Zoa Morani to romance Imran Zahid

Newbie actress Zoa Morani is all set to star opposite actor Imran Zahid in upcoming film Marksheet, based on the education racket and scams in the country.

 Zoa, who made her Bollywood debut with Shah Rukh Khan's production Always Kabhi Kabhi, will play a fashion student in the film to be directed by Rakesh Ranjan Kumar of Gandhi to Hitler fame.

The makers of the film had earlier decided to cast a fresh face opposite Zahid for Marksheet, which is not just an issue based film but would also be a love story.

However, under the creative guidance of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who is also a mentor to Zahid, the makers zeroed in on 23-year-old Zoa who had earlier portrayed a school student in Always Kabhi Kabhi and would fit in the character of a college student, said a source close to the film.

Marksheet, inspired by the story of Ranjit Don who run a racket leaking question papers for nation-wide exams, will mostly be shot around Delhi University while parts of it would be filmed in Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata.

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Bol Bachchan to release on July 6

Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, who is currently busy shooting his comedy flick Bol Bachchan, says he is excited that the film will hit screens on July 6. The film, which is inspired by Amol Palekar starrer 1978 film Golmaal, is being directed by Rohit Shetty and stars Bachchan and Ajay Devgan in the lead role.
"Back on the sets of Bol Bachchan. Few more days and it's a wrap on the film. Releases 6th July. Excitement is becoming!," Bachchan posted on Twitter.

Bachchan, 36, had met with a minor accident last year while shooting for the film in Jaipur last year.

After his stint as an action hero in Players and Game, Bachchan will be back in comedy with Bol Bachchan after three years.

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Gauri snub Priyanka?

Since the last few months tongues have been wagging about Priyanka Chopra’s close friendship with her ‘Don’ co-star Shah Rukh Khan. The grapevine even said that Gauri wasn’t too pleased with Priyanka’s open declaration of affection for her husband. Now, there is more proof that there is tension on the PC-Gauri front.

Sources say that during the recently held Zee Cine Awards in Macau, King Khan’s wife snubbed Priyanka openly. The actress had flown straight to Macau from Dubai (where she promoted ‘Agneepath’) and once she reached there, she got down to rehearsing for her awards act right away.

Insiders reveal that Priyanka, who was hosting the awards with Shah Rukh, rehearsed with him from nine in the night to six in the morning. Both were accompanied by their sets of friends though Shah Rukh had Gauri for company too.

Seeing Shiamak Davar who was choreographing the entire act and giving instructions to his dancers, Gauri went up to him to say hello. When Gauri came on stage Priyanka walked up to her and greeted her but was shocked when the former completely ignored her. Apparently, she just stood there with her hands to her back and continued talking to Shiamak.

But if Priyanka was flustered by the rejection, she didn’t show it at all and continued with her rehearsals with Shah Rukh. We would love to know what the ‘Don’ had to say to this entire episode!

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Priyanka Chopra not delayed 'Barfi' : Anurag Basu

 "Nothing is getting delayed because of her (Priyanka), she has given a lot of dates," said Anurag Basu at the success party of Onir's 'I Am'. "I have been denying it again and again but these reports keep cropping up. She has already finished her work, only two days work is left and it is merely a patchwork, it's me who wants to shoot in those two days," he added.

'Barfi!' stars Ranbir as a deaf-mute boy while Priyanka essays the role of an autistic girl. Telugu actress Ileana D'Cruz plays narrator.
The shooting is almost over, said Basu and added: "These are speculations. The film is not getting delayed because of anyone. The film is almost complete, we are just waiting for the right date to be decided by UTV. Even I am waiting for that date."

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No dates for Katrina Kaif

Grapevine has been abuzz with news that actor Katrina Kaif was apparently supposed to walk the ramp at an upcoming fashion show in Kochi.

However, what set tongues wagging was that the actor’s demands to pay her a crore to walk for 10 minutes were reportedly met with. But if sources close to the actor are to be believed, then Katrina, who is currently shooting for her film with Shah Rukh Khan in London, will most likely be shooting on March 25 as well, the day she is supposed to be in Kochi.

A source close to Katrina says, “Katrina will be busy shooting for her film with Shah Rukh in London and has never confirmed that she will be walking the ramp in Kochi, these rumors doing the rounds are baseless. However, if she does make an appearance of any sort, an official announcement will be made on the same.”

The source continues, “Katrina has always maintained that she is a very private person and does not like to dance at wedding and private events, despite getting offered huge amounts of money to do the same. She’d rather take a flight back home to London to spend some time with her family and friends. This time too, she has no idea how this confusion happened and she has not even confirmed if she will be willing to fly to Kochi for a day because she is on a tight shooting schedule. She doesn’t even know if she will get the day off.”

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Salman Khan helps Somy Ali’s charity foundation

In Bollywood, he is known to be bighearted. So Salman Khan’s benevolent moves hardly come as a surprise. But the superstar — for some time now — has been helping his ex-girlfriend Somy Ali run her Florida-based non-profit-organisation, No More Tears (NMT).
The American foundation that rescues domestic abuse has been “struggling financially” for a while, and Somy is strictly reliant on private donors and government funding. “But the grants have not come through due to the state of the economy. Our country is struggling as a whole,” says Somy. So private donors are really pivotal for NMT’s sustainability at the moment.”

That’s where Salman enters the picture. Somy maintains that her ex-boyfriend and his friends “have done more than enough” for NMT.

“It’s only due to their donations that we have sustained this far,” says the 35-year-old former actor. Apparently, Salman’s friends donated more than $1,50,000 to NMT last year.

“Some of his friends have contributed, but they choose to remain anonymous and I respect them for it,” confirms Somy. “Salman doesn’t owe me anything. The fact that he has encouraged his friends to donate is proof of his large heartedness. Personally, I would never ask him for help. Probably that’s why we have been friends for 20 years. We respect each other, but don’t expect anything in return.”

At the same time, Somy accepts that NMT, founded around four years ago, is “hanging by a thread.”

“Initially, I used $2,86,000 of my own money to fund my charity, but those funds have now depleted. So it is a daily struggle,” says Somy, who acted in films like Andolan (1995), Yaar Gaddar (1994), and Aao Pyar Karen (1994).

Ask Somy — who has rescued 182 victims since 2008 — if she intends to team up with Salman’s Being Human foundation, and she says: “No (plans) so far. Salman and my missions are different.” Lastly, does she watch Salman’s films? “No, I really do not get time to keep up with films due to NMT. Abuse has no days off and neither do I,” she says.

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Vidya not allowed to work with Shahid?

Bollywood actor Vidya Balan was reportedly considered for Vettai remake opposite Shahid Kapoor. The lady, however, was ruled out by her beau Siddharth Ray Kapoor. Wonder why?

Siddharth apparently said that the role wouldn’t do justice to her talent as an actress, reports Mid Day.
A source, however, reveals to the tabloid, that Siddharth did not want Vidya to star opposite rumoured ex-flame Shahid Kapoor. Vidya and Shahid had became close during the making of Kismat Konnection.

This is not the first time Siddharth has stopped Vidya from working with a rumoured ex-beau. The Dirty Picture actor had to say no to John Abraham for the same reason.

“She didn’t want to be paired with John Abraham due to strong reports of their affair while filming Salaam-E-Ishq,” a source told the tabloid.

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