Masand: Gossip of the Week | March 11

Sonam's Four-Month Role Call

Sonam Kapoor reportedly took four months to mull over and say yes' to Hum Aapke Hain Koun ...! director Sooraj Barjatya's offer to star in his new movie opposite Salman Khan. A source close to the actress reveals that she had a bunch of concerns, chief among them the very valid worry that Salman might look too old to be paired opposite her romantically. Also, apparently she wasn't sure she wanted to spend a year working on an "old-fashioned family drama" at a time when she's consciously seeking out new-age films and contemporary stories.

Turns out it was her Raanjhanaa director Anand L Rai who persuaded Sonam to sign the film, insisting that it would be good for her career. The actress, who has repeatedly announced in recent times that she's more or less stopped signing "big" films because they have little to offer in terms of roles or money, made an exception for Barjatya, whose movies typically have substantial female parts.

The film is slated to go into production in June on a set that will be constructed in Karjat, rumouredly because Salman won't travel to Ooty, where Barjatya was keen to shoot on real locations. And Sonam will have company in her Raanjhanaa co-star Swara Bhaskar who's also been signed on for the film.

What do you do if you're the country's biggest superstar and your daughter absolutely loves a particular brand of franchised coffee? Here's what you do"you invite the brand to set up an outlet on your premises! Well, that's what Shah Rukh Khan did.

Apparently, the actor's daughter Suhana is crazy about Starbucks frappuccinos and can't have enough of them. So SRK reportedly had his people call up the Tatas (who've brought Starbucks to India) and offer them "a fantastic rate" to rent out the ground floor space in his spanking new Khar office building.

Suhana and her friends now frequently drop in at the sprawling outlet in the Red Chillies building, and SRK himself" who's been addicted to black coffee for years"gets his caffeine fix from downstairs, although it's usually his staff that pops in and out for his coffee.

An up and coming actor who's made some popular films managed to piss off his entire retinue of managers and handlers with his high-handed behaviour during promotional city visits recently. Last week, he refused to board a flight to Delhi, insisting he'd fly nothing but Business Class. He refused to take Emergency Exit seats either, which offer more legroom. As a result, an entourage of six persons"including a make-up man, spot-boy, publicist and manager"had to ditch the flight despite having boarding cards already, because there were no available Business seat for the star.

Left with no choice, the producer quickly rebooked the entire group on the next available flight, which also didn't have Business Class but was offering front row seats at a premium price. Reluctantly, the actor agreed.

On the same promotional tour for his new film, the actor reportedly put down a condition that if he had to travel to Chandigarh, he couldn't spare more than an hour for media interactions in the city. The publicist explained that there was little that could be packed into an hour, and that it simply didn't justify the cost of flying so many people. But the actor wouldn't budge. He swore he had a packed schedule in Mumbai, and while was happy to go straight to a press conference on landing in Chandigarh"and not stop at a hotel to freshen up"he couldn't possibly spend half the day doing interviews and mall appearances.

A successful actor and singer back in his home country, he made a splash with his Bollywood debut in a hit comedy some years ago, and has followed it up with interesting film choices. Insiders say he was recently summoned by a superstar who gushed about how much his kids and he enjoyed watching his debut film"so much, in fact, that they watched it twice the same day.

That still doesn't allow the rising star to throw his weight around, does it?