CINEMA CINEMA TODAY !!!!!!!!!!

Kunal Kapoor is the latest ladies' man in Bollywood and he appears to be enjoying this tag. On one hand he is enjoying cosy dinners with ex girlfriend Raima Sen and on the other hand dancing the nights away with Dia Mirza. What makes this story even more interesting is the fact that Raima and Dia are close friends who are constantly in touch with each other! But this isn't bothering Kunal in the least. Dia though appears to be very serious about him. Recently when she was in Delhi for a show she took time off to bond with Kunal's parents who live in the capital. And his folks are in love with her already.

Amitabh Bachchan has been signed by Planman Motion Pictures for his first ever English film. Bachchan plays an actor in the film, a character very close to himself. The film will be directed by Rituparno Ghosh. The film also stars Arjun Rampal and a leading female actor from Bollywood is being finalised. The shooting of the film will start in the last week of February and will get over by the end of March.

Says Professor Arindam Chaudhuri, chairman of Planman Motion Pictures, "All of us are very excited about this film. I have read the script and it is one of the best that Rituda has ever written. I am confident that it will make a great film!" Director Rituparno Ghosh is thrilled too. He says, "This film will see Bachchan don a role that he has never done. While I was writing the script, I realised that the role demands an actor of his stature. And I am certainly elated that he has agreed to do it. We are all working hard to make a good film that the audiences will enjoy."

When contacted, CEO of Planman Motion Pictures, Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharjee said, "It is our third film with Rituda and with each film, our association keeps getting stronger. The script is "lovely and Mr Bachchan is apt for the remarkable role. It is going to be a film that will show him like we have never seen him before!"

Ever since Apna Sapna Money Money did well at the box office, producers and directors have been queuing up for Riteish Deshmukh. The actor has proved to be a lucky mascot for directors. It is also been heard that he has hiked his fee to Rs 1 crore per film. The Masti star has now been signed by two directors for their comedy ventures. One is Ekta Kapoor's Kya Kool Hai Hum which is being made into a sequel titled Kya Hot Hai Hum and will be directed by Sangeeth Sivan, and the other is Priyadarshan's Malamaal Weekly 2, which is a sequel to his earlier venture Malamaal Weekly .

Director Sangeet Sivan says, "We are currently in the scripting stages but the male leads Tusshar and Riteish will continue as the heroes. We have not thought about the heroines yet. I am busy with my current project with Bobby and Nana Patekar and once I finish that, I will start the shooting for this film".

Riteish's other venture — tentatively titled Malamaal Weekly 2, also stars Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Reema Sen. The sequel will be directed by Priyadarshan's assistant Rajiv. Priyadarshan has often mentioned that he cannot make sequels, hence he will not be directing the film. The star cast shall remain the same with an addition of few more actors.

After directing four monumental epics in Bollywood, Sanjay Leela Bhansali moves to Paris in 2008 to direct an opera. Bhansali, whose Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Black have defined aesthetic mainstream cinema in the last decade, has been signed on by France's opera company Theatre du Chatelet to direct an opera which will be staged in 2008.

The director says it's like a dream come true. "The dynamics of the opera fascinate me. I always wanted to do theatre, more specifically the opera. The experience will rejuvenate me as a creative artiste and help me connect with creative spaces more openly. Besides, I'm accused of being theatrical by my colleagues in India. The opera gives me the chance to carry every emotion to the highest scale. That's something I enjoy doing. I can't deny theatrical influences in my cinema. So, in a way this opera will give me the chance to return to my roots," Bhansali said.Bhansali, who is in the process of completing his latest cinematic opus Saawariya, says he wasn't very sure when he got the offer.

"It's an honour not just for me but the whole country. I think my operatic mode of storytelling in Devdas convinced the Theatre du Chatelet to approach me. I felt reassured that the film's design had worked. Very frankly, I was flattered but unsure whether I wanted to do it. After all, a staged opera is a discipline entirely different from cinema. Would I be able to pull it off? I'm glad I've agreed to do it. It's a very exhilarating and exciting prospect to use my operatic vision on stage," he said.

Actor Hrithik Roshan seems to be pretty impressed with Priyanka Chopra after working with her in Krrish. He has even recommended her to debutant director Zoya Akhtar for her film.

Sources say that, though the character that Chopra plays will make a brief appearance, it is going to be a memorable role, much like Amitabh Bachchan's role in Paheli. Also, it was a role that Rani Mukherjee was a strong contender for