bombay velvet / kareena kjo / hrithik katrina

Anjali S| The News Minute| August 24, 2014| 11.00 pm IST

Bollywood Confidential

CANNES CALLING FOR BOMBAY VELVET?

Troubles just don't seem to end for Anurag Kashyap's ambitious 'Bombay Velvet'. First, the film went over budget by a huge margin causing the film's initial producers Viacom 18 & Kashyap's team to part ways. Then, once Fox Star Studio took over, lead actor Ranbir had date issues. And now, after actively promoting November 18th as the film's release date, the team have announced that the period film will only release in May 2015. Reason? Too much VFX work apparently.

While the film's post production work may genuinely be running behind schedule, industry insiders say there's a specific reason why Kashyap has pushed his film to May next year. Apparently, the filmmaker is looking to premiere his piece de resistance at the worlds biggest film festival, Cannes. And given Anurag's clout with the festival organizers, the feat may not be impossible either. So while Ranbir & Anushka may not have been too pleased about their big budget release being delayed by 6 months, dangling the big Cannes carrot has been enough to restore peace all around! After all, who doesn't want to be snapped sashaying down the red carpet at the French Riviera?

A IS FOR AWKWARD

Question. What happens when you put the once 'too-close-for-comfort' but now 'we-don't-talk-to-each-other', Hrithik & Katrina in the same room with 30 odd journalists? Answer: It's just awkward for everyone. The hot duo are about to start promotions for their Diwali release 'Bang Bang', but vibes between the two couldn't be colder.

Making an attempt to kick start informal promotional activities, the studio backing the film, Fox Star decided to invite a select set of journalists to watch some unreleased 'Bang Bang' footage and also mingle with Duggu & Kat. Little did they expect Miss Kaif to turn up only about 90 mins late. And once there, neither Katrina nor Hrithik made much of an effort to exchange pleasantries. In fact, within 15 minutes of Katrina's entry, Roshan made his exit! Clearly, no love lost there. We're sending out our sympathies in advance and lots of luck to the team handling this happy duo on the promotional tour. They're gonna need it!

WHO WANTED BEBO IN 'SHUDDHI'?

There is so much that has already been written about KJo's 'Shuddhi' that telling yet another tale about the film seems well, tiresome. But, with Karan & Bebo recently stepping out together, looking like the perfect bhai-behen jodi, posing for the paparazzi et al, we just couldn't resist sharing this nugget.

As deep as their bond might be, the story within Dharma circles goes that Johar never wanted Kareena for 'Shuddhi'. Ever. But back in 2013, as soon as Kareena heard that Hrithik had signed on the dotted line, there was just no stopping her from campaigning to be his female lead. Not knowing how to say no to one of his closest pals, KJo eventually gave in. But as fate would have it, just 2 months before shooting could begin, Hrithik's personal life & health fell apart. What followed was a long waiting game. But during the long drawn out -'will he, won't he'- drama, Roshan constantly updated KJo & team, Kareena was deliberately kept in the dark. All in the hope that the prolonged delay would make her drop the project altogether.

While Kareena eventually walked out of 'Shuddhi', what Dharma wasn't expecting, was for Hrithik to do exactly the same thing! But all's well that ends well. After all, KJo's managed to convince Salman Khan to come on board. Damn, we can hear the ka-ching already!