Abhishek Bachchan Enters Guinness Book:

Actor Abhishek Bachchan had a tiring day on 22/02/09 Sunday, but one that has saw him make a world record. He has made a new record of maximum public appearances in different cities. Abhishek Bachchan's marathon seven-city promotional tour for the movie Delhi-6 kept the security staff busy in managing his fans and led to some moviegoers missing their films but the actor exuded confidence in getting his name listed in the record books.




As the actor rushed from one city to another in his attempt to get the feedback of audiences in different cinema halls, his fans were there all the time. In an interview, Abhishek told the reporters that "It is really exciting to get first hand response about your movie. The cinema halls were running packed wherever I went."His target cities were Ghaziabad, Noida, Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Chandigarh and Mumbai.

The actor reached a Noida cinema 10 minutes before schedule only to see a over 500-strong crowd gathering around the hall, literally threatening to disrupt the event. Though Bachchan had initially planned to interact with the audience, he had to rush out within 10 minutes.Many of the moviegoers were also caught in the crowd and missed their show as the tight security made their entry difficult.

The current record-holder in the category of the greatest number of public appearances by a film star at different cities in 12 hours promoting the same film is five by Jorgen Vogel and Daniel Brohl (Germany). They walked the red carpet, signed autographs and introduced the film Ein Freund von mir (Germany 2006) at cinemas in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Cologne, Germany, on Oct 22, 2006. They were accompanied by the director of Ein Freund von mir Sebastian Schipper.

Abhishek to be paired with Asin

Bollywood's acknowledged film director Ashutosh Gowariker has finally decided to rope up Asin to play the lead role opposite none other than Abhishek Bachchan in his next project Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.





Asin was so delighted that she gave her nod even before she heard the full narration of the film. Asin even told Ashutosh that she has seen his previous films and was looking forward to working with him and with brilliant co-star Abhishek Bachchan.

Abhishek Bachchan will be next seen in R Balakrishnan directed film Pa starring Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Vidya Balan and Mani Ratnam directed flick Raavan that is set to be released in 2010. It stars Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Govinda, Bipasha Basu and Priyamani.

Paa emotional journey for Abhishek

Shooting for the bollywood film Paa has been quite an emotional journey for Abhishek Bachchan not because he played dad to his own father Amitabh Bachchan on screen.



Abhishek Bachchan shot in Cambridge for the film where his grandfather Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan had studied his PhD many years ago. And Abhishek Bachchan had always wanted to visit the place, walk the same streets where his grandfather had studied. It had always been his dream to visit this place. Abhishek Bachchan is all set to come with wife Aishwarya Rai in Raavan.

Big B to play 12 year old child

Amitabh Bachchan is all set to do a challenging role at the age of 66. Big B is going to play a boy 54 years younger to him. But this superstar has prepared to give his best shot to pull off the seemingly impossible.




Rather than having a child artist play the role, Amitabh Bachchan himself plays 12-year-old son of Abhishek Bachchan in director R Balakrishnan’s film Pa. In the movie Big B plays a character suffering from Progeria and therefore he ages very fast through the course of the story.

Big B for this had to use a lot of prosthetic make-up to look like a 12-year-old child. To stay within his character, the megastar would often throw childish tantrums on the sets. On the sets, Big B would also stomp his feet like a brat and just go on whining.

Balki admits he’s floored by Big B’s dedication for his role in the film. So, quite wisely, the director has decided that the movie’s credits will read ‘Introducing Amitabh Bachchan’ because the superstar hasn’t played any role like this before in his life.

Abhishek and Ashutosh team up

Abhishek Bachchan has teamed up with director Ashutosh Gowariker's new flick, titled ‘Khelein Hum Ji Jaan Sey’.

The film is reportedly a period film and is based on the Chittgong uprising, will the lead Abhishek will play the character of Surjya Das.



The director is no stranger to period flicks, he has, after all directed Lagaan and Jodha Akbar in the past. Apart from Abhishek Bachchan, the rest of the supporting cast will be made up of relatively unknowns or newcomers as Gowariker plans to introduce some new talent to Bollywood.

And contrary to earlier beliefs, Aishwarya Rai will not be part of ‘Khelein Hum Ji Jaan Sey’.

The curiously titled ‘Khelein Hum Ji Jaan Sey’ will chart the events in Chittagong between 1900 and 1950, when revolutionaries and opposition movements grew during this time. Abhishek Bachchan plays Surya Sen, the chief architect of anti-British freedom movement in Chittagong.

We wish Ashu all the best for his upcoming film, WHAT'S YOUR RASHEE (releasing September 25) and looking forward to his first time teaming up with Abhishek Bachchan.

Abhishek Bipasha as Ravana and Mandodri

Bipasha Basu has signed on to play Ravan's wife Mandodari in Mani Ratnam's upcoming film, Ravana. Abhishek Bachchan plays Ravana.Aishwarya Rai plays the role of Sita, the central figure of the story.South actor Vikram plays Aishwarya's husband, Ram.




Bipasha will begin filming from mid September for a period of 20 days.Her 40 minute long role is important and includes an item song.

Mandodari, the beautiful and pious daughter of the King of Danavas,Mayasura and the celestial dancer, Apsara Hema, is best known as the Queen Consort of Ravana. She was the mother of Indrajit, who got his name after defeating Indra, the King of Gods.

Bipasha immediately said yes to the role. She had agreed to do it a month ago but Mani Ratnam had given her strict instructions to not talk about it. Bipasha's costumes are ready. She is very happy with her look in the film. She is looking forward to joining the unit of Raavana.

Essaying the role of Ravan in Mani Ratnam’s next flick, Abhishek’s look is doing him much good as he is getting under the skin of the character. The actor has shaved off his greasy hair. But it’s going to take a while before Abhishek comes out in the open with his ‘Ravana’ look as the actor is observing strict orders by director Mani Ratnam.

Nayantara refuses to play Shoorpankha in Raavan

Nayantara is in no mood of becoming Abhishek Bachchan's sister. Mani Ratnam had approached Nayantara to play Shoorpankha’s character in his Abhishek nad Aishwarya starrer film Raavan but Nayantara refused for the role as she said that the role was not of her interest.



There is news all around that now when a half a movie has been shot the script had missed out the important character of Raavan's sister Shoorpankha. Mani has now approached National Award winning actress Priyamani to play the role and she has given her nod.

Raavan is a modern day adaptation of the epic Ramayana. Tamil superstar Vikram will be playing Ram with Aishwarya Bachchan playing the role of Sita. Abhishek Bachchan will be palying the character of Raavan who kidnaps Sita. The movie which is also being made in Tamil is expected to hit the theatres in January 2010.

Abhishek Bachchan will be paired with Vidya Balan in his upcoming flick Pa where he'll be playing father to Amitabh Bachchan. Abhishek, a former LG Electronics' brand ambassador, now represents Motorola and Samsung phones in India.

Abhishek's upcoming films in 2009-2010

Abhishek Bachchan has worked with directors as diverse as Rakeysh Mehra and Mani Ratnam.From Rakeysh Mehra's Delhi 6, Abhishek Bachchan is now going into Delhi Belly director Abhinay Deo's next. Deo will plunge straight into his next project with Abhishek right after he finishes his Imran Khan starrer Delhi Belly.




For the Bachchan junior it has been a time of great learning experiences. He looks back and thinks that he has gathered good memories with each film that he did. Last and this year he did some great films like Sarkar Raj and Dostana. Then this year came Delhi 6.

Another major project on the anvil is with wife Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan again. It's a film based on Abhimaan with Rajiv Menon while the two are featuring together in Raavana.

Then he is also doing Rohan Sippy's next. We'll try to do something as different as Bluff Master. He is also a doing Rakeysh Mehra's Paanch Kaurav and R.Balki's Paa.

Raavan in last shoot schedule now

On August 27, Mani Ratnam's epic film shall enter into its last shooting stint. The bilingual drama shot simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil with music by A.R. Rahman, the Hindi version of Raavan stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Govinda and Nikhil Dwivedi.




This will happen in a place near Mahabaleshwar which would last for 40 days. Every scene is shot twice with a change in actors taking place as well. You have to factor this as well before jumping to conclusions around the film being over shot.

Total shooting days for the film would read 110-115 days. For a movie of this scale, budget, canvas and subject, it is but natural to have an extended shooting schedule. Moreover, there is a lot of outdoors required in the film as well that includes rock climbing and some rough terrain.

Since this is the last shooting schedule for the film, Raavan would get into post production soon after the wrap is announced in early October. The entire post production is going to be an intense exercise as well.

The film is expected for an April/May 2010 release.

LOC Kargil - Abhishek's "Dil Maange More" film

LOC Kargil is a 2003 Bollywood war film based on the Kargil War fought on Indian battle-ground in 1999. It was directed and written by war-film specialist film-maker J. P. Dutta. The film starred a large number of Bollywood stars. LOC KARGIL is the story of Indian soldiers fighting in Kargil and being remembered by their family.




In the film, there was a huge star cast each with a touching story of his. Yet, the character displayed by Abhishek Bachchan of Vikram Batra , a daredevil soldier who won Param Vir Chakra for his bravery was among the best. His dialogue Dil Maange More became very famous.

Manoj Pandey (played by Ajay Devgan), a poet by nature laid his live and was served with Param Vir Chakra too. The toughest of all the soldiers was Lt. Balwant Singh (played by Akshaye Khanna) awarded the Mahaveer Chakra. Major Deepak Rampal (played by Sanjay Kapoor) was on leave when the call for war came. He was the backbone of the unit, awarded VIR CHAKRA. Lt. Col. Y. K. Joshi (played by Sanjay Dutt), a daredevil soldier was too awarded VIR CHAKRA. Captain Anuj Nayyar (played by Saif Ali Khan) for whom death was just another game lived his life and was awarded with Mahaveer Chakra.

Abhi will recite the poems written by Paa Amitabh

The megastar of Bollywood industry Big B will complete his 40th Filmy tour in the month September. On this very precious occassion his wife and film actress Jaya Bachchan, son and actor Abhishek Bachchan along with his daughter-in-law gorgeous and just stunning actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are planning an event.





Abhishek Bachchan will recite the poems written by Amitabh Bachchan on the event. This program will be of its own style in which all the big personalities will be invited. The Star of the Millennium will be encrypted in the golden words.

Soon Amitabh Bachchan will be seen in a role of a mathematics professor in his forthcoming film Teen Patti and will also be seen in all new avtaar in the movie Paa where he'll be playing the son to Abhishek Bachchan. Abhishek Bachchan is starred opposite his beautiful wife Aishwarya in Mani Ratnam's upcoming movie Raavan.

Abhi's Hangover

Much in talks Hollywood film Hangover has smitten some Bollywood producers to the extent that they want to make the remake of the film at the earliest.



One such name doing the rounds is Feroze Nadiadwala. According to the recent news the producer has already approached the makers of the hit Hollywood film for the remake rights and is planning to cast Abhishek Bachchan in the role of Bradley Cooper.

Besides Abhishek Bachchan names of stars like Paresh Rawal and Katrina Kaif are also chosen to become part the star cast. It is also heard that Feroze Nadiadwala has roped in his favourite director Anees Bazmee to take charge of this project.

Anees Bazmee is currently shooting his film No Problem in Durban at the moment and is expected to start working on the desi version of Hangover after his return. Let's hope the audiences have an entertaining experience with the remake of the film .

Mani Ratnam not happy with Abhishek's performance

Some portions of Mani Ratnam's flick Raavan are being re-shot as the filmmaker is not happy with the rushes. Mani Ratnam is not happy with Abhishek Bachchan’s performance in the film, compared to Southern superstar Vikram, who seems to be stealing Abhishek’s thunder with his fine performance.

Since he is not the central character, Mani Ratnam thinks he will over-shadow Abhishek, who is the hero of the film and so he wants to re-shoot some scenes just to make sure Abhishek is not over looked.

As for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, she will have a dance choreographed by internationally renowned dancer Astad Deboo. The actress is also an old hand when it comes to her association with Mani Ratnam, with whom she did her first film Iruvar.

Raavan also stars Govinda, and the film is also being made in Tamil as Ashokavanam with a different cast. The film Raavan is only a reference point and Mani Ratnam does not want to court controversy by suggesting that Sita falls in love with Raavan. The film is set for released in early 2010.

Abhi will wrap up Raavan shoot soon

Mani Ratnam is planning to shoot the climax of his mega film Raavan in his favourite Chalakudy forest locations from July 16.

The news doing rounds in the tinsel town is that the bollywood hot-shots who are doing this tri-lingual in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu mainly Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and Aishwarya Rai have told the director that they have already given him over 100 days, and they cannot spare any further dates.

Mani and his friend-cum-colleague cameraman Santosh Sivan is planning to shoot the climax for the next 45 days in Chalakudy and Mysore forest areas. They have to shoot deep inside forest areas, for which permissions have to be granted by the respective state governments.

Added to that a few helicopter scenes inside forest areas have to be shot, for which special permission have to be obtained.

Let us hope that Mani is successful in his mission to complete Raavan, this time.

Abhi-Ash New Abode in Dubai

The latest in the list, from India's tinsel town to acquire property in the gulf island, is Bollywood's star couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai. Bachchan who have purchased a house in Sanctuary Falls in Dubai.
Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan have invested in a resort style villa in Sanctuary Falls, Dubai, UAE. The couple recently attended a party for the owners of the 96 villas in the gated community in Jumeirah Golf Estates. .


The house is expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2010 and the price of the villas ranges from AED 15 million to AED 35 million.

"Dubai is special to us not just as a place where we enjoy great warmth and generosity in terms of love from the people, but it's become a remarkable place and one that is so close to home for us," Abhishek said.

Asked if they planned to move to the Emirates, Abhishek said relocating "in the real sense" was not on the cards, as the family lives and works in Mumbai. However, Aishwarya said, they were looking forward to spend more time in the island. "It's so close to Mumbai, so we'll probably be spending a lot more weekends here",said Ashwiarya.

Ravan Film Caravans Seized

Abhishek Bachchan via last.fm

Two caravans used in the shooting of Mani Ratnam's multilingual movie 'Ravan', starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, in Ooty have been seized for having forged vehicle documents. The two caravans had the same registration number.

The vehicles were seized in Ooty, some 550 km southwest of here, have been valued at Rs.12 million. Both Abhishek and Aishwarya are said to have used the vehicles during the shooting.

Hence, the shooting of 'Ravan' has been shifted to another hill station, Hogenekkal (some 300 km southwest of here). The racket may be much bigger since all top stars use high-priced caravans.

Police teams have left for Mumbai and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu to look for other similar vehicles.

'Ravan' is being made in Hindi and Tamil. It also stars Tamil actors Vikram and Karthik. Since shooting began last year, minor problems have dogged the venture, including Ratnam being laid down with a mild heart problem, and cinematographer Manikandan handing over the work to
another celebrated cameraman Santosh Sivan.

Abhi Ash Family Planning

Aishwarya Rai a busy lady so much so that she isn't free for any new assignment till late 2010 but the news is that the couple Abhi-Ash are planning family thenafter. The Bachchan family tree is set to grow further as Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan reportedly plan to
start a family once the actress is through with her film assignments.

To those who’ve been wondering why no good news has yet come from this couple despite more than two years of their marriage, this little piece of info might quench their curiosity. The couple are learnt to be planning to have a baby, but not anytime soon.

Apparently, Ash is one of the busiest actresses in Bollywood as of now. The films in her kitty would probably keep her occupied in shootings till the first quarter of 2010. But reports say she plans to
keep a good number of months free in the next year, to be able to
start a family with Abhi.

Ash is presently committed her time to four films – Mani Ratnam’s Ravana with Abhishek, Shankar’s Endhiran with Rajnikant , Vipul Shah’s Action Replay with Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzarish with Hrithik Roshan . She’s also signed director Abhinay Deo’s film
‘Crooked’.

The list doesn’t include the directors who have expressed their wish to work with her; among them are the talented Vishal Bhardwaj and Ashutosh Gowarikar who’s already directed her in Jodhaa Akbar .

It remains to be seen how many new projects Ash signs in the coming months. After all, family comes first!

Abhishek's Antar Mahal

Image via Wikipedia

Set in the period of the British Raj in the year 1878, Antarmahal is the classic tale of an egoistic and corrupt Bengali zamindar (Jackie Shroff) with two single minded obsessions and his longing for the title of Rai Bahadur for himself. Married since the past twelve years, his wife (Rupa Ganguly) has been unable to conceive, and in a desperate bid to have a son, he forces his second wife (Soha Ali Khan) to sleep with him every night.

One day he sees his distant dream of earning the coveted title of Rai Bahadur having the potential to come true. Wasting no time, he ropes in a young Bihari sculptor (Abhishek Bachchan) for the job, who catches glimpses of Soha Ali Khan while working. Once the statue is ready, the face remains veiled, only to be unveiled at the starting ceremony of the Puja season, which would be a gathering of important people and the public alike. The climax is the sight of Goddess Durga when her face is unveiled.

Antarmahal is an interesting and a bold film which throws light on the social norms prevailing in late 19th century in India and examines Hindu religious customs, the hypocrisy of the priests and the gullibility of the people.

Abhishek Bachchan's flashbacks of his nights with wife Raima Sen while sculpting the figure of Durga are revolutionary sequences in the context of Indian cinema. Technically, the movie is well made and cinematography is up to the mark.

Performance-wise, Jackie Shroff looks natural in the role of the zamindar. Abhishek Bachchan inspite of having a limited role fully does justice to his character. Soha Ali Khan looks beautiful and gives an impressive performance.

As the director, Rituparno Ghosh again shows his expertise and his capability in turning a literary classic into a cinematic experience. But despite the presence of Bollywood stars, outside Bengal, Antarmahal will remain a film for the elite audience.

Abhishek Stands Out in IIFA 2009

Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan gave an emotional speech while collecting his trophy for Best Performance in a Comic Role at the IIFA awards here today.

No other actor in any Bollywood awards history till date has managed this honour. The nominations for Abhishek for IIFA 2009 were in the following categories - Best Actor in a Leading Role Male for Dostana, Best Actor in a Supporting Role Male for Sarkar Raj, Best Actor in a Comic Role Male for Dostana and Star of the decade Male.

The 33-year-old star won the award for his performance in the gay comedy 'Dostana' beating off competition from Anil Kapoor (Race), Rajpal Yadav (Bhoothnath) Shreyas Talpade (Welcome To Sajjanpur), Tejpal Singh (Jodhaa Akbar) and Tushar Kapoor (Golmaal Returns).

Abhishek was teary eyed as he gave his acceptance speech thanking his father, superstar Amitabh Bachchan for his support and love.
Abhishek dedicated the award to father Amitabh and said that he drew inspiration from his act in the film 'Amar Akbar Anthony'.

Abhi-Aish at IIFA Awards 2009

The big Khans of Bollywood Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan are not attending this year's IIFA Awards function but Bollywood's power couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Bachchan have managed to heat up Macau.

Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya have arrived Macau for the 10th edition of IIFA Awards. The couple looked happy and excited. Abhishek Bachchan even got hold of the video camera of one of the journalists and gestured to the onlooking fans.

Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador of the IIFA Awards 2009. Actress Lara Dutta will host the awards ceremony along with Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh. Jackky Bhagnani, who is making Bollywood debut with Kal Kissne Dekha, is going to perform at the event. The event would be fantastic.