Abhay learns Tamil for 'Shanghai'

Abhay Deol is known for experimenting with his roles, and Dibakar Banerjee's "Shanghai" was no different. The actor learnt Tamil for his part in the movie.

In the film, Abhay plays the role of a Tamil Brahmin IAS officer. So he went out of the way and took three months to learn the language to essay the part to the hilt, says Banerjee.

"Not only that, he (Abhay) literally spent over three months to learn the language for the role. He was coached under the expertise of Madialagan and believe me his role is not caricaturish. He would sit and rehearse before every scene with the coach and made me sit with him to supervise it," said Banerjee.

The filmmaker says "Shanghai" will be Abhay's "biggest makeover in his entire career."

"Imagine this 33-year-old, Hindi cinema's handsome actor had to turn 39-year-old for my movie. He has changed his body posture, sports a moustache and glasses and even changed his hairstyle for the role of an IAS officer," he added.

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Big B's good wishes to Ram Charan Teja

Southern star Ram Charan Teja is set to step into the shoes of Amitabh Bachchan for the remake of 1973 film "Zanjeer", and the megastar has offered best wishes to the young actor for the role.

"I spent a day on the sets at Film City shooting for an ad. While on set, I learnt that 'Zanjeer' the II was being shot on an adjoining floor and that Charan the hero and its maker Apoorva Lakhia wanted to visit me," Amitabh wrote on his blog bigb.bigadda.com.

"Charan is a very successful star in his own right in Telugu cinema, he is the son of superstar Chiranjeevi, a dear friend. I met them and wished them well," he added.

Ram Charan would be essaying the role of cop Vijay, a character made famous by Amitabh in the original film. Actress Priyanka Chopra will play the female lead in the remake.

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Ajay shy, Anil chivalrous: Kangna

Kangna Ranaut is on a roller-coaster ride these days. With three big films in her kitty, the actress is now looking forward to "Tezz" with Ajay Devgn and Anil Kapoor.

This is not the first time that Kangna will be seen with the duo. She worked with Ajay in "Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai" and with Anil in "No Problem".

But she says every time she works with them, she is amazed with their acting prowess.

"I have done two films with Ajay... in fact when I did 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai', I was still new to the industry and he was a superstar. I have always noticed that he doesn't talk much. Otherwise Ajay is much disciplined and you can learn so much from him," said Kangna.

Talking about Anil, she said: "Anil Kapoor is like family. The love and affection that he showers on me is something I don't know how to react to. He is very chivalrous. You feel good when he is around on the sets."

"Tezz", directed by Priyadarshan, will release April 27.