Udita to Dino: 'How about a mating?'

Udita Goswami and Dino Morea both own Dalmatians and one day Dino received a SMS from Udita which read that her dog was horny, so would he bring his dog over for a mating session! Both actors are ardent animal lovers. Dino has squirrels, parrots and dalmatians at home while Udita has five dogs as pets, including a Pekinese.

The two got to know each other pretty well during the sohotting of Aksar, when they started chatting about their pets and one thing led to another and they decided to get their pets to mate with one another.

Udita saw a picture of Dino's dog and immediately decided he was the ideal mate for her pet, though she insists that her dog is far superior to Dino's!

They haven't as yet decided what they will do with the puppies though. We say ask the parents!

Babydoll finds a close "friend" in Sush's boyfriend

Deepal Shaw who has just debuted with Kalyug says she confides everything in Randeep Hooda, Sushmita Sen's boyfriend. What is bound to get tongues wagging is her claim that they are just very close friends and that it is too soon for people to jump to conclusions about their friendship.

Deepal is a staunch supporter of her friend's talents and says Randeep will go on to have a deep impact on Hindi movies.

Her friendship with Randeep has stood her in good stead with her having landed a plum role in Randeep's next movie Risk. It seems Randeep requested the director of the movie to select Deepal. The two are already acting together in an Indo-American venture Karma Confessions and Holy.

One hopes Randeep's friendship with Deepal doesn't cause a rift between him and the gorgeous Sushmita Sen.

Bollywood actors taking a 'bald' step ahead

Going bald is the latest fad in Bollywood and Salman Khan is the latest to join the bandwagon. He has shaved off his head for Sajid Nadiadwala's forthcoming film.

Salman will be playing three different characters, each with a specific get-up and apparel, reports Bollywood Trade.

The trend is not new though earlier it was restricted to bad guys only. Remember Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Shakaal rubbing his gands gleefully over his bald pate or the late Amrish Puri whose shining bald head became as much of a trademark as his booming voice.

The ever-brilliant Anupam Kher was distinguished right from the beginning due to his bald pate and the equally classy Paresh Rawal had put on a hairless act for many of his movies - Dilwaale being the most noticeable.

All these actors were, needless to say, scoffed at initially and in Bollywood the clean-shaven look was plausibly restricted to villains. Heroes generally avoided the polished plain-head look until now.

Getting bald has now become a fashion gambol and it is fast gaining acceptance amongst celebrities. Actor Aditya Pancholi is sporting the bald look that was quite a statement in Musafir.

Kalyug's Kunal bags Bhandarkar's next project

Director Madhur Bhandarkar has signed Kunal Khemu, who debuted with Mahesh Bhatt's Kalyug last year, to play the central character in his next film Signal.

The young actor is very excited about the role, reports Bollywood Trade.

He says: "It came very unexpectedly. Madhur Bhandarkar had earlier complimented me on my performance in Kalyug. Then he called me up last week and asked me to see him urgently. He read out the script to me. It was brilliant and I was zapped when Madhur told me that he had confirmed me for the lead role."

He also admits that he is a great follower of Bhandarkar's films.

"I have watched all his films so far and I liked Chandni Bar the best. He is a very realistic director, who defines character in vivid detail," he says.

Signal, which will go on the floor in March, is produced by Sahara One.

Amitabh's first international project

If all goes well, Amitabh Bachchan will appear in his first international project to be directed by Deepa Mehta.

Deepa, revelling in the astonishing success of Water in Canada - the film continues to be record-breaking grosser in its seventh week, is waiting for Bachchan's green signal.

"The lead in my film Kamagata Maru can be played by no other actor except Bachchan," said Mehta.

"The hero of my most ambitious and expensive film has to be a man of substance, stature and wisdom. I can't think of anyone else but Bachchan," says Mehta.

Meanwhile Deepa has finalised the rest of the cast. Seema Biswas, who has received the maximum raves in the international press for Water, and John Abraham will play key roles in Kamagata Maru.

Deepa has also penned in Terence Stamp, the charismatic British actor from Billy Budd and Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Deserts, to play the crucial role of a lawyer. "I can see Bachchan and Terence together on screen. They'll be dynamite," predicts Deepa.

Filmmaker Rakesh Sharma sues New York city

Award winning documentary filmmaker Rakesh Sharma has filed a legal suit against the city of New York for being detained and harassed while shooting a film there last year.

Sharma, best known for his documentary Final Solutions on the sectarian violence in Gujarat in 2002, filed his suit Tuesday afternoon.

Referring to his harassment in May last year by the New York police, Sharma said: "They asked me to apply for a formal permit to shoot the film and specify the name of the street, corners, buildings and pavements. They also asked me to get an insurance package of $1 million before commencing the shoot."

An upset Sharma wants strict action against the officers who detained him.

"I want three things - I want the city to fix its permit policy. Secondly, I am not only expecting a written apology but also want that the detectives who made racist remarks against me should be punished. Thirdly, I want that New York city should look into the training process of the NYPD (New York Police Department)."

In his petition, Sharma has mentioned that the officer's hostility towards him was driven at least in part by the fact that he is brown-skinned. The officer had insulted him by saying, "We know how to deal with you guys, a*****e."

According to the filmmaker, this was the first time that the New York Film Permit Policy was being challenged on constitutional grounds.

"By stopping me they have prohibited the freedom of speech and expression of a filmmaker," he said.

The incident took place in May 2005 when Sharma was shooting for a film on New York taxi drivers.

Sharma has won many international awards for Final Solution and for Aftershocks, which is on the 2001 earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat.

'Shikhar' director upset with media attack

Director John Mathew Matthan, whose second film Shikhar met with a poor response at the box office, is upset over the media attack on his film.

"A few leading publications tried to rip apart the film. One newspaper went to the extent of giving it half a star. It was like assassinating the film. It appeared to be a very calculated attempt to finish the film," Bollywood Trade quoted him as saying.

Trade pundits attribute the film's failure to its release date, December 31, but Matthan explains he had no option other than releasing it on the stipulated day.

"It was solely subject to theatre availability. I had earlier planned a Dec 16 release but I wasn't getting the theatre bookings," he informed.

There was talk that he was contemplating trimming the second half of the film after the first three days, but Matthan denies it.

"A few of my friends in the trade did suggest that I edit the film but I felt it was a bit too late in the day to make changes," he said.

Meanwhile, his friends have suggested he seek tax-exemption for the film.

"I am in the process of applying for tax exemption. It could probably prove to be the silver lining for my film," he said.

Awarapan a slur on Parveen Babi

The Bhatts are planning a movie on Parveen Babi and her relationship with Mahesh Bhatt. While they had initially decided to call the movie Awarapan, they felt the title would cast aspersions on her character and have now changed it to Woh Lamhe.

The Bhatts had hoped Emran Hashmi would play the role of Mahesh Bhatt, but the actor is unable to give dates for his home production.

The lead role now seems to have gone to Shiny Ahuja who impressed the Bhatts with his performance in Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi and Gangster.

Woh Lamhe will focus on Babi's tragic love life, on how she repeatedly and passionately fell in love but could never find happiness. It will also show how she gradually started losing her sanity.

Kissing Meera goes missing

There had been rumours that Pakistani actress Meera had gone missing after leaving for Dubai on December 10. Her spokesperson has said that she had been unreachable since then and he had been thinking of filing a missing persons FIR with the police when the lady surfaced.

It seems she had been in Mumbai all along and had merely been keeping a low profile. So it looks like it was probably just another publicity stunt to keep her in the news after both her movies, Nazar and Kasak bombed at the box office.

The actress claims she is on the verge of signing on some big projects. Now is that just another rumour? Seeing is believing, so guess one will just have to wait and watch to see if there is any truth in her claims.

Insatiable Sanju

He already owns a Lexus Land Cruiser, a Mercedes S 350 and a Porsche. But Sanjay Dutt's love affair with the world's classiest wheels shows no signs of abating even after owning a fleet of the snazziest cars available. He has now gone and bought himself a Ferrari 360 at Rs 1 crore and to avoid a repeat of his Porsche experience, in which his car was seized by the Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence, he has already coughed up a duty of Rs 50 lakhs as customs and excise duty.

His Porsche had been recently seized by the Government because of duty violations. He got his car back after paying the necessary duty and a penalty of Rs 40 lakhs.

But there's more to Sanju's shopping wishlist. He now wishes to own a Bugatti Veyron, the world's fastest sports car. Though where he'll vroom with it, is anyone's guess! Certainly not on Mumbai's clogged roads!

Now using the 'F' word is a film's USP

For Zinda, director Sanjay Gupta wanted John Abraham to use the "f" word. It took a great deal of persuasion on Sanjay's side before the macho actor conceded to his demand. The movie has situations in which the actors are in a desperate situation and the script demanded its actors to voice their anxiety by using expletives.

John had been wary of using expletives in the movie becuase of the adverse impact it might have on young minds and his underage fans. But since the movie has received an adult certification, the director reasoned with John and finally managed to convince him to use certain English expletives.

Sanjay Gupta says this is the first time that a Hindi movie will be having English expletives.

Unlike John, Sanjay Dutt, his costar in the movie, had no such inhibitions and was quite comfortable using abusive language onscreen.

Bond's Aston Martin to have a new master

The Aston Martin used in James Bond films Goldfinger and Thunderball is to go on sale in the US, complete with machine guns and oil slick ejector, an auction house said Wednesday.

The silver grey Aston Martin DB 5, built in 1965, comes with added spy extras such as machine guns, a rear bulletproof shield, a wheel-mounted tyre slasher, and systems for emitting smoke and oil slicks.

The classic car, one of only three of the special 007 models, is expected to fetch between $1.5 million and $2.2 million when it goes on auction in Phoenix, Arizona January 20, the auction house RM Auctions said.

The model being auctioned was mainly used for promotional work and has been in a US car museum since the 1970s. The museum is also selling a 1928 Cadillac, which once belonged to gangster Al Capone.

Pitt calls up Aniston about Jolie's pregnancy

Actor Brad Pitt has reportedly phoned ex-wife Jennifer Aniston to inform her about Angelina Jolie's pregnancy.

According to ananova.com, Brad supposedly called up Aniston so that she won't hear the news third hand. Pitt and Aniston separated last year and the divorce was finalised in October.

A source says: "Jen's a class act. She told Brad she wished him and Angie all the happiness in the world, and said she hoped the baby would be healthy and Angie's pregnancy would go smoothly, too. But after she hung up she cried her eyes out."

Last month Pitt legally became father to Jolie's two adopted children, Maddox and Zahara.