Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan To Charge Rs 4 crore

The star-price war has escalated to an all-time high. With Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan carrying home a pay packet of Rs 4 crores for her proposed stint as Rajnikanth's leading lady in Shankar's Robot, the lady has now become the highest-paid actress of Indian cinema.

A source very close to Aishwarya says, "The media has got it all wrong. Ash has actually received twice the amount quoted in papers and on websites as her fee for Robot. Yes, it's close to Rs 4 crores. And she's very amused when she reads about this and that actress being the highest-paid actress in Bollywood. With three hits in a row (Guru, Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa Akbar) Ash's equity as a Rai and a Bachchan have gone through the roof. If she wants she can preen about her successes. But that's not her style. However, she takes strong exception to Bipasha Basu's quotes that she (Ash) had to 'hang around' to get into the international circuit. Ash has been regularly offered international projects, from Provoked to Mistress Of Spices to Bride & Prejudice to Last Legion to Pink Panther. In fact, all the other international assignments that have gone to other Bollywood actresses-including the honour of hosting the 7Wonders Of The World event in Lisbon with Ben Kingsley-have gone to Ash first. It's just that she feels awkward talking about herself."

As for her astronomical fee for Robot another source close to the project says, "It is no surprise that Aishwarya is getting 4 crores. It's still chicken-feed compared with what Rajnikanth gets paid. He takes home Rs 15 crores plus fifty percent of his film's profits. But still he cannot make a film commercially viable outside the Tamilian belt on his own. The dubbed Hindi version of Chandramukhi came and went. And Rajni's biggest hit Shivaji is in no hurry to be released in Hindi. With Ash in Robot it looks like an attractive non-regional film."

Govinda overwhelmed by Hansikaa’s dancing skills

Govinda is one of the best dancers our industry has known so far. So, when this veteran dancer praises some new comer, there must be definitely something worth praising. Talking about praises, both Govinda and choreographer Ganesh Acharya were impressed by Hansikaa’s graceful dancing steps during a dance sequence being shot for ‘Money Hai To Honey Hai’. Govinda even told director Ganesh that Hansikaa’s fervor and enthusiasm reminded him of himself from his old days and it feels like she is from his school itself, when it comes to dance!!
If sources are to be believed this particular dance number exudes amazing brilliance owing to the dancing skills of Govinda and Hansikaa and their chemistry has taken the number to even greater heights.

Ashiwarya Rai and Rajnikant To Pair Up

After the mind-blowing success of ‘Shivaji: The Boss’, director Shankar had announced that he will repeat the 57-year-old actor Rajnikant in ‘Robot‘ - a Rs.1 billion film, which the industry predicts will be a greater success. Maestro A.R. Rahman will compose the music. The film will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages and will be distributed by London-based Ayingaran International.

Aishwarya Rai has been roped in by Shankar to pair opposite Rajnikant. Ash has signed the film for 1.5 crores and she has replaced Deepika Padukone who was considered earlier for the role. With this Rajnikanth has fulfilled his desire to work with Ash who couldn’t do Sivaji due to date problems. Meanwhile the official contract of the film has been approved by Amitabh Bachchan himself after altering few clauses and signed by Aishwarya.

Bollywood Top Tax Actors

Bollywood actors are spending most of their money on taxes. It is because of them that so much of money is going into our treasury and that is really good for us. But wonder if the government is making good use of it.

Here is a list of our top Bollywood tax payers.

Top individual advance income taxpayers in Bollywood of 2007-2008 till December 31.

Shah Rukh Khan-27 Rs crore:Om Shanti Om and Chak De India, besides money earned from advertisements have enabled him to contribute so much.

Akshay Kumar- Rs 7 crore:Consecutive hits like Bhool Bhulaiya and Welcome have really added to the stunt man’s purse.

Abhishek Bachchan- Rs 3.7 crore Not many releases this year caused him to pay so less this time. Also, the man was busy with his newly wedded wife.

Aamir Khan-Rs 3 crore: Last year he paid around 6 crore.This time it has become half the amount. Tax collectors however, are rejoicing with Taare Zameen Par’s success. TZP has been a hit at the box office which is real good news for the treasuery.

Himesh Reshammiya-Rs 2.5 crore: With more singing contracts in hand even his Tax payment has increased.

Amitabh Bachan :-Rs 1.8 crore:Well this is actually surprising. Big B seems to be in almost all the movies and he is paying so less. Tax officials please look nto the matter.

Working hard and shedding out in crores is painful sometimes especially for these actors.

Everything has its price, including stardom.

What do you say guys.

Hits and Misses 2007

Hits

Om Shanti Om

Chak De India

Jab We Met

Namastey London

Guru

Partner

Bhool Bhulaiyaa

Heyy Babyy

Aap Kaa Surroor

Misses

Saawariya

Salaam-e-Ishq

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Agg

Dus Khaniyan

Nishabad

Aaja Nachle

Eklavya

Cheeni Kum

The pick of the lot was Chak De India, which depicted hockey as a sport no less glamorous and exciting than the national obsession – cricket. It was fun to watch SRK turn a motley bunch of girls into world champions. The film’s title virtually became a national slogan, and the title song by Sukhwinder was a huge hit in India and abroad.

Messy, but cute

“I may be messy and drop food on the table when I eat, but not on myself,” laughs Kunal Kapoor when we ask him how close is he in real life to Vivan of Laaga …. But, crazy yes he is, he confesses. A stint in the stock market, export firm, a construction group and an advertising company, before we saw him on 70 MM. We catch the local goonda of Aaja Nachle, and get the poet, foodie and a student of martial arts talking. Excerpts.

Ques:
A big Madhuri fan and now part of her comeback flick..
Ans:
As a child I grew with a big image of Madhuri and so when I started working with her, I would look for Madhuri, the star.

Ques:
Do we see Konkana and you together again?
Ans:
Right now, it’s a honeymoon period for us. But, one more flick together and we’ll be pulling each other’s hair.

Ques:
Excited or depressed, you wield the pen?
Ans:
I write poetry for myself and not many understand it. Martial arts too help me unwind.

Ques:
A Punjabi, do we get to see you in the city?
Ans:
I have my cousins in Chandigarh and I love Punjabi food, the more ghee and makkhan, the better it tastes.

Ques:
And for all you gals who can’t help drooling over Kunal, here’s what he has to say.
Ans:
Girls, you have great taste.

Madhuri Dixit : Her Fave Divas

Vidya Balan: When I saw Parineeta, I saw that she could connect with the audience. She is definitely here to stay.

Konkana Sen Sharma: She was brilliant in Page 3. Since I’ve worked with her in Aaja Nachle, I know that she’s very good.

Rani Mukherji: She carries her scenes very well. When Rani is emoting, you can feel the emotions with her.

Preity Zinta: I recently saw Salaam Namaste and loved her in it. I love the way she carries off all those bubbly roles.

Kangana Ranaut: She was very different in Gangster. She has her own style, is very raw and that sets her apart from everyone else.