Masand: Old Habits Die Hard

Wounded Words of a Spurned Lover

Salman Khan, who's apparently still smarting from the fact that Katrina Kaif broke up with him to take up with Ranbir Kapoor, is not one to pass up a cheap shot. He said in an interview recently that Isabelle Kaif (Katrina's younger sister), who stars in Dr Cabbie, a Canadian film he's produced, is a better actress than her star sibling.

It's a good thing Katrina has a sense of humour. When asked to respond to his comment, she said she'd seen Isabelle's audition tapes, and given that her sister had received formal acting training"which she hadn't before making her own debut"Salman was probably right in saying Isabelle is a better actress. Katrina, who has been slowly opening up about her relationship with Ranbir in the press lately, is expected to move in with her Raajneeti co-star shortly, and the couple is making no secret of it.

Hrithik's Ingenious Fitness Dare

Hrithik Roshan would have you forget the Ice Bucket Challenge and stay focused on the Bang Bang Dare' as he likes to call it. Leading up to the release of his new action film next week, the actor has been issuing mostly physical challenges to his filmi friends and co-stars, starting with his childhood buddy Uday Chopra, whom Hrithik dared (on Twitter) to do 100 weight pull ups in five sets'.

No one likes to be called out as a chicken. Uday accepted the challenge, and, admittedly with a little help of special effects, carried out the dare and quickly posted a video on Twitter and Instagram.

Next in line for the Bang Bang Dare' were Dino Morea, photographer Dabboo Ratnani, and the very sporting Priyanka Chopra, who accepted Hrithik's challenge to do a handstand with a pushup'. She did a handstand with three pushups, and did it in heels. "Next time ask me to do something a little more difficult," she shot back in the video, making it clear she hadn't so much as broken a sweat.

By the time you read this, Ranveer Singh, Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif are likely to have accepted and performed the challenges he's thrown at them. The one who got away easily was Sonam Kapoor, who Hrithik dared to display a collection of your happiest, craziest smiles on d super success of Khoobsurat'. She responded not long after with a collage of her widest grins.

Whoever said Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were Bollywood's ultimate marketing masterminds might want to add Hrithik Roshan to that list for this shrewd campaign to create buzz around Bang Bang! Movie stars posting fitness videos of themselves... pretty clever, you'd have to agree.

Old Habits Die Hard

She's a popular leading lady, currently in semi-retirement, notorious for her mood swings, and the bete noir of assistant directors everywhere. The married actress has cut down on her film work considerably, but has shot a bunch of advertising campaigns recently for everything from baby diapers and chocolate milk to vitamin supplements.

An agency representative on the set of a diapers commercial she was filming not so long ago revealed that the actress was "surprisingly well behaved" during the shoot and "incredibly patient" while the unit waited around for the star attraction"the infant who was to appear in the commercial"to wake up and behave for the cameras. Fearing that the actress might throw a hissy fit for being made to wait endlessly, the unit was apparently on tenterhooks, treading on eggshells around her, making sure she was comfortable. But there wasn't a murmur of a complaint from her.

Could she have changed, after all? Well, not quite. Just weeks later, while filming a chocolate powder commercial, the actress seemed to be back in her usual mood, snapping at assistants and production people, throwing her weight around while everyone on the set cowered in fear. When the director asked if she would do another take of a particular shot, this time approaching the scene another way, she reportedly glared at him angrily as if he had no business telling her how to do her job. During lunch break, the unit heard her vent her anger while she swore away like a sailor in her make-up room, unaware that the microphone she was wearing hadn't been switched off.