HRITHIK IN HOLLYWOOD?

After Kites, Hrithik Roshan is flooded with offers for Hollywood romcoms

Since 2001, we have been hearing that Hrithik Roshan will act in a Hollywood film. Reportedly, Hrithik was to act in a film titled Aditya, to be produced by Los Angelesbased James Killough and to be directed by Tarsem Singh, who made to Hollywood’s Alist with The Cell. But the film never went on the floors. Now, Hrithik’s splash in Hollywood doesn’t look like a very distant dream.

Seeing the trailers and promos of Kites, Rakesh Roshan has been getting calls from Hollywood filmmakers. These makers are impressed by Hrithik’s performance in Kites and his sizzling chemistry with his co-actor, Barbara Mori.

“Hrithik and Barbara have ignited a never-seen-before

passion on screen. This has particularly caught the eye of many Hollywood directors,” said a source.

Interestingly, quite a few of these offers are for romantic films, some are even romantic comedies. “These offers have come in just early this week. Hrithik is dwelling on them,” added the source. Rakesh Roshan did not deny the story. Unwilling to reveal the names of the Hollywood filmmakers who want to make a film with Hrithik, Roshan senior simply said, “It is too early to comment on this.”

However, Hrithik’s official spokesperson confirmed the news and said, “Yes, Hrithik has been getting a lot of feelers from Hollywood recently.”

Ranbir wants Deepika back

Ranbir has been messaging Deepika to say that he wants her back while there are indications that Shahid and Priyanka may kiss and make up

There are strong rumours within the industry that Ranbir Kapoor has been frantically sms-ing Deepika from the US where he’s shooting, saying that he wants her back in his life.

Though a friend of Deepika’s says her dignity dissuades her from talking about her past, there’s a distinct possibility of reconciliation. Says the friend on condition of anonymity, “It was Ranbir who told Deepika that the relationship was off. She took it on her chin and moved on, keeping the hurt to herself. But the minute Ranbir heard about rumours linking her to Shahid Kapoor, he started sms-ing Deepika and their mutual friends, asking if the rumours were true.”

Shahid, on the other hand, has been mulling over other matters. His relationship with Priyanka Chopra ended on a rocky note a few days before Christmas last year, but both are apparently in the mood to rekindle their ‘friendship’.

While they had never officially announced that they were dating last year, their fondness for each other was obvious, if their very public interaction on social networking sites is anything to go by. However, things are a tad different this time as the two are not opening up about rediscovering their feelings for each other. And now they are connecting again, but through long phone chats.

While it is not clear who broke the ice, Priyanka and Shahid, who stay in the same building Raj Classic on Mumbai’s Yari Road, are frquently calling each other and sending text messages.

A source says, “Priyanka is still very fond of Shahid and if there is any girl who is on Shahid’s mind right now, it’s Priyanka.”

Incidentally, Priyanka’s parents are also quite fond of Shahid. A few days ago, Shahid called up Priyanka’s parents to wish them on their wedding anniversary. “They feel he is a gentle and well-mannered boy,” adds our source.

So why did Priyanka not reply to Shahid’s message congratulating her on the National Award for Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion? “Who says she didn’t reply? She did reply, but after some time. It was reported that she had been rude to him and had deliberately not answered his text message. Priyanka is not here to rub anybody the wrong way,” says our source.

Aditya Narayan moves out of father Udit’s shadow

Nothing is permanent in Bollywood. Udit Narayan’s son Aditya, who will be making his debut with Vikram Bhatt’s Shaapit soon, has moved out of his father’s house. Apparently he doesn’t want to be associated any longer with his father — all is definitely not well.



Our source said, “Everything was fine till Aditya started shooting for Shaapit. In fact, Uditji had even come for the first day’s shoot. Now Aditya has bought himself a house in Oshiwara (Mumbai) and is staying there. He has categorically told his father that he wants to create his own identity and told him not to interfere with his career.” Vikram Bhatt, the director of Aditya’s film, said, “I can’t comment on the father-son relationship as I am not aware about anything amiss. His father called me after he saw the promos and I am sure he is very happy for Aditya.”

But Aditya didn’t mince words. “I don’t want my father to promote me. I have my own house and studio and I want it to be my solo effort. He has brought me up but I have always taken my own decisions, be it the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa show or Shaapit.”

Asked why his father is not seen by his side these days, Aditya said, “He was present on the sets on the first day of the film. Why would I want my father to visit my sets everyday? He helped me take a decision when I wanted to sign the film. That’s about it.”

Udit had a different version to why Aditya has moved out of the house. “Aditya is my only son and he has been working since he was a 5-year-old. He believes in doing his own thing. After he came back from London after completing his studies, he did a TV show and made some money. He told me that he wanted to buy a house nearby where he also wants a room for his studio. I had no issues because it is his money. He is making his debut as a singer-actor and I hope and pray God gives him success. I’ll always be proud of him.”

It’s Hrithik, not Ranbir for Katrina

Katrina opts out of a Ranbir Kapoor-starrer to act opposite Hrithik Roshan

A recent development in Bollywood gives a new twist to the Katrina Kaif-Ranbir Kapoor business. The actress has apparently pulled out of a film with the Kapoor scion by Imtiaz Ali in favour of hottie Hrithik Roshan in Zoya Akhtar’s next. The reason? Katz could not give dates to both directors. She’d love to do Imtiaz’s film with Ranbir, but Zoya offered her a role with a co-star Katz couldn’t say no to. Yes, Katrina and Ranbir are cute on screen, but she and Hrithik will be a hot, new jodi. Katz will begin shooting for Tees Maar Khan soon and then Dostana 2. But the industry is wondering whether Hrithik will have hot kissing scenes with Katz after his experiences with Latino bombshell Barbara Mori in Kites.

Ex-lovers Shahid and Kareena finally had a conversation

For the first time since they broke up, ex-lovers Shahid and Kareena finally had a conversation in full public view at Shah Rukh’s party.

Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had hugged and patched up, even Kareena ended her cold war with Aishwarya — it all happened at Karan Johar’s birthday party last year. And Karan is now taking his gift of playing Bollywood peacemaker to the next level. Last week he played the catalyst, making Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor not only acknowledge each other’s presence but actually strike up a conversation, and a pretty warm one at that. The venue for this patch up was Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow, Mannat, where King Khan had hosted a celebration for My Name Is Khan. Says a source, “Shahid and Kareena came face to face and everyone thought they would simply ignore each other like they have on so many occasions in the past. But this time, Karan happened to be present right there and instead of marching past each other, they slowed down for a bit. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

Even after the ice was broken, neither Shahid or Kareena seemed in a rush to get back to more comfortable company. They had a pretty warm exchange and a little later even Saif, who was present at the party, joined them.

“Shahid and Kareena have finally decided to leave their acrimonious past behind them. This was very evident in the manner all three of them — Shahid, Kareena and Saif — interacted with each other at Shah Rukh’s party,” adds our source.

While both Shahid and Kareena could not be reached for comment, Kareena’s official spokesperson said, “Kareena has no problem with anybody, including Shahid.” For the record, Shahid and Kareena, who were in a serious relationship for three years, parted ways in 2007, a few days before Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met hit the theatres.

The controversial R&B singer will make his Bollywood debut in SRK-starrer Ra.One

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.

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 Shah Rukh 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.”