0 Kareena's Rs 5-crore fizzy deal

Kareena Kapoor has apparently charged a record amount for her latest endorsement deal with a beverage brand

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That seems to be Bebo’s recent mantra. The actress has just signed on a whopping deal with a lemonade brand, giving archrival Katrina Kaif (who endorses a mango drink) a run for her money.

We learnt that Bebo, who was the face of another popular cola company, lost no time after her current contract expired and grabbed another endorsement deal from a rival brand for apparently a whopping Rs 5 crore.

Queen of endorsements

Says a source, “Kareena now has 16 brands in her kitty including the latest one, easily making her the most sought-after face in the ad space amongst the actresses. 2011 was the year of big money for Kareena, thanks to her back-to-back hits.”

Ever since she signed onto to Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine, the actress’s fat pay cheques have been grabbing headlines. She was apparently paid almost Rs 8 crore for the film, the highest for any actress in the Indian film space ever.

Clearly that has reflected on her choice of brands and the money she is charging for them as well. Adds the source, “Though Bebo has a lot of film commitments, she makes sure she gives enough time to her brands and hence charges as much.”

Kareena was also spotted shooting for her very first commercial with the brand a few days ago at Brabourne studio in Mumbai. Adds the source, “Both Katrina and Asin who endorse soft drinks have had ads that have gained a lot of popularity.

So Kareena and her team were insistent that the commercial must be catchy and entertaining.” All Kareena had to say is — “I am not allowed to talk money!”

Rate card per endorsement (approx)

Katrina Kaif
Rs 4-4.5 crore

Priyanka Chopra
Rs 3-3.5 crore

Deepika Padukone
Rs 2-3 crore

Madhuri Dixit
Rs 1-2 crore

Vidya Balan
Rs 1-1.5 crore

Anushka Sharma
Rs 80 lakh

Credit: Mid-Day.com

0 Vidya-Emraan to pair up once again!

Now this one's an 'ooh la la' pairing! Bollywood's serial kisser Emraan Hashmi and "The Dirty Picture" star Vidya Balan have been cast opposite each other for comic-thriller "Ghanchakkar". The two hope to rock it. A UTV Motion Pictures' project, the quirky film is expected to go on floors in August and will be directed by Rajkumar Gupta, who worked with Vidya in "No One Killed Jessica".

Gupta, who claims "Ghanchakkar" is one of his "best projects till date", says a lot of thought went behind casting the two actors in the movie.

"As a director, you always visualise certain actors for the roles and if you are not required to compromise on the casting; you have won half the battle," said Gupta.

"This is the first time I am going to be working with Emraan, who, I think, will do complete justice to the role... and this is the first time the audiences will see him essay a role of an eccentric man.

"Having worked with Vidya before, she was definitely my first choice for the role. It'll be a delight to get her to work in an entirely new genre in a totally different avatar and in a quirky, mad, out-of-the-box role. The two leads and the crackling chemistry between them will take the viewers on a laughter ride," he added.

"Ghanchakkar" tells the story of Sanju (Emraan), an ex-conman who is laid back and has a taste for finer things in life. The problem is his ambitious wife (played by Vidya).

Vidya and Emraan are excited about being paired again after "The Dirty Picture".

"As an actor, all you want to do is reach out to the audiences with diverse yet entertaining roles. Having said that, the story, the director, the co-actors, producer, play an extremely critical role while selecting a film. With 'Ghanchakkar', it all just fell in place," said Vidya.

"When you have worked with an actor before, there is a certain amount of comfort that is brought to the table. Emraan is a brilliant co-star and together we hope to rock it," she added.

Emraan said: "I jumped on board when Rajkumar offered it to me. It's a brilliant story factoring all the essential components - comedy, thrilling, edgy and entertaining, which is sure to connect with the audiences. It is undoubtedly going to be a challenging role for me, something that I haven't attempted before. "And now to add to the excitement, me and Vidya will be seen on screen together again and am sure, under Rajkumar's apt direction, we will recreate the magic on screen."

0 Glam Vidya to sizzle in her debut item number!

The actress is almost killing herself to look glamorous in her debut item number

After winning laurels for her superb performance in The Dirty Picture, Vidya Balan is all set to go a notch higher when it comes to experimenting with her looks on screen.

For her debut item number in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Ferrari Ki Sawaari, the actress is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that she looks her glamorous best. Vidya will not only try 10 different look tests but also wants to hear the scratches of the item song.

Our source in the film's production reveals, "As it is, Vidya has undergone a drastic makeover for The Dirty Picture. So the idea is to go further than that.

Hence she is insisting that we should collectively exploit as many looks as possible for her song, and go with the one that best suits the song that will be eventually finalised.

So 10 different looks are being worked out for her, with inputs from the film's makers and the stylist, apart from the actress herself."

Having put on kilos to play Silk in The Dirty Picture, Vidya has been working on losing the excess weight after the film's release. So it's natural to expect a slimmer and sexier avatar of the actress in her item debut.

Interestingly, it seems that it wasn't that the actress instantly agreed to do the item song. "Vidya saw some portions of the film, featuring Sharman Joshi, along with producers Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani.

She took an instant liking to the film and immediately agreed to do the song," reveals our source, adding that the actress is 'super excited' about it. "Besides, she has also extensively discussed it with Chopra, Hirani and Mapuskar, along with the nature of the song and the way it will be shot," points out the source.

On his part, director Rajesh Mapuskar confirmed this saying, "Yes, we are creatively working out the look. There have been all kinds of item numbers and we want this one to be different."

Credit: Mid-Day.com

0 Milan Luthria: 'I was obsessed with getting Vidya for Dirty Picture'

Milan Luthria has revealed that he was obsessed with getting Vidya Balan to star in The Dirty Picture.

Balan plays tragic South Indian actress Silk Smitha, who made her name in controversial 1980s films.

Luthria told The Times of India: "I was obsessed with the idea of having Vidya Balan in the lead role. When I met her, I was assured that I have made the right choice. Not only is she a great actress, she has a unique sex appeal.

"And I was looking for this combination in my leading lady. Vidya Balan has the voluptuousness of actresses like Sridevi and Vyjayanthimala, which we don't see in the present lot."

Luthria added: "I told Vidya that it was more my responsibility than hers to ensure that her performance comes out beautifully. It didn't matter whether she looked raunchy; she had to look erotic and sensual."

Balan reportedly suffered exhaustion on the set of The Dirty Picture because of the demanding production schedule.

She has since described her role in the film as the "toughest" of her career.

0 Silk was competing with international porn: Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan analyses what changed the definition of eroticism in a film actress over the years...

It is amazing to see the kind of journey that the portrayal of sensuality in women in Bollywood has taken. Till the 80s, men had no access to titillation except perhaps in magazines or desi detective novels, which were actually suggestive.

Then in the 80s, the video revolution happened and people could watch whatever they wanted within the confines of their homes; all sorts of fantasies were being catered to. Porn was available at the click of a button.

So it became a huge challenge for filmmakers to drag this particular set of audience out of the house to watch their films.

So it is interesting to see how the films of those days introduced this sexy woman who was disqualified to be a heroine, because the filmmakers were not yet comfortable with the sensuality of a 'good' woman.

Since they had to include the titillation factor, the vamp was introduced.

And then by and by, they stopped pretending and these women were purely introduced as sex objects. They were after all competing with international porn, which was easily available to any man. So in came this dancing girl who was skimpily clad and who used lewd gestures.

Some of the scenes that these films, especially the south Indian ones had, were so suggestive that it sometimes gets shocking. Like this scene I saw of Silk Smitha trying to dance with the hero's leg placed on her crotch. She is balancing herself on her hands and legs and moving off the floor. It is incredible.

And then there is this scene where she has to seduce a horse! So, there were many kinky scenes but they couldn't go the whole hog.

Makers started getting more and more creative and every film started including one such kinky song, hoping to get the audience into the theatre, at least for the sake of that song.

I think this piqued the interest of every man...I am surprised that many of my so-called polished male friends, who look down on Bollywood, have all watched movies like Kanti Shah ke angoor.

I think it was only in the 90s that heroines were allowed to be sexy. Suddenly it was okay to desire the heroine and not look at her just as someone who can be taken home to meet parents.

Songs like Dhak Dhak, Chholi ke peeche, Kaate nahi katthe, etc started being introduced. If you see Kaate nahi katthe, it is almost like Shridevi is making love to the camera, but hats off to her and Saroj Khan, that not for one moment it looked sleazy.

Actresses got comfortable with sensuality and I think that was a good sign. Now of course, we have come a long way.

Credit: Mid-Day.com