Southern actress Tamannaah Bhatia, known for films such as "Tadakha" and "Rachcha", has landed a role opposite superstar Mahesh Babu. They will be seen together in Telugu action-thriller "Aagadu".

"Tamannaah has been paired opposite Mahesh in 'Aagadu'. As soon Mahesh completes the film he is currently working on, 'Aagadu' is expected to go on floors," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

Mahesh is currently busy wrapping up Telugu action "1: Nenuokkadine" with director Sukumar. He will head to Europe Tuesday for 60 days to finish important scenes in the film.

"Aagadu" will be directed by Srinu Vaitla, who will team up with Mahesh for the second time after Telugu blockbuster "Dookudu". The film will be produced by 14 Reels Entertainment.

The rest of the cast for the project is yet to be finalised.

Actress Vidya Balan was set to promote her forthcoming film "Ghanchakkar" in a mall here Sunday, but she had to cancel the plan thanks to the heavy rain in the city.

"Vidya was ready to leave despite heavy downpour, but due to heavy rain, her staff, which was travelling from various corners (of the city) could not reach her house in time," said a source.

"Even members of UTV were stuck due to severe water logging and were unable to reach. So, naturally she could not attend the promotional event scheduled on Sunday at the mall," the source added.

Directed by Rajkumar Gupta, "Ghanchakkar", releasing June 28, also features Emraan Hashmi.

Yash Raj Films (YRF) has settled for a quirky title for its project starring actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Parineeti Chopra. The movie, directed by Maneesh Sharma, is titled "Shuddh Desi Romance".

The movie will be a "fresh and very real love story about the hair-raising minefield between love, attraction and commitment", read a statement from YRF.

"Finally, a romantic comedy that tells it like it is," the statement added.

Apart from Sushant and Parineeti, this "classy, candid look at the affairs of the heart in today's desi heartland" are the endearing Rishi Kapoor, along with debutant Vaani Kapoor.

The movie, releasing Sep 13, is written by Jaideep Sahni, and produced by Aditya Chopra. Its music is by Sachin-Jigar, with lyrics by Sahni.

National award-winning actress Dolly Ahluwalia, who played the effervescent mother in "Vicky Donor", will be seen in a lead role in upcoming film “Bajatey Raho”. The movie's script is said to have been "modified" for her.

“I feel blessed. It was very heart-warming to know that the story was modified keeping me in mind," Dolly, who is in her mid-50s, said in a statement.

The movie is directed by Shashant Shah.

"Shashant is a brilliant director to work with because he knows how to give the actor his or her required creative space. This has made the whole experience rocking,” added Dolly, who will be seen in movie with actors Tusshar Kapoor, Ravi Kishan, Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey.

Dolly, who plays Mrs.Baweja in the film, is among the central characters of the script. She says she was on the "seventh heaven" upon hearing the concept.

"Having said that, it made me really nervous as well because I realised that Shashant had instilled his entire faith in me. It is not an easy responsibility to handle, but I felt honoured,” she added.

Shah, who had earlier helmed "Dasvidaniya", believes Dolly can easily drive this film through to the box office on her shoulders.

“She has the knack of a natural actor, which helped me throughout the film. She was brilliant to work with and I know for a fact that our decision to make her the lead of the film was absolutely correct,” said Shah.

“Bajatey Raho”, releasing July 26, is co-produced by Eros International and Multi Screen Media Motion Pictures.

Actress Sonam Kapoor says she loved delivering catchy dialogues in her forthcoming film "Raanjhanaa".

"The writer, Himanshu Sharma writes very catchy dialogues. The trailer tells you all about it and dare I say, the dialogues are very local in taste. I loved speaking them. Like, 'Ek thappad marungi toh saari rangbaazi nikal jaegi ek minute mein (One slap will put you in your place)'," the 28-year-old said here in an interview Sunday.

"You rarely get to mouth such dialogues and I enjoyed the 'dialogue-baazi' in the film," she added.

Sonam plays Zoya in the film, and her character's growth is shown since she is a 15-year-old teenager to when she grows up to be 26.

The actress admits she was nervous about playing a 15-year-old girl, but says the crowd present at the shoot helped her do it confidently.

"I was a bit nervous about going out in a uniform with hair tied into two plaits and (I used to wonder) how people would react to it and how will I perform in front of so many people.

"(On the) First day we gave two shots and the audience there started clapping and shouting. So that raised my confidence. I was nervous about playing a 15-year-old girl, but once I got the dialogues, it was easy for me to do," Sonam said.

Directed by Anand L. Rai, "Raanjhanaa" also stars southern star Dhanush. The film is releasing Friday.

She is young, vivacious and has played the love struck romantic in reel life, but Sonam Kapoor confesses that she has not been lucky when it came to love in real life.

Born with a silver spoon, the daughter of actor Anil Kapoor and former model Sunita was said to be dating "I Hate Luv Storys" director Punit Malhotra and was also romantically linked to her "Mausam" co-star Shahid Kapoor.

But in a candid confession, she said: "My love life has been quite unsuccessful. I am single, but I think human beings have the capacity to love."

The 27-year-old feels love is not a restricted feeling.

"I don't think you can fall in love only once. You can fall in love over and over again. We have the capacity and we have the heart to do that," Sonam told IANS.

Her real life romance has not been inspiring, but on the screen she has been part of several love stories, including her debut film "Saawariya" as well as mushy dramas like "I Hate Luv Storys" and "Aisha".

Her forthcoming film "Raanjhanaa" also belongs to the same genre. In the film, she will be seen romancing southern star Dhanush, who is debuting in Bollywood with the Anand L. Rai-directed movie coming out Friday.

When asked about her chemistry with Dhanush in "Raanjhanaa", Sonam said: "Chemistry is not between two people, it's between two characters. Chemistry gets created by moments. For example, Shahid and Kareena had done many films together, but people never spoke about their chemistry. But when they did 'Jab We Met' because of the scenes and their roles, people liked it."

She insists that chemistry can be created through "acting, scenes and the way the director projects it. Chemistry is a very overdone, overspoken thing".

"Raanjhanaa" was shot in Varanasi and the actress admits being nervous while giving her first shot in the holy city.

"It wasn't difficult, I was nervous doing it. When I was in Varanasi, about 200 people were there when I gave my first shot," she said.

She was in a "school uniform" for the shot and was surrounded by men. They accepted us very well, but I was nervous while shooting".

Dhanush is not familiar with Hindi and he struggled with the dialogues, but Sonam feels that when it comes to emotions, language has never been a barrier.

"He is very quiet and modest... he worked hard on the language. When it comes to emotions, you don't need a language to express it. He expressed himself beautifully. He is such a creative person," she said.

Although most of her films bombed at the box office, the actress doesn't regret anything.

"I don't regret anything because when I was doing films like 'Thank You' and 'Mausam', I decided to do the films that satisfied me. I don't look at films with their box-office success. I want that 20 years down the line, people should remember my films," she explained.

After penning dialogues, writer duo Sajid-Farhad are ready to go behind the camera to direct their first film "It's Entertainment" and they give credit to Akshay Kumar for not only motivating them to go for direction, but also being part of their project.

Sajid told IANS: "I would say Akshay Kumar is our godfather. He is the one who encouraged us to get into direction. We are happy that we are debuting as directors with Akshay Kumar in the lead."

The film will go on floor July 1 and according to Sajid, it will be "shot in Bangkok till September end. It's a two months schedule where major portions will be shot".

Sajid-Farhad, known for writing dialogues of "Golmaal" series and "Bol Bachchan" among others, have roped in Tamannaah for the female lead.

Farhad said that as the title suggests, "the film will be a complete entertainer. It is a commercial film. We hope the audience accepts us directors".

"We had written 'Himmatwala' (remake), so that time we interacted with Tamannaah and I feel she will do justice to the film," he added.

The cast of the film also includes Prakash Raj, Sonu Sood, Mithun Chakraborty among others.

Southern star Dhanush makes his Bollywood debut with "Raanjhanaa" and says his family members, including his father-in-law Rajinikanth, are waiting to see him speak Hindi for the first time when the love saga hits the screen Friday.

"We all are waiting for the release and till now he (Rajinikanth) hasn't made any comment. I am sure once the film is out, he will have his comments. (His wife) Aishwarya saw the promos and they all are thrilled to see me speaking in Hindi. It is still to sink in for them," the 29-year-old said here in an interview Sunday.

Dhanush plays Kundan, a guy from Benaras in the Anand L. Rai directed film, who is in love with Sonam Kapoor's character Zoya since childhood.

Dhanush admits speaking Hindi was the toughest part for him.

"Since I don't know Hindi, it was very tough for me...I somehow managed with the help of writer Himanshu Sharma and director sir. But when I was dubbing, it was pretty tough to get the diction and the slang of Benaras right. But I had a good team, so I think I pulled it off," Dhanush said.

An excellent actor and a wonderful dancer, Mithun Chakraborty, recently turned 63, but he didn't allow anyone to celebrate the occasion, says his son Mahaakshay aka Mimoh.

The three time National Award winning actor, known to have die-hard fans both outside and within the film industry, never celebrates his birthday. What's more he doesn't allow his family to celebrate either.

Mimoh seems dismayed by his father's rigid decision to stay away from all birthday celebrations.

"We are never allowed to celebrate my father's birthday," said Mimoh. Mithun's birthday was Sunday and he shot for the "Bigg Boss Bangla" on the day.

Apparently, the "Bigg Boss" team was very keen to do the cake-cutting and candle-blowing, but the "Mrigayaa" actor begged off.

Tamil producer C.V. Kumar, known for films like "Attakathi", "Pizza" and "Soodhu Kavvum", credits word-of-mouth promotion as one of the reasons for his success, adding that it's vital for any low-budget movie.

"If the budget of a film is less than Rs.5 crore, then it's unlikely that a producer can shell out more on promotions. In such cases, word-of-mouth is very important for low-budget films because I believe it has helped all my three films to do exceptionally well at the box-office," Kumar told IANS.

"It's through positive word-of-mouth audiences come back to watch a film. Most people watched 'Pizza' and 'Soodhu Kavvum' more than once because they liked it and the buzz around the film was kept alive due to the talk," he added.

Kumar, however, says there is a flip side to the word-of-mouth promotion, which entails risk.

The director feels that "conventional methods of promotions" should also be considered as word-of-mouth is "extremely powerful and risky and it can backfire if the talk around the film is negative".

"It spreads like fire, positive or negative and, therefore, one needs to be careful," Kumar said.

"Even before critics review a film, people tweet about it nowadays. They either appreciate the film or pan it and its impact will reflect on the film," he added.

He says everything boils down to the content of a film

"Positive or negative word-of-mouth eventually depends on the content of a film. If viewers like a film, then they will recommend it to their friends and family, and if it's bad, then they will also urge others not to waste money," he said.

Is it because of social media audiences' verdict has become powerful?

Agreeing with the fact that "social media has become extremely powerful in the last few years", Kumar added: "I remember few years back people used to watch a film, come out and tell their friends about it, but nowadays they tweet or post on Facebook after every scene."

Kumar is currently awaiting the release of Tamil horror-thriller "Pizza 2", a sequel to "Pizza".

Pakistani actress Meera wants to sort out issues with "Bhadaas" producer-director Ajay Yadav who had reportedly filed a case of non-cooperation against her when she refused to dub for the psychological thriller. Keen to kiss and make up, she is here for the film's promotion.

"There was some misunderstanding and I had informed the director earlier that I can't be here in May as I had other commitments. I want to solve the court issues and want to stay away from it," Meera, who made her Bollywood debut with Soni Razdan’s 2005 movie "Nazar", told IANS.

Produced under the banner of Serene Films, "Bhadaas" has Meera in the lead role and it also features Aryeman Ramse, Ahsutosh Kaushik, Shree Rajput, Ananth Mahadevan, Rudra Kaushish, Mohini Neelkanth and Mushtaq Khan.

"It was only date issues and nothing more than that. I spoke to him over phone and said let's sort this out and I am here for the promotions," she informed.

She says she was "a bit sad" when "I got to know that in my absence, the dubbing was done by someone else. I respect the Indian law and order and I have requested Ajay to take the case back," she added.

Reportedly, Yadav has agreed to take the case back. The film is coming out June 28.

Vivek Oberoi feels women keen to empower themselves and be successful should take inspiration from actress Vidya Balan, who has set an example for others with her journey.

Vidya's career graph has been interesting - after making an impressive Bollywood debut with period love story "Parineeta" in 2005, she made an unsuccessful transition to glamorous roles with "Heyy Babyy" and "Kismat Konnection". She was declared down and out.

But Vidya bounced back with 2009 film "Paa" and after there was no looking back for her as she etched out variety of roles on the big screen in "Ishqiya", "No One Killed Jessica", "The Dirty Picture" (2011) and "Kahaani" (2012) with aplomb. All these films were commercially successful and critically acclaimed.

"Have you heard of Vidya Balan? She is the answer. She is such a phenomenon. She chose that path and that's why I admire her," Vivek told reporters here Saturday at the Arts in Motion Studio's annual show Dance With Joy aimed at creating awareness amongst women about equality, dogmas and outdated urban attitudes.

"She decided that I don't want to be everybody else, I want to be me and I want to do it my way," he added.

"Yuva" and "Saathiya" fame actor feels that Vidya has achieved such an stature with successes that she could be easily tagged as Vidya Balan Khan.

"People were like - will she (Vidya) be able to do or not? But she has done it, she has proved it," said the 36-year-old.

"Now you should call her Vidya Balan Khan because she is creating the numbers that people have never seen before. Hats off to her," he added.

"If a woman wants to do something, she can do anything," Vivek said.

Meanwhile, the actor is happy that attitude towards women and girls is changing even in rural areas now.

"In the last six years I have seen a lot of changes. Villagers, who earlier were of the opinion that what's the need for girls to study - now they want them to study, to become independent. So, that is more important," said Vivek, who has been associated with a lot of other social causes.

Emphasising on the social and economic independence of girls, he said: "The economic and social independence of girls is very important. There is a need to empower them, both socially and economically."

TV actor Ashish Sharma, seen as Ranveer in "Rab Se Sona Ishq", says nervousness is the key to a good performance.

"Whenever you give a shot, the nervous energy in your stomach is the key to that emotional breakdown, that kick that is needed to perform," said Ashish, an alumnus of actor Anupam Kher's Actor Prepares institute.

"If you don't have that kick, that means you are not made for this (acting)," he told students of the academy during a talk.

Ashish made his debut with "Gunahon Ka Devta" and later gained popularity through the show "Chandragupta Maurya" where he played the lead.

He has also played a small part in Dibakar Banerjee's film "Love Sex Aur Dhokha."

"Even when you are 50, ask Kher saab (Anupam) as well, you will still have the same high, same kick everytime you go to give your shot," he said.

There was a time TV actors found it hard to establish a foothold among the stars of Bollywood, but the tide has turned and the likes of Prachi Desai and Sushant Singh Rajput have blazed a trail in filmdom.

Here's looking at actors who have lately made the crossover without tripping over their ambitions.

Sushant Singh Rajput: He was a household name on television with his lover boy's act in in "Pavitra Rishta", in which he formed a long-term rishta, pavitra one hopes, with his co-star Ankita Lokhande. Sushant got a dream break on the large-screen in Abhishek Kapoor's "Kai Po Che!".

He has a strong follow-up with Yash Raj Film's "Shuddh Desi Romance", being directed by Maneesh Sharma. But he must guard against excessive hype and publicity.

Vidya Balan: So far the only television female actor to crossover into celluloid superstardom, Vidya started her career as the mousy sibling in Asok Saraf and Priya Tendulkar's wacked-out family on "Hum Paanch".

She makes the right bold career choices.

Ayushmann Khurrana: Television anchor Ayushmann made a brilliant crossover from home medium to cinema with "Vicky Donor". He has a Yash Raj Film and Aditya Chopra is raving about him. But his second film "Nautanki Saala" was a bit of a bummer and apparently he has acquired the reputation of being too big for his boots.

Prachi Desai: From being Balaji Telefilms' blue-eyed babe, Prachi made it to the big screen with "Rock On" and "Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai".

She has been in a number of successful films since her debut and is known to be professional and dependable but has too sober an image. More the-girl-next-door than the babe on the beach. In fact, all television actresses come with a conservative image to cinema, which they find hard to break.

Rhehaan Khan: A.K.A. Gaurav Chanana. Shot to fame as Dr Mihir Mishra in the medical soap "Sanjeevani". Took a long break, made a few errors of judgement regarding his film career and returned on the big screen with renewed confidence as Preity Zinta's 'other' in "Ishkq In Paris".

Though the film tanked, Preity has super confidence in Rhehaan. She has offered him another production.

His earlier films "Woh Tera Naam Ttha" and "Kajrare" were disasters and so is "Ishkq In Paris".

Pulkit Samrat: Shot to fame as Lakshya Virani in the long-running soap 'Kyunki...Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi".

He is backed by the biggest Bollywood names from Farhan Akhtar to Salman Khan, but he made a disastrous movie debut in "Bittoo Boss". Pulkit gets a new lease of screen life in "Fukrey".

Watching fun-filled youth-based film "Fukrey" took superstar Shah Rukh Khan down memory lane. He has heaped praises on the movie's cast and director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba.

"Mrigh, way to go. Transported me back to Delhi days. Varun (Sharma), Pulkit (Samrat), Manjot (Singh), Ali (Fazal), Pankaj (Tripathi), Richa (Chadda) and all of 'Fukrey', thanks. Screen mein 'chhedh ho gaya'," tweeted Shah Rukh.

The movie released Friday, and it is getting a positive word-of-mouth.

Producer Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment thanked King Khan for his kind words by tweeting: "Thank You DON."

"Kai Po Che!" actor Amit Sadh was reportedly roped in to play the younger version of Rishi Kapoor in the much-anticipated film "Mehrunissa", but a source close to the young actor has denied the news.

The project, based on the life of the 20th wife of Mughal emperor Jehangir, is directed by Sudhir Mishra. Chitrangda Singh is said to be the film's leading lady.

"Amit is not doing the movie. He has communicated to Sudhir Mishra, whom he admires, that he looks forward to an opportunity to work with him in the future," said the source.

"Amit doesn't know where these rumours are coming from and wants to clear out that these are false," the source added.

As of now, Amit is busy working on his next project with Disney UTV. The genre of the film is still under wraps, but it has been assured that the movie will take Amit's 'boy-next-door' appeal to another level. If rumours are to be believed, the film will be in the romantic comedy space.

Actress Shikha Thakur feels lucky to have got a chance to rub shoulders with veteran star Mithun Chakraborty in "Maqsad". She says he is "classic" in his approach to his work, and a "warm human being".

"This is the first time I got a chance to work with Mithun-da. He's a classic actor and a very warm human being. It was a pleasure to work with him," Shikha said in a statement.

"I am lucky enough to get an opportunity to work with veteran, handsome, talented and amazing actor Mithun Chakraborty," she added.

"Maqsad" is produced by Anup Jalota and directed by Farookh Saiyer.

Veteran actors Zeenat Aman and Manoj Kumar's chemistry in the classic number "Hai hai yeh majboori" from the movie 1974 movie "Roti Kapda Aur Makaan" has been recreated for a monsoon special episode of TV show "Jeannie Aur Juju".

Inspired by the classic monsoon romance, Jeannie, played by actress Giaa Manek, has adorned Zeenat's look, while Juju, essayed by actor Ali Asgar, will be seen reprising Manoj's look.

"While they danced to the timeless classic 'Hai hai yeh majburi, yeh mausam aur yeh doori...', the actors recreated the on-screen magic that was last seen between Zeenat and Manoj.

"The clothes, the props used for the track and the song and dance sequence were lively and romantic with Ali's romantic expressions and Giaa's bubbly face," said a source.

The track unfolds with Jeannie having a busy day at work. When it starts raining, Jeannie gets extremely excited and she wishes to spend her first monsoon with Juju. Inspite of a hectic work schedule, Jeannie manages to make time to enjoy the rains.

Giaa says it was a "fun experience" to shoot in the rain with Ali for the first time.

"I'm thoroughly enjoying the monsoon on the set. But I'm eagerly looking forward to having some fun in the rain off the set as well," she said in a statement.

Charlotte Claire, who won Gladrags Mega Model 2013, will display her acting skills in Tamil film "Jai Hind 2", but her wish is to work with Salman Khan some day.

"I have a crush on the 'Dabangg' tiger Salman Khan. It would be a dream come true to work with him," Charlotte, who makes it a point to watch the first day first show of every movie of the Bollywood star, told IANS.

The 23-year-old has been seen in several TV commercials like Air Mauritius, walked the ramp for brands like Madame and Gant, and featured in L'Officiel fashion magazine, among others modeling assignments.

She will start shooting for Tamil movie "Jai Hind 2", a sequel to Arjun Sarja's starrer Tamil blockbuster "Jai Hind", from July.

In the film, she will play Britain-based girl and said: "I have a very strong character. I will get to display different shades of emotions."

The peache and cream beauty describes herself "as a natural actress", but adds that "getting training polishes your talent, so I took personal coaching on acting".

Among actresses, she appreciates works of Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai and Kareena Kapoor.

In addition to good looks, which she gives credit to her mother and eight hours of "beauty sleep", Charlotte believes she is a good dancer too.

"Dancing is my hobby. I believe I'm a good dancer. Well, at least people say so," said the model-turned-actress, who hits the gym at least four to five times a week.

"When I'm busy I see to it, that I keep a check on my diet. I have lots and lots of water," she added.

Veteran actress Deepti Naval, who has made a friendly appearance in forthcoming movie "BA Pass", was sceptical about doing the erotic human drama, but the film's lead actress Shilpa Shukla convinced her.

The film is about a relationship based on lust, lies and deceit

"There is a particular scene in the film and I needed Deepti Naval for that. When she heard the script, she was reluctant about doing the film but she saw the clippings of the film, she really liked the camera work and the way the film has been treated," Ajay Bahl, the film's director, told IANS.

"Besides Shilpa had worked with Deepti in 'Bhindi Bazaar', so I asked her to convince her...looking at the scenes and dialogues she said she want to do it. So basically she has done a cameo, more off a friendly appearance in the film," he added.

To be presented and distributed by Bharat Shah, it is slated for July 12 release. Bahl is also the cinematographer and producer of the film that also features theatre actor Shadab Kamal in the male lead.