Sexy Vidya Balan’s romance with Farhan Akhtar!

Vidya Balan, Farhan Akhtar

A sequel to Pyaar Ke Side Effects is at last finalized. The movie is titled Shaadi Ke Side Effects. Farhan Akhtar will be replacing Rahul Bose, while Vidya Balan takes the place of Mallika Sherawat.

The producer of the film Pritish Nandy tells that it is a funny, clever, wild film, portraying love, before and after marriage.

The sequel will be directed by Saket Choudhary, music for the film will be by Pritam. The movie will also mark Farhan Akhtar’s first rom-com. He is very thrilled to work with Vidya Balan.

Vidya Balan is excited too, about the film as she loved the original one. She told, “Saket’s observation of relationships is simple and that makes it naturally and perhaps sometimes even unintentionally funny, mad and sexy.”

The release date of Shaadi Ke Side Effects is not confirmed yet.

Ritesh Sidhwani learns a lot from new talents!

Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar

Ever since he has ventured into filmmaking, producer Ritesh Sidhwani has launched new directors like Reema Kagti and Abhinay Deo. He tells working with fresh talent is a learning experience.

"Working with new talent is always beneficial as one gets to learn a lot from them," Sidhwani.

"They have an eye to learn new things. We give them complete freedom in whichever way they want to execute their idea. We give them a platform and just see what value they can add to the film. Right talent with good team always works," he further added.

Sidhwani ventured into the movie business along with his friend Farhan Akhtar with the 2001 blockbuster "Dil Chahta Hai", starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna. It was also Farhan's directorial debut.

The film won him his first National Award. He won the second one for "Rock On!" which marked his friend Farhan's acting debut. His other hits include "Don - The Chase Begins" and "Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd".

Sidhwani's last hit "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" leads the nomination list of the soon-to-be-held International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Singapore Saturday.

Farhan and Sidhwani jointly run production company Excel Entertainment. They experimented with storylines and treatment, giving the Indian audience a platter away from typical masala potboilers, and exposed it to youthful and urban cinema.

"I would says it is just the sensibilities. Why wouldn't one not make a film look good? It is not intentional. It feels really nice to see how people are liking the kind of films I am making. It does raise the responsibility and this responsibility always keeps us on our toes and shows us that we are on the right track. We've always tried to make films with a different appeal. It has to be true to something that we believe in and something that excites us. Making something just for people without being convinced about it yourself turns out to be a disaster," Sidhwani added.

Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani support Mrig Lamba’s next project!

Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani

These days a lot of production houses are encouraging new talent that doesn’t belong to Bollywood families, and now Excel Entertainment is backing a relative unknown too. The production house that has really only worked with big names so far has green lit Mrig Lamba’s next project. For those of you who don’t know this, Mrig assisted the likes of Farhan Akhtar and Rakeysh Mehra before directing the forgettable Teen Thay Bhai. Now the Delhiboy is set to roll out his second directorial venture under Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani’s guidance and the industry is abuzz with good things about the script. Remember, you heard it here first!

Farhan’s hard work for looking like the 17-year-old sprinter!

Farhan Akhtar, film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Farhan Akhtar, Milkha Singh

Essaying the role of an athlete is not easy. After undertaking a rigorous regime to get into the character of Milkha Singh, Farhan Akhtar will now have to work hard to look like the 17-year-old sprinter in the film "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag".

This is the time, during the 1950s, when Milkha Singh was a 17-year-old army recruit.

A source close to the project revealed, "Farhan worked really hard to look at least 10 years less than his actual age to look like Milkha in the 1960s. Farhan would now have to knock off another 10 years from his real age to look like the 17-year-old Milkha, the army-boy in the 1950s."

Farhan, who spent a lot of time researching the army for his war film "Lakshya", would undertake at least a fortnight of on-the-spot training in an army cantonment to get the hang of that particular phase of Milkha's career.

Taking a breather from shooting in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra told, "We're not looking anywhere except at getting the on- screen Milkha as correctly on screen as possible. It's not about just looking like Milkha Singh or running like him.

"Farhan got that right once when he trained for the athlete's phase in Milkha's life. I'm sure Farhan would get it right again when we shoot another phase in Milkha's life."

When persuaded to reveal more on how Farhan intends to look 17 years old as an army recruit, Mehra told, "We've shot the runner's phase. We will be going back further into Milkha's life. I'm sure Farhan would be able to pull it off with full conviction. We don't know how much of Milkha Singh's life we'd finally be able to get on screen. We are doing our job to the best of our abilities."

Incidentally, the success of another biopic, Tigmanshu Dhulia's "Paan Singh Tomar" on a sprinter's life, has put additional pressure on the Milkha project.

"Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" producers Viacom 18 are keen to ensure that there are no resemblances between the two films.

Mehra told, "We aren't looking at anything except Milkha's life and how to put it on screen. We've the real Milkha Singh with us. He is currently out of the country. But the minute he returns, he'll be joining us."

Sonam Kapoor wants to write her autobiography some day!

Did you know, actress Sonam Kapoor, besides being a fashionista, is also an insatiable reader?? Well, yes! The actress is keen on penning down her autobiography some day.

Sonam Kapoor was at a book launch event, where she launched Khalid Mohamed’s “Two Mothers And Other Stories”.

“You know I think I am too young and inexperienced and I don’t know if I have the talent to write, but you know everybody is narcissistic. I would like to write about my life one day or the other. I am an actor after all, but I don’t know if right now I will be able to,” the 26-year-old said.

So what would Sonam want to include in her book? Clothes, fashion???
Well, NO...

The actress said, “Clothes and style is just my personal choice. It is not something I am obsessed with. May be romance,”

Reading has always been a part in Sonam’s life, right from her childhood days. “I was being read to at a very young age by my mother. She would always read fables that had a meaning. She would always ask me what was the point behind the story,” told Sonam.

“In the meantime, I was little annoyed with my mom… then she tried to make me more of a voracious reader… she would not finish the story and I used to get anxious to know the rest of it. So, I had no choice but to read it myself. So that’s how I started reading so much,” she further added.

Sonam Kapoor’s next film is Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ opposite Farhan Akhtar.