Actress Sonam Kapoor will play Mili in the remake of 1980 Rekha starrer "Khubsoorat". She says that since she and the makers of the new film are huge fans of late director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who helmed the classic, they decided to club names of "Mili" and "Khubsoorat" in the remake.

Sonam not only stars in the remake titled "Khoobsurat", but has also decided to name herself after another beloved female protagonist from another Hrishikesh Mukherjee 1975 classic "Mili".

"Yes, that's right. My director Shashank Ghosh, my producer Rhea, who also happens to be my sister, and I, we all decided not to name my character Anju. That was the name Rekha was given by Hrishida in 'Khubsoorat'. We decided to name my character Mili," said Sonam.

Her father Anil Kapoor was the last lead actor to work with the late director Hrishikesh Mukherjee in "Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate".

"We are all huge fans of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. My dad worked in his last film. Unfortunately, I couldn't work with him. Shashank waited four years to do his own take on 'Khubsoorat' with me. And since 'Mili' is another favourite film of mine by Hrishida, I decided to incorporate that as well into our 'Khoobsurat'," she added.

Sonam says her "Khoobsurat" is very different from the original.

"The spirit is the same. The characters are also the same. But the milieu and circumstances have been changed. I thoroughly enjoyed playing a character that Rekhaji has played so wonderfully in the past," she said.

"Obliterating Rekhaji is too harsh a thought. Her spirit runs through 'Khoobsurat'. But I haven't copied her in any way. Not in my clothes, performance or attitude. I am Mili, not Anju," she added.

"Murder 3" fame actress Sara Loren is geared up for her next titled "Barkhaa" being produced under Zahara Productions. In the film, she is paired with "Luv Ka The End" and "Gippi" fame actor Taaha Shah.

Talking about the film, the actress said it is a love story.

"In life, we all fall in love and tend to change thereafter. Some people become good, while some become weird. The best thing about love is that it is effective. Where there is love, there is lot of stir and this story ('Barkhaa') is also like that," Sara told reporters here Wednesday at the launch of the film.

"This film narrates the story of a boy who falls in love with a girl and how his life changes after that and how the girl's life changes because of his love," she added.

"Barkhaa", being directed by Shadaab Mirza, will also see actors Priyanshu Chatterjee and Punit Issar in key roles.

Slated to release later this year, the movie will go on floors Jan 27.

For a film as sensitive and serious as "Lakshmi", where the protagonist is a minor violently forced into sex trade, "cinematic" songs, which were "not grand" were needed, says composer Tapas Relia, who was asked by filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor not to worry about the album's commercial viability.

"The very first thing that Nagesh told me was that the songs need to express the emotions of the film, vulnerable when needed and with power when the script demands. The songs needed to be organically attuned to the emotions of the protagonist, a minor violently forced into sex trade," Relia recalled.

"I was given a clear brief to not even think about commercial viability of the songs," he told IANS in an email interview.

"We were clear that if the film can touch a chord with the audience, everything else will fall in place anyway. So the songs needed to be an intrinsic part of the story, not added for romantic relief or item," he added.

Kukunoor's hard-hitting drama "Lakshmi" has been doing its festival rounds, and it recently also won the Audience Award for best narrative feature, based on viewers' votes at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF).

The movie, which had its US premiere at the gala, narrates the story of a 13-year-old girl kidnapped and sold into prostitution, her refusal to give up hope, and her courageous stand against her oppressors.

Mumbai-based Relia says his focus was thus on creating songs that were "cinematic - with an ability to tell a story, not so big and grand that they take away from realism of Lakshmi, the girl".

In a no-holds-barred comment, he said: "Let’s face it, barring a few exceptions, the only songs that become hits are the ones that have budgets that support promos that are repeatedly played on television and then too, only if you get a Deepika (Padukone) or Katrina (Kaif) dance to them."

"With an unknown cast and a subject as serious as child prostitution, we saw absolutely no point in going that way."

Its album has four songs.

The makers have chosen to keep a folk touch since the girl is from a village and then there are Sufi numbers.

"The big song of the film is Kailash Kher singing a Sufi track asking Maula (god) why some people are not allowed to be treated like humans while others are god’s special children."

"The melodies are strictly folkish and light classical in nature, supported by powerful lyrics by Manoj Yadav. There's a story in each song. The arrangements are also organic with Indian instruments dominating the sound, like the ghatam, kanjira, shehnai, sarangi, tabla and harmonium," said the 35-year-old.

All songs, Relia said, are original.

"There are no folk songs that have been reproduced. But Nagesh used some songs as references," added the composer, who earlier created melodies for "Hanuman", "Return Of Hanuman" and "Ferrari Ki Sawaari".

Actress Moon Moon Sen is contemplating the idea of penning a coffee table book about her late mother, the reclusive Bengali screen goddess Suchitra Sen. But the book will be sans details of her personal life.

"She (my mother) kept urging me to do a few more films and to write. I suppose now I will write again. Maybe a coffee table book about my mother," said Moon Moon.

"You know, I promised her I'd never write about her personal life. Keeping out her personal details, it'd be very easy for me to wr1ite a coffee table book on my mother," she added.

Suchitra died Jan 17 following a cardiac arrest. She was 82 years old.

For her daughter, "it's hard to imagine she is gone".

What was she like?

"She was very undemanding as a person. She was the closest to me. But she knew I had my life to lead and came to terms with that. She liked being alone. But it's not that she didn't like meeting people. She liked meeting interesting people," said Moon Moon, who was "very spoilt and pampered" by the senior Sen.

During a 26-year career, Suchitra acted in 52 Bengali and seven Hindi films, and she was the biggest star of Bengali cinema.

Moon Moon, who followed in her mother's footsteps to become an actress, has two daughters, who too are actors.

"I feel my daughter Raima can take over my mother's histrionic legacy forward and my daughter Riya would take forward my mother's spiritual legacy."

"During my mother's final days, Riya was holding her hand through the pain, giving her strength. My mother used to say Riya had the makings of a great comic actress," she said.

Actress Moon Moon Sen is contemplating the idea of penning a coffee table book about her late mother, the reclusive Bengali screen goddess Suchitra Sen. But the book will be sans details of her personal life.

"She (my mother) kept urging me to do a few more films and to write. I suppose now I will write again. Maybe a coffee table book about my mother," said Moon Moon.

"You know, I promised her I'd never write about her personal life. Keeping out her personal details, it'd be very easy for me to wr1ite a coffee table book on my mother," she added.

Suchitra died Jan 17 following a cardiac arrest. She was 82 years old.

For her daughter, "it's hard to imagine she is gone".

What was she like?

"She was very undemanding as a person. She was the closest to me. But she knew I had my life to lead and came to terms with that. She liked being alone. But it's not that she didn't like meeting people. She liked meeting interesting people," said Moon Moon, who was "very spoilt and pampered" by the senior Sen.

During a 26-year career, Suchitra acted in 52 Bengali and seven Hindi films, and she was the biggest star of Bengali cinema.

Moon Moon, who followed in her mother's footsteps to become an actress, has two daughters, who too are actors.

"I feel my daughter Raima can take over my mother's histrionic legacy forward and my daughter Riya would take forward my mother's spiritual legacy."

"During my mother's final days, Riya was holding her hand through the pain, giving her strength. My mother used to say Riya had the makings of a great comic actress," she said.

Kalki Koechlin is not a big fan of her dancing skills, but hopes to master the art "one day".

She took to Twitter Wednesday to share her thoughts on her dancing abilities and tweeted: "One day I'll dance properly, maybe I'll be 95, but one day it's going to happen."

After making her debut with ex-husband Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed "Dev D", Kalki has been appreciated for her performances in "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara", "Shaitan" and "That Girl in Yellow Boots".

Kalki Koechlin is not a big fan of her dancing skills, but hopes to master the art "one day".

She took to Twitter Wednesday to share her thoughts on her dancing abilities and tweeted: "One day I'll dance properly, maybe I'll be 95, but one day it's going to happen."

After making her debut with ex-husband Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed "Dev D", Kalki has been appreciated for her performances in "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara", "Shaitan" and "That Girl in Yellow Boots".

Salman Khan's "Jai Ho" is not only eagerly awaited by his fans, but the members of film fraternity such as filmmaker Subhash Ghai too are eager to see the film.

The film releases Friday and Ghai took to Twitter to convey his best wishes.

"'Jai Ho' is going to rock tomorrow (Friday) all over (the) world... money counters will roll (the) fastest and (it is) going to be Salman Khan ki 'Jai Ho' (Salman Khan's victory)," Ghai posted on the microblogging site Thursday.

A political satire, the film also features Tabu and newcomer Daisy Shah.

He is just one-film-old and life has already become a roller-coaster ride for Siddharth Malhotra. So his New Year resolution is to take out time for himself and go for a bike ride to unwind himself.

Gearing up for his next release "Hasee Toh Phasee", the current heartthrob of Bollywood plans to buy a bike.

"We don't get time for ourselves...my New Year resolution is to make time for myself. That is why I plan to buy a bike. It will be relaxing to go on a ride in the evenings," Siddharth told IANS in an interview.

The actor, who made his acting debut with Karan Johar's "Student of The Year", will be seen playing a gray character in Mohit Suri's "The Villain" this year.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is bowled over by his "The Great Gatsby" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in "The Wolf of Wall Street". He is happy that he took Ranbir Kapoor's recommendation seriously.

The 71-year-old, who is currently shooting for "Bhootnath Returns", is "amazed" by the performances in the Oscar nominated movie.

"'The Wolf of Wall Street' keeps me awake till now, and the amazement of the film and its performances, natural to the extent of an unbelievable fact, true to its text and construct," Amitabh posted on his blog in the wee hours of Thursday.

"Good I took in the recommendation of Ranbir Kapoor, who was on the set with us today (Wednesday)," he wrote.

Ranbir will be seen in a cameo in "Bhootnath Returns".

Actress Juhi Chawla says travelling alone in a flight is like an adventure trip for her because usually she is accompanied by a lot of people.

"Stepping into a flight alone always makes me feel like I'm on an adventure. Usually, I'm cocooned by production people or family," Juhi tweeted Thursday.

Currently, she is in the news for her bold avatar in her next film "Gulaab Gang". Directed by Soumik Sen, the movie, coming out March 7, will see Juhi sharing screen space with her contemporary Madhuri Dixit for the first time.

Actor Sonu Sood seems to be quite amused by his "Happy New Year" director Farah Khan and says he got past the Juhu signal just by hailing the filmmaker's name.

"Whenever you plan to cross Juhu signal, you should always say 'Jai Farahji' and you would never find any traffic. I just did it and the signal is all clear," Sonu tweeted.

"That's the power of Farah Khan...Smooth sailing traffic today...Jai Farahji," he added.

"Happy New Year", which also features Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles, will hit the screens Oct 23. Boman Irani and Abhishek Bachchan will also be seen in the film.

Raima Sen, who bears a strong resemblance to her late grandmother and legendary Bengali actress Suchitra Sen, says initially filmmakers tried to portray her like her granny and it took her a long time to get out of her shadows.

"Initially, when I came into the industry, everyone would look at me in that funny way as if they were not seeing me, but someone else. When I was doing my first film 'Godmother', I'd be told to look into the camera in a certain way. It took me a while to realise they were seeing my grandmother in me," said Raima.

She feels that late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh's "Chokher Bali" helped her come into her own.

"Everything to do with me was about my grandmother. They just loved me because I looked like her. It took me a long time to get out of her shadows. After Rituda's 'Chokher Bali', the comparisons stopped," said Raima.

After quitting the industry, Sen, who died Jan 17, not only stayed away from the industry, she avoided watching films too.

"But she did watch me in Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's 'Anuranan'. She had never watched any film of mine before that. After 'Anuranan', she wanted to see more of my films. I gave her Rituda's 'Nauka Dubi'. She liked that too," said Raima.

"As for me, I think she was awesome in all her films specially 'Saat Pake Bandha', 'Uttar Phalguni', 'Mamta', 'Aandhi' and 'Dweep Jwale Jaye'... Her screen presence is unmatchable, at least in Bengali cinema," she added.

She says Ghosh was keen to make a biopic on Sen.

Said Raima: "Rituda (Rituparno Ghosh) wanted to make a film on my grandmother's life with me in the lead. The only director I would have trusted to make a film on my grandmother is Rituda. Now, no chance! Two people who were very close to my heart are gone within a year."

He is not called the Bollywood 'badshah' for nothing. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan suffered a minor injury on the "Happy New Year" set here Thursday, and within a few hours after seeking quick medical aid, he returned to the movie set. The crew welcomed him with a standing ovation.

The 48-year-old was taken to a city hospital following a minor injury that he suffered while shooting for the film here. He was discharged within two hours and went straight back to work, said his spokesperson.

"Shah Rukh got a slight cut on his forehead and he was taken to the hospital as a precaution to make sure there was no serious injury. He is going back to work now," the actor-producer's spokesperson told IANS soon after he was discharged.

He was rushed to the Dr. Balabhai Nanavati Hospital here after he suffered the injury caused by a door on the set of the movie.

His wife Gauri Khan was by his side. However, she left the hospital premises a few minutes before SRK. There was tight security outside the hospital.

According to "Happy New Year" director and Shah Rukh's good friend Farah, he was "stubborn" about resuming the shoot.

"Thank you all for your concern and love. SRK is good and being stubborn about resuming shoot...so we are back to work. God's been good," tweeted Farah.

"The entire crew gives a standing ovation to the returning hero," she posted Thursday evening.

Injuries are not new to Shah Rukh.

While working in films, he had first suffered a hairline fracture on his knee cap while shooting for "Koyla" in the 1990s. In the past decade, he tore a shoulder muscle, suffered a back injury and has undergone surgery too.

In 2011, his meniscus (cartilage) got ruptured when his leg got stuck in a puddle.

Shah Rukh had even injured himself during "Ra.One". Just last year, he underwent a shoulder surgery to alleviate the pain which he endured throughout the shooting of the action-packed "Chennai Express".

A lover of sports, SRK is truly a sport himself!

She enjoyed stardom like no one did in Bengali cinema. Yet, screen goddess Suchitra Sen let go of it easily, but stardom never left her mother, says Moon Moon Sen.

After ruling the silver screen for decades with Bengali films such as "Deep Jwele Jaai" and "Uttar Falguni" as well as Hindi movies like "Devdas", "Bombai Ka Babu", "Mamta" and "Aandhi", Suchitra quit acting because of "kitschy mediocrity" that overtook Bengali cinema in the 1970s and 1980s.

Post retirement, she lived a hermit's life for three-and-a-half decades and shunned everything - from arclights to socialising. In fact, she was so determined that in 2005 she even turned down the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema, as she would have had to come out of her seclusion to collect the honour in person from the president.

However, her daughter is quick to clear this: "It's a myth that she didn't meet people. She met everyone she had to and was extremely polite and easy going in her social interactions."

"One reason why she quit acting in the 1970s was the kitschy mediocrity that overtook Bengali cinema in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the directors she knew well and felt comfortable working with, passed away. The scripts that were offered to her were awful," said Moon Moon, who also stepped into the world of acting.

Suchitra, who featured in 52 Bengali and seven Hindi films during a 26-year acting career, formed the greatest romantic pair in the regional language's history with the legendary Uttam Kumar.

Moon Moon recalled: "When Uttam Kumar passed away, she'd say, 'Whom am I going to work with?' Once she left acting, she left it behind completely.

"When I started acting she would hardly ask about the film industry except maybe an odd question about how Gulzar saab was doing. She was extremely fond of him. Otherwise she was totally out of cinema both Bengali and Hindi. She let her stardom go quite easily. But stardom never let go of her."

People were always open to work with the senior Sen.

"I remember I was on a flight with Andhra Pradesh's eminent producer D. Rama Naidu. He said to me, 'Tell your mother I've a blank cheque waiting for your mother whenever she decides to work with me.' And Salim Khan saab told me she refused Yash Chopra's 'Deewaar'. After she opted out, they changed the whole script.

"I think she missed the company of like-minded people. She had me and her aunts, sisters, nieces and very few friends," said the daughter, who plans to pen a coffee table book on her mother.

Suchitra had a fierce temper, which my daughters (Raima and Riya) and I have inherited," says Moon Moon, adding that she was "very choosy about her friends and a stickler for punctuality".

"If anything didn't go well while shooting my mother would be extremely upset and would make no effort to hide it. That's because she was very particular about the quality of her work," she said.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan lent support to the Indian premiere of Anant Singh's "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom" about former South African president Nelson Mandela, whom he remembers as a kind person.

"Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom" features Idris Elba in the title role and Naomie Harris as his wife Winnie. Its premiere was held here Wednesday in the presence of two of the movie's actors, Atandwa Kani and Terry Pheto.

The 71-year-old also recollected his experience of performing in South Africa over two decades back.

"'Mandela' the movie produced by dear friend Anant Singh from South Africa, and he and his team solely responsible through the kindness of Mr. Mandela to give us the permission to bring the very first Concert to South Africa at a time when Apartheid was just on its way out," Amitabh posted on his blog srbachchan.tumblr.com.

The 1991 concert was put together by Anant Singh.

Big B says its a "memorable trip", full of "incredible moments".

"What a memorable trip to Durban and Johannesburg during the time of the very first concert in South Africa in which we performed in 1990. Incredible moments, the warmth and the affection of the people of South Africa, their stance on matters that concerned them politically, generous in their praise and most dignified in their reception to me," he posted.

International artist Abeer Nehme, who can sing in nineteen languages, has been roped in to perform at the eighth World Sufi Spirit Festival (WSSF) to be held in February in Rajasthan.

Having acquired a master's degree in musicology from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (Lebanon), she received a diploma in advanced traditional Arabic music performance. She will take to the WSSF stage with several other Indian and international artists, said a statement.

Apart from Nehme, the music festival has also roped in artists from Azerbaijan, Iran, Morocco, Tajikistan and Canada.

The fest will be hosted at the Mehrangarh and Ahichhatragarh Forts in Jodhpur and Nagaur. It will start in Nagaur Feb 17 and will culminate Feb 23 in Jodhpur.

Newcomer Kashish Singh, debuting in Bollywood with producer Kumar Taurani's next yet-untitled film, says getting a break in the Hindi film industry is hard, but the hurdles ease out with time.

Kashish comes from a non-film background, and she believes it adds to the journey's woes.

"The journey is hard but it gets better with time. Patience and faith are what keep me going. There is a lot of irritation and trouble that you will go through, but you have to hold on," Kashish told IANS in an email interaction.

The actress hails form Delhi and she moved to Mumbai three years back to pursue her acting dreams. She has also formally learnt the art of acting from Anupam Kher's school Actor Prepares.

This may be her Bollywood debut, but Kashish had featured in the promotional song "Funda carry on jatta" in Punjabi movie "Carry on Jatta" with Gippy Grewal. She recently featured in a song "Preeto" for Punjabi film "Viyah 70 km", which released in September 2013.

"I was very focused in my mind that I want to do films from the very beginning. My choices are not restricted towards Bollywood," she said.

Kashish will also be seen soon in Punjabi film "Yaarana", which she could really relate to.

"'Yaarana' is youth-based movie. I play Seerat, a young chirpy, bubbly college girl who is the love interest of the lead actor Yuvraj Hans. I could relate to the character very well and thoroughly enjoyed the experience," she said.

The actress, however, did not have to undergo any special training for the role other than "learn Punjabi".

Kashish's other work credits include various print advertisements for brands such as Dabur, Siemens and Fair & Lovely.

Apart from Taurani's next film, which will be a thriller, the actress also has some southern films in the pipeline.

The stage is set for Salman Khan's "Jai Ho", his first release of the year. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh is confident that it will cross the Rs.300-crore-mark while Amod Mehra says though a bumper opening is assured, reaching Rs.200 crore could be "a Herculean task".

Directed by Salman's brother Sohail, the film that focuses on corruption will hit more than 5,000 screens Friday.

Producer Vashu Bhagnani, who still remembers "the stupendous opening" that his film with Salman "Biwi No.1" got, is confident that "'Jai Ho' would definitely open very well".

"Salman has the full public support. His ardent fan-base would definitely go see the film. It should cross the 300-crore mark specially seeing the number of screens it's being released on," he added.

In the last couple of years, Salman has hardly failed to impress the audiences and as a result most of his films such as "Dabangg", "Ek Tha Tiger" and "Dabangg 2" became blockbusters.

"I saw the film at a trial. Both the pre and post interval halves have that jolt that makes you sit up and watch when you are least expecting any kind of upheaval. That is the USP. Salman's presence is 'ekdum dhamaakedar'," said another trade expert who doesn't want to be named.

"My verdict. It'd be bigger than 'Ek Tha Tiger', but not as big as 'Dabangg'. Eros would find it hard to recover the money they paid Sohail for the film," he added.

Taran Adarsh: "'Jai Ho' should open very, very well, thanks to Salman's star power and also his absence from the screen for an entire year. The craze for the film is building up with each passing day. As far as making Rs.300 crore goes, that would depend entirely on the strength of the content."

Amod Mehra: "As Salman is enjoying such a huge fan-following, a bumper opening is assured. However, the promos and music are dull. Reaching Rs.200 crore may prove to be a Herculean task."

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was injured on the sets of Farah Khan's "Happy New Year" and sought immediate medical aid, says that he still needs to undergo a few tests.

Shah Rukh, who suffered the injury Thursday, took to Twitter to announce that his condition and also reassured his fans that he will soon be fine.

"Have a few tests to do and Insha Allah all will be good. Few scars maybe. (I) Will show them off because they say there are no scars for happiness," Shah Rukh posted on the microblogging site Thursday night.

The actor was shooting when a heavy door left him injured, and then he was rushed to Dr. Balabhai Nanavati Hospital.

The actor was discharged within two hours and went straight back to work.