At one level it might seem a little odd for me to be addressing you all at the inauguration of the International Indian Film Awards. After all, I am a writer, and as a writer my attitude to our popular Hindi cinema can best be summed up in the tale of the two goats at a garbage dump outside a Bollywood studio, who are chewing away at discarded cans of celluloid. The first goat, chewing slowly, says, "you know, this film's not bad." The second goat, also chewing the celluloid, replies, "yeah, but the book was better."

So I believe the book is always better. That's why I even wrote a novel about the film world twenty years ago, called Show Business. But in fact I'm here because I've realized that Hindi cinema is perhaps India's [ Images ] most successful brand ambassador internationally.

Bollywood is bringing its brand of entertainment not just to the Indian diaspora in the US or UK but around the globe, to the screens of Sri Lankans, Syrians and Senegalese. During my years at the United Nations, I lost count of the number of African leaders who told me of their memories of growing up in little towns and villages looking forward to the arrival of a Hindi movie in the big city.

A Senegalese friend told me of his illiterate mother who takes a bus to Dakar every month to watch a Hindi film -- she doesn't understand the Hindi dialogue and, since she's illiterate, she can't read the French subtitles, but these films are made to be understood despite such handicaps; she can still catch their spirit and understand the stories, and people like her look at India with stars in their eyes as a result.

There's an Omani in this audience here tonight who owns all the movie theatres in Muscat and shows mainly Bollywood movies. When I asked him, "Oh, you have lots of Indians there, hanh?" he replied, "No, my audiences are 80% Arab." An Indian diplomat friend in Damascus a few years ago told me that the only publicly-displayed portraits in that city that were as big as those of then-President Hafez al-Assad were those of Amitabh Bachchan .

And here in Colombo, I was discussing politics with a senior Sri Lankan, talking about whether his kids knew both the Sinhala and Tamil languages, and he replied: "Thanks to your movies, they're speaking Hindi!"

So our films are part of India's soft power in the world, and today they are reaching ever-wider international audiences: During the last year three of them, including Kites last week, opened in the US amongst the top ten grossing films of the week. Indeed, it's Bollywood that has helped India demonstrate that is a player in globalisation, not merely a subject of it.

And while our films are primarily about entertainment, their themes enshrine the values of diversity and pluralism that embody the best of what India is. Our cinema industry embodies the very idea of India's diversity in the way in which it is organised, staffed, and financed and in the stories it tells.

People of different backgrounds and upbringing are shown to be brothers; good and bad are always shown as being found in every community. These are the values which India stands for. And our popular films offer all of us in India a common world to which to escape, allowing us to dream with our eyes open.

Today we celebrate Indian cinema in Sri Lanka , a country just recovering from the ravages of civil war. The end of the conflict with the LTTE has presented Sri Lanka with an opportunity to heal the wounds created by decades of protracted conflict, to make a new beginning and to build a better future for all its people. It has also opened up greater options for India and Sri Lanka to cooperate and enlarge our areas of engagement.

We all know that there are some in India who would rather have preferred that we were not here. The condition of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka is both an emotional and a political issue in our country. But India has never shirked from making known its legitimate concerns, and our engagement on this issue has been received in a very constructive spirit by the government of Sri Lanka.

India had strongly supported the right of the government to act against terrorist forces. At the same time, India has emphasised the importance of focusing on issues of relief, rehabilitation, resettlement and reconciliation, and the Indian people are proud that our government is working actively in assisting in these 'four Rs' in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. A fifth 'r' -- the redevelopment of the war-affected areas -- is the next priority.

Though I speak in a purely personal capacity, I am confident that India will continue to remain engaged with the task of helping people to resume their lives which had so cruelly been interrupted by conflict. And we would all want to see a political consensus here to give the Tamil people of Sri Lanka an honoured place in their own country, within the framework of a united Sri Lanka, consistent with democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights. We wish Sri Lanka well in its efforts to accomplish this.

Today, World Environment Day, is an occasion for celebration. India and Sri Lanka need to look to the future, to a future in which our geographical proximity becomes a reason for closeness rather than controversy, where the past reminds us not of recent pain but of ancient commonalities, where religion and culture bring us together in a celebration of our common heritage.

Lord Rama [ Images ] came to Lanka to reclaim Sita and left; Ashoka's envoys brought Buddhism to Lanka and stayed. These ancient links unify us in spirit, in the spirit of the timeless tides that wash our shores and that have tied us together for millennia. It is now the film world's turn to build a new bridge to Lanka, a Rama Setu of the imagination.

I wish IIFA and all of you a memorable evening.

An Oriya girl, who was a contestant of the recently concluded 'I Am She 2010 Miss Universe', on Wednesday, accused the promoters of the event of causing her "mental and physical torture".

Ipsita Pati (18) lodged a complaint in this regard at the Women's Police Station in Bhubaneswar against the organiser of the event,http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/HTEditImages/Images/090610/Ipsita-Pati.jpg Tantra Entertainment Private Ltd and its promoter Bollywood actress and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen.

"We have received Pati's FIR and started enquiry into the matter," said ACP Nihar Das.

Pati and her mother also met Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik seeking his intervention in the matter.

Out of a total 10,200 applicants, 60 were shortlisted for the contest, which concluded in May 28 in Mumbai. Out of that 30 were again shortlisted for the finals. Pati and another Oriya girl, Shreya Mishra, made it to the final list.

However, Pati said she was dropped from the list at the last moment for being "under-weight" and replaced by another girl from West Bengal. "They intentionally removed me from the final list," she alleged.

Pati accused Sen and other organizers of the pageant of partisan attitude in the selection process and said they kept her starving. "The diet prescribed by the dietician was horrible," Pati alleged in her FIR.

The 5'9" tall girl said that when she entered the competition on April 24, she weighed 53 kg. But her weight slipped to 45 kg as she was denied proper diet. "I suffered from weakness and was hospitalised. However, the promoters did not let me speak to my family members. It was not allowed during the grooming session. I was feeling miserable," Pati later told the media persons.

Originally from Ganjam district of Orissa, Pati's parents have made Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh their home. Pati had earlier won the Miss South India 2008 title.

On Friday at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, A.R. Rahman will kick off "Jai Ho: The Journey Home," a tour that promises to rival that of any pop superstar. Re-creating his studio arrangements live, the Academy Award-winning film composer of "Slumdog Millionaire" will be flanked by costumed dancers, acrobats from Cirque de Soleil and a Mongolian contortionist. State-of-the-art 3-D light-mapping technology will conjure virtual movie sets, offering a spectacle inspired by the music's cinematic sources.

The question is: Who will come to see it?

A.R. Rahman, left, and music director John Beasley confer during a rehearsal for Mr. Rahman's 'Jai Ho' tour.
BOLLYWOOD

"Normally, I get a very mixed South Asian audience—Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati people from India; Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis," Mr. Rahman, 44, said recently. A native of Chennai (formerly Madras), he has performed several times in the U.S. since 2000. "Because of the success of 'Slumdog Millionaire,' we're hoping at least a percentage of the audience will be new," he added, implying white audiences.

Even before "Slumdog," Mr. Rahman was one of the world's top-selling recording artists. Now, his aspiration to reach beyond his native fan base reflects a broader trend in Indian entertainment—especially cinema.

"There's an obsession now with reaching mainstream Americans, with winning Oscars," said Aseem Chhabra, a New York-based film critic for the Mumbai Mirror. "If 'Slumdog' can get them, and it was made by a white man who told an Indian story, then why can't we Indians do it?"

Still, Mr. Chhabra said, the inroads to mainstream America start with homegrown audiences. "Ninety percent of the audience still has to be people living in India and Indians living outside of India. That's the bread and butter of these Bollywood films."

"Kites," a new Bollywood romance shot in New Mexico, has been released in two versions, one produced expressly for American consumers. The same is true for "My Name is Khan," whose central character is a Pakistani Muslim struggling with prejudice in post-9/11 America.

One need only travel as far as Jackson Heights, Queens, to be reminded that Bollywood has a firm toe-hold on American shores. Close to the 7-train stop at 74th Street, the numerous Indian video stores tucked among sari shops offer as much variety as local buffets. They also sell CDs—in keeping with Bollywood's predilection for musical numbers—and tickets for live events, including the "Jai Ho" tour. A 12-foot-tall banner of Mr. Rahman in a dazzling white shalwar kameez is duct-taped to the side of a clothier.

As Mr. Chhabra, a resident of Sunnyside, Queens, noted, "Indians love Bollywood and Bollywood has followed them."

As early as 1970, Manoj Kumar's "Purab Aur Pachhim" ("East and West") placed its protagonist in a morally bankrupt Britain of ruffians and provocatively dressed women. But the breakthrough film that allowed Indian audiences to identify with Indians living abroad was Aditya Chopra's "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (known as "DDLJ," or "The Brave-Hearted Will Take the Bride") from 1995.

"'DDLJ' was my son Aditya's brainchild," said Yash Chopra, founder of Yash Raj Films, which produced the movie. "The basic germ is very simple—that of a young couple who have been brought up in the West but still cherish their Indian values."



Hrithik Roshan in the film 'Kites.'
BOLLYWOOD

"DDLJ," which followed its protagonists on a post-graduation trip across Europe, built on a growing trend to use locations that Indians would perceive as exotic. Before long, Indian directors were shooting in Germany's Europa theme park, atop the skyscrapers of Singapore, and on the beaches of Sydney.

"For an audience sitting in a small town in India, especially in the old days, nobody could tell what the world outside was like," said director Shyam Benegal, who is regarded as the father of India's "Middle Cinema," a realistic alternative to frothy Bollywood. "You go to see a movie. You're in Sydney, Mexico, Egypt, New York—wherever. The world has truly been opened up for our own audiences."

New York has figured prominently among these locations in recent years. Six Indian productions were shot in the city in 2008, four in 2009, and two in 2010 to date. With a new initiative from Yash Raj to make its catalog available for streaming on NetFlix, and collaborations already in the works between India's Reliance/Big Pictures and Steven Spielberg, truly global Indian cinema appears to be just beyond the horizon.

That would be fine with Mr. Rahman, who would like Americans to know more about the diversity of Indian cinema—and its music. As for the "Jai Ho" tour, he said he had a new global listener in mind when he assembled the material.

"We tried to pick out songs that would be universally appealing, to mix together elements in ways that have never been done before. It's very exciting."
—Ms. Pellegrinelli is a regular contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered."

Kareena Kapoor is India’s Most Beautiful Woman

Reigning steady at the Numero Uno position – Kareena Kapoor was recently voted as India’s Most Beautiful Woman by the People Magazine.



Kareena Kapoor, who features on the cover of the magazine credits her beauty to her fitness regime and her diet. The issue that takes readers through her growing up years also touches on questions like ‘When does she feel the most beautiful.’

Says Kareena Kapoor in an exclusive interview with People Magazine, “I believe that you are what you eat”. The Czarina of the Bollywood Industry also goes on to reveal that her stable relationship and career have brought her peace of mind which shows on her face.

Indeed Kareena Kapoor does have a lot going for her with the juiciest projects and largest number of brands in her kitty. Kareena is currently shooting for Golmaal 3, Ra.1, Agent Vinod and Stepmom. She also won the ‘Quick Heal NDTV Tech Life Award for Best Celebrity Endorser’.

Aishwarya plays Ragini, a classical dance teacher in Mani Ratnam’s much-awaited Raavan (Raavanan in Tamil and Villan in Telugu). The first look of the movie shows her dancing gracefully in a song . Talking about her role, she said: “This was an extremely challenging role for me. To shoot in Hindi and Tamil at the same time was quite a task. But the experience was so wonderful that if Mani sir asks me, I am ready to do it all over again.”

Reportedly Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan opted out of Mani Ratnam's Raavanan (Tamil version), where he was originally slated to play the role of Dev, due to language problems. Southern actor Prithviraj now plays Dev's character in the Tamil version and Vikram essays Raavan's role.

"When Mani decided to make Raavan, it was only in Hindi. The idea of a Tamil version came later. He told me to swap roles from 'Beera' in Hindi to 'Dev' in Tamil. Though I agreed initially, I realised that I would not be able to do justice to the role since I am not comfortable with the language," Abhishek said.

“I told Mani that I did not want to do a film in a language which I did not understand. It is important for an actor know the language. Though Mani was adamant, I managed to convince him that I would not be able to do the best job. Moreover, I had my hands full with 'Beera' which was a tough character to play,” the actor revealed.

Finally something good comes out of the ridiculousness that is Twitter.

Moore responded via Twitter to a Florida man’s message in which he threatened to hang himself in a town north of Orlando.

“R U rlly asking 4 help?” she tweeted. The man replied yes.

Nia Vardalos, star of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” also saw the man’s threat and called a suicide hotline.

“Just spoke to FL police again, they’re with [him] now. He is ok, it’s not a hoax. Thank u all for sending love,” she tweeted later. “I called suicide line, connected to FL police, I gave his name+city. They went to home, helped him.”

This sort of ruins my theory that who ever created Twitter is the Anti-Christ.

Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra has been a vivacious couple till their IPL team Rajasthan Royals took away their smile. Shilpa who was very optimistic about her team victory looked sad when her team faced defeat in all the three matches. They were in upbeat mood but one after another loss disheartened the couple.

The 10 wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore has spilled water in the hopes of the team as well as its owners. At the beginning of the show, both Raj and Shilpa were seen laughing, chatting and having fun but the moment their team started going down, the smile disappeared from their face and Shilpa, Raj almost stopped talking to each other. Their enthusiasm died slowly.

There are many more matches to go and hope Rajasthan Royals come back in form and bring back the smile on Shilpa and Raj’s face.

Read more: Shilpa and Raj get a big shock | Shilpa Shetty | Raj Kundra http://www.bollywoodmantra.com/news/shilpa-and-raj-get-a-big-shock/5541/#ixzz0imSNRSIN

Ranbir Kapoor might have thrown away Deepika Padukone from his life but Deepika still exist in his heart and soul and the proof is that he defended his ex flame in public when media asked him question about Deepika’s alleged link-up with business tycoon Vijay Mallya’s son Siddharth Mallya.

“Deepika is a good girl who belongs to a respected family. She has always been forthright about herself so please don’t link her to some guy or the other every now and then,” he said.

Deepika came to know Siddharth during the Kingfisher calendar launch and next she spotted with him at the Royal Challengers matches. She is a supporter of the Bangalore team and her presence brought victory to the team. When Bangalore Royal Challengers defeated the opposition party, Siddharth jumped in joy and overheard saying Deepika that she is his lucky mascot.

With her break-up with Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone has been linked up with many guys but she ignores those rumors and keeps going.

Read more: Don’t link Deepika to some other guy, Ranbir | Deepika Padukone | Ranbir Kapoor http://www.bollywoodmantra.com/news/don-t-link-deepika-to-some-other-guy-ranbir/5542/#ixzz0imRYjbPp

LOS ANGELES - Gold-studded sofa worth $150,000 and other luxury furniture of Michael Jackson will be auctioned in June along with some clothes and accessories worn by the King of Pop before his death.

The collection of 22 exquisite furniture lots commissioned by Jackson for his house in Kent, England, where he had planned to stay during his “This Is It” concert in London, will go under the hammer at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas June 25, Julian’s Auction said Friday.

The auction house will also organise an exhibition recreating Michael Jackson’s Kent home at Newbridge Silverware’s Museum of Style Icons in Ireland from March 16-May 30.

The recreation with the opulent collection designed by Italy’s Colombostile Artisans will be showcased again in Las Vegas from June 14 to June 25.

“Michael’s fans and the public will experience how the entertainer’s home would have looked like with his custom designed Colombostile furniture ordered by the icon himself,” the auction house said in a press release.

The masterpieces include a monumental nine-seat sofa with red velvet button-tufted upholstery and details in 24-carat gold, which the auction house expects to sell for up to $150,000.

A writing desk framed in the 17th century style with ivory details worth $120,000 and a $60,000-armchair tufted with red velvet and gold embroidery are some other highlights of the rare collection.

Besides furniture, the auction will invite bidding for more than 200 items related to Jackson’s life and career.

The red “Beat It” jacket, sunglasses which the pop icon worn on a stage show and gifted to actor Corey Feldman, military jacket that he wore when he married Debbie Rowe, his gloves, beaded shirt, and a handwritten and signed “Bad” lyrics are expected to fetch thousands of dollars in the auction.

The event titled “Music Icons” auction will also include items related to other stars such as Elvis Presley’s lock of hair, fender guitar played by Jimi Hendrix in 1950s and stage costumes of Britney Spears.

March 13, 2010 (Sampurn Wire):India’s most celebrated music director, Oscar and Grammy Award winner A R Rahman, has planned a music tour to salute Bollywood and Indian music. He has reportedly teamed up with producer Deepak Gattani and creative director Amy Tinkham, who is famous for creating live musical concerts for Britney Spears, Back Street Boys and Mariah Carey.

According to Rahman’s spokesperson, The A.R. Rahman Jai Ho Concert: The Journey Home World Tour, will be a modern presentation of traditions of India in a theatrical format. It is said to be a musical as well as visual extravaganza with large images on LED screens and will have a magnificent cast of musicians and dancers from across the globe, making the concert a “theatrical experience utilizing new technologies”, according to a recent press release.

Rahman had most recently participated in the 2010 remake of "We Are The World" to benefit Haiti, and it is important to note that the concert will feature music that Rahman was working on with the late “king of pop”, Michael Jackson, before his unfortunate death last summer.

Other performances will include songs from "Slumdog Millionaire" as well as the Indian films "Lagaan," "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na," "Dil Se," "Rang De Basanti" and "Roja’". The first show of the tour will take place on 11th June at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, and will continue on to over 20 different arenas, all over the world.

February 15, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): ‘Bingo’ which is currently on-air on Colors channel has been getting a great response… and not just because of suave hosting by Abhishek Bachchan! It seems Abhishek is making quite a fashion statement with his snazzy wardrobe that is getting a whole load of attention.

NEW DELHI - Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan is a happy man after having won at least one award for his work in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s “Delhi-6″ - even if it was for the worst accent.

The actor was declared the winner of the Dara Singh Award for worst accent in “Delhi-6″ at the second annual Golden Kela awards, a spin-off on Hollywood’s Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as the Razzies, which recognizes the worst in cinema.

“Another milestone in my career. I won the Golden Kela award for worst accent in ‘Delhi 6′. Chalo at least ‘Delhi-6′ won something. I’m overjoyed!” Abhishek posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Abhishek had no competitors for this special award.

The Golden Kela awards night was held here Friday with funnyman Cyrus Broacha as the chief guest. None of the stars who were named for the awards were present at the event.

No pain, no gain. The saying couldn't be more true for Aamir Khan and the team that painstakingly sculpted those eight-pack-abs, snipped up four different hairstyles and designed the actor's varied looks in Ghajini that have become a rage among his fans.

"It took Aamir 13 months of workout, with a daily regime of about four hours, to achieve the next to impossible look for Ghajini," Satyajit 'Satya' Chaurasia, who trained the actor for the film, said.

"He used to get tired exercising and sometimes even used to shriek in pain and cry doing the stomach crunches, but he did not skip a single day. Every week his body used to show results and that kept him going," added Satya.

Getting eight-pack-abs was not a cakewalk for 'perfectionist' Aamir. Other than rigorous workouts, the actor also had to go through the pain of "a disciplinary regime of following a proportionate balanced diet."

"He had to give up on oil, sugar and alcohol consumption and late night parties as I strictly asked him to sleep for eight hours at a stretch before the workouts," said Chaurasia.

Releasing December 25, Ghajini is the much-hyped Hindi remake of director AR Murugadoss' Tamil hit with the same name. The film was simultaneously released in Telugu in 2005.

While the original Ghajini featured south Indian actor Surya along with actress Asin Thottumkal, Murugadoss cast Aamir to play the main lead in the Hindi remake and retained Asin as his co-star.

Apart from his physique, what has also been the talk of the town is Aamir's scarred and buzzed off hair in the forthcoming film.

"The buzzed hair style is given to suit both Aamir's character and him as a person. It's basically for the second half of the film where he has a situation that requires him to shave off his hair.

"It took us around an hour and a half to give him the look and get the scar lines on his head with thickness variations as per the director," revealed Avan Contractor, hairstylist for the actor in the film.

"We took liberty with the lines on his head and tweaked the look a little bit from the original Ghajini, where the actor has only one big scar," she added.

On being asked how she managed to give the actor numerous hairstyles for the song Behka behka, Contractor said: "The song was shot over a period of five days and we had to work with Aamir's hair, whatever he had at that time. We just dressed it up differently and played around with it."

To spice up Aamir's multiple avatars in the film, stylist Arjun Bhasin was roped in to design "realistic" but "fashionable" costumes for him.

"He plays a corporate executive who is very rich. So his corporate look is stylish. However, at the same time, it is very realistic. He sports a casual office look, but with a quirky edge to it," Bhasin said.

The stylist also predicts that Aamir's business look from the film will inspire people to change their wardrobe.

"There are many elements from Aamir's corporate look that people are going to adapt in their lives like short sleeves, slim ties and waistcoats with lapels," he said.

"His other looks in the film are only in a song that are fantasies," he added.

Bhasin also said the film didn't require much going into books for Aamir's dresses.

" 'Ghajini' is one of my few films where not much research has gone into the costumes. It was a very organic process that Aamir and I went through. We read the script and decided to just work upon it. All we knew was that his looks should be attractive and at the same time meaningful."

They are similar is several ways — both have grown up in Mumbai, are perfectionists, and are superstars in their respective fields, both with that elusive little thing called the X factor. But there’s another similarity between Sachin Tendulkar and Aamir Khan — they are both of average height and have a tendency to put on weight. More so Sachin, who is painfully conscious about gaining any extra bulk because he’s worried it will compromise his on-field agility.

So when Sachin saw Aamir’s beefcake look in Ghajini, he just couldn’t believe his eyes. Just a while ago, he’d met Aamir (at the IPL matches) and was convinced that the pictures were digitally enhanced. Incidentally, Aamir and Sachin are good friends — Aamir had invited the batting great and his wife for his very wedding to Kiran Rao.

“Sachin Tendulkar sent a text message to Aamir Khan last month saying that he was looking nice in the ‘digitally manipulated pictures’. Aamir was quick to point out that it was actually the result of a year’s rigorous training that helped him get a body like that,” says a source. So both the stars decided to meet up, once the shooting of Ghajini was over.

After Hours has learnt that the two had some rounds of ‘secret meetings’ to share fitness tips before Sachin flew off to Chennai for the ongoing Test series against England..

Apparently, Aamir had promised Sachin that he would be the first person to see the first cut of Ghajini. Immediately before Ghajini was sent to the Censor Board, Aamir invited Sachin to the editing studio in Bandra to see the film. Sachin — who was accompanied by wife Ajali — not only was floored by Aamir’s very real muscles, but also the film.
After several attempts to get Aamir’s version, he finally confirmed: “Sachin, along with Anjali, saw the film although there’s still some work left. They loved the film. And yes, Sachin finally believed that it was actually my body on the posters of the film.”

So are we going to see Sachin sporting the Ghajini physique and doing a Ganguly?

Direct-to-Home operator TataSky announced the appointment of South Indian actress Asin as its brand ambassador, who is yet to make a Bollywood debut
in Aamir Khan's forthcoming film Ghajini.

Now, Asin who is set to conquer Bollywood with her much awaited release Ghajini opposite Aamir Khan will feature across all Tata Sky brand and product communication including advertisements on TV, print, radio and other mediums, said the company in a press release.

TataSky, a joint venture between Tata and media major Star has already signed Aamir Khan earlier July this year. Speaking on it chief marketing officer, Tata Sky Vikram
Mehra said Asin would be very influential for the brand of the company.

"Tata Sky and Asin have a lot in common. Both are young, energetic, achievers, and both enjoy a high degree of credibility with consumers. As our new face, she will be
influential in reinforcing the attributes of the Tata Sky brand and reiterate our positioning," said Mehra.

At present, TataSky with a three million subscriber base is at number two in the DTH market.

Bollywood hottie Jiah Khan says though her character Chitra in Ghajini is very close to her personality in reality, she admits that playing that role of Jia in Nishabd was more fun and challenging.

“I play a medical student in Mumbai in Ghajini who has an adventure streak in her. She is kinda geeky but she loves thrills in life. I’m quite close to her in real life. Though I’m not a very thrill-loving person but the way she dresses up, the way she talks and her get-up is quite similar to mine. However, playing Jia in Nishabd was great fun. I’m nowhere close to that character in real life so it was all the more challenging to play her, a moderately sexy girl,” Jiah tells After Hrs.

And what about her character in Ghajini? How much screen space does she share with Aamir Khan?

“There are two halves in the film. One is a more personal and love and romance sphere and the other is the thriller and adventure zone. I come in during this thriller half. I’m a medical student who has to make a case study and Aamir is my patient. What I learn, how I get involved with his is my story in the film,” she adds.

Twenty-year-old Jiah’s debut Bollywood film saw her getting cast opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir lapped her up for her second. Does she consider herself to be the blue-eyed girl of Bollywood?

“I have been extremely lucky to have worked with both Amitabh and Aamir. I have learnt a lot from both of them. Amitabh is more relaxed to work with as he has got lots of experience. He has done lots of great work and with Aamir since he’s such a perfectionist, you have to be on your toes as he is always trying to do something to better his performance,” she says.

With Jiah in a very candid mood to chat, we could not resist asking her about the rumours that she and Asin aren’t getting along with each other and that Jiah is also unhappy that Ghajini is promoting Asin more than her.

“I have heard these stories and I think the press and the audiences want to think that something is wrong between us. I can tell you one thing. I have done my job. Marketing is not in my hands and there are different stages of it. Asin needs to get a lot of publicity as it is her Bollywood debut while people know me a little here. Asin is very sweet and very beautiful. I have met her couple of times and I don’t have any problem with her,” she says.

Jiah, whose next two films will see her team up with Shahid Kapur and Akshay Kumar, goes on to admit that the film-makers of Ghajini have shot a promotional video just featuring her and that it will be on air.

“It is a very Jennifer Lopez kind of a video. It is a very high energy song. I’m like covered from head to toe but still the song is very pulsating and catchy,” she says.