie, Aishwarya Rai - Who is the Most beautyful Lady?

Aishwarya Rai is 1994 Miss World and an Indian actress with an unmatched beauty. The beauty of her face lies in its perfectness; it was a true mastery of skill displayed by her creator (if it was God). Her sparkling twin assets (her radiant eyes) bejewel that perfectly sculpted face and with a killer smile added to it, she is synonymous with the Goddess of Beauty.

Angelina Jolie, on the other hand, is her western contemporary and has often been compared with Aishwarya for an uncanny resemblance in face and forehead. Angelina, surely, has more exposure owing to her association with Hollywood but Aishwarya Rai was the one who got the rare complement from Julia Roberts herself who had once said that Ash is the world’s most beautiful lady.

While both the ladies are screen scorchers, Angelina is more of an assaulter with her sexiness screaming out of her oomphy body whereas Aishwarya lacks that loud character (her beauty is subtle and surreal). Also, both are tremendously successful as actors and almost of equal age. But, it is the raw beauty of their skin that has always overshadowed their acting calibre. Be it on the screen or on the paper, the duo have made us helpless gazers of their feminine bodies in all their avatars.

Now, though, both can boast of a magnificent CV, I leave it to you to decide who amongst them is the Empress of Beauty?

Priyanka Chopra Refused Hollywood Film Offer

She might be one of the most ambitious actresses in Bollywood today, but Priyanka Chopra knows what her priorities are.

While most of our Bollywood actresses would never miss a chance to star in a Hollywood film, Priyanka recently refused to star in Dawn of War. And it wasn’t because she didn’t like the script. The only reason Priyanka turned down the offer was because she chose to star in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Saat Khoon Maaf instead.

A source said, “The dates of Dawn of War and Saat Khoon Maaf were being worked out at the same time and Priyanka was asked to allot her dates in early April.

Left with no choice but to choose one of the two projects, Priyanka didn’t think twice before agreeing to star in Bhardwaj’s film. Priyanka was given a copy of the script of Dawn of War while she was shooting in the US for Siddharth Anand’s Anjaana Anjaani.”

After Priyanka refused the offer, director Tarsem Singh signed Freida Pinto to star opposite British actor Henry Cavill. Priyanka is currently shooting in Gulmarg and Srinagar for Saat Khoon Maaf and remained unavailable for comment.

Shahrukh Khan(King Khan) Inspirations to Hollywood

The Bollywood King, Shah Rukh Khan  has started giving ‘gyaan’ to his fellow film makers and technicians in Bollywood. He has reportedly asked the Indian film makers to ‘learn from the Hollywood’, and moreover, he has given a three- point suggestion, so that we can make movies with a Global appeal.

He was speaking at inaugural session of ‘FICCI FRAMES-2010′, where he said that our filmmakers needs to learn screenplay writing from Hollywood, Visual effects and also some discipline and professionalism, again, from Hollywood. But he did add that in a bid to learn screenplay writing, we should not forget our own style.

‘However, learning Hollywood screenplay and technology is not about losing the intrinsic quality of our stories. We must maintain our own cinematic individuality,’ he said.

He supported the joint ventures with Hollywood to nurture its rather different story format, & the musical drama format, which is actually very famous in the west. He also suggested the filmmakers to understand that the screenplay writing is science rather than art, and if we treat it in that way then only we will be able to rub shoulders with Hollywood, and also they would share their experience with us. Presently, this exchange of knowledge is not happening because of the difference in technique and approach.

‘The big investment we are looking for from Hollywood is the training of mechanics for running machines for visual effects. We need to develop people who can make us our own cheaper, better and faster softwares for filmmaking and have a special branch of trained visual effect teams and talent here,’ Shah Rukh added.

He said that we should learn discipline and organization from Hollywood.

‘This organization already exists in other Indian businesses, but is woefully lacking in the business of films. This (organization) also needs to filter down to the film distribution systems based on their models and learn the science of marketing films,’ Shah Rukh added.

He summed up his speech by saying that we need a ‘symbiotic relationship’ with Hollywood, so that we both could be helpful for each other. This will also increase the foreign investment in India.

‘The time has come for having a symbiotic relationship where we can both feed off the knowledge that we have instead of just the movies. The economics will follow. Then, Bollywood and Hollywood together can have a global audience watching our movies,’ Shah Rukh said.

Shahrukh Khan: Write Hollywood prescription for the Bollywood

Hollywood is a film world that has more mass-popularity and global-acceptance basically for 2 things:
"Language (English)"
"Its technology and visual effects that’s far more superior to its Bollywood counterpart"

And Doctor SRK has written out a prescription for the Bollywood that’s ailing from lack of mass appeal. Though, Bollywood is one of the biggest industries, when it comes to screenplay and technical effects, it falls short of the grades scored by Holly flicks like Spiderman, Harry Potter and the likes.

SRK says, “The big investment we are looking for from Hollywood is the training of mechanics for running machines for visual effects. We need to develop people who can make us our own cheaper, better and faster softwares for filmmaking and have a special branch of trained visual effect teams and talent here.”

However, SRK knows about the uniqueness that is synonymous with brand Bollywood and aptly remarks, “However, learning Hollywood screenplay and technology is not about losing the intrinsic quality of our stories. We must maintain our own cinematic individuality.”

He summons Bollywood to embark on the voyage to perfection and give Hollywood an equally strong company. “The time has come for having a symbiotic relationship where we can both feed off the knowledge that we have instead of just the movies. The economics will follow. Then, Bollywood and Hollywood together can have a global audience watching our movies,” he signs off.

Aamir Khan, James Cameron enthrall audience on future of cinema!!

Aamir Khan, the perfectionist super star of bollywood with terrific films like ‘Lagaan’, ‘Ghajini’, ‘3 Idiots’ to his credit and James Cameron of Hollywood with a line up so strong as ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’, held the audiences captive at Delhi when they spoke about the future of cinema in the world.

Aamir Khan and James Cameron discussed the future direction of cinema, which ‘Avatar’ showed to be in 3D and much more advanced techniques than current breed of products coming in the market.

However, Cameron was candid enough to admit that while making the 3 D extravaganza, he was apprehensive about the response of theatres, as not many of them were equipped to screen such type of movies before ‘Avatar’

The ace director revealed that only way out left for him was to make the film so beautiful and compelling that theatres did not have any option left but to go for upgrading their equipments to come to terms with ‘3D’ phenomenon, if they wanted to remain in business.

And surprisingly, Cameron’s gamble paid and theaters renovated themselves to screen the flick and earned profit. So much so that the ‘Avatar’ not only became the highest grosser at the box office but also changed the experience and feel of cinema for ever.

In fact, James Cameron had to handle the refrigerator- sized 3 D cameras with difficulty while shooting for the film, but passion was such that the ace filmmaker was not prepared to compromise on anything less than that. He had already waited for almost ten years after writing the script for the film and so was not prepared to do the same again.

Even the making of ‘Avatar’ took almost four and half years of James Cameron’s time, who had earlier directed super duper mega hit flick ‘Titanic’ with De Caprio and Kate Winslet.

Besides Aamir Khan and James Cameron, the gathering also included the likes of gorgeous beauty Asin (of ‘Ghajini’ fame), Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Koel Puri and others.

Aamir Khan, the perfectionist Khan of bollywood who has made the promotion of films one of the finest arts through his innovative techniques, emphasized the need to have the theme of the flick close to one’s heart. He also admitted that there was success formula for selecting films and he goes by what appeals him or strikes a chord with him before deciding to act in them.

Aamir Khan: Making his way to Hollywood

The Film Slumdog Millionaire did not appeal to him, Aamir khan met director Danny Boyle and is now working in his project Bombay Velvet, to be directed by Anurag Kashyap.

And now it's time for Aamir to meet Avatar director James Cameron. The two stalwarts will catch up at a seminar in Delhi, on March 13, 2010. They will talk about the changing environment of filmmaking.

Aamir Khan has been reportedly working hard for his big meeting with the Hollywood director, looking at his films and preparing a questionnaire for him.

Your Ad Here

He will also seek guidance from Cameron about marketing and distributing films in the west. Cameron, too, has been briefed about Aamir and his work.

This will be Cameron's first visit to India. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the meeting of one Bollywood biggie and another from Hollywood.

Shahrukh's MNIK rakes in 174.60 crore worldwide

In spite of the reports that the collections of My Name is Khan featuring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol have dipped after the release weekend, it is continuing to rake in revenue big time. Believe it or not, it has already earned Rs.174.60 crore worldwide and still counting.

Film distributors said that MNIK grossed Rs.102.2 in Indian alone and Rs.72.4 crore from abroad, which is an all time high for a Hindi film at the international market.

It earned USD 3.3 million in the Middle East, which is the highest for a Bollywood film. The collections are nearly on par with Hollywood biggies like Dark Knight, Transformers 2, Spider Man 3 and Twilight: New Moon.

Your Ad Here

Vijay Singh of Fox Studios said that the revenue is expected to shoot up when it hits the screens in countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Syria on March 10. He added that it is spreading to other markets and even crossed over to non-diaspora audiences. It has increased from six to 14 screens even in Indonesia.

Shahrukh khan ropes in R&B singer Akon

If Bollywood stars want a foothold in Hollywood, vice versa also holds true. International pop stars doing numbers for desi films started as far back as Samantha Fox in Rock Dancer (1995).

More recently, there was Snoop Dog in Singh is Kingg, followed by Kylie Minogue in Blue and now Akon will be seen in Anubhav Sinha’s Ra.One starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor, which has music by Vishal and Shekhar.

Your Ad Here

A source reveals, “Ra.One is a SFX movie and director Anubhav Sinha wants to achieve Hollywood standards. Shah Rukh and Anubhav spoke about having an international pop singer in the movie, and SRK opted for Akon, who is popular with the youth.”

The source continues, “During a recent visit to Los Angeles, Shah Rukh met Akon and they had a long conversation on Indian and Western music. Akon will sing in Ra.One and this will be his debut in Bollywood. He has been signed for a whopping amount. Akon had performed last year at the closing ceremony of the IPL.”

Jackie Chan to Enter Bollywood With Shahrukh Khan's Film

Jackie Chan reportedly will spread his wings in Bollywood. According to Mid-Day, the Hong Kong-born actor has been approached to play in upcoming action entitled "RA. One". If the deal is sealed, he will star opposite famous Indian star Shahrukh Khan.

"They are hoping Jackie agrees to be part of the film. The production house has sent him a detailed script with the action scenes and a brief synopsis of his character," a source claimed.

As for the role that is offered to Jackie, reports suggested that he may play a scientist who helps Shahrukh fight off the bad guys.

This Bollywood financed production will be set in Miami and use Hollywood crew. Anubhav Sinha will serve behind the cameras while David Benullo ("Shadow Man") will provide the script and Ueli Steiger ("The Maiden Heist") will be responsible of the cinematography. In addition to Shahrukh Khan, this superhero thriller has named Kareena Kapoor on the cast line up.

Being known as Hong Kong actor/singer/filmmaker, Jackie Chan made his first huge blockbuster success when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in 1998 "Rush Hour". He recently appeared in "The Spy Next Door" and can next be seen playing in "The Karate Kid", which will be debuted in the U.S. on June 11.

Padma Lakshmi more desirable than Aishwarya Rai

Supermodel Padma Lakshmi ranks higher than Indian beauties Aishwarya Rai and Freida Pinto when it comes to grabbing the male attention.

In a most desirable women poll conducted by a portal, Aishwarya lingered on the 63rd spot and Freida took the 50th position but Padma Lakshmi grabbed the 15th spot.

“I am delighted that the readers of this portal have chosen to include me on their list. I am extremely flattered,” the website quoted Padma as saying.

The rankings of the top 99 women poll by askmen.com were decided after a six-week long voting period and six million votes.

Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui clinched the first place. The top ten also included Beyonce Knowles (6th) and Spanish actress Penelope Cruz (7th). Hollywood hottie Megan Fox was just slightly ahead of Lakshmi at 11th spot.

Katrina’s crazy about Twilight star

The minute Katrina’s eyes fell on Pattinson she got hooked to the Twilight quartet. “I went and bought all the four books Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I couldn’t put them down. I’ve been racing through the adventures of the hottest vampire Edward Cullen for the last one week. I finished reading three of the Twilight books in less than four days. Now I’m into the fourth. I just can’t get enough of him.”

And now Katrina wants to meet the real Edward Cullen. “You don’t understand. This is like an obsession for me. I can’t get Robert Pattinson out of my head. I see the love of my life in every object that moves or doesn’t move. I’ve never felt this way about any man before.”

Now a meeting between Bollywood’s blistering babe and Hollywood’s blood-thirsty heart-throb is discreetly being arranged. Though Katrina is not talking about it, her representatives are in touch with Robert Pattinson’s agent. It’s been made known to the global superstar that Bollywood’s eminently desirable Katrina Kaif would probably die of longing if the meeting doesn’t happen.

Says the besotted actress, “Obviously, I can’t stand under his window to get his attention. So yes, the meeting has to be more formal. He says he’s single. But I don’t believe him. That’s what they all say.”

John Abraham with Hollywood hotties

One of the best looking hunks of Bollywood is now set to team up with a Hollywood hottie.

John Abraham will pair with a Hollywood actress in director Shirish Kunder’s much-touted ‘Alien Sahib’.

If reports are to be believed, Kunder is hoping to rope in either Scarlett Johansson or Anne Hathaway for the film which will be made for global audiences.

The director plans to use the fusion 3D camera technique for the flick and will be signing a lot of technicians from the west for it.

But the big surprise is indeed the presence of a Hollywood actress.  “The female protagonist is.

A foreign national so we decided to cast a Hollywood actress for it,” Kunder is quoted as saying in a media report.

Though Shirish refuses to divulge any name, he’s flying to Los Angeles to meet the agents of a couple of Hollywood actresses. With the meeting of talents from two the biggest filmmaking industries in the world, the possibility of a Hollywood actress working in a Bollywood movie is much more today than it was a few years ago.

Just earlier this year, we saw Akshay Kumar romancing Denise Richards and rubbing shoulders with Sylvester Stallone in Kambakkht Ishq. John already has the advantage of having had international exposure through Deepa Mehta’s film Water which was nominated for the Oscars two years back.

Real-life thriller - Accident on Hill Road

Imagine this  You're driving, after a late night party, under the influence of mild liquor. As you negotiate a bend, you find a person right in the middle of the road. You hit him, and he pitchforks right through the windshield. What do you do now  report the matter or leave him to take care of himself? That forms the crux of Hindi film “Accident on Hill Road”, directed by Mahesh Nair.

The film is based on a real-life incident, where a woman hit a man, drove home, and parked the car in the garage with the man. Celina Jaitley plays Sonam Chopra, a nursing assistant, in this thriller. Prakash Shrivastava, the victim, is played by Farooque Shaikh, while Abhimanyu Singh plays Sonam's boyfriend Sid. The couple leave Prakash clinging to life in her garage. But soon, there's a fight for life.

“It's adapted from ‘Stuck', a 2007 Hollywood film. We've adapted some portions of the film to suit Indian audiences,” says producer Nari Hira of Magna Films.  Says Mahesh Nair: “The toughest task was to convince Farooque Shaikh. But, once he heard the script, Farooque agreed. He even went to trauma care centres to talk to doctors and patients.

Not a glamorous role  “We short-listed Celina for the female lead, knowing very well it was not a glamorous role. She understood the character's strength and that the role would help her prove her acting abilities,” says Hira. Incidentally, “Accident on Hill Road” is said to be the first mainstream Hindi film to be shot entirely on High Definition Viper camera.  The music is composed by Raju Singh (who has done most of the background scores for Mahesh Bhatt's productions as well as Anurag Basu's films).

“There is only one song in the film  ‘Nasha Nasha', sung by Sonu Nigam, with lyrics by Sandeep Nath. The song is integral to the storyline  it is played in a lounge club where Celina and Abhimanyu are drinking and dancing. It is the drinking that causes the accident,” says Mahesh. The screenplay is adapted by Mahesh Nair and Siddarth Parmar; the dialogues are by young duo Varun Grover and Rahul Patel.

“The film raises moral questions such as ‘How will we react if we commit a crime, and no one is watching us?' ‘Why are we so reluctant to help an accident victim?' ‘Where does morality feature in the priority list of the I-Me-Myself generation?'” says Mahesh.

Aishwarya Rai most bankable Indian star in Hollywood

New York, Feb 19 (IANS) Forbes has listed Aishwarya Rai as India’s most bankable star in Hollywood, pushing down the Khans of Bollywood in the ratings of the best bet for a film’s financial success.Aishwarya is among six Bollywood actors in the new Forbes list of Hollywood’s Most Valuable Actors. Other Indians on the list compiled by the American business magazine are Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Irrfan Khan and Hrithik Roshan.

Although at 387th position in the global list of as many as 1,411 actors from across the world, Aishwarya is ranked highest among all Indian actors and is the only female actor from the country who made it to this elite club. The list also includes Indian American actor Kal Penn, whose films include “The Namesake”.

At 476th position, he is ranked higher than all the Bollywood actors, except Aishwarya Rai, who stars in the new Hollywood venture “The Pink Panther 2″. Among the male Bollywood actors, Aamir is ranked highest at 540th in the global list, followed by Shah Rukh (735), Salman (753), Irrfan (825) and Hrithik (1,059).

The global list, topped by Hollywood actor Will Smith, is based on the bankability of actors around the world as voted by members of the global entertainment industry, Forbes said. Smith is the only actor to get a ten-on-ten score and is followed by four Hollywood stars - Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie - sharing the second position. These are followed by Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in the top 10.

Aishwarya Rai most bankable Indian star in Hollywood

Forbes has listed Aishwarya Rai as India’s most bankable star in Hollywood, pushing down the Khans of Bollywood in the ratings of the best bet for a film’s financial success.
Aishwarya is among six Bollywood actors in the new Forbes list of Hollywood’s Most Valuable Actors.
Other Indians on the list compiled by the American business magazine are Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Irrfan Khan and Hrithik Roshan.
Although at 387th position in the global list of as many as 1,411 actors from across the world, Aishwarya is ranked highest among all Indian actors and is the only female actor from the country who made it to this elite club.
The list also includes Indian American actor Kal Penn, whose films include “The Namesake”.At 476th position, he is ranked higher than all the Bollywood actors, except Aishwarya Rai, who stars in the new Hollywood venture “The Pink Panther 2″.
Among the male Bollywood actors, Aamir is ranked highest at 540th in the global list, followed by Shah Rukh (735), Salman (753), Irrfan (825) and Hrithik (1,059). The global list, topped by Hollywood actor Will Smith, is based on the bankability of actors around the world as voted by members of the global entertainment industry, Forbes said.
Smith is the only actor to get a ten-on-ten score and is followed by four Hollywood stars - Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie - sharing the second position. These are followed by Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in the top 10.

Katrina Kaif and John Abraham in Hollywood

Looks like Bollywood is finally getting its due recognition. Talks are that Katrina Kaif and John Abraham will be signed on for Jewel of India, the upcoming film of Hollywood Director Rob Cohen of The Fast And The Furious (2001) fame. Though neither is willing to divulge too much, the grapevine suggests t

Jewel of India will be produced by Feroze Nadiadwala, with whom the irresistible Kats has worked earlier in Welcome (2007). The film will be her second pairing opposite John Abraham, the first being Yash Raj Film New York.Jewel of India is slated to be a major release with Amitabh Bachchan appearing alongside Kats and John and Hollywood biggies like Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Monica Belluci and Eva Mendes. hat Katrina and John are only minutes away from the dotted line.

Akshay Kumar and Salma Hayek in a Movie?

We recently reported that Hollywood International and Creative Designs have set up a partnership to make movies together. The $100 million (Rs 400 crore) deal is set to make 5 movies over the next couple of years. This Bollywood/Hollywood venture is set to take movies onto a new exciting path!

Now there is very intriguing news about casting coups. It is being reported that the talented Akshay Kumar is going to be starring opposite the gorgeous Salma Hayek in one of the company's first films.It is also being said that Irfaan Khan will be among the cast! We cannot wait to hear if this cast will be confirmed and what this amazing movie will be! Keep checking back here for more news on this exciting venture!

Akshay, Aishwarya awarded the Padma Shree

It is a proud day for Bollywood. The 60th year of the Indian republic saw top civilian honours awarded to two immensely popular actors.

Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were awarded the Padma Shree by the Government of India.

Since Aishwarya has become the face of India for the world, and has bagged numerous best actress awards, it was a matter of time before she received this high honour.

The surprise however, remains Akshay Kumar, who has only just emerged as an actor and was given the popular choice best actor award a few days ago, which he refused. As Akshay insists on mindless entertainment in his films and refuses point blank to 'meaningful' cinema, this indeed is a strange choice.

Akshay's latest film, Chandni Chowk to China has bombed badly at the Box Office despite a collaboration with Warner Brothers. As of now, he is looking forward to the release of Kambakkht Ishq where he will share the screen not only with Bollywood beauty Kareena Kapoor, but also Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Superman Routh and Denise Richards.

Aishwarya on the other hand, is looking forward to the India release of her first Hollywood project Pink Panther 2. As of now, she is busy shooting for Mani Ratnam's Raavana alongside hubby Abhishek Bachchan. She received the popular choice best actress award at the Screen Awards held in Mumbai recently, for her role in Jodhaa Akbar.

The other Bollywood recipient of the prestigious Padma Shree is none other than the legendary Helen. The lady who immortalised the twist in Bollywood and became well-known as the essential item girl has got this award after she has retired from the industry, save a film or two every few years.