Kunnal plays ‘heroine’

MUMBAI: “I play the heroine in Meenaxi. I’m there for the romance and the item songs,” Kunnal Kapoor, the debutant stars with Tabu in M F Husain’s film, told. He candidly admits that the whole film revolves around Tabu. Interestingly, Kunnal was first noticed by the painter-turned-director in his namesake — Shashi Kapoor’s son — Kunal Kapoor’s office. “I had left my photos there a few years ago. That’s how I got Meenaxi.”Right now Kunnal is doing theatre. Kunnal’s second film with director Rakesh Mehra will take a while to go on the floors.

Rani shines in Black

MUMBAI: Great art is being created in Black. Amitabh Bachchan who’s been shooting what is unarguably the role of his lifetime seems transformed on the sets. Words are kept to a bare minimum on the sets. It’s the gestures, the whispering emotions from Rani Mukherjee that assail the senses. Black will transform her image completely! “I feel the change in me. Sanjay is bringing out emotions that I never knew existed inside me. This is going to be an important year for me. I’ve got Mani Rathnam’s Yuva ready for release. And I’m currently shooting for Ketan Mehta’s The Rising. I guess Black will be the culmination of a process.”Her next release Kunal Kohli’s Hum Tum “has shaped up really well. And Saif Ali Khan is absolutely first rate in the film.” This is also her second film with Kohli. She’s also doing Shaad Ali’s second, which Hrithik still hasn’t said yes or no to.

Ashmit earns Mallika’s ire

MUMBAI: Mallika Sherawat has strongly protested what she calls a “lewd joke” at her cost just because she has “a sexy image”. Mallika bore the brunt of a prank played by a TV channel in the middle of a promotional interview for Murder. “On Monday evening I went for a routine interview on the channel. In the middle of the interview I got this call from a male saying, ‘Hi, I’m calling from People magazine, and we want you for a cover.’ I explained I was in the middle of an interview and switched off my phone. Then the guy started calling on everyone else’s phone on the set. The VJ insisted I talk to the guy. When I took the phone, the unidentified voice on the other end said, ‘Listen Mallika, talk to me. Don’t be a b****. I’m staying at the X hotel. Will you have dinner with me, will you sleep with me?’”“Later they told me that it was a joke and that the guy on the other end was my (Murder) co-star Ashmit Patel. Hello? A joke? I can take one of those. But when you start talking about sleeping with a woman I don’t think it’s funny. Would Ashmit allow someone to play the same ‘joke’ on his sister Amisha?… The other day I was pitched against ‘Tulsi’ (Smriti Irani) in a television debate where she ripped me apart for my screen image. But guess what? She herself wore a swimming suit when she participated in a beauty contest! I’m owning up to what I’ve done. But now I’m being attacked not just by moralists but also TV channels.”“I think I’ll ask my brother from back home to come and stay with me in Mumbai. He’s an over 6-feet tall, well built Jat, and he’d beat the s*** out of anyone who misbehaves with me.”