Newlyweds Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan among the stars at the Cannes Film Festival

Aishwarya Rai is a household name in many countries. Now the Bollywood actress, who married fellow film star Abhishek Bachchan last month, is getting used to a new moniker.
"This is the first travel where people start calling you, `Hello Mrs. Bachchan, good evening,'" Rai told AP Television News on Wednesday.
"I've maybe done a double take at times, but pleasantly so, it makes us smile, so it's been good," she said.
Rai, 33, a former Miss World, interrupted her honeymoon for a visit to the Cannes Film Festival. She is at the French Riviera resort as part of the team of models for cosmetics company L'Oreal.
She was in the audience - and on the red carpet - for Wednesday's opening-night festival screening of Wong Kar-wai's "My Blueberry Nights."
Once she is back in India, Rai said she will continue work on her latest film, the 16th-century royal love story "Jodha-Akbar."
Her screen credits include 2004's "Bride & Prejudice," directed by Gurinder Chadha.

Bhatts sign Mrinalini Sharma for a 3 film deal

Bhatts sign Mrinalini Sharma for a 3 film deal

Continuing their trend of introducing new talents, the next one on the Bhatt’s list is Mrinalini Sharma who marks her debut with Mohit Suri’s Awarapan. However the actress has already starred in Prakash Jha’s Apaharan. “Yes, that’ true”, confirms Mrinalini “But that was just a cameo in an item song. I agreed to do that because I wanted to work with Prakash Jha. He is such an esteemed director. Sadly, though as per the placement of the film the entire cameo and half the song had to be cut out because the pre climax situation killed the base of the film. So for me Awarapan is my launch film.” So how does it feel making a start with the Bhatts? “Oh, I feel extremely lucky. They are fabulous people to work with. It’s such a big banner who gives great opportunities to newcomers. I don’t know if any other banner has that courage to take newcomers and make them stars. For them, script is always bigger than actors and that is what I like about them. Vishesh Films doesn’t fear taking newcomers in fact they show lot of confidence in them. I really don’t know many people in this industry who have power to do that. I think I am really lucky that I am working with an excellent production house on a brilliant script.” And what’s so brilliant about the script? “Basically it’s based on the theme of freedom. I play a Pakistani girl called Reema. She gets trapped into human trafficking trade, which is very prevalent currently in the Southeast Asian market. Her journey thereafter and how Emraan eventually helps her to attain her ultimate mission of freedom in life is shown in the film.” So with Emraan at the helm of affairs, the next question becomes quite obvious. And Mrinalini is smart enough to get the hint. “No, the script doesn’t demand any kissing scene. Emraan’s love interest in the film is played by Shreya Sharan but even between the two it is a very clean love story. Basically, his character and mine don’t have a romantic angle. He becomes my friend and eventually takes me to my destination which also becomes his final destination.” So what next after Awarapan? “Well, there’s Showbiz directed by popular choreographer Raju Khan.” That’s going pretty fast in Bollywood. “That’s true. In fact Showbiz went on floors even before Awarapan, though the latter will release first”. But isn’t Showbiz, again, produced by Bhatts? “Well, I have signed a three film contract with Bhatts”, explains the actress. “I have done two films with them and there is one pending. They haven’t started the third film as yet. They are perpetually working on the script and I am sure it won’t be too long before we start”. So what’s she doing in Showbiz? “I play Shikha Verma. She is the chief head of a channel. It deals with the media at large. It talks about the good side and the bad side of glamour world. It says people from the entertainment industry also have right to privacy. They are just like any normal person.” Showbiz has another newcomer who is paired opposite Mrinalini. “His name is Tushar and he’s an excellent costar. He will have a brilliant future in the industry. He is very good looking and extremely talented. He is also very well versed with the technique of filmmaking because he has assisted in Vishesh Films for five years prior to this film”.

Madhuri, finally made her Bollywood comeback

Mumbai, May 5: Bollywood's heroine number one is back with her 1000-watt smile in Aaja Nach Le, The actress who is not talking about her comeback film Dixit still knows how to stay in the news.
Madhuri was in Kohlapur a few days ago for the Maratha Film Awards where she presented director Yash Chopra with the Life Time Achievement award. The she rushed back to Mumbai and came over to cheer painter Purunendu Mandal at his exhibition at the Nehru Centre. A fan of M.F. Husain after he made Gajagamini with her, Madhuri is now taking an avid interest in art stating that the surreality of the artist made her love his work.
Back to her film Aaj Nachle, she says that this was the right film to do. "It was indeed the best film for me to stage a comeback," she says of the Anil Mehta film which is being produced by Yashraj.