Urmila to shed Ashq

MUMBAI: The latest buzz has it that Urmila Matondkar has replaced Lara Dutta’s in Pritish Nandy Communication’s Ashq. Lara cited date problems as the reason for opting out of the film, while Rangita Nandy maintained Bhaskar Shetty, Lara’s manager, had created some misunderstanding.

Pritish Nandy however confirmed that Urmila Matondkar was now playing the lead in the film. Urmila admitted to have been approached for the film. “I have not confirmed anything yet,’ she said. For the male lead Milind Soman, Sanjay Suri and Fardeen Khan are being considered. In fact, Fardeen had been approached long back. But he had to turn down the offer because he was playing a similar role in another film. “PNC has plans to make several films. That’s why Ashq was a bit delayed. Since we have confirmed Urmila, we should now be able to decide on other stars quickly,” he said.

Vivek dons Elvis look

MUMBAI: Coca-Cola India announced the launch of Vanilla Coke last week, which is Coca-Cola spiked with vanilla flavour. The company has signed up Vivek Oberoi as a brand ambassador for Vanilla Coke and would be rolling out a new campaign soon. The product will in the first phase be launched in 500 ml PET bottles, followed by 200 ml/300 ml glass bottles and cans.

Vivek Oberoi has donned the Elvis Presley look to promote Coke Vanilla.

Papa and son in no hurry

MUMBAI: With the production scenario looking rosy, almost every star is in the midst of starting a home-production. In fact, most of them (Shahrukh, Sanjay Dutta, Suniel, Sunny-Bobby, Ajay) already have films (home-production) in various stages of production.

It’s been more than six months since Janasheen has released, but Feroz Khan and his son Fardeen are in no tearing hurry to announce their next venture. “What’s the point of announcing a film if you don’t have the script ready?” Fardeen questions.

Despite not-too-pleasant reviews, Janasheen did prove to be an earning proposal in a few territories. “Let’s not forget that the content is the king and everything else in secondary,” he reasons, “We will announce a film the moment we feel confident of the script. The script should excite you, otherwise it’s no point making the film.”

On the acting front, Fardeen is looking forward to Ken Ghosh’s Fidaa and Govind Nihalani’s Dev. “Both Govind-ji and Ken belong to different schools of film-making. It was great working with them. I’ve learnt so much from these two films. Why, every new day teaches you something,” he states.

Good times ahead for John

MUMBAI: John Abraham may’ve had a string of box-office duds in a row (Saaya, Aetbaar, Paap), but that hasn’t stopped reputed production houses from signing him for their new projects. In fact, the model turned actor has never had it so good, with some of the best films in his kitty.

“I was slightly disheartened when three films didn’t work at the box-office,” John says, “But the silver lining is that people did appreciate my work in those films. Had my performance gone unnoticed, I would’ve been in big trouble then.” But John is banking on the soon-to-be-released Lakeer and Yashraj Films’ Dhoom to do the trick. Besides, John has been signed for Karan Johar’s new venture, to be directed by his erstwhile assistant Soham Shah and Deepa Mehta’s new project co-starring Lisa Ray.

Incidentally, he has just completed shooting his portions with lady love Bipasha Basu in Numkin. “I really enjoyed working in this film. It’s shaped up exceedingly well,” he adds. With biggies like Chopras and Johars reposing trust and confidence in John, the actor can relax and polish his acting skills further.