Station Bollywood

The face of Vijay Mallya’s Indian Premier League (IPL) Bangalore Royal Challengers cricket team,Britain-born Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif, missed her flight to Bangalore for the IPL match. But the business tycoon’s jet came to her rescue.

“I was shooting in Goa and had to catch a flight to Bangalore for the IPL match on Saturday. But I missed my flight. Fortunately, Vijay Mallya had me flown in his jet or I wouldn’t have been able to make it,” Katrina said.

“That’s one of the advantages of being the brand ambassador for Mallya’s team. You know they’ll make sure you’d reach where you are required to, in spite of maddening schedules,” added the actress.

Katrina Kaif is a Cricket Fan and so enjoys her role as a brand ambassador for Mallya’s Royal Challengers in the IPL !!!!

“Everyone in London is crazy about the game. So I kind of grew up with the game. Here in India too it’s a passion. So when Mallya asked me to be their brand ambassador, I agreed. I’ve known him for years and can’t say no to him. We shot the music video with Sanjay Gupta and it was great fun,” she said.

She loves watching the IPL games and cheering for her team

While India in general and Goa in particular, especially the law and order infrastructure of the state is still reeling from the sensational murder of British teenager Scarlette Keeling Bollywood director Prabhakar Shukla is planning to make a film about the same.

The rape and murder in Goa this year became a global story, when the bruised and semi-naked body of Keeling, a 15-year-old girl who was holidaying in Goa with her family, was found on the Anjuna beach on Feb 18. An initial ruling of accidental death prompted her mother Fiona MacKeown to call for a second autopsy.

Her allegations of a nexus between drug barons, politicians and the police in Goa were denied by the local administration but highlighted lapses in investigation.

The second autopsy returned a verdict of rape and murder. A third post-mortem conducted in Britain showed that Indian doctors had removed Scarlette’s kidneys, stomach and uterus without informing Mackeown.

In an interview with The Times newspaper,Shukla said that he would start filming ‘Rave Party’ in Goa in July and had already approached Katrina Kaif, a Bollywood actress who was brought up in London, to play the teenager.

“The whole film is against drug abuse and the exploitation of tourists,” said Shukla, whose last production “Kahani Gudiya Ki” (Story of a Little Doll) was released in 2007. It was based on the true story of an Indian prisoner of war in Pakistan.

“Not just in India, but all around the world, real-life cinema is attracting curiosity. Film should be a mirror for society and people should get some inspiration or precaution from it,” said Shukla .

He had not yet contacted Scarlette’s mother, but said he hoped to meet her in Britain next month, adding: “I have great sympathy for her”.

Fiona MacKeown , however, said she had reservations about the proposed film, which she feared would portray Scarlette in a bad light, rather than her killers and the police who tried to cover their tracks.

“I’d like to know how they’re going to portray it, or I won’t approve it,” she told The Times. “I’m not sure about calling it ‘Rave Party’. Scarlette was not at a party. She was raped and murdered on the beach.”

PepsiCo has signed Bollywood’s actress Katrina Kaif, who gave huge hits like “Namastey London” and “Welcome” last year, as its brand ambassador for its popular mango juice drink brand Slice.

“I am extremely proud to be associated with Slice. When the brand approached me, I readily agreed because it is the best tasting mango drink and has been my favourite for a long time. Its taste makes it a perfect drink suitable for all occasions,” said Katrina in a press release.

With this, Katrina, who will be seen in a completely different avatar in Abbas-Mustan’s “Race”, becomes not only the first brand ambassador for Slice but also the first Indian film actress to endorse a brand in the juice category. She will also be the face for Slice Mangola.

“Slice enjoys high salience in the Indian market. We are delighted to associate with Katrina as the brand ambassador for Slice and are positive that she will help build the brand’s connect with our core consumers,” said Homi Battiwalla, vice president, Emerging Categories, PepsiCo India.

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Movie Preview :Race
26th July at Barista: Movie Stills

The Director duo Abbas-Mustan are back with yet another thriller movie titled “Race”. The movie is an action thriller and murder mystery with a dash of romance and humour.

‘Race’ is a story of two brothers – Race is the story of 2 brothers – Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) and Rajeev Singh (Akshaye Khanna)- one of them plays to win, while the other one plays to defeat.

They breed horses on their huge ranch houses and are one of the biggest bookies in the horse racing circuit.

Character sketches

Saif Ali Khan as Ranvir Singh :Ranvir is the older of the two brothers. He is a ruthless businessman who will not stop at anything to win the game. Playing with danger is his passion, and outsmarting his opponents is his favourite timepass.

Akshaye Khanna as Rajeev Singh :The younger of the two brothers, Rajeev is spoilt, laidback, and happy to be so. But underneath the surface there lurks an anger which he tries to rein in with liquor. As a result, both anger and liquor get the better of him and end up controlling him.

Katrina Kaif as Sophia :She is Ranvir’s beautiful and innocent looking secretary who manages all his important affairs. She is indispensable to Ranvir, who trusts her completely, but does not reciprocate her love.

Bispasha Basu as Sonia : is a beautiful and glamourous model with a shady past. She is looking for a man who will keep her in his heart. She is waiting for the rich and famous Ranvir Singh to propose to her.

Anil Kapoor as Robert D’ Costa : A private detective with the deceptive air of an idiot. He is constantly eating fruits while solving a case. He is sharp, resourceful and quick. His appearance in the story makes the plot thicken as he unravels one lie after the other.

Sameera Reddy as Mini :The attractive and sexy assistant of Robert D Costa. Like a dumb brunette, Mini constantly asks stupid questions and is mostly relegated by her boss to cutting fruits or doing menial jobs.

Synopsis:

‘Race’ is the story of two brothers – Ranvir Singh and Rajeev Singh , who live on the edge of life. Their business is horse racing. Winning is their habit and danger is their sport.

Set against the high-flying social fabric of modern South Africa, ‘Race’ is about betrayal and greed, intrigue and revenge.

Even love comes laced with a motive. The stakes are too high. Double them and you have the perfect ground for a perfect murder. That is exactly what happens – a murder.

Who was the game? Who held the strings?

The glamourous model Sonia whom Ranvir loved, or the beautiful secretary Sophia who loved Ranvir.

The sudden appearance of detective Robert D Costa and his dumb but sexy assistant Mini deepens the plot into a gripping tale of drama.

With the brothers pitched against each other, who will win? The one who plays to win or the one who plays to defeat?

The Plot :

The elder brother Ranvir is known to be very smart and aggressive while Rajeev is a constant alcoholic. Sophia is Ranvir’s personal secretary and loves him. Ranvir is however ignorant of her feelings towards him.

Shaina is an Indian Model and shares a beautiful relationship with Ranvir. But fate has some other plans for her. She gets married to Rajeev and her world is shattered when she discovers that he is a chronic alcoholic.

Rajeev is still addicted to alcohol although he promised his elder brother that he would leave it after marriage.

In a moment of truth Ranvir and Shaina come close to each other and an affair begins. All hell is broken loose when Rajeev suspects his wife of double crossing.

A Murder is committed.

Enter Robert.D. Costa, a detective who lives by his values. He is desperate to find out the truth and arrest the perpetrator. He is very clever and has a bizarre addiction to fruits. Mini is R.D’s personal assistant and is as dumb as sexy she is.

Thus the Race begins as the story unfolds in a series of unexpected twists and turns and a nail-biting climax which is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. With brilliantly executed action sequences and an intriguing storyline, Race is certainly a movie to watch out for.

A professionally executed movie by brother duo Abbas-Mastan , with stylized clothes,well shot locations and intrigue!!!

The movie has a number of gritty action sequences. For one such stunt, Saif jumped off the terrace of a 22-storey high-rise in Durban.

The stunt was conducted under the supervision of action director Allan Amin. Saif was secured with a safety cables to control the speed and direction of his fall.

Race releases on March 21st 2008

For all you fast-paced action fans ,a nice way to chill out the weekend !!!!

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Movie Stills: Race
Movie Preview :26th July at Barista
Movie Preview: Black & White
Movie Preview : Krazzy 4

After her image makeover for Race, we now see a hot and sizzling Katrina on Maxim. Seems like the actress has finally arrived!!

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Cover Shoots: Kareena Kapoor for Hi! Blitz magazine

Cover Shoots: Hrithik Roshan for John Players Spring Summer ‘08 collection

Cover Shoots: Jiah Khan for Xeher (U.K. magazine)

 Cover Shoots: Malaika Arora for The Man magazine

In Bed with Amisha Patel

Bollywood bad boy Salman Khan, rumourmongers’ easiest prey, is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. It was reported that Salman slapped his long time girlfriend Katrina Kaif at a coffee bar recently.Now Katrina has come out with her version of the story for all to know.

Katrina Kaif is extremely angry with some media reports that she was manhandled and slapped by boyfriend Salman Khan in public at a coffee shop in Mumbai.

The gorgeous actress seems to be tired of the rumours surrounding her love life. And she has lost her patience this time around. She said that she had never talked about her personal life and clarified rumours until now. She termed the ‘Salman-slapping’ story as baseless rumours and utter rubbish. She added that the rumour must have been started by some guys with vested interest.

“Enough is enough, I have never talked about my personal life and don’t intend to because I have always believed that what is personal is personal. But this is too much. The story that has appeared is utter rubbish and fabricated,” said a thoroughly irritated and angry Katrina.

She is more upset because Salman is being painted in a bad light. She felt she must take a stand and put a lid on the rumours floating around.

It was earlier rumoured that Salman’s possessive attitude had turned Katrina off. So much has been written about them but they have been keeping silent all this while. This time around, Katrina has come out to defend her troubled-boyfriend. She said that Salman never slapped her.

“I suspect that it’s being spread by people with vested interests and ulterior motives. I would like to repeat that nothing of this sort happened. Normally, I don’t like to clarify but sometimes one has to take a stand and this is one of those times,” she said. According to sources close to her, it is the first time Katrina has commented on her personal life.

Meanwhile, Katrina is going great guns as far as her film career is concerned. 2007 was her year. The actress, who churned out five hits last year including “Namastey London”, Partner and “Welcome”, has always believed in being dignified and keeping her personal life out of public scrutiny.

On her professional front, Katrina said: “I am quite pleased with the way my career has shaped up. Even ‘Race’ looks extremely slick and has got an international look. It was so special shooting for ‘Race’. I am just looking forward to it.”

Katrina is quite upbeat about her forthcoming films “Race”, “Singh Is Kingg” , “Main Yuvraj” and two films with Yashraj Films.

Well, it’s time Salman and Katrina end unnecessary rumours by tying the knot – or at least make their relationship public!