As a TV anchor, Ayushmann Khurrana enjoyed his irreverence and blunt approach towards celebrities, but he admits he can't afford to do it anymore.

"If you see my tweets, the tonalities of the tweets have changed so much. I was so irreverent in the past, I was just blunt when I was an anchor on television," the 28-year-old said here Tuesday at the launch of Men's Health magazine featuring him on the cover.

"I was irreverent towards the film industry, the actors, because I was on the other side making shows, making fun of people on camera. But I'm a part of the industry now and know everyone personally, so I can't afford to do that now," he added.

Ayushmann hails from Chandigarh, and made his Bollywood debut with "Vicky Donor".

While he is himself popular, Ayushmann admits he still goes crazy everytime he sees a star like Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan.

However, he says, he controls himself from behaving like a common fan.

"I just control myself in front of them. I want to go like 'Amitabh Bachchan!', 'Shah Rukh Khan!' I want to do that because I'm from Chandigarh and I see the industry as an outsider. So I get that feeling very often when I see these stars with me on stage or the same party," Ayushmann said.

"So I just keep quite and observe them. Otherwise, I can be just another fan and take a paper and ask, 'Autograph sir'," he added.

Ayushmann's last film "Nautanki Saala" didn't fare too well at the box office. He is currently shooting for Yash Raj Films' untitled project with Sonam Kapoor.

The shooting of his other film "Hamara Bajaj" is delayed and it is expected to start only next year.

Filmmaker Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, who has directed "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", will be seen in a cameo in the movie, which is inpired by the life of former athlete Milkha Singh.

A source close to the film's team confirmed: "Yes, there is a cameo of the director in the film."

"Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" features Farhan Akthar and Sonam Kapoor in the lead. It is releasing Friday.

As a child actress, Sana Saeed, who played little Anjali in Karan Johar's 1998 film "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", was scared of the filmmaker. However, after working under his direction again in "Student Of The Year", she says that fear has vanished.

"My equation with Karan is lovely. I was scared of him during 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'. But we worked on 'Student Of The Year'... he is an amazing person and has amazing energy," Sana told IANS.

"I could not have asked for anything more than to work with him again. The two big things which I have done in my life till now are these two films," she added.

Now Karan is among the trio of judges who will review Sana's dancing capabilites on reality show "Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6". She entered the show as a wild card contestant last week.

Sana admits she still gets appreciated for her role as Shah Rukh Khan's daughter in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", which turned out to be a huge hit.

She said yes to a supporting role in "Student Of The Year" as she didn't want to turn down KJo.

"I just needed to make my comeback with Karan. There was no way I was going to say 'no' to anything he said," said Sana, who is now looking at doing something different from the full-of-frill, glamour and attitude girl that she played in "Student Of The Year".

She is looking forward to taking on serious roles.

"I am looking for work which is more serious, something which shows variation. Maybe something different than what I have played. I don't want to rush into anything," she said.

Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt's next "Horror Story" will hit the big screens Oct 25, and the producer says it is a "scare-a-minute film in the truest sense".

"It's horror from the first scene to the last and has been shot in an international format," Bhatt said in a statement.

Directed by Ayush Raina, who previously helmed "Bombay High", one of the short films in "Mumbai Cutting", the film features TV actor Karan Kundra, and fresh faces like Ravish Desai, Hasan Zaidi, Nishant Malkani, Sheetal Singh, Aparna Bajpai, Radhika Menon and Nandini Vaid.

The story revolves around seven youngsters who challenge one another to spend the night at an infamous hotel in the heart of the city. It turns out to be a horrendous night for them.

Actress Kareena Kapoor, who plays a political journalist in "Satyagraha", will emulate her character in the movie and go de-glam during the promotions of the Prakash Jha-directed film.

Kareena is usually seen in an ultra-glamorous avatar. But in the movie, she sports a simple kurta, pair of jeans and a stole.

She will remain in the character's look for the promotions, which will begin a month before the film hits the screens Aug 30, said a source.

This will be different from usual promotional events where Bollywood celebrities put their best foot forward in terms of fashion at public and media events.

Recently, Vidya Balan was seen promoting her film "Ghanchakkar" in the garb of her loud character.

Actress Gracy Singh has stepped in to play a role which was slated to be essayed by Amrita Raichand in a period drama titled "Saako-363 Amrita Ki Khejadi".

The movie is about a Bishnoi woman who fought to save flora and fauna in her village.

A source close to the film's team revealed, "Amrita Raichand has been replaced by Gracy Singh due to her ethnic looks, which are apt for the role of a Bishnoi woman, the protagonist of the film. Gracy's look suited the role best."

The film also features actors Raghubir Yadav, Vishwajeet Yadav, Raj Premi, Rajesh Singh, Prerna Trivedi, Suraj Bishnoi and Asish Marvo.

It is jointly produced by Suraj Bishnoi and Kalyan Seervi. Seervi is also the writer and director of the film, which is being shot in Barmer, Rajasthan.

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor, who is lovingly called Bebo, has reportedly been approached by an international brand to design a signature denim line under her nickname.

A source says that Kareena, who once hogged limelight for becoming a size zero, was approached by the brand as her appearances and presence impressed many.

"Whenever Kareena gets associated with a fashion or health initiative, it always goes on to be very successful. Apart from that, she is always impeccably dressed and has an international appeal. These are the qualities that the brand is looking for,” said the source in a statement.

Kareena, who forayed into the Hindi film industry in 2000 with "Refugee", endorses several brands here, and is considered a trend setter of sorts in the industry.

Imam Siddique, who caught the public's attention during his stint on reality show "Bigg Boss 6" in 2012, says his own reality show "Timeout with Imam" puts the spotlight on him.

At the launch of the show Tuesday, Imam said the show is entirely about him and it is packed with everything that a good reality show should have.

"This is based on I, me and myself. I don't want to kill the suspense, you have to understand these are the ingredients for any entertainment package. You have to have drama, suspense, horror and comedy. You'll get all the ingredients which are needed for a good masala show," Imam said.

"Timeout with Imam" is a comedy reality show to go on air on MTV. Its promotional trailers give a glimpse of how the audience will now get a chance to know the real Imam.

Imam is best remembered for his weird antics and temper in the "Bigg Boss" house. However, he says he is a changed person now.

"I hope to god that I have changed from that Imam to this Imam. I have realised the person that I was before I went to 'Bigg Boss' and the person I have become after I came from 'Bigg Boss', are two different people," Imam said.

"I'm not the same Imam who entered the house, that Imam is over. I have changed, for the better, I hope," he added.

"Timeout with Imam" will go on air July 14.

Film: "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag"; Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, Rebecca Breeds, Divya Dutta, Prakash Raj and Pavan Malhotra; Writer: Prasoon Joshi; Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra; Rating: *****

History is created in several ways. One of them is cinema. And if Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" seems like a near-flawless homage to the flying spirit of India's greatest runner, it is partly because the story, so nimbly woven into a pastiche of drama, emotion, humour and pathos by Prasoon Joshi, is in no hurry to keep pace with the onscreen Milkha's breathless sprint.

The story of super-sprinter Milkha Singh unfolds in this exceptional biopic at its own volition. There's no effort here "to tell a story", to create an impression or to whip up a dramatic storm to captivate audiences. The synergy in the storytelling seems subliminal.

Still, we the audience, fed week after week on mediocrity masquerading as cinema, are riveted to the story of Milkha Singh for over three hours of playing time.

How come? Well, to begin with it is Milkha Singh's own powerful life as India's superstar sportsperson that sweeps us into the biopic. Milkha was so poor he couldn't afford running shoes, and when he got them, he didn't know how to run in them. When milk was offered in the army in exchange of running practice, he grabbed it (the run and the milk) with both hands.

A victim of India's brutal partition, Milkha's story was waiting to be told. And thankfully, no one before Mehra saw cinematic potential in his story. If Milkha's story had to be told, the storyteller had to be a master craftsman, and one who doesn't waste space in self-congratulatory flourishes.

With immense help from Prasoon Joshi, Mehra harnesses Milkha's life-story into an experience that is pure cinema and yet undiluted and uncompromised by the mandatory, often silly, illogical and idiotic semantics of mainstream commercial cinema.

The absolutely seamless editing by P. Bharathi is impressive. The film is very stylishly cut, but not at the cost of losing the simplicity and the innate ascetism of the sportsman-hero. And yes, there are songs composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, but they are so effortlessly woven into Milkha's saga that we don't see them as "song breaks".

This is as good a time as any to tell you that Farhan Akhtar does the Bhangra as well as any Punjabi. Actually, he doesn't dance. He just flows with the rhythm. I've never seen any actor dance with such rhapsodic abundance. Neither have I seen any actor run like Farhan.

I don't know how fast Milka ran, but Farhan's Milkha doesn't fake it for even a second. When he runs, he really runs. When he stumbles and takes a fall, we flinch and wince in our seats. Farhan's body language and emotions and expression as Milkha is pitch-perfect.

Farhan doesn't 'play' Milkha. The actor occupies Milkha's mind, body and soul. There are episodes in this astonishingly, well-structured biopic where Farhan's oneness with Milkha equals Ben Kingsley's empathy with Mahatma Gandhi in "Gandhi".

This isn't just a film about a sportsperson who brought untold glory to our country. "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" is the story of an individual's journey from nullity to pinnacles of success in a world where politics and violence are constant reminders of how little an individual's aspirations matter in the larger, often murkier scheme.

In Prasoon Joshi's interpretation of Milkha's amazing success-story, yearning is the cornerstone to achievement. In 1947, when India became two nations, we see little Milkha (Jabtej Singh) run for his life to escape the savage butchery that snatches away almost his entire family. Only his dear sister, played wonderfully by Divya Dutta, remains. As we see it, Milkha never stopped running since the partition trauma.

The 'run' as a metaphor of life's expedient circumstances, runs through the narrative.

Happily, the screen time is as much taken up with Milkha's record-breaking achievements on the field, as it is with vignettes from his personal life. There is a robust heartwarming romance between Milkha and the vessel-friendly 'kudi' Biro (Sonam Kapoor, looking prettier than ever). The writer and director invest inexpressible warmth in the protagonist's courtship scenes. We've seen this kind of love blossom on Punjab's soil before. But it still feels special and unique.

Farhan does the rest. And he gets tremendous support from other actors, specially Divya Dutta, who is incomparably sincere in her role. Pavan Malhotra as Milkha's coach is as usual, first-rate.

Unlike other period films in recent times which have conveniently and lazily resorted to antiques, artefacts and vintage songs, the 1950s in "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" simply and effortlessly emerges from the character and his milieu.

Binod Pradhan's camera glides across Milkha's inner and outer world, and telling it like it is. There's a complex design to the seeming simplicity of this saga of a simple Sikh who would guzzle two cans of ghee on challenge and run to the winning post on feet mauled by jealous rivals.

Who said life could ever be easy for those who aspire to fly higher than the rest? The beautiful irony of Milkha Singh's life that this consummate biopic captures so ably, is that he really didn't aspire to anything. He ran simply because he had to.

The rest, as they say, is history.

"Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" is the kind of cinema that doesn't tempt us to share the protagonist's life with any false hopes. We the audience are driven into a desperate urge to share Milkha's life not only because he ran fast, but because he wasn't afraid to stumble, falter and fall.

Ironically, this film on Milkha rarely slips up, if ever.

At one point, in an under-punctuated flashback, we hear Milkha confide in his sweetheart that he would like the government to declare a national holiday in his honour.

I recommend a national holiday for the entire nation to go and see this movie. It makes the other recent high-profile acclaimed films look hopelessly inadequate.

Young actor Varun Dhawan did not watch the Telugu original "Kandireega" before plunging into doing the Hindi remake "Main Tera Hero". Instead, he has been asked to emulate Salman Khan's spontaneity.

Varun's filmmaker father David Dhawan asked him to interpret the character his own way, just like Salman does with all his roles.

David directed Salman in films like "Judwaa", "Biwi No.1" and "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi", and the actor always got a free hand to play a character his way. Varun is being given similar freedom for "Main Tera Hero".

David admits that his son will assume the spontaneous stance for the movie.

"I'm looking forward to directing Varun. But I won't over-direct him. I'm giving Varun a free hand to interpret his role how he wants. If you see Salman in my films, you'll find a lot of 'Salmanisms' in the characters. I want Varun to strive for the same kind of unrehearsed performance," said David.

David will start shooting with Varun in July. They will shoot in Ooty, Bangalore, Mumbai and then in Bangkok.

The movie has two actresses - Nargis Fakhri and Ileana D'Cruz.

"I expect them to create great chemistry with Varun," said the proud father.

Varun made his Bollywood debut with Karan Johar's "Student Of The Year".

The India Bridal Fashion Week (IBFW), an exposition of Indian couture and bridal lines, will woo international patrons with its first ever international edition in 2014. It will be held in London, organiser Vijay Singh announced here Wednesday.

“We're going to London next year. I believe that any specific industry requires a new market. If you look at the Indian fashion industry, every designer is a name in outside countries as well. So why not (go international),” Singh, managing director, Fashion One International, said here.

The event has so far been held in Mumbai. It will open in the capital for the first time July 23. Scheduled to take place at The Grand hotel in south Delhi, the extravaganza will have a mix of bridal and couture collections by a range of the country's designers.

Participating designers at the six-day event are JJ Valaya, Tarun Tahiliani, Raghavendra Rathore, Shantanu and Nikhil, Falguni and Shane Peacock, Rohit Bal, Suneet Varma, Ashima Leena, Meera and Muzaffar Ali, Adarsh Gill, Jyotsana Tiwari and Rina Dhaka.

While Valaya is the opening designer, Tahiliani will present the closing collection.

There will also be a bridal expo - The Bridal Luxury Couture Exposition - which will run simultaneous with the IBFW. It will feature 65 top designers and creative wedding planners who will interact directly with the customers.

Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s famous fictional detective, Byomkesh Bakshi will soon release on the big screen in a venture by filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee and Yash Raj Films (YRF).

They are set to make a film titled, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy. Dibakar and YRF have officially bought the entire library of Byomkesh’s stories.

The deal has been struck for about R8- 10 crore. In effect, from now on, no one would be able to take up or use any of Byomkesh’s stories in any language except Bengali. “Yes, we have bought all 30 stories. We have left Bengali out of respect to the writer (Bandyopadhyay) and Bengali people,” says Banerjee.

He adds, “The idea is to ensure that no one else makes a film on Byomkesh till I am done with my franchise or series. If I don’t do that, someone else will pick up another story from the series. So there will be multiple Byomkeshs. It will ultimately be confusing and detrimental to my film and character’s image in the public’s eyes.”

At the same time, the makers are also planning to turn the stories into graphic novels. “It’s a dream that we are working on. Right now, I can only say that much,” says the director.

Set in 1942, the film, starring Sushant Singh Rajput as Byomkesh, will show a war-torn Kolkata during the ’40s as it follows the first adventure of Byomkesh, who is fresh out of college. The period thriller will hit theatres in December next year.

The next mega release of YRF Dhoom 3 is all set to release in December 2013, as planned, confirmed a source. Earlier there were reports of the release date being postponed. However, there does seem to be a Katrina Kaif - Aamir Khan release this year, thanks to Dhoom 3!

Directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya and produced by Aditya Chopra, the third installment of the popular Dhoom series will feature Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Katrina Kaif in lead roles.

Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi will showcase her poetic side on comic TV show "Comedy Nights With Kapil".

She dished out some quirky 'shers' on her visit to the sets of the Colors' show, where she was accompanied by National Award-winning actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui to promote their forthcoming release "Shorts".

She was very impromptu when it came to a quick-witted response to any of the pun-intended remarks.

Comedian Kapil Sharma, who produces the show, was surprised by Huma's spontaneity.

Aspiring actor Sooraj Pancholi, who is out on bail after a 20-day ordeal in prison for allegedly abetting actress Jiah Khan's suicide, is now trying to get back to his routine life. But he has to report to the police station every alternate day.

Sooraj, who was arrested June 10, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court July 1.

Recently, he was in Hyderabad and he had to rush to Mumbai to be in time for his attendance at the police station.

A source close to Sooraj said: "Sooraj is getting back to his normal life. He has started going to the gym again. He meets and talks with his cousins. But it isn't easy to get into a regular life when you have to report at the police station every alternate day."

This procedure of reporting every alternate day would continue for a month.

In the meanwhile, Sooraj refuses to talk about his experiences in prison to anyone.

His father, actor Aditya Pancholi said: "I think Sooraj first needs to sort out the whole experience in his own head before he begins to share it with us. We don't ask him about it.

"He'll tell us what he wants to when he wants. Our boy hasn't been on a picnic. What he has gone through has changed his life forever."

On June 3, Jiah, 25, was found hanging in her flat in Juhu area here. Sooraj was arrested after a note written by Jiah blamed him for the suicide.

Zareen Khan wasn't the conventional slim and trim Bollywood actress when she entered the film industry with "Veer", but if a source is to be believed, she has been trying hard to shed any extra weight for a perfect shape.

Zareen is said to have been switching between power yoga, cardio bootcamp and weight training to get into shape.

Last seen in "Housefull 2", she will now soon be seen in director Remo D'Souza's next project, starring Rajeev Khandelwal.

Actress Nargis Fakhri is said to be doing the best that she can for her debut item number in "Phata Poster Nikla Hero".

Nargis will shake a leg with Shahid Kapoor for the number, composed by Pritam, and choreographed by Bosco-Caeser.

Details of the number are being closely guarded, but one hears that the "Rock On!!" actress will be presented in an all-new avatar. A popular stylist is said to have been roped in for the same.

Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, "Phata Poster Nikla Hero" stars Ileana D'Cruz with Shahid.

Actress Sonam Kapoor says coming on board for a film like "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", which tells the inspirational life-story of former athlete Milkha Singh, was her way of serving the country as she expects the film to encourage sports.

"I just felt like I was doing a service to my country. It was a service to all the sports people out there. I feel that sports has not been given the right kind of push it should get. This will encourage sportsmen and it will help people to take up sports," Sonam told IANS.

Sonam has done a cameo in the Farhan Akhtar-starrer, which releases Friday.

The size of the role didn't matter, said Sonam, and added: "I have a 15 to 20 minutes role, but I feel like I'm blessed to be a part of it," she said.

The film is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

A documentary film, "Where there are no roads", on the unique boat clinics that ply on the Brahmaputra in Assam, has been screened to international audiences of scholars, media, writers, area specialists, students and professionals in Vienna and London.

The latest screening was held at the Indian government's main cultural venue, the Nehru Centre, in London Wednesday to an attentive audience which interacted extensively with film maker Sanjoy Hazarika, who introduced the film and responded to questions afterwards, especially on how Assam, which has India's worst Maternal Mortality Ratio, is improving dramatically these past years.

The film portrays the difficulties of taking healthcare through specialized boats on the Brahmaputra, an initiative of the Centre for Northeast Studies and Policy Research, and how a simple idea and initiative today reaches nearly a million persons in Assam with sustained healthcare.
The project started small, with focus on one district and a tiny team. Today, nearly 250 persons, including doctors, nurses and lab technicians as well as pharmacists and organizers run the programme in 13 districts. The principal partner is the National Rural Health Mission of the state government, which funds the campaign.

"It shows how in partnership with the principal stakeholder, commitment and courage, sustained health care can become a reality for lakhs of ordinary people," said Hazarika.

In Vienna, the film was one of the main events at the inaugural programme July 4 of an international three-day conference of over 75 scholars from across Europe, the United States and India who are working on issues relating to ethnography, anthropology, politics and sociology in the region.
Their subjects ranged from lifestyle changes among hill groups in the North-East Region to the crisis of conflict in the Bodo tribal areas, the challenges posed by repressive laws that give special powers to the armed forces as well as displacement and flooding and its impact on ordinary people in the flood plains of the mighty Brahmaputra river.

She was a teenager when she won the coveted Miss Asia Pacific title in 2000 and, since then, Dia Mirza has been smiling away as an actor, social worker and now, as a producer. But she is glad that she has been able to evade the "pretense" which often comes with stardom.

"Stardom sometimes can bring a lot of pretension in your life. I've noticed that a lot of people around you change, and that is scary. I've tried to stay the same," Dia said in an interview to IANS.

"It (stardom) has bothered me. I will be dishonest if I say it hasn't. But it hasn't overwhelmed me or destroyed me," added the 31-year-old, who battled relationship rumours, comparisons and competition to come into her own in the multi-billion dollar Indian film industry.

"I have given my shot to acting," she said, opening up about broadening her horizons within filmdom through her movie production banner Born Free Entertainment.

"I gave a good 10 years to acting. Now my horizons are expanding and I'm exploring myself. I'm optimistic and happy with my company.

"Cinema is my passion, but I will not destroy my self-esteem by being a part of films which I am not a part of," she added.

Dia made her Bollywood foray with "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein". Her endearing smile did wonders for her, and she went on to feature in several films like "Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge", "Tumsa Nahin Dekha - A Love Story", "Parineeta", "Dus" and "Lage Raho Munnabhai".

But she couldn't match the success of Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra, who bagged the Miss Universe and Miss World crowns respectively in the same year as Dia. She agrees, and says it is only her audience's perception that has mattered to her.

"I've never been crushed by the industry's perception. I've always been motivated by the audience's perception. People love me, and no one can change that. From where I came and how I started, I've got more than what I could have asked for. I have only gratitude.

"But if you compare me with my contemporaries, then maybe I didn't do many big films, or I did big films, and they didn't do well," said the actress.

Dia is only bothered about competing with herself.

"If there's fear, you will never grow. When you are competing with other people, you have fear and then you can never grow," she said.

She says film offers never stopped coming to her. But "nothing" was "exciting" enough.

"There are so many young girls who have come into the industry now who have been a part of successful films. I think all the new and good filmmakers are looking to cast them. This can be extremely terrifying for an actor," she quipped.

But she is undeterred.

Dia believes people will remember her for her hard work, and says that she finds solace in indulging in social work.

"The one thing which I have earned which no one can take away from me is my hard work. My social work gives me so much inspiration. It is much more than what my films have given me," said Dia, who works with different organisations and causes for society's benefit regularly.